Chapter Two: Indictable Offense

Dun dun da...

When they arrived back at the precinct, the girls ran their findings down to the forensic lab. Coby, being the medical examiner, went down to autopsy to, well, do an autopsy. The rest of the team went up to headquarters. They were walking back to their desks, and Woods called, "Hey, Lawrence, why don't you go check out the list of people on scene. You know the deal. Look for suspicious behavior. Bring Kowalski." Doug called back, "Sure thing, boss," and they went to find Jen, who'd taken the notes. 

      Woods' phone rang at that moment. "Woods," he answered. Words were said on the opposite end, to which he replied, "I'll be right down, Cobes." He terminated the call, put his phone back in his pocket, as he addressed what remained of his team. "Chance, Derek, I need you two to find the homeowners. When you find them, bring them in. I'm going downstairs. Coby has something."         "Got it, boss," Joey told him as he started towards the stairs. 

     He walked to the staircase, shaking his head. Daniel Woods, a man of bravery and courage, never took the elevator. Its only cause was obesity and death, in his opinion. Besides, he needed to walk anyway, to think, to clear his head. He absolutely hated cases like this. Not that any of the cases were ever good, but this case hit close to home. A teenage girl, tied up, cut open. He hated having to tell the parents. Imagine if it had been Cali or Preslie in that body bag, he thought. If that had been the case, he didn't know what he'd do. Probably kill the sick son of a b***h, he decided. Well, this just goes to show, you can't trust anyone, he thought bitterly. He continued to ponder on this as he descended down the steps.

************

 Sam and Jen made their voyage to the forensic lab, carrying with them the evidence found at the scene. They arrived when Kim was relaxing at her computer. 

      Kimberly Brooklyn was a thirty one year old woman with light golden hair and blue eyes, which always looked happy. Her mouth was curved in a smile at rest. Her persona was always happy and ready to help. Her husband, Scott, was an elementary school gym teacher. Yeah, they had different stressors at work. But, together, they had two children. Their eldest daughter, Braidie, was fifteen years old, and their son, Cartyr, was eleven. Her biggest rule was that she never bring work home. 

      Jen walked in first, calling, "What's up, Kim? What're you doing?" 

      Kim flew off her chair, onto her feet. "Holy freaking mother of cows, you scared the fudge out of me!" she cried. After she calmed down a bit, she replied, "In answer to your question, I was taking a well-deserved break."

     "A break? From what?" Sam questioned. 

     "Okay, dude, I'm not a suspect. What's with the third degree?" Kim said back. 

     "Sorry," Sam shrugged. "We need you and your 'fantastical skills of forensics'." This was meant facetiously, but Kim didn't seem to get that. 

     "Oooo! I like that! That's gonna be my new title." Jen and Sam exchanged an amused look. 

     Then, Jen took the initiative. "Kim, we're gonna need you to run some evidence for us, sweetie." 

    She got even more happy, if that's possible. "Oh, absolutely! I mean, I couldn't exactly have said no, you know, because it's my job. But, I'll give you the satisfaction of knowing I did it willingly." Sam grinned as she showed her some of the evidence bags. She set them on the counter, as she held up the first one. "Knife found at the scene. Possibly our murder weapon. Killer must've dropped it on their run out." 

      Jen held up the bag she was holding. "Sample of blood, found on the sheets and carpet. Took a sample from both, just in case."                  "Thank you," Kim said taking the evidence over to her area of forensic machinery. Sam and Jen followed, continuing to explain their findings. 

************

 Woods arrived downstairs, saying, "What's up, Cobes? What'd you find?" 

      "Oh, Lieutenant. I got her fingerprints for you," Coby told Woods. "Will you take them up to Kim?"

      "Of course. And, Cobes? You know you don't have to call me Lieutenant, right? You can just call me Woods," he said kindly.                 "Yeah, okay, Lieutenant." Coby answered. 

      Woods rolled his eyes, and decided to stick to the case since Coby obviously wasn't ready for that social interaction jump. "Anything else?" 

      "Um, I don't know? It's your name. Don't you decide what people call you? It's not really my forte," Coby said, worriedly.

      "No, no. Coby, about the case?" Woods explained. 

     "Oh. Yeah. I found cause and time of death," Coby said. 

      Woods smiled at him. "That's great, Cobes." 

      "I know!" Coby told him. 

      Woods paused a moment, thinking he'd get the message. But, since he was not, Woods said softly, "So, the cause would be...?"               Coby suddenly looked flustered. "Oh, sorry, sorry. I forgot to tell you what I found. How stupid of me." 

     "Hey, knock it off. Just tell me what you found. You're fine," Woods told him encouragingly. 

       "Right, okay. Well, as for time of death, it seems was only ten hours ago, 'round one last night." 

       Woods nodded. "And cause?" 

      "Yes, well, there are two stab wounds. The first one, located in the lower abdomen, would've caused damage, but nothing lethal if treated. The second one, however, is what killed her. Just above the first. More of an incision than a stab wound, it seems the doer, pardon my vernacular, got bored or had to rush. He had to off her. So, he cut her open, which caused massive blood flow from the system. This initiating the intended reaction of death. Taking this young girl to a very painful demise," Coby said. 

      "So, you think this was premeditated?" Woods aimed to clarify.         "I honestly don't see how it could be any other way. This wasn't in the moment. He or she obviously had a vendetta against this girl for some reason," Coby clarified. 

       Something else popped into his head. Woods asked, "You said time of death, it was one last night?" 

      "Indeed so," Coby bemusedly asked. "Why? Is that exceptionally odd?" 

      "No, nothing. Just something I have to figure out. You did great work, Cobes," he said as he walked out the door.

 ************ 

Woods approached the door to the forensic lab with the finger prints Coby had given him. He found Jen and Sam making their exit. 

       Jen saw him, and greeted, "Hey, boss." 

       Woods replied, "Hey. D'you get her the evidence?" 

       Sam answered, "Yeah, made her day." 

       Woods nodded his approval. "Great. Jen, I want you to go up and help Jack and Doug. Sam, you help Alex and Joey. They'll fill you in." 

      Jen said, "Sure," and she and her partner made their way to the elevator. 

       Woods walked into the lab to find Kim. "Kim? I have some finger prints for you," he called. 

       Kim appeared from behind her computer. She cheerfully said, "Thanks, man!" 

       "Did you just call me 'man'?" he asked, a bit incredulously. 

       Kim huffed, "Well, I'm trying to be one of the guys, and I don't know what you say nowadays." 

       "Okay," he said, continuing as if that hadn't happened. "Call me with the results. I have to go." 

       Kim nodded. "You got it, sir." Woods turned at the door and looked at her. "Yeah, I'm back to being professional."

 ************ 

Jen and Sam made their way to their floor. The view that met them disturbed them a bit. 

       "Hey, Jen!" Jack called through a mouthful of God knows what. "We've been looking for you." 

       Jen looked pensive as she responded, "How hard? You knew we were in the forensic lab." 

       Doug said, "Oh, well, we stopped for doughnuts first."                           "Obviously," Jack added.

       "Do you know how bad doughnuts are for you?" Sam asked.                 Jack looked down at her and smiled. "I think that's a girl thing, Sam. Men can eat doughnuts all day and not gain one pound." 

       Sam stared at him. Then, she said, "Two words: Homer Simpson. I'm done talking to you now. Good luck, Jen." She then walked across to Alex's desk. 

       "Jack? Hey, hi! Why were you looking for me?" Jen smiled.                  Doug answered through a mouthful of doughnut, "We need the list of crime scene creepers." 

       Jen raised an eyebrow. "'Crime scene creepers'?" 

       "Yeah," Jack explained. "Creepy people who lurk at crime scenes." 

       Jen rolled her eyes. She glanced at Sam, who was doing her exaggerated version of Jack and Doug's side of their earlier conversation, which Alex and Joey apparently found hilarious. Jen couldn't help smiling at her partner's antics. "Okay, come on. I have the list right here," Jen said, pulling out her miniature notebook. They all walked over to Jack's desk, him being the one who least likely cared whom saw his desk, which was basically a desk, a computer, and a mess of papers and folders. 

      Jen sat down in his desk chair to his astonishment. Jack looked at her in disbelief. How dare she seat herself upon what everyone called 'His Throne of Honor'? Okay, no one called it that, but still! 

       "What?" Jen asked in impatience. 

       Jack quickly said, "Well, that's actually my chair!" After quickly being under her gaze for several seconds, he changed his attitude. "But, you can sit there, Jen." 

       "Nice backbone, Kowalski! You really showed her!" Doug sarcastically told Jack. 

       Jack looked at him. "Shut up." 

       "Hey, kiss and make up already. We have work to do," Jen told them. They both looked at her in surprise. She didn't notice. "Okay. Most of the list is neighbors. Carl and Kristy Lowe, Lucy Harlan, Mark and Georgia Rondez, Allen and Carly Arado, and Perry and Natalia Alice. Most of 'em stated that they didn't hear anything during the altercation, but Mr. Alice went in, saw what'd happened, and called us," Jen said. 

       Woods walked in then. "Hey, boss?" Jack called. 

       "Yeah, what's up, Kowalski?" he returned. 

       "Is Perry Alice british?" Jack asked. 

       "Uh, what?" Woods asked, seriously considering his sanity in hiring this young man. 

       "Well, his name sounds sort of britishy, don't you think?" Jack asked. 

       Woods studied him for a moment, then said, "Sure....Anyway, Cobes said time of death was 'round one last night. She bled out."             "But, Alice told me he called at midnight. Wouldn't she have been alive. Like, if it'd been me, for instance, I'd've called the paramedics first, then the fuzz. He didn't call the paramedics at all," Jack voiced aloud. 

       Woods nodded. "That's what I wanna know." 

       The room was then filled with a certain sorrow. They were all asking themselves the same questions: What kind of person could, or better yet, would want to do this...and more importantly, how were they gonna catch them?

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long. I got busy with things you probably don't really care about. So, I'll try to get the third chapter out a bit faster. Thanks,

rdawg15