Note: While this story deals with all new characters, it is suggested to read "The Worst Way to Pay a Debt" from my story submissions in order to get a full picture. Thank you for reading.
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Detective Duncan Price had been on many murder scenes during his career, but none were like this one. Several police officers and other crime researchers were attempting to gather any evidence they could.
Price was a tall man and a bit on the bulky side. His skin was very dark, and he kept his head and face clean shaven. On this particular case, he was talking to a medical investigator that he had used many times in the past.
"So, what are we looking at here? Some kind of gang out of control?" Duncan had asked standing over the much older researcher.
The white haired, bearded man looked up from the body that he was examining, but not for long.
"This man's head was thrown into this desk so hard that his neck snapped. Death was almost instant."
"What could do something like that?"
The researcher shook his head as he continued. "I have no idea. It's like this man fell from a very high up position... this isn't even possible."
Duncan nodded and replied, "What about the rest of them?"
The medical examiner stood and walked over to the overweight man whose body slumped along the wall. He pointed out the throat as he said, "This man's throat was completely crushed..."
"You mean he was strangled?" Duncan interrupted.
"No." The M.E. cut back in. "It was completely crushed as if done by some sort of machine."
"Is there any evidence of machinery?"
The M.E. shook his head no in response.
"So... what did I miss?" The very attractive young blonde interrupted. She wore a dark full suit, much like Duncan's. The only difference was that hers was much more feminine.
With her entrance, the medical examiner turned to look at Duncan for answers.
"Oh..." Duncan started like he had been caught off guard. "This is Detective Katrina Williams. She just transferred in from across country."
Katrina reached out with her hand to shake the M.E.'s, but he held up gloved hands.
"I'm sorry... I didn't even think about that. I'm Detective Price's new partner."
The M.E. nodded and replied, "It's about time you got a new partner."
"I've worked with a few people." Duncan defended.
The older man said, "You know what I mean. I didn't see any sign that machinery was used other than the obvious damage to the bodies. I need to do some more tests, but I'll let you know if I find anything."
"Of course." Duncan said as he turned to Katrina. "Did you find anything from the other workers?"
"From the ones I could find. Apparently, one of these guys was the boss. I'm guessing the fat one from the descriptions. Nobody I talked to seemed to know what was going on, and there are so many rumors flying around it's hard to figure out which are the real leads."
Duncan focused on Katrina's face as he asked, "But you do have something?"
"Maybe." Katrina continued, "There was one girl working here that the club manager called 'Doll.' Apparently, there was some serious stuff going on between them."
"Serious enough for him to die over?" Duncan chimed in.
"Could be. Nobody knew what her real name was, so I had to dig through some stuff in the office until I found an address."
"No name though?"
Katrina shook her head and responded, "Not yet."
Duncan motioned for them to leave and said, "It's a start."
They rode in Duncan's car, with silence for the first part of the trip.
"You're a very quiet person." Katrina had noted.
At first, Duncan didn't respond. Slightly, he turned to her and asked, "What?"
"Lost inside your head again?"
He looked back to the road and nodded. "Sorry... I do that from time to time."
"I know that you don't know me very well, but is it something you can share with me?"
The moment became uncomfortable as Duncan just looked out to the road ahead. They stopped at a traffic light, which caused another uncomfortable silence.
Katrina was the one who broke it when she said, "I read about what happened to your partner. I'm sorry."
Duncan just waved his hand as the light changed, and the car continued forward.
"I'm guessing it did a number on you."
For the first time, Duncan really took notice of her and responded, "It did, but that's not the worse part."
This had pulled Katrina in as she leaned toward Duncan and asked, "What?"
Something in his expression had changed.
"After Ryan died I started to work more and more. I guess I felt guilty... I don't even know why."
"A response like that is natural."
"Yeah." Duncan continued, "But... I didn't spend much time at home."
Katrina finally realized as she asked, "So you have a wife then?"
"I did." Duncan responded.
Katrina slid away a little as she said, "I'm so sorry... I didn't..."
"It's okay... she's not dead or anything."
"Then, what happened?"
Duncan pulled the car and parked it outside the apartment complex.
"She connected with somebody else... somebody that made her happy."
"You don't sound mad about that?"
Then Duncan turned to look Katrina in the eyes. The emotion was all over his expression.
"I was furious when I first found out and she said she was leaving; but I wanted her to be happy. That's what it finally came down to. I couldn't really blame her for that. Besides... I wasn't much of a father at that point."
Once again Katrina was confused and asked, "You have a child?"
Duncan nodded and replied, "Yeah...a three year old girl. I'm not even sure if the divorce has been finalized yet."
"You've lost so much." Katrina started to say, but Duncan cut her off.
"It's alright. Let's just see if we can find this woman."
Both detectives found themselves outside the apartment door. After a few knocks, the door opened up to a very beautiful dark haired woman with nothing but a towel wrapped around her. Both her hair and body were soaked.
"Can I help you?" She asked as she looked from one detective to the other. For whatever reason, her gaze fell upon Duncan.
Duncan asked, "Do you work at a gentleman's club called Heat?"
The woman simply nodded as both detectives looked at her.
"May I ask what your name is?"
The woman responded to Duncan's question, "It's Casmira... um... Casmira Harris."
"Are you married, Ms. Harris?" Katrina had asked.
"Yes, I am."
Katrina continued the questioning, "And does your husband know you work at the club?"
"He does." Casmira had responded. "I'm not working there anymore. I quit last night just before opening."
"So you don't know?" Duncan asked.
Casmira looked to him and waited.
He said, "The club owner and several others were found dead."
"Oh.." That was the only response that Casmira gave. This caused both detectives to look at each other.
Katrina asked, "Did your husband like having you work at the club?"
Casmira shook her head no.
"I see... can we speak to him?"
"You could if I knew where he was."
Duncan then spoke up. "You don't know where your husband is?"
"I haven't seen him in quite a while. We had a fight about me quitting the club, and then he left. Finally I quit last night..."
Tears started to run down Casmira's face, and she tried to stop them. For the moment, she couldn't speak.
"Are you sure everything is okay?" Katrina asked, and Casmira simply nodded.
"I'm sorry... everything..." Casmira couldn't speak. "It's been really hard the last little while."
Detective Price then asked, "Would your husband want to harm the club manager?"
Casmira nodded and then said, "But he wouldn't have been able to. That man always surrounded himself with bodyguards and thugs. My husband wasn't a strong man... I don't think he could have done it."
This statement caused Duncan to think. It wasn't just what Casmira had said, but also the way she had said it.
"Anybody could have killed somebody with a gun."
Casmira looked at Duncan and asked quickly, "Were they killed with a gun?"
Duncan shook his head no and said, "No... but you already knew that. It was all over your answer."
She turned away for a moment and then back.
"Who killed those people?"
"I don't know." Casmira had responded quickly.
"There were cameras all over that place. We'll be able to find out if you were there or not."
Casmira tried to cover herself up tighter in the towel and she sat down. Nothing else was said for a moment.
"Are you going to arrest me?"
The question almost caught Duncan off guard. He then noticed that Katrina was doing something on her phone. Duncan asked her, "What is it?"
She looked up at him and replied, "They have somebody at the station. A woman that they think witnessed the attack. We should get over there."
Duncan nodded and looked back to Casmira and said, "Don't go anywhere."
On the way back, there was very little talking this time. Apparently, both had a lot on their minds.
Once inside, the station was oddly quiet. The police chief himself stood outside the interrogation room. He was a shorter man that had worked for the police for several years. He had scars on his face to prove it.
"Do we have anything?" Duncan asked.
The police chief turned to look at Duncan. He replied in a rough voice, "No. She refuses to talk and keeps spouting off random crazy things about monsters."
