This story is part of an ongoing series.
The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography.
Feedback and
constructive
criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.
This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.
Part 1 - Prologue
"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"
"HELP! They're trying to break in! 620 Church Street, Apartment 36! 620 Church Street--"
"Sir, what is your name?"
"HELP!" said the man's voice as the sound of a door banging could be heard in the background. Then the muffled sounds of scuffling, followed by a lamp crashing. Then more scuffling--
*BANG!*
After that, silence...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"All units, possible 10-31 in progress with shots fired, 6-2-0 Church Street, Apartment 3-6." said the Dispatcher at Police Headquarters. "Be advised of a 10-32 and possible hostage situation."
"This is Alpha-6, we are coming to the location now." said Patrolman Barker. Other units were right behind him, and soon Patrolman Johnson was leading three other Officers to the apartment, which was just north of the Downtown area and south of North Street.
The door was cracked open. "Body on the floor." said Barker, looking in.
"Let's clear the place." said Johnson. The Officers swiftly entered, coving all the points where they might be ambushed, then they cleared the apartment quickly as the last Officer into the apartment checked upon the person lying on the floor, his face planted into the carpet.
"He's dead." said Sr. Patrolman Morton.
Part 2 - The Crime Scene
Friday, September 22d, 9:30pm. My Police SUV was admitted within the cordon blocking off the street. A surprisingly huge crowd was on the outside of the barricade sawhorses and crime scene tape, and a contingent of TCPD Police Officers were monitoring the line.
As I got to the apartment building in question, I gave my badge number to Patrolman Culver. I looked around. The building at 620 Church Street was not all that wide from the street view, but went a long ways back, to a drainage creek that moved west and fed the River just north of Ronald Reagan Park. The building itself looked like an old converted motel, with the doors facing the outside walkways. And they were numbered 1-88, with the first 44 units on the ground floor, and the next batch upstairs.
I went down to Apartment 36, which was also cordoned off by crime scene tape. Uniformed Officers were milling about, as were Crime Scene CSI personnel. I looked around the parking lot, which was narrow, and saw that the spot for Apt. 36 was occupied by an older model Toyota Camry, a dull silver gray in color.
Going into the apartment, I saw that it was like an efficiency hotel room, with a bathroom at back left and kitchenette at the back right of the room. There was one queen size bed, a meager-looking dining room table and two chairs, and a fairly large walk in closet that was just to the front of the bathroom area; this had been built in when the hotel rooms were converted to apartments. A desk was next to the television set; it had been ransacked.
"Carry on!" I said as all activity halted upon my arrival. The activity resumed. I saw Crime Lab personnel working around the desk and next to the bed where the deceased lay on the floor on his belly. The entry wound just in front of his left ear was very visible.
"Whaddya got, Davis?" I asked. Detectives Jermaine Davis and Teddy Parker were on the scene, obviously in charge of the case.
"Sir," said Davis, "Police responded to a 9-1-1 call where a shot was heard by the 9-1-1 operator. The apartment was empty when Officers arrived, except for the dead body. Single gunshot wound to the head, what looks like a .357 or 9mmP wound."
"We've sent prints to the FBI database via our iPhone apps, but nothing back yet." Davis continued. "His wallet was apparently taken; we can't find it. Some of the papers on the floor are bills, and the name 'Rusty Dawson' is on them. Supervisor Milton is pulling DMV records to see if we get a match with Mr. John Doe on the floor, here."
"Good report." I said. "Anything that will get me interested?" By that, Jermaine knew I meant something out of the ordinary. I noted that the dead man was wearing a plaid shirt and very worn khaki work pants, black socks, and worn tennis shoes that looked like they were bought at Wal-Mart.
"Not yet, sir." said Davis. "Looks like the perps went through the desk really quick, took the guy's phone and computer... you can see where the modem and cable to the computer are, on the desk there... but didn't have time to go through the rest of the place."
I observed J.R. Barnes of the Crime Lab take a camera on the end of a fiberoptic cable and insert it into the edge of the A.C. vent. "No booby traps behind the vent." Barnes said. I nodded in approval of the wise precautions taken. That one was in Chief Griswold's book about crime scenes.
"Parker!" I called out. "Anything of interest?"
"Sir, the Crime Lab is still going through the place." said Parker. "They're going to search the mattress and box springs after we get the body out of here."
"We did find one thing that was a bit unusual, sir." said J.R. Barnes, coming up to me. He held out an evidence bag. Inside it was a disc golf disc. The plastic was a clear pink in color. "No fingerprints at all on it, sir."
"Hmmm," I said, taking the bag. "Innova Champion Discs." I continued, reading the wording on top of the disc. "Champion Panther, numbers speed 5, glide 4, turn -2, fade 1. No phone number or name on the disc. Doesn't look scuffed up, like a disc used at the disc golf park would look."
Jerome Davis said, "Sir, we think this is unusual because it's the only frisbee that we found. If he was a disc golf player, wouldn't he have more than one?"
"That's a good point." I said. "I happen to know that Panthers are often part of three-disc starter sets, and are good beginner discs for new disc golfers. So if this disc is the only one and no others were found, that might be unusual, but it's not out of the realm of possibility."
"Does the pink color mean anything, sir?" asked Christina Cho. "A woman's disc?"
"Not necessarily." I said. "Disc golfers often carry bright colored discs such as pink ones, so they can find them more easily after throwing them. And guys as well as girls carry pink discs for that reason. I think the only unusual thing is that it's a 'Pink Panther'... like the old Peter Sellers and Catherine Schell movie. And the cartoons, of course. My kids can tell you all about Pink Panther cartoons..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Martha's examination of the body was pretty quick, as the bullet wound was obvious, and time of death was established by the 9-1-1 phone call and needed only the slightest bit of verification. Once the body was removed, the evidence collection hastened, including the forensic examination of the bed.
