Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!
I groaned picking up the phone before Alisa woke up.
"Detective Henning" I murmured tiredly in the phone, Alisa's warm body shifting beside me. I placed a hand on her bare shoulder to still her, turning on the bedside lamp.
"Henning, this is O'Connell, we need you down at the station ASAP"
"Something happen?" I looked at the clock; 5:02….
"A fisherman down at the pier was on his boat early this morning. Came across the victim form our missing person's case. We have him down at the station to ask him a few questions, and we need you to come in" the bed shifted as my wife sat up tiredly.
"I'll be down in twenty to thirty minutes" hanging up the phone, I beckoned to Alisa, wrapping her up in my arms.
"What's happened?" she drawled sleepily.
"Victim of that missing person's case turned up near the pier. Have to get down to the station for questioning" I kissed the side of her face, before getting up to start the day.
"I'll get up, make you some coffee" she pushed the heavy duvet away, slipping her feet into some silk slippers. I wrapped my arms around her as she reached to get her night robe.
"You need to sleep" I chided. She was two months along in her pregnancy and hadn't been getting much sleep lately.
She protested, "I'll go back to sleep once I've seen you off" she padded across the carpeted floor of our bedroom, throwing on a silk robe to keep away the chill.
I switched on the luminescent bathroom light, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I had bags under my eyes from the constant nostalgic nights of sleep, always tossing and turning. I took a quick shower, alleviating all the tense muscles in my neck and shoulders, before trudging downstairs fully dressed. Alisa leaned against the island, a cup of coffee for herself in her hands. My portable mug was sitting on the table along with my badge, my wallet, my keys, my cell phone, and a breakfast bar.
"Do you have your appointment later this morning?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her waist. She set the mug down, leaning back into me with a sigh, like always.
"Yes. And then Marjorie wants to take me to a baby store for clothes and furnishings. I should be back by one and I'll make sure to ring you once I get in. Will you be home for lunch, darling?" I nuzzled my face into the side of her neck whilst she talked, wishing to just stay here forever.
"I don't think so honey" I answered her. She slumped her shoulders in disappointment, snuggling closer to my figure.
"Oh well" she muttered, "I think I might go grocery shopping. Get some things for dinner and whatnot. Anything you want in particular?" I turned her around in the embrace, looking into her beautiful brown eyes that made me fall in love with her all over again. "Nothing special. Something simple, so we can lay in bed later on and watch movies…" I suggestively said. She hit my arm, giggling at the idea.
She jokingly said, "You promise?" I bent down, devouring her lips in a light kiss that was filled with promise. She wrapped her hands around my neck, situating her fingers in the strands of hair near the nape of my neck.
"I promise" I muttered, my breath washing over her. She sighed contently, and then waved me off to work.
By the time I got down to the station it was 6:02. Lt. Daniel O'Connell, my chief in command, was standing near the holding cell, conversing with some of the officers assigned to the case.
"Henning" he said we he saw me approaching, "come with me to my office." The desk was cluttered with papers and files of every sort, a half empty bottle of fine whiskey perched near his computer. He slapped a small case file on the desk, a picture of a man in his late fifty's, early sixty's, paper clipped to the front of it.
"This is Ronald Davis, the fishermen who found our missing persons. Saunders got the call around 3:02 this morning, the old geezer, calling and complaining of something obstructing the path his boat was going. Mickels was the first on the scene; he identified it as our missing person. We sent the body to the morgue after evaluating it, and we're waiting for a detoxify and some screenings, and a blood test, to tell us who this person is. Judging from the condition the body was in, it's been drifting through the waves for about two to three weeks. The ring finger of the right hand was cut off and their throat was slashed cleanly. Mr. Davis is in a holding cell right now, waiting for questioning. Are you ready?"
"Yes, in a minute. Let me just call Alisa, make sure she went back to bed before her appointment." I fished my phone out my coat pocket, pressing 1, on speed dial. It rang once before she answered.
"I thought you were working on the missing person's case? Did you make it there alright?" her voice was heavily ladled in sleep, letting me know she went back to bed.
I apologized, "Sorry I woke you up baby, just calling to make sure you went back to bed is all" I heard shuffling and groaning coming from the other end, before she replied. "S'ok darling, just be careful today. I'll call you later" we hung up, and I spun around. O'Connell had an expectant look on his face, but decided to say nothing. As we went into the interview room, Ronald Davis was sitting there very anxiously.
"Mr. Davis" I introduced myself, "I'm Detective Henning and this Lt. O'Connell, we just need you to answer a few questions about the missing person's we're-"
"I don't know nothing" he blurted. His eyes shifted back and forth between O'Connell and me, never settling on one thing for a certain amount of time. Seems we would have to try this a different way…
"Mr. Davis do you have a wife? Children?" the old man gave me a bewildered expression, hesitantly nodding his head yes.
"I have a wife also. She's pregnant right now with our first child. Now Mr. Davis would you do anything to protect your wife and kids?"
"Yes" he said immediately.
"We just want to keep you safe, I assure you. But in order to do this, we need you to tell us all that happened this morning when you found the missing persons."
He ran a hand through his slightly matted red, hair, before beginning his story:
"Well I had been in a neighboring city at the Farmer's Market, trying to sell all the fish I caught. I get back, and I'm ready to pull into port when I hit something. The port was still at least 20 feet away, so I didn't know what it was. Anyway, I grabbed a flashlight from my bag and shined it on the water. At first I saw nothing, but then there was some hair and I followed it up to a head, and a body. I almost dropped the flashlight, frightened me so bad. I grabbed the nearest phone and called you guys and told one of your officers, Mickey, or Michael, or something, what happened, and he showed up on the scene. "
"Is that all?" O'Connell questioned, his pen stilling on the notepad. Mr. Davis nodded, and we stopped the tape recorder and left out the interview room.
Lewis Mickel, a friend and partner of mine, informed us that the morgue had performed the detoxify, the screenings, and the blood test we needed. The woman's name was Laura Isles; she was 24 years old, a wife and mother of three, and had been reported missing after she didn't come home one night from her shift at the hospital. She had been described by her husband Ray Isles, and had been missing for at least two months. After contacting Mr. Isles, we convinced him to come down to the station later on for some questioning.
"We found out the hospital Mrs. Isles was working at. I'm going down there to question some of the nurse's staff as well as the doctors. Henning, you coming along?" Lewis asked me. We drove the 30 minute drive to King's College Hospital in Denmark Hill, London, parking on the side of the building. As we entered the hospital, nurses and doctors bustled about us.
"May I help you?" a nurse said professionally.
"Yes. Ms…Beatrice. I'm Detective Henning and this is my partner Lewis Mickel. We are aware that a Laura Isles, worked on your hospital staff is that correct?" She set down the phone cradled at her cheek, and looked at us with a guarded expression.
"Yes…Laura worked on the hospital staff. She hasn't come in to work lately, has something happened to her?" Lewis had a solemn expression on his face. "Yes. Mrs. Isles went missing about two months ago, when her husband reported it to us, when she didn't come home from her shift at the hospital one evening. Can you tell us what times that Mrs. Isles worked her shifts?" She typed away furiously on the computer, her brow furrowing in concentration.
"Yes…Laura worked from 9 am to 7 pm on Monday through Thursday and 9 am to 1 am on Fridays." We jotted down her schedule in the notepad, deciding to ask her one or two more questions.
"Ms. Beatrice, can you tell us if you were close to the victim?" The woman nodded, "Oh, but of course. Laura was always so sweet and caring and loving. Always showing up to work on time, always polite to the patients, just a nice, sweet girl. So young and pretty too."
"Did the victim talk about relations with her husband or other people?" The woman hesitated, her mouth forming a small "o".
"Well….ummm…" she started, "A few months before she went missing, Laura came into work crying, and acting depressed. She was really out of it, really quiet, etc. Me and some of the other nurses asked her what was wrong during our lunch break, and she confessed that her and Ray were having some marital problems…They were always fighting about money, the children, little things really. She said that she was getting tired of the constant fighting, and was thinking of getting a divorce and taking the children with her. She stayed the late shift that night, not wanting to go home. And then the next day she came in….different…She was…happy, smiling, dancing around like she was on cloud nine.
We asked her if she had worked things out with Ray and she rolled her eyes and said no. She said that when she was on the late shift she talked with one of the new doctors on the staff, Dr. Browning. She said that he made her feel special and loved, and that he was really funny and cute. That night she took on another late shift with Dr. Browning, and came in the next day gushing on how perfect and dreamy he was. Again we asked her if she had talked things out with Ray and she again said no. She said that they had argued about her taking the late shifts, but that she couldn't seem to care now that Dr. Browning was in her life. Now, Dr. Browning is single and I have an inkling he knew that she was married.
Anyway, about three weeks after the first late shift, Laura came in happier than she normally was. She confessed that after the late shift her and Dr. Browning went to a hotel and had an "affair". Said it was the best night of her life. She kept this up and her problems with Ray got worse and worse as her and Dr. Browning got closer. And then about a week or two before her disappearance she came in and said that she wanted to work things out with Ray. She said that she was going to end it with Dr. Browning.
She came in the next morning, said she did it, and that he was heartbroken about it. He would stop by the nurses' station after that just to see her, or would ask for her help with a certain patient, anything just to be near her again. She said that she was frightened and that she was ready to call the police. When the obsession continued she did call the police, and they gave him a warning.
It continued and she decided to tell Ray, that there was a doctor at the hospital who was stalking her. She didn't tell him about the affair though. Ray came into the hospital one day with a bat in his hand, demanding to know where Dr. Browning was. Once he found him, he was close to hitting him with a bat but someone yanked it away. So he resorted to punching him and kicking him and he did break his nose. Someone called the police but Dr. Browning did not press charges.
For a while he stayed away but then he continued to stalk her. And then…she just disappeared. She had taken the late shift to try to talk to Dr. Browning again, and that was on Friday. On Monday she never came in. Same on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. No one has seen or heard from her since that last late shift…" The nurse shrugged when she finished her story and we went to justify her story with the other nurses. They confirmed this and we decided to talk to Dr. Browning.
Dr. Mark Browning was a young and very strapping doctor.
"Dr. Browning, I'm Lewis Mickel and this is my partner Detective Henning. We would like to ask you a few questions about one of your co-workers, a Mrs. Laura Isles. Do you mind if we record this conversation?" When we mentioned Laura the Dr tensed, his eyes becoming wide with panic. Something to remember later….
He cleared his throat, "Gentleman, what would you need to know about Laura. Is she alright? She hasn't come in to work lately, that's not like-"I held up my hand to silence him.
"In due time, Dr. Browning. Do you mind if I call you Mark? Of course not. Now to answer your incessant questions, we need to ask you about your relations with Mrs. Isles. She was brutally murdered in cold blood and was missing two months prior to our discovery of her this morning at approximately 3:02 this morning. Now we hear that you and Mrs. Laura had some sort of affair. For the record, is this true?"
He gripped the side of his desk like a vice, sweat starting to bead upon his forehead. Interesting….
"F-For the record…well I guess its best not to lie to the police-"
"Very Wise, Mark" Lewis commented.
"Yes, I did have relations with Mrs. Isles. We were very much in love, you see."
I raised an eyebrow at him, jotting down some notes in my notepad. "From what we are told, Mrs. Isles wanted to work things out with her husband. You didn't take that well did you? You wanted her all to yourself…"
"I loved Laura!" he exclaimed. The air in the room had become tense and electrical. Mark's eyes became shifty, jumping from one place in the room to another.
"….Right… Now you had an obsession with Laura after she ended the affair. Couldn't leave her alone, could you? She called the police, and we can easily look that up, and they gave you what? A slap on the wrist? But you couldn't stop; you needed to be close to Laura. So she told her husband that she had a hospital stalker. He broke your nose didn't he? So tell us, when the police came and finally got Mr. Isles off of you, and asked if you wanted to press charges, you didn't. Why? Wanted to be the hero in Laura's life? Thought it'd earn you some points with Laura so you could finally win her back? Or did you know that by pressing charges a lot of dirty secrets would come out? Any of those choices sound good? Or do you prefer all of the above?
Mark started to perspire more, his hands starting to shake.
"I-I knew that deep down Laura wouldn't be happy if I pressed charges yes, but any dirty little secrets. Don't we all have them detective?"
"No I can't say we do Mark" I commented, "I happen to tell my wife everything that's going on in my life. There's nothing to hide from the person you love. So, flatter me, does anyone else know about your dirty little secret or is it just you, Laura, and God?"
"I loved Laura" he said again, "I didn't want to ruin her reputation around the hospital like that. She was here longer than I, and everyone just loves her. She had this essence about her, you know? One that just draws you to her. You should know that feeling, right detective? You're married, right?" I sat back in plush, leather upholstery, looking through all the cracks in the doctor's façade.
"Yes I am married. And yes, I know that feeling. But I would never, ever cheat on my wife. Nor would I come between somebody else's marriage. But I guess that wasn't a factor in your plan. Didn't think about the long-term, only the short, right? Life is short and all that other shit" His jaw tensed, eyes ablaze with anger. Guess I struck a nerve….
"Detective I think you should watch your tongue" he snapped, "Now as I have said before, I loved Laura. More than I loved myself. And I would never do anything to hurt her, especially not murder her in cold blood."
"We didn't ask you that Mr. Browning. Are you implying something about yourself to us? Go ahead open up, it's just us guys…"
"I think you should leave this office, some of us have work to do. Which is something you should be doing? You know, going out there to find Laura's real killer."
When we got back to the station, our professional doctor, Dr. Andrews, was conversing quietly with Lt. O'Connell.
"Mickel, Henning, get over here. You need to hear this" his voice was gruff and hoarse as he sat listening to what Dr. Andrews had to say.
"Hello boys" he said with a melancholy tone of voice. We shook hands with him, then sat down in the tightly crowded cubicle.
"Now we sat down and went through all the test we did on the victim" he started, "and we have come to find out that Mrs. Isles was with child when she went missing…."