"Whatta we got Johnson?" Detective Whitten asked moving his sunglasses from around his eyes and placing them in his shirt pocket. He inhaled the scent of mud and wet grass as he ambled towards his partner who was standing next to one of the forensics investigators busy taking photos of the scene. John Whitten had been with the Ashby police department for twenty years, moving to detective seven years ago where he was partnered with Kevin Johnson a 17 year vet and lifetime resident of Ashby. Whitten had been woken up an hour earlier to get to the scene; a running trail that cuts through the city park. They found a crowd of officers, forensics and onlookers who were just outside the yellow tape at the half mile marker of the trail that ran along the edge of a drop off made up of rocks with a man made creek just below it.

"One mud covered body, just over the fencing there." He pointed to the wooden pillars that stuck out from the ground and were about three feet tall connected together by wire at the top and bottom to keep people from going onto the rocks and falling into the creek.

"Who called it in?" Whitten asked looking around at all the faces that were surrounding the scene.

"Jogger, said she was running her usual route and saw something shiny down on the rocks. She went to get a closer look and found the dead guy. The shiny thing was his watch."

"With all the rain last night, it's a good thing he wasn't dumped in the creek, the current might have washed him away and we might not have found him at all."

"Maybe they wanted us to find him. Why else would they leave him so close to the trail?"

"Do we have a time of death from the M.E. yet?" Whitten looked at the time on his watch, 8:45am.

"Let's ask her." They looked to the left as Dr. Franklin, the pathologist pushed the gurney with the black vinyl bag filled with the object of their questioning towards them.

"Morning Cheryl." Johnson greeted.

"Too early if you ask me, but the dead don't wait for me to get up on my own. How you guys doing?"

"Same as you I suppose, rather be in the bed than out here. You got a time of death?"

"According to body temp... about 12 hours ago. I don't know an approximate cause of death yet because of all the caked on mud. I've got to get him washed off and on my table to find out just what killed him."

"Alright. I guess we'll be seeing you later then."

"So what do we know about the crime scene?" Whitten asked as they both watched Cheryl walk away.

"Whoever did this was either incredibly smart or got incredibly lucky with the rain last night. All that mud ran off down the rocks covering the body and erased any tracks that might have been left. They powdered what they could, but there's no fingerprints on anything.

"If he was covered in mud how did the jogger see him?"

"I'm sure an arm sticking out from the rocks would get my attention. She said it just seemed out of place and she took a second look. The arm lead to a whole body."

"No cameras on the trail?"

"Not a one. And we'd be hard pressed to find anyone who saw anything last night with the rain that came through."

"So we're looking for an incredibly smart criminal then?"

"You thinking it's just one?"

"By the size of that man, it seems like it would take two to carry him over here, but let's see where the evidence leads us."

"I guess we'll find out more when we talk to Cheryl later, but we can't rule out sheer determination making one man able to carry a body that size by himself." He looked down at his notepad and the scribblings only he can read written across the paper.

"You know twenty years ago, I thought becoming a detective in this little ass town would be a good thing. Quiet... not too much to do. I was so wrong."

"Yes you were…. so was I. Now let's start with a getaway route. How many ways are there to get into this place?"

"You just came in through it. Most people use the parking lot, the only entrance is through the west, the east side is where the exit is. The jogger lives in those house on the other side of the wrought iron fencing, there's an opening in the fence for the neighborhood people to get in the park, but it's on a cul de sac, so it wouldn't have been used to carry a body all the way over here."

"Yeah, no one's carrying a body through the neighborhood to dump it here. That's almost a quarter of a mile."

"Nope, the parking lot would be the smartest way in. Park in the closest spot and carry him over here. That's what I would do."

"Let's go for a drive then. See if we can spot any cameras that might have caught our suspect." Whitten took the driver's seat with Johnson navigating as they went back out the way he came in and down the only road that leads you to the park. They found four businesses that had mounted cameras on the outside of their storefronts, as well as three red lights with cameras that the suspect would have had to drive through to get to the park. It took two hours to get all the footage and get back to the station.

"I can't believe this shit, they had better visuals for the moon landing. This is from the shoe repair place?"

"Yeah. Most likely he uses them as deterrents rather than actually needing to catch someone breaking into his store. Who robs a shoe repair store anyways?"

"Well, the red light cameras were a bust, only three cars drove through all night and all those checked out."

"Let's go see Cheryl, maybe she's had better luck."


"What you got for us Cheryl?"

"Well after I cleaned all the blood off of him, I counted 12 stab wounds all over his body. Not a single toenail is still attached and his penis is hanging by a thread."

"Wow. I wonder if he got interrupted or if that was the plan? Is he missing an eye?"

"Yes he is. I can honestly say that I've never seen such brutality against one person."

"Damn. This definitely wasn't random. Crime of passion?" Cheryl shrugged her shoulders not wanting to give her opinion and leave that to the detectives.

"You think you know what kind of weapon was used?"

"Some sort of knife for these, they measured four inches deep. Maybe an ice pick for the other ones, they're shallower at 3 inches. I'll know more after casting them. I can tell you that there are 6 points of entry for what could be the ice picks and 6 for the knife wounds."

"Cause of death?"

"I'm guessing he bled out. None of these wounds were deep enough to sever anything. This one right here…" She pointed to a three inch cut in his chest. "Just to the right of his heart. But looks like they got the femoral artery right here. She touched a hole on his left leg pointing to where the fatal wound was. I was just about to open him up, and have a look inside." Turning away from the body Whitten looked at Johnson with wide eyes.

"Did we find enough blood for him to have bled out at the scene?" Johnson asked

"With all the rain and mud, there could have been, but it most likely washed away." Whitten answered.

"Incredibly smart... You got an i.d?" Johnson asked Cheryl.

"I did a fingerprint scan not too long ago, the computer's still running them."

"You see anything else that might help us?"

"He's got these marks on his wrists, he was probably tied up or something. The bruises look like a chain. See the oval marks all around his wrists and this smaller marking in the middle of it, that could be where the metal of the chain was fused together to create the link?" The computer beeped and they all looked up towards the screen. Cheryl walked over to see the results. "Looks like a Brian Heriot." Whitten, jotted the name down and then he and Johnson, left the exam area, not wanting to see the inside of a dead man before lunch.

"The land developer, Brian Heriot?" Johnson asked Whitten when they returned to their office.

"You've heard of him?"

"Yeah. He's a big time player in the real estate market. I was surprised he moved to our little town a few years back." Johnson tapped on the keyboard some more, bringing up more information for Brian Heriot. "He's only lived in Ashby for three years. Looks like he lived out of state before that."

"Married?" Whitten asked, prepared to write down the answer.

"Yeah."

"Let's take a ride then. Lunch is on you after we deliver the news."

Arriving at the address they notice two cars in the driveway of the modern Victorian home, a new minivan and a older Dodge Ram 4x4 that seemed too dusty and dirty to be parked next to the sleek minivan. A pristine lawn, edged to perfection, as well as meticulously pruned bushes that lined the west side of the property. There was a large window that covered most of the front of the house, curtains pulled, but the stained glass inset in the front door showed movement on the inside. Detective Whitten rang the doorbell and they waited as the sound of footsteps got closer. The lock unlatched and the door opened to a tall blonde standing on the other of the door.

"Can I help you?"

"Hello ma'am. I'm Detective Whitten and this is my partner Detective Johnson." They flashed their badges and waited as she thoroughly inspected each one with a careful eye. Looking back up to them when she was finished.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"We're here about Mr. Heriot."

"Brian? He's not here. He's in Sedona on a business trip. He's not expected back until the day after tomorrow."

"Are you Mrs. Heriot?" Johnson asked her.

"Yes, Lilly Heriot."

"Ma'am, may we come in?" Whitten asked her.

"What's this about? Is he in some sort of trouble?" She widened the door to allow them to walk inside her home. "Do I need to call him?"

"No that won't be necessary. When's the last time you spoke to him ma'am?"

"Yesterday evening before he left." She darted her eyes back and forth between the two men and took a deep breath. "I called him while I was on break at work and he was finishing his packing before he headed to the airport." She lead them to the sitting area of the front room and motioned for them to sit down. "Can I get y'all something to drink?" She stepped towards her kitchen but stopped when Whitten spoke.

"No. We're fine… Mrs. Heriot...we hate to have to tell you this, but your husband was found dead this morning." She stared at Detective Whitten's mouth waiting for him to say that he was just joking and she was being set up or something, but he didn't say anything more. He watched her blink her eyes over and over again processing what he'd just told her and looking as though she was expecting him to say something else. "Mrs. Hariot? Are you okay? Did you hear me?" She smiled at him and looked into his eyes. She walked over to the couch and slowly lowered herself down on it.

"Who put you up to this? Brain's not dead. I just talked to him yesterday... he can't be dead."

"We're really sorry to have to tell you this way, but the medical examiner confirmed it with his fingerprints." Trying to get down to business, Johnson pulled out a small spiral notebook from the inside pocket of his blazer. "Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your husband. Did he have any enemies?"

"No, not that I know of, he was a land developer for God's sake. Why would anyone want to hurt him? Wait a minute...was he murdered?"

"Yes ma'am, he was." Johnson confirmed.

"Can you tell us where you were last night?" Whitten asked her.

"Me? I was at work, like I said before, I work at the hospital and got off at seven last night, then I came home...Why are you here?" She took a deep breath and released it. "If he was murdered in Sedona, why is Ashby PD here? Shouldn't I be getting a call on the phone?"

"Mrs. Hariot, your husband was found in town, off the Ashby trails. Is that his car out in the driveway?"

"Yes. He always takes a taxi to the airport. Where is my husband now?"

"He's with the medical examiner." Johnson pulled out a card with Dr. Franklin's information on it and handed it to her. Call this number so that you can set up a time to identify the body. She took the card and crumpled it in her hand, still not allowing the truth to sink in.

"Mommy?" All eyes turned to the little girl that stood at the bottom of the steps. She waited for her mom to start talking, not realizing that she had interrupted a grown up conversation.

"Yes, baby?" Lilly got up and went to her daughter, smoothing her hair back and giving her as real of a smile as she could give.

"Can I have some ice cream after lunch?"

"Yes you can. Let's start making lunch now. Why don't you meet me in the kitchen?" She watched the little girl walk away and then turned to Johnson and Whitten. "I think you should leave now." She waited for them to stand before walking them to the front door and opening it for them.

"We are sorry for your loss. We'll be in touch if we have anymore questions." As they both stepped onto the front porch, the door slammed behind them, shutting them off from any further communication with the new widow.


"These photos don't give us shit, Johnson. We've been staring at them all week and I'm about crossed eyed looking at the the same shit day after day. There's nothing here that's going to lead us to anything. There wasn't a footprint, a hair, or a fingerprint left at the scene. No threads from clothes and not one eyewitness that saw anything out of the ordinary."

"Well he didn't just drop from the sky. Somebody murdered him and left him for us to find." Whitten stopped in front of the wall that was covered in notes and facts from the crime scene. Nothing was leading them any closer to a killer than they were the first day the yellow tape went up.

"According to the evidence that is turning up nothing, he did just drop from the sky." Johnson said, feeling defeated.

"So someone was able to carry a dead naked man through the park in the rain, dump his body and leave not one trace of evidence?"

"What kind of person are we dealing with here?"

"Whoever it is, they've seemed to have committed the perfect murder." Whitten stated before walking away from the wall. "Who the hell killed this man?"

For two months Johnson and Whitten put everything they had into solving Brian Heriot's murder. Going over crime scene photos hundreds of times and watching camera footage from along the streets from every angle that lead to the park the night of the crime. They interviewed everyone that Mr. Heriot associated with and discovered that there wasn't anyone that had a bad thing to say about him. He was a well respected guy with land developing projects in progress as well as deals that were still in the works. He had lived in Ashby for three years and married his wife Lilly not long after. The only child involved was Lilly's daughter Meghan. It was the second marriage for both of them. Brian's first wife died in a car accident many years before and Lilly's first husband left her and filed for divorce four years ago. After the initial shock of her husband's murder, Mrs. Heriot spoke again to the detectives, allowing them access to any and everything they wanted in their home. They discovered that Brian had an unusual fish tank obsession and was into military weapons and vehicles. As was evident by his large collection of books on those subjects. Although his collection was unusual, it didn't lead to anything useful that would help them solve his murder.

10 years later

"This is it, sorry about the mess, but there's a lot to go through. Ever since they gave us Ashby's cases and now Woodland Hills too, we've got a shit ton of shit to do. Budget cuts are a bitch especially when you're dealing with crime." The lights flickered on and the brightness from the sun that seeped in the windows high on the wall, illuminated the dust that could be smelt within the room. "It's a basement, but it's large and you and your partner will have it all to yourselves."

"No problem, Ford, as least it'll keep me busy." He looked around the large room lined with steel shelves filled with cardboard boxes, numbers written on the outside of each one. "I'll be busy for decades by the look of all these case files."

"That you will be my friend. Your partner should be here soon; Sasha Williams. She's talking with the Sheriff right now, she's a bit of a genius, so solving these cold cases should be easy, right?" He winked and wiggled his eyebrows which made his red hair on the top of his head move. "I hear she's a bit of a firecracker though, but I don't see why y'all shouldn't get along to solve these cases. Hey, let me know if you need anything from me. It's nice to have you on board Grimes."