The sea breeze floats in through the open French doors, the white cotton curtains, caught up in the breeze, look like ghosts as the gently rise and fall. On the floor, small, glitter-like fragments of glass are spread out over the faded pine floorboards. Weaving in between the shards is a river of blood, which has been meandering from the body for a few hours. She lays peacefully, eyes closed, her hands clasped gently together on her chest holding a bunch of white flowers, the white dress that she wears makes her look angelic. Her killer looks at her, seeing the crime they have committed, she's at peace…
"Jeff! You're going to be late!" Jim shouts, placing a sandwich into a paper lunch bag.
"I can't find my shoes!" The boy replies in frustration.
"Near the front door!" Jim suggests, knowing already that he would find them there.
"Got 'em!" Jeff runs into the kitchen, colliding with a box as he slides on the floor boards.
"Careful, we don't need another accident in this house," Jim warns him.
Jeff looks sheepishly down, smiling inwardly. It has been a few months since the fire; still some of the rooms had not been completed, the kitchen being one, boxes of cabinets and worktops remained unopened. With Callie in Atlanta, it had been up to Jim and Jeff to finish the house, but school and work had taken priority. As well as the wedding.
"I'm dropping you off on the way, you ready to go?"
"Yeah," Jeff sighs.
"C'mon then, we need to be off."
They walk towards the front door, then Jim's phone rings.
"Longworth," he answers.
"Hey Jim, it's Carlos," the medical examiner replies, "We have a body."
"Where abouts?"
Jeff looks up to him, knowing that the news isn't good. He slings his backpack on and opens the front door. Jim follows, replying to Carlos with a series of "uh huhs" and "okay"s.
Finally, Jim puts the phone down; almost immediately Jeff asks "Another murder?"
"Yeah," Jim sighs.
"You'll be late home, huh?"
"Are you kidding? I'm definitely gonna be home in time for our Fifa tournament tonight."
Jeff smiles back, "Yeah, and you're gonna lose…again."
"Ha, nice try. Anyway, you cheated last time," Jim counters.
"Did not. It's not my fault mum called."
"Yeah it is, you told her to call! C'mon, in the car or we'll be both be late!"
Jeff smiles, he misses his mum for sure, but with Jim around, the waits between her coming home seemed a lot shorter.
"Are you gonna give me all the gory details when you get home tonight?"
"Maybe, you know the drill, I don't tell you anything until you do your homework, and I mean all of it!"
"I've nearly finished it," Jeff lies, opening the car door.
"Word of advice," Jim replies, he waits for Jeff to nod before continuing, "never lie to a detective."
"It's hard," Jeff complains, sliding into the passenger seat of the Jim's Dodge, "I don't get any of it."
"Well, if you need any help, just ask," the detective offers, getting into the driver's seat, "Hey, I'm not as thick as I look… whatever Manus tells you."
The car starts instantly, and they pull away. Jeff's school is not far from the house, and they arrive moments before the first bell. Jeff makes a quick exit, racing to meet one of his friends.
"I'll be here to pick you up," Jim calls after him.
Carlos kneels beside the victim, and begins to assess her. Daniel stands close by, also surveying the scene, the pair remain silent, whilst other uniformed officers conduct their usual routine of dusting for fingerprints and taking photos of the crime scene. There is a commotion at the door as Jim races in, apologising to several officers as he rushes past them.
"You're late!" Carlos tells him, not bothering to look up at him.
"Sorry, I had to take Jeff to school," Jim explains briefly.
"You're taking this fatherly responsibility seriously, aren't you?" Carlos replies.
"Jeff's a good kid, anyway, what have we got?"
"Victim's name is Kaylee Lowe, 27, cause of death was a single stab wound to her left hand side," Carlos informs him.
Jim shifts a little, remembering the pain that he suffered receiving a similar injury.
"You okay?" Daniel asks, noticing Jim's discomfort.
"Yeah, I'm fine…so was this a robbery?" Jims quickly responds, trying not to dwell on it.
"Husband found her, he claims that nothing has been touched. She still has cash and her credit cards in her purse, and none of her jewellery has been taken," Carlos stands, "You'll want to check this out too."
He led Jim to the bedroom, the room was already full with officers, but Jim can see through the crowd what Carlos wanted him to see. All over the bed are clothes, some have faint blood stains on them, all had been removed from her wardrobe.
"Blood spatter indicates that these were move after the victim was stabbed," Carlos tells him.
"The killer dressed and posed her, this is one sick person," Jim shakes his head, having dealt with death almost every day, the people who have the nerve to pose their victims after killing them still freaks him out.
"We're going to get her back to the lab; her husband is in the front room if you want to talk to him," Carlos adds, before leaving the overly congested room.
Sam Lowe is shaking on a chair when Jim enters the room, he sits with his head in his hands and, through the gaps between his fingers, his face is bright red. Noticing the detective observing him, he sits up straight, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Mr Lowe, I'm Detective Longworth, is it okay if I could ask you a few questions?" Jim asks softly.
Lowe takes a deep breath, then nods and signals for Jim to sit opposite him.
"I'm sorry for your loss, but I will need to ask you some questions so we can catch her killer, okay?" He starts slowly, knowing that direct questions can sometimes not help in anyway whatsoever, he learnt that when he was a rookie in Chicago.
"Do you know if your wife had any enemies?"
"No," he shakes his head, "everyone loved her… her family…her colleagues…me."
"Where did she go last night?"
"A friend was having a house party, she went but I have been away on business, I only got home today."
"May we have the name of her friend?"
"Moira Banks," he replies, visibly calmer.
"We are also going to check your alibi too," Jim adds, "please understand that we have to be thorough."
Sam nods, "Just please find whoever did this…"
He was cut off by Jim's phone ringing, he apologises before excusing himself.
"Hello?" Jim answers the call.
"Mr Longworth, this is Roy Jennings, I'm Jeff's Principal, if you are available, can you come in?"
"What's happened? Is Jeff okay?"
