Well, here we go with another experiment story. I don't exactly know how I came up with this idea, but I hope it pays off and you readers enjoy it. It will also be my first mature story, and as you will see, it probably deserves that. So with out further due, I give you Homicide Department. As always, please remember to review.
The door opened up before her, and Lyn stumbled out of it. She was drunk, happy and content. Really the whole point of her career. She smiled to herself as she left the club. It was her first real gig, a crowd of about a hundred. She even got asked by a Harkinian record producer for a demo! She was so happy. Finally everything was going her way. She had an apartment that she could pay with her steady and healthy income, and she could have the potential to move up. With a record producer like that, she would be known through out not only the city, but the rest of the world if she had the luck and continually practised her skills.
She walked down the alley back home, her feet screaming in pain all the while. It was the last time, she wore in her head, that she would wear seven inch heels . Femininity be damned, she wanted to be able to walk for the three hours of performance with out sitting down every half hour during the show. She would have to buy some more revealing clothes to make up for those heels, but that was the price of fame.
As she walked through the alley she heard some footsteps that were not her own. She knew they were behind her, and she picked up her pace. It was past midnight, and she didn't want to be taken advantage of this late. The only problem was tat she was walking more sporadic thanks to the pathetic heels.
She did not know, did not want to know, who was behind her. Whose own pace was increasing by the minute, and her own was steadily decreasing. She kept moving forward, feeling her heart pound in her chest every second .
She stumbled over and she heard the the footsteps behind her screech to a halt. She rolled over and saw the man, looking down at her. Though she couldn't see his face, she knew there was one there. She looked down his arm and saw that in his hands there was a loaded.45 caliber handgun. He raised it slowly, making a big deal of the whole situation until it was right in front of her face.
She didn't scream, and she didn't run. As the assassin pulled the trigger, she laughed. Funny thing, things were just starting to go well...
Ike got to the scene as fast as he could, and he was pretty certain he broke one or two traffic laws doing so. But he didn't worry too much about the situation, he was in homicide. This was going to be one of his first cases as a detective and he needed to be there as soon as he could. He needed to get there before any of the evidence was compromised. Undoubtedly there was some that would be, murders were not often reported the second they were committed.
As he pulled up in the south central part of town, he saw his two compatriots awaiting him. Detectives Marth and Link, good friends and fellow classmates at the academy. They have been together through the thick and thin of it, what ever this city could throw at them. Now they worked together in homicide, and realizing that no matter how bad they have it, there are always the cases they see prove others had it worse.
Link looked down at his watch and gestured for Ike to follow them. "Four in the morning. Why can't we ever have a nine to five killer?"
Marth laughed without humor as they ducked through the hounds of the media and under the police tape. "Where is the challenge in that?" Once they were beyond the tape, Marth filled Ike in. "Our vic. is Lyndis Forecastle, better known by her stage name as Lyn. She was a rising underground star in the pop world." Ike nodded as they reached the body of the deceased.
Lyn was sprawled out on the ground, her body in the candid position she must have fell down. Her head was surprisingly intact with the bullet hole in the center of the forehead. In many execution murders Ike saw, the head exploded when shot point blank due to the structure being compromised. It also made it hard to hold down one's stomach contents to see a puddle of skin, bones, blood and organ. Ike looked around the scene as he applied his dark blue rubber gloves, "Does she have her purse or wallet still on hand?"
The purse was passed to him, dangling by the end of Samus' pen. The Medical Examiner coughed and was growing impatient with Ike not taking it so she could use her pen. Ike took the purse and tried not to let his eyes wander on the M.E's choice of attire. Who wears a skin tight jumpsuit? He asked in his mind as he looked through the purse.
Samus spoke while the detectives looked around the body. "Body was discovered by some returning college fraternity students. They thought she was unconscious and looked to see if they could help her. That is when they noticed the bullet hole." She murmured to herself as she wrote some things down. "She died of a single gunshot wound to the head. Death was almost instantaneous."
Ike looked through the purse. ID and credit cards were still there, as was a health sum of three hundred and twelve dollars in medium bills. Clearly this wasn't a robbery gone wrong. What did catch his eye was a business card. He pulled it out and read it aloud. " Harkinian Music Labels. Bringing the stars to glory since 1987."
"Congratulations Ike, you can read." Link jabbed at him and looked at the card, while Ike slugged him on the shoulder in a brotherly fashion. "Hm, this looks to be a recruiting agent's card, a Mr... Wario. Must have given it to her recently. The ink is still relatively fresh on the back. At most a day or two old." Ike flipped it over and it was a series of numbers. Probably the exact phone number to reach the agent in his off hours.
"So it looks like she was at a gig a few hours before she was murdered and given the card there." Samus spoke and the three detectives looked up at her with a questioning look. She rolled her eyes and gestured to the body with her pen. "Revealing clothes, seven inch heels, and enough perfume to choke a horse. No woman that isn't drunk or performing would wear thee clothes in this area."
Marth spoke with out thinking. "Says the woman who wears a jumpsuit that gives her a few cup sizes, douses herself in strip mall fragrance, and who wears heels where ever she goes." He realized that he was speaking and Ike made a low whistle at the statement. If any one had a death wish, the easiest way to die would be to bring up Samus' femininity, something she always had people judge her on.
Samus glared at him. "Another comment and I will see you on my slab." Marth nodded, knowing full well what Samus was capable of it. "Judging by her body temperature and color of skin, I would say she was killed shortly after midnight, two o'clock at the very latest. I'll have to tun some more tests on her when I get back to the lab."
Link moved the head a bit and grimaced as he saw the exit wound. Lyn's dark sea green hair was covered in blood and the bone fragments from where the back of her skull exploded on the ext wound. The pinkish grey matter of the brain hung over the exit wound and threatened to slop our of the pan that held it all together. "This is too clean to be just a random thrill kill. Looks professional."
Ike nodded and the three traced the area for any last shards of evidence. No bullet casing, so it must have been a revolver or the killer was tidy. The three regrouped and Link began to write things down as Marth and Ike spoke. When they finished their list, Link repeated it. "Contact next of kin to see if there is any. Check record for any previous convictions. Get a search warrant for her house, look for anything suspicious. Contact this Warrio and see where and what happened last night. I guess the rest of the information will be found out through wet work."
Ike nodded and they moved off to his car, a 1999 Silver LeSaber with Marth moving to his sedan and Link carpooling with him. The two began to get through the stagnate traffic. Even in the early morning of the day, the city was busy. Stores were just opening, and the local stock traders began to prepare for the day of trading. Marth pulled over to get something to devour for his breakfast, while Ike kept driving on.
Around a half an hour later Ike pulled into the garage of the precinct and made his way through the door. The burst of cool air woke him up as much as anything else and he moved up the flight of stairs to his desk. Climbing up three flights of stars, he opened the door and moved towards his desk. It was next to Marth's and Link's as well, and open spaced as he was not a ranked officer.
The captain, Alexander Aquila, was one of the few already there. He was preparing his office for the long day's work. Turning on lights and checking over the notes that were left for him by the night shift. As he poured himself a cup of coffee and pulled out some rewarmed breakfast from the morning before, he saw Ike. "Ike, come in." The thirty three year old gestured to Ike, who obeyed. "Sit, have some breakfast. You look as hungry as I feel."
"Thank you sir." Alexander scooped out some of the scrambled eggs and ham onto a plate while he ate the rest for himself. He passed Ike another mug of his coffee. Ike didn't know how famished he was until he began to eat, and soon he devoured what the captain gave him. "You can't be this early into work on your own accord. Who was murdered?"
Ike motioned for a laptop, once he finished wiping down his face. Aquila passed him it and after a few minutes of typing, produced the Department of Motor Vehicles picture of her. Passing it back to the Captain, Alexander looked through it shaking his head all the while. "Twenty-one... cut down while she was young." He looked at the image for a moment longer and began to make the necessary prints for the murder board. He sighed and looked back to Ike. After taking a a long swig from the scalding coffee, the young Captain spoke. "Well, I didn't just give you this position for you good looks. What is on the agenda."
Ike nodded and replied. "Well, standard procedure would be followed first. Check for next of kin: family both of water and blood. Check financial, look for any irregularities. After that, previous incarcerations if any."
The captain nodded and gestured for Ike to follow him through the ghosts of humans still hard at work from the night. Sipping his coffee, the captain spoke again. "That is the standard procedures, but there had to be some leads that were evident at the crime scene. The evidence speaks for itself at he crime scene, all you need to do is follow it."
Ike nodded as he stopped with the captain at the printer. "Well, Samus thinks that Lyn may have been at a gig last night, so we will check the local clubs in the area. She also has a recruiting agent card from Harkinain records that looks recent."
As the picture of Lyn printed off along with other information she had on her courtesy of the DMV, Alexander whistled. "Harkinain Records? That privilege may just be something worth killing for." There was no hint of sarcasm in the Capitan's voice.
The Harkinain family was one of, if not the, richest families in the city. With wealth unimaginable, they had a hand in just about everything. From city politics to a string of nightclubs, there was always something that either had the three triangles of the Harkinain family logo or its blessing. Though their most famous investment was a music label company that patronized or discovered talent. They did have strict minimums , and to be even considered was just as good as being accepted. So there would be plenty of competition for that.
They approached the white marker board, and Alexander pinned the picture of Lyn up there with a magnet. Ike uncapped a black dry erase marker and began to fill in the pertinent information on the time line. "Midnight to two o'clock in the morning- Lyn is murdered." Ike muttered to himself as he scratched down other information. Labeling persons of Interest, suspects, and evidence on the board so if any came in, they would label it as such. Ike the returned to his desk and began to type away, looking for information that would be prevalent in the murder.
Three hours later, the three detectives were around the murder board. Marth, much to the dieting Link's eternal torture, had a chocolate frosted cake doughnut in his teeth as he typed away the information on Lyn's financial history. Ike took another sip from the bitter coffee, wincing more at the taste rather than the heat. "Link, what is Lyn's prior criminal record?"
The blond detective picked up a file and flipped through it until he came across the page he wanted. "Not a whole lot, mind you. She did have a parking ticket twice, but she paid it the same day and was scratched from the record. She was a person of interest in a few brake-ins while she was still in a foster home. No charges were brought against her." He flipped through the file and shook his head. "She was given up at birth, parents didn't even give her a name or their own for some reason. Next of kin looks like it is out of the park."
Ike nodded. "Any foster parents she was close to?"
Link looked through the papers and with some defeat shook his head. "No, she stayed with each parent for about a year. I'll check them to see if they can fill us in on her personality and relationships she had with others."
Marth washed down the last of his baked good before speaking. "Hey, I just got a hold of Lyn's financial information." There was some clicking with him suddenly pausing. A few more key clicks later, he spoke again. "Usually every other week she deposits round a thousand dollars, some times a bit more if she has it labeled as 'gig money'. Bus then a week ago, she withdrew half of her savings."
Ike looked over to him. "How much is half?"
Marth typed in a few more words and looked over to Ike. "How much is twenty grand to you?" that got their attention. They moved over to the other computer and looked at the financial. It was clean as Marth said, save the fact that twenty thousand dollars was withdrawn in cash. "That is a lot of greenbacks. What is someone going to do with twenty thousand?"
Link shrugged. "Quite a lot actually. Some new-ish cars cost around that much, you could buy plenty of jewelry, and more then enough guns to supply a small army."
Ike nodded. "But you saw what she was wearing. Costume jewelry and store brand clothing. Clearly that twenty thousand were meant for some one else." He felt a tap on the shoulder and saw an officer pass him the file he asked for. He accepted it with a nod of thanks and looked it over. "Just got Warrio's file, and apparently..." Ike said as he pinned up Warrio's most recent mugshot on the board. If there was ever the embodiment of an old, overweight short man with a porn star mustache from the seventies, it was Warrio. "he has quite the record. Assault, verbal assault, battery, solicitation and public intoxication."
Link chuckled. "I like the sound of this guy already. What is his most recent recommendation for good citizenship?"
Ike continued. "He is currently on probation for threatening some one a..." Ike's lips had the faintest of smirks. "Lyndis Forecastle. Apparently charges were filed after he threatened her at one of the nightclubs saying 'if you don't do that again I will fuckin' put you in the ground, bitch.'"
Marth picked up the phone to make the call to Harkinain records. "If that doesn't sound like suspicion, I don't know what is." He typed in the number he had on the card. "Yes, this is Detective Marth with the police. Did a Mr. Warrio show up for work today... He didn't... I'm sorry I can't say it is an ongoing case. Well, thank you." He hung up the phone. "Apparently Warrio didn't show up for work today, and his job was on the line that if he was late one more time, he would have been fired."
Link looked to Ike, "Do we have residential information?" Ike nodded and grabbed his coat. "Well, let's not keep him waiting."
The squad cars not far behind him, Ike and the other three twisted around the boulevard on their war to Warrio's house. The tires squealed behind them as they screeched to a stop. They approached a large, single story white house, and Ike was the first out of the car, bullet proof vest on. He withdrew his Glock 19 and made sure that it was fully loaded. Link and Marth were the next out, side arms at the ready and Link with the warrant on hand. Two other officers came out with some much more powerful firepower, just in case Warrio was waiting for them.
Link was at the front and when the others were ready for the breach, he pounded on the door. "Mr. Warrio, open up! We have a warrant!" No reply so they did so again. The same silence followed. Tired, Link nodded to one of the officers, who then went to kick the door down. "Check every corner!"
Ike was the next one in and he took the left. He had done several raids in his time, so he let his sense of hearing take him. He drowned out the sounds of the others and tried to focus on anything that would give a sound that this is where the person was.
He searched with his ears and in the distance he heard the whine of an analog television. He followed the sound as the others around him yelled CLEAR at the top of their lungs. Ike followed the sound and came across a door that was closed. He touched the door with the back of his hand and opened it.
There was the television with the black and white fuzz playing in the background. He opened it up and was met with the bitter oder of garlic and cheep cigars that smelled like burning liquorish. He scanned his undefended position with his side arm before he saw the chair. He saw someone's arm on it, a pudgy arm. Ike moved in closer, gun at the ready if something was going to happen.
As he circled around to see who was in it, he knew why there had been no reply.
"Over here!" He yelled and the sound of footsteps came closer. Marth and Link came through the door and saw what Ike saw as he holstered his side arm. There, in a red velvet chair, was the garroted corpse of Warrio sitting in a pool of his own blood.