Title: The Roommate
Author: Roth
Rating: T
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Diagnosis Murder
Summary: Jesse witnesses a murderer fleeing the crime scene when a young woman is killed.
Note: Raise your hand if you never thought this story would be updated. Just so you know, I'm raising my hand too.
The Roommate
Chapter I
"The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is the duty of the living to do so for them."
-Lois McMaster Bujold
Jesse yawned as he walked toward his apartment. His shift at the hospital had been about four hours too long, and all he wanted to do now was crawl into his bed and sleep for a week. As he was opening the door to his apartment, a woman's shrill scream filled the air, and Jesse realized it was coming from an apartment a few down from his.
Jesse sprinted toward the apartment and entered just as someone else was running out. They collided abruptly, and Jesse fell back to the floor. He looked up at the man, and the fleeing man stared back at him for a second then ran off before Jesse could do anything to stop him. Jesse quickly got back to his feet and hurried into the open apartment. The sight just inside the door shocked him. A woman, no more than twenty-three, was lying on the floor; blood was still oozing from a stab wound in her chest.
"Oh my God," said Jesse, but the doctor in him quickly took over. He rushed to the woman's side and knelt down. Through all the blood, Jesse could tell that there was no rise and fall to her chest. He set two fingers on the side of her neck to feel for a pulse; there wasn't one. Before he could do anymore, a scared and angry voice erupted from behind him.
"Who the Hell are you?!"
Jesse turned and saw a young woman standing in the doorway holding a bag of groceries in her arms. When she saw the woman lying on the floor, she dropped the groceries. "Don't move!" said the woman nervously as she pulled a cell phone from her jeans pocket. "I'm calling the police."
"Wait!" said Jesse, but it was too late for him to even try and explain himself. It seemed as though the woman had the police on speed dial.
XVIIIIV
Steve Sloan walked into the apartment and took a good look around at the crime scene. It was a little unnerving, considering this place was only four down from Jesse's apartment, but Steve was pretty sure Jesse was still at the hospital so he pushed it to the back of his mind. Two people from the coroner's office were already examining the body of a young woman lying on the apartment floor. The cause of death wasn't a huge mystery; a large stab wound was in the center of her chest.
"How long has she been dead?" asked Steve as he stepped over to the body.
Not long," replied one of the examiners. "Half hour, forty-five minutes at the most. They're talking to a witness in the kitchen."
"A witness? Do you guys know-"
Before Steve could finish his sentence angry shouting from the kitchen cut him off, and he hurried in to see who the shouts were coming from. "When I came home," a young woman, almost teenager looking, shouted angrily, "he was standing in the living room next to Darci! He killed her! Aren't you going to arrest him?!"
"I heard her scream," pleaded a familiar but exasperated voice; it was coming from a slumped figure sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. The person was apparently trying to defend themselves. "I ran in just as a guy was runnin' out."
"Jesse?" said Steve as he stepped further into the kitchen. Steve shot a quick glance at the woman; he decided she was twenty at the most. She was standing with her arms crossed glaring at Jesse while a police officer stood at her side; Steve couldn't help but think it was to stop her from going after Jesse herself.
"Steve?" said Jesse.
"Is anyone here going to arrest him?!" the woman demanded angrily; it obvious the arrival of a new officer had no effect on her. The woman ran a hand through her orange-red hair, which Steve knew wasn't natural from the thick brown stripe was running down the middle, and let out a frustrated sigh.
"I didn't do anything," said Jesse through clenched teeth.
"Then why were you in our apartment?"
"I already told you," said Jesse, feeling like he had repeated himself twenty times already. "I heard her scream."
"I'm sorry," said Steve to the woman, "but could you please tell me who you are?"
The woman, acknowledging his presence for the first time, turned toward him; Steve figured that with all her ranting and raving, she didn't even know he'd walked in. "I'm Emmie Turner," said the woman using a half-way calm voice for the fist time since Steve had gotten there. "I'm Darci's roommate." She paused for a minute and a distant looked passed over her face. "I was Darci's roommate," she corrected quietly.
"Was that her name?" asked Steve, making a small gesture toward the living room.
"Yes, that was her name. Darci Williams."
Steve was just about to ask another question when a new voice interrupted the interview. "What the Hell is going on here?!" shouted a distinctly female voice from the door of the apartment. It was followed by the voice of one of the coroner office workers saying that she couldn't come in; that brought another bout of anger from whoever was at the door.
"I can't come in?! I fucking live here! When I left this morning to go to work, I was sure I rented this place, and now, you tell me that I can't come into my own apartment. What the Hell is going on!?"
Steve hurried into the living room, hoping to quickly diffuse the situation and saw a very irritated woman standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. She was dressed professional looking, and short mousy brown hair came down to about the middle of her eyes; Steve wondered for a second how she could see. Steve figured that she probably would an office job considering she wore a pair of expensive looking black slacks and a button up shirt.
"Ma'am," said Steve as he stepped over to her. "I'm Lt. Steve Sloan from the L.A.P.D."
All at once the woman's authoritative demeanor disappeared, and her naturally tan face turned very pale. "What happened?" asked the woman, her voice going from a loud, demanding shout to a nervous whisper.
"Your roommate," replied Steve, trying his best to seem reassuring, "was killed."
The woman's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. Steve watched the woman sway back and forth for a second and then her eyes rolled back in her head as her already pale face went a shade lighter.
"She's gonna pass out!" shouted Jesse as he hurried out of the kitchen; he, Emmie, and the two officers in the kitchen had been watching through the door. Steve was already well aware of that fact the new arrival was on the verge of fainting and acted quickly. Just as the woman collapsed, Steve caught her and carefully laid her on the floor.
"Oh, my God," Steve heard Emmie say quietly as she and the two officers in the kitchen hurried over too. "Is she okay?"
"It was shock," said Jesse as he quickly checked over the woman. "She should come around any minute now."
"But is Carly going to be okay?" Emmie asked again more persistently.
"She should be fine," replied Jesse.
Steve looked up at Emmie for a second and then slowly stood up. Something about the way she was acting bothered him. The second woman's response to the news had been relatively normal, but Emmie was barely showing any remorse for her dead friend at all. The only time she'd been emotional about anything was when she demanding that someone arrest Jesse. He was about to ask the ill-tempered redhead another question when Jesse spoke.
"She's coming around."
The woman's eyes fluttered open, and for a second, she looked around at the people around in confusion. Without warning, the woman sat up and tried to stumble back to her feet; Jesse kept her sitting with a hand on her shoulder.
"Let me up!" shouted the woman, trying her best to sound authoritative; it sounded more like a weak and whiny child.
"You just passed out," said Jesse, keeping his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm fine," repeated the woman as she brushed his hand off. She rose unsteadily to her feet, but when she saw the body that was still lying in the living room, she covered her mouth with her hand, turning slightly green. "Darci," was the only thing the woman managed to say.
"I think we might need to go down to the station," said Steve. The situation in the small apartment had gone from a routine crime scene investigation to complete chaos.
"Aren't you going to arrest him?" asked Emmie, her tone demanding an answer. Her concern for her deceased roommate and unstable friend seemed to have disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Arrest who?" asked the woman apparently confused.
"Him," replied Emmie pointing at Jesse.
Jesse tried to explain to Emmie again, but she didn't seem to want to have anything to do with it. The woman looked between her roommate and Jesse several times and then turned her pale, confused looking face to Steve; he sympathized with her completely.
TBC