Chapter 1 – Discovery
Brenda didn't like the turn the day had taken. Not that she had anything against investigating murders. After all it was her job in the first place. But the moment she stepped into that house her gut feeling told her this was going to be different.
She took a closer look of the body. Female, probably in her thirties, multiple stab wounds to the chest, cuts on arms, bruises on face. Seemed like pretty violent killing.
She noticed, Sgt Gabriel walking up to her.
"Good morning Sgt Gabriel. What do we have here?" " Morning Chief. 32 years old woman. Name – Alicia Stevens. Married to Tim Stevens. They have one daughter – four years old Kelsey Stevens. There's no sign of her or her father who was arrested half a year ago for domestic abuse. Although there are signs of a struggle upstairs in the master bedroom."
" Uhuh, I see. So right now Tim Stevens is our main suspect, I suppose." Brenda said looking at a dead woman before her.
" We called out a critical missing , because there's no way of knowing if Kelsey indeed is with her father." Gabriel said searching through a stack of papers in his hand.
"Who found Mrs. Stevens?"
" A daycare center's social worker who came by to see why Kelsey hasn't been attending the classes for several weeks."
"Oh okay. You can take her to the morgue now and I also want the carpet checked for DNA, hair, prints , everything." Brenda looked around in the room, the flowery carpet matched the wallpaper. Few pictures on the shelf, a television set. Everything a normal home would have, except the dead body lying in the living room. She wondered about the girl. Had father taken her with him? And if so why? To use her as hostage? That didn't make sense. No father would do this to a child. Was she naïve to think that?
"Chief?" Sanchez was standing in the kitchen doorway. "Yes detective Sanchez?"
" We found a basement , maybe you want to take a look at it. We found a knife and some food there. Seems like someone used it for a hiding place" " All right, show me." She followed Sanchez through a kitchen and into a hallway. The basement door was opened. The light didn't work. Grabbing a flashlight she started walking down the stairs. She hated basements. They were cold and stinky and dark. Oh and there were always a lot of spiders lurking around as well as mice and other unpleasant creatures. Step by step she got closer to the cold cement floor. Old furniture was covered with sheets and stacks of boxes reached to the ceiling. There were plenty of places where to hide. In one corner there was an old mattress, some leftovers and indeed a bloody knife. She turned to Sanchez and Provenza behind her, " Okay , please bag the knife and check all the corners of this room. It gives me creeps." Provenza chuckled, "Chief don't tell me you're afraid of dark." Brenda rolled her eyes. " I am not afraid of dark I just find this place extremely unpleasant."
She flashed the light slowly over the floor. Noticing nothing important she started to check the piles of furniture but then something caught her attention. She'd seen something pink showing from under one chair. Or maybe she'd just imagined it, she wasn't sure. Brenda slowly checked the dark corners again and then she saw it. It was a tiny pink sock. More importantly it was a tiny pink sock on a tiny foot. Without hesitation she pushed all the furniture away to get closer. Heart beating she pushed the stacks of boxes aside and found a little girl lying on the concrete floor. "Oh my Goodness !" She whispered , shining light on a child who appeared to have been savagely beaten. There were bruises on her face and her arm was in a weird angle – probably broken. Just by looking at her Brenda could tell she was probably dead. But she decided to check for the pulse anyway. Maybe, just maybe she was still alive. Brenda pushed her fingers on a girl's neck to check for the pulse. At first she thought what she most feared – they'd been late. But then she felt a heartbeat. It was very weak but it was definitely a heartbeat.
" Call the ambulance! Now!"