Hello! After the slightly-boring first chapter, I'm definitely more pleased with this one. It's a bit long, but somehow, I don't think you guys will mind. C: Thank you so much for those who reviewed; I appreciate them all, & I reply privately. Please tell me what you think of this chapter? Constructive criticism is always welcome, too; I'd love to know how I could improve. Thanks again, & enjoy! :D
"I... I actually did, yes..." Natara dug into her long-term memory, trying to recall who this man was. Suddenly, something clicked, and vague realization struck.
"Wait, are you... Drew? Drew Bowden?"
"That's me," he replied, clearing his throat sheepishly. "Natara?"
She nodded in disbelief, suddenly remembering how she knew him.
Drew Bowden had been two years older than Natara, and he was in her AP Forensics class her sophomore year. It was a junior and senior-level course, but Natara had taken a higher level science course, as she proved to be exceptionally proficient at it. Drew would constantly alternate between making fun of her for being so smart and 'nerdy', and cheating off of her. She always tried her best to shield her papers, but he always had a way of seeing her answers, despite her efforts to conceal them. He was a sneaky charmer, too, and nearly never got caught. When he did, he somehow charmed his way out of detention, making himself look innocent and- yes, she'd admit it- cute. Natara herself was always too timid to inform the teacher of Drew's tendencies, and didn't really care to have a 'tattle-tale' reputation. Looking back, she wished she would of had the courage to bring it to someone's attention, but there was no use fretting over it now; that was years ago.
"I... wow. I didn't think I'd be seeing you again," she replied clumsily, suddenly uncomfortable. She distinctly remembered being secretly relieved when he graduated that spring. "As I recall, you-"
"Yes, I know," he interrupted quickly, correctly guessing what Natara was about to bring to immediate attention. "I, uh... sorry about that. All of it, really. That was... I was kind of an idiot back then. I really am sorry," he added earnestly, genuinely looking sorry.
"It's okay," Natara said dismissively after an awkward laugh. There was no use holding a grudge; he'd clearly picked up his act. "It's in the past," she added with a smile.
He nodded gratefully, looking back down at his clipboard. He quickly stepped aside so they could talk to Janitor Morrison. Mal shot Natara a questioning glance, but she gave him an I'll-tell-you-later look, and turned to the janitor.
"Mr. Morrison," Natara greeted politely, firmly shaking his hand. "Good to meet you."
Mr. Morrison looked to be in his mid-50's, and what little hair he did possess was graying. Despite his age, he was surprisingly trim, and stood a couple inches taller than Natara. He looked a little shaken-up; quite understandably so.
"You as well, Special Agent, Detective," he said nervously. "May I, uh, be of any assistance?"
"Yes," Mal replied, shaking Mr. Morrison's hand as well. "We just have a few quick questions for you; we won't be long." Mal took Mr. Morrison's nod as consent, and continued.
"Did you see or hear anything unusual last night, besides Sophie's body of course?"
Mr. Morrison thought for a moment, before shaking his head. "Aside from the body," he said with a slight shiver, "I don't recall anything out of place. I was inside most of the evening, though, aside from bringing the trash out here... so even if something unusual did happen, I unfortunately wouldn't have seen or heard it."
Mal continued asking Mr. Morrison several more questions, while Natara politely excused herself to go examine the crime scene. Even from over 30 feet away, she could see an excessive amount of blood, and winced despite seeing the pictures earlier that morning.
Sophie's body lay in the middle of a large pool of crimson blood. Her light pink t-shirt was ragged and stained with blood. She had multiple stab wounds in her chest and stomach, which soaked through the thin cloth of her shirt. One of her hands had a minor slice in her palm, indicating that she may have clutched or grabbed at the knife used to so cruelly end her life.
Natara bent down to have a closer look, noticing the odd way Sophie's arm- the one that held the black rose- was twisted. Natara wasn't a doctor, but it definitely looked broken to her; nobody's arm twisted like that naturally. Granted that most serial killers don't typically break their victim's bones after they're already dead, she took it as a sign of a struggle.
Natara also noticed the wound in Sophie's stomach was larger- and considerably bloodier- than just a quick jab or two with a knife. She observed with disgust that the knife must have been twisted several times while it was in her; most likely while she was still alive.
After several minutes, Mal walked over and joined Natara, who was crouching by Sophie's body. He too winced slightly at the gore.
"Find anything?" he asked, trying to sound casual, despite the fact that they were standing over an excessively bloodied body of a young teen.
Natara nodded, relaying her observations of the broken arm and stomach wound.
"Maybe Sophie tried to run, so the killer broke her arm to stop her. Or she could've just fallen and landed in such a way as to snap the bone. A lot of things could have happened, really."
"It's not a whole lot to go off of," Mal said, examing Sophie's broken and bruised arm. "But it's definitely something. As for the knife-in-the-stomach issue," he said, shuddering slightly, "Great work; I definitely wouldn't have looked that closely at... that. That is one hell of an ungodly wound."
Natara couldn't resist the smile that crept across her face, despite their current location. She laughed mildly, nodding in agreement.
They turned when they heard footsteps behind them. Officer Mortenson walked up, holding a small, beige-colored purse in his hand.
"This was found in Sophie's possession when her body was found. If any of its contents would be useful, you are free to take it to your lab for closer examination."
Natara stood and thanked him, taking the purse. She knelt back down to where Mal still crouched, examining the other stab wounds. He turned when Natara sat down again.
She pulled the contents out, setting the items on the warm pavement in between herself and Mal.
"Compact mirror... Cell phone... Wallet... Chapstick... School schedule... Make-up... Er, female neccessities... Just the normal stuff."
"Her wallet's empty," Mal said, opening it. "If she had any credit cards or anything, those are gone, and so is any cash she was carrying. Her license and library card are in here, but that doesn't really help us. Either she just didn't carry any cash at all, or whoever killed her also stole her money."
"The latter seems more likely," Natara commented, picking up Sophie's phone. She turned it on, searching for anything useful. She glanced at Sophie's latest text, from somebody with the contact name of "Nolan3". Natara rolled her eyes at the heart at the end, inferring that this 'Nolan' person was Sophie's boyfriend. Maybe Nolan could give them some useful piece of information.
She wondered briefly why the killer wouldn't take Sophie's phone as well, before realizing it had a tracking device built into it. The killer definitely wasn't stupid; that much was certain.
Natara scrolled down to a text from four days ago, from the contact name of "Allison D(:", presumably the same Allison who was murdered a few days before Sophie. She opened the messages, silently reading them over.
Allison - 5:47 pm: hey soph, i swore i saw some guy creeping around the side of the school just now! it wasn't anyone that goes here. creepy rite?
Sophie - 5:50 pm: ahh weird haha! have you seen him before? and did your practice run late or something? it's almost 6! unless you just really love school..
Allison - 5:52 pm: nope, i've never seen him in my life! he was wearing all black, and he was holding something too. i have no idea what it was, tho. he ran around to the back of the school when he noticed that i saw him. and shut up lol, our coach is crazy! he ran us almost an hour late. ughh!
Sophie - 5:56 pm: alright, that's just plain creepy. you should get outta there, Al. ya never know, he could be a rapist or killer or something ahaha! and i'm so glad i chose volleyball over soccer! our coach is def better, you shoulda played!
Allison - 5:59 pm: very funny, soph. i doubt he's gunna kill me lol. and plus, then i'll just kick a soccer ball at him right? haha! and nah, you kno how much i love soccer! and plus you also i suck at vball. nice try tho loser(;
Sophie - 6:03 pm: hm well either way, you should get outta there and get yo' ass over to my house. i'm totally stuck on my trig homework! and since your such a math nerd...
Allison - 6:06 pm: haha shut up! at least i'm not a history nerd like you! ah hell, i left my water bottle on the field. i'm gunna go get it, so see ya in 20?
Sophie - 6:07 pm: hey now! i'm not a science nerd! sounds good, you'd better get here soon, i'm like failing here lol!
Allison - 6:11 pm: whatever, science nerd(; i gtg cuz i'm about to drive, but i'll be at your place in like 15 ok?
Sophie - 6:12 pm: potassium!(;
Allison - 6:13 pm: good one, nerdo. i'm out!
Natara stifled a slight laugh at the potassium joke, then handed the phone to Mal.
"Take a look at these," she said, quickly recovering. "This explains a lot about Allison's death; all of them, really."
Mal took the phone and read the texts, silently mulling over the information.
"Potassium?" he asked, confused.
"Science joke," she muttered sheepishly. "The chemical symbol for potassium is 'K', so she was essentially saying 'okay'."
"Science nerd," Mal accused lightly, laughing at Natara's playful scowl.
"Don't start with me!" she warned jokingly, laughing as well. "Anyways," she said, back to business, "This is definitelyuseful information."
"This proves that they did for sure know each other, and Sophie talked to Allison just minutes before Allison's murder, which was approximately 6:21 pm."
"And Allison said she saw the man wearing all black, which was a detail reported by a witness of Evelyn's murder. Allison also said she noticed the man carrying something, which was more than likely the knife he used to kill all five girls with."
"Wow, I'm glad we decided to come down here; we have some very interesting leads. Once again, nice work." He flashed a smile at Natara, playfully nudging her in the arm. Natara smiled back and felt her cheeks flush slightly. She quickly turned her head back to the contents of the purse, hoping Mal hadn't noticed.
"Well, we should probably get this stuff back to Kai at the lab. Maybe he can identify if there are any finger prints on the wallet, aside from Sophie's. Unlikely, considering how careful this guy has been, but it's a possibility."
"I agree. Let's go."
As I said before, I'm happier with the outcome of this chapter, versus the first one. Also, the part where Allison & Sophie were texting, I purposely spelt some things incorrectly, as most high school-ers do not have the best texting etiquette. xD Please review? Thanks!