Devil's Playground
Chapter one: Samantha Bygon
Warnings: none so far...
A.N.: Sorry for the long wait but life just sprang up on me and I've had little to no time to work on my stories ^^" I'm trying to take my cosplaying to another level and maybe wins some contests so almost all my energy and time goes to that hobby, sorry ^^"
"Life is like a movie, if you've sat through more than half of it and it sucked every second so far, it probably isn't gonna get great right at the end and make it all worthwhile. None should blame you for walking out early."
~ Dough Stanhope
While Allen was used to a lot of gruesome scene's, he still had a lot of trouble to stay professional at the current moment. The smell emitting from Grace's corpse was making him feel quite nauseous. Seriously if he had to stay inside the apartment any longer he was going to puke. Like Lavi did just a few minutes earlier. Thank God the red-head had made it into the bathroom in time! Kanda had actually been smarter... He had left the crime scene earlier claiming that he was going to 'interview the neighbours'. A stupid excuse maybe but at least he didn't have to worry about losing face by throwing up with everyone watching.
The albino had just gotten up from his squatting position on the floor when somebody tapped him on the shoulder. "Allen why don't you come outside with me for a moment? You're starting to look a little bit pale." Komui sounded genuinely concerned for his health as he grabbed the Medical Examiner by the elbow and guided him gently, but firmly out of the apartment. Once they were outside the purple-haired scientist continued the conversation. "May I suggest calling in the help of Reever for this one? I know you are a brilliant ME (1) but you have to admit that he does have more experience than you in these things."
"Believe me Komui when I say that I have no trouble at all handing over this case to someone else. In fact I would even go as far as saying that I'm glad to be rid of it... Maybe we should also call in Johnny for this crime since he's as entomologist (2) and I've noticed a lot of bug activity around the body. The young man pulled up his nose since he really, really disliked insects. Nasty little crawlers the world could do without in his modest opinion.
"Reever and Johnny are both working on the same case at the moment together with Tiedoll. I'll call him and ask to pass a message to the other two. Besides if I'm not mistaken then they should be wrapping up soon." As the head of the CSI department walked away to make the call in a place with better reception, Kanda walked up to him from the other side of the hallway.
The two of them said nothing for a while as the long-haired detective pulled his smaller lover into a hug. The albino looked so pale and tired and quite pitiful in the other's opinion. As the ME sak deeper into the embrace, the japanese man stroked his white hair. "I've talked to all the people on this floor and the ones above and underneath us. And so far I have learned nothing. Absolutely nothing. Apparently Grace Emeralds was a selfish bitch who refused to socialise and locked heself up in her apartment most of the time. Although according to some, a while back she often left her home to go to court because someone sued her. Yet no-one knows any details. I'll contact the district court house later today maybe they can give me an inside?" Then he leaned down and place a gentle kiss on the albino's lips.
Allen answered after the kiss ended. "Sure it's not as if I'm going home any time soon. We had to call in Reever's expertise so it'll probably be a while before he gets here. If anything I expect that that the post-mortem will be postponed until tomorrow morning. Hopefully the bug activity will have died down a bit when we cut her open tomorrow." Again he scrunched up his nose. He really, really hated insects!
"Wouldn't that mean that you'll get home earlier instead of later?" The Japanese detective asked sounding just a little bit confused. After all if they do the autopsy tomorrow then Allen didn't have to stay later today right?
"No later. If I call away Reever to help with my case then it's only logical that I take over his case. Otherwise we'll have to do both cases tomorrow and then both you and Tiedoll would be stuck without any details of how the victim's died."
Even after that little conversation Allen was still making his detest over the 'little' buggers know to his lover when Komui returned from his call. "Johnny and Reever are on their way here and they asked me to ask you to take over the post-mortem of their case. It's rather urgent apparently."
"I was planning on doing so any way... Is their anything I should important I should be aware of before I start the autopsy? Or has Reever determined a preliminary cause of death?" If the albino were to take over another person's case then he wanted to know as much about it in advance as he
possibly could. Better prepared than sorry he always thought.
"It's the suicide of a 15 year old girl. Apparently she hung herself after her boyfriend broke up with her." The purple-haired CSI spoke softly and looked sad. Just like all the other scientists and detectives he hated cases involving young children and teenagers. The white-haired ME hated it as well, having to cut open and dissect a person whose life hadn't even started yet. With a small nod to the older scientist he walked towards Kanda who would take him back to headquarters.
XOXOX
Detective Tiedoll greeted him the moment he set foot in the morgue. While the other was normally a sunny person who loved giving his family members big hugs, this time he refrained from doing so given the circumstances. Instead he helped his future son-in-law (if he had anything to say about it) into his working gear and took his place in the corner of the autopsy room; far enough that he wouldn't hinder the boy but close enough so that he could follow everything that Allen did.
After pulling on his gloves, Allen gently stroked the girl's hair a few times. Even if she was already death, he still felt that he should reassure her, maybe even apologize for what he was about to do to her. As he stroked the soft locks of black hair he whispered the following words to her: "Don't worry sweetie I'll make sure to find out what happened to you. The death may not be able to speak any more but we are here to give them a voice." (3)
Understanding that not even an experienced pathologist could completely shut off his personal feelings when it comes to young people, the older detective walked forward and padded the youngster on the back. "Take as much time as you need son." But the albino simply shook his head.
"I'm fine Tiedoll, I'm still a profession so I can handle this. Do you have a name for our girl or is she a Jane Doe?" God he really hoped that she was known to someone. A girl so young should not get logged in to the system as an unidentified victim. Because how many of those were actually identified? It was a fate he didn't wish upon anyone. To die unknown and alone and the poor families that will never know what happened to their loved ones.
The detective returned back to his previous spot in the room but he kept his eyes trained on the girl. "Her name is Samantha Baygon (4). Her father found her hanging from the staircase, having used the sash of her morning robe to hang herself during the night. So far nobody knows why she did it but we think she was desperate and hearth broken after her boyfriend dumped her. But that can hardly be the reason why, right?" But the sad truth was that yes, some people really killed themselves over a stupid reason like that.
Activating the little microphone attached to his ear, the pathologist started summoning up the outwards examination of the firl on his table. "The victim seems to be in her early teens, she is of African decent and quite small for her age. Approximately 1m50... She also seems a little underweight but nothing to serious." He carefully opened one of her eyelids, let it slide close again and peeled the other open. "There are signs of petechiea in both her eyes that could indicate strangulation." Taking a deep breath he continued his outwards examination.
"She has strangulation marks in her neck, my guess is from a rope or a sash. So far I can not see any fingerprints underneath these marks. I'm guessing that this means that she either hung herself or someone hanged her while she was unconscious." From her neck, Allen shifted his attention towards her hands. "Her left hand shows more callouses than her right, making her a lefty. There are some green coloured fibres on both her hand palms, they might be from the sash she used but the lab will have to confirm that."
Using tweezers he carefully lifted the fibres and put them in a small jar. Then he placed it in a see-through plastic bag, on it he wrote his name, occupation and casenumber. Then he signed it as was required for all evidence gathered in a case. "Say Tiedoll did forensics at the scene say anything about the direction in which the wood fibres were pointing? I mean away or towards the body?"
The detective looked confused but answered any way. "Johnny might have mentioned that they were pointing towards the body but I fail to see the significance."
Silver eyes threw a glance at the other person in the morgue. With all his experience as a homicide detective he must have heard about it in all of his working years. The surprise quickly faded though. "The pressure of the rope makes some splinters point towards the direction in which the body was pulled. When someone hangs themselves, the pressure of the body makes the fibers pointing towards the body. But when somebody gets hanged the pressure comes from behind and therefore the fibres point away from the body."(5)
"I see... So based on what you've found so far, are you willing to give me a cause of death?"
"If it is all right with you, I'd like to run a blood test first but I'm pretty sure that it is a suicide after all." Stroking the girl's thick black hair again he murmerd: "Why in Heaven's name did you choose such an end for yourself?"
A large hand patted his snow white-haired and for just a moment he took comfort in the gesture. He quickly put on his 'professional mask' again. Allen had learned early on how to put aside personal feelings and treat each case with a professional detachment needed to ensure the best result possible. "I'm going to perform the autopsy now. Do you want to stay? Or will you read the report later?"
His self-proclaimed father-in-law pulled a face that made his answer known. "I think that I'll go talk with the boyfriend if you don't mind..."
The two exchanged their goodbye's and then the albino was left alone to do his job. He could only hope that he found something that would indicate why Samantha had taken her life at such an early age.
(1) ME: abbreviation for Medical Examiner. I assume almost everyone knows what it stand for but I've met someone who didn't even knew Jack the Ripper had really existed so I'm not taking any chances.
(2) Entomologist: a zoologist who focuses his area of expertise on insects.
(3) Piece of text I got from the English series of Silent Witness. A good show if you're interested in all the ME stuff I'm writing ^^
(4) Samantha is the name of a friend who I was texting with when writing this chapter (and who looks the complete opposite of my Samantha with her pale skin and blond hair xD) and Baygon is a brand of insecticide that was placed on the table and that I used for inspiration ^^"
(5) I once read this in a detective novel but I'm not 100% sure if it is correct. Although it makes sense :)
To be continued...
Did you like? I hope it wasn't to boring or anything? And yes Samantha's case is tied to the story ;) but you'll find out later ^^
Please REVIEW and let me know what you thought of this chapter :)
Hugs and kisses
Chibi Mathilda