Elsa Arendelle
Age 18
There was a deathly silence at the funeral. Nobody dared to utter the name of the person being lowered into the ground. It was as if his name were some sort of curse. Five forbidden syllables that only outsiders dared to say. The only thing that was even more taboo than his name were his titles. No mention was made of his rank of "Detective Inspector."
The pallbearers were all too eager to remove the flag of Arendelle from his casket. Elsa was given the flag. She stood, catatonic, as her father was lowered into the ground. Anna was weeping, clutching the arm of a police officer who was dressed in full ceremonial uniform. Through red eyes, she gave Elsa an almost accusatory glare. Elsa heeded it no attention.
As the casket was lowered into the ground, Elsa threw onto it a handful of dirt. Her snow white gloves were now stained with smudges of dirt. Elsa removed the gloves, and dropped them to her side. As they fell to the ground, she smiled. She was free.
Cst. Kristoff Bjorgman
Age 26
Embedded Canine Unit
Royal Police, 19 Division
Arendelle City Region
"Constable Bjorgman?"
Kristoff roused from his sleep. He found that he was clutching Elsa's hand, his head pressed against the side of Elsa's bed. Quickly, he released her hand, letting it drop to the side of the bed. He realised he had been sitting at Elsa's bedside for several hours now. It was an amount of time far exceeding what he reasoned was acceptable without reporting to Hans. He turned to face the person calling him. She was a middle-aged blonde, with green eyes. Her countenance presented an empty coldness that only years of disillusionment could bring. Shallow wrinkles could be found across her face, and a deep scar ran diagonally across her face from the bottom of her nose to the cleft of her chin on the left side.
"My name is Investigator Saga Noren, Police Complaints Commission, Arendelle City Region. You were present at today's shooting, is that correct?"
"Yeah, I was."
"Have you spoken to any police officers about the shooting?"
"No, I haven't."
"Not even your supervisor?"
"Well, yes. I spoke to my Sergeant, Hans Westergard. He told me I was a subject officer."
"Did you fire your weapon?"
"Yes, I did. I fired my rifle."
Investigator Noren produced a plastic evidence bag with red security tape. She motioned toward's Kristoff's pistol. He unholstered it, removed the magazine, and locked the slide to the rear. A single round ejected, and Kristoff caught it before it fell. He placed the items into the evidence bag, which Noren sealed, and placed inside her jacket pocket.
"I didn't fire that."
"We'll see about that when the ballistics tests come back. Now tell me, what were you doing before you decided to respond to the call."
"I was patrolling Bercy Road. I was driving westbound when I received a 10-07. Constable Rapunzel Corona pressed her panic button."
"What did you do next?"
Kristoff recounted the events of the shooting. As he spoke, Noren questioned details about his story. Every question was made in a cold, almost robotic tone. Her gaze was unwavering, boring holes into the back of Kristoff's head. It made him nervous. There was a knock on the door as he finished. A lanky police officer wearing a plate carrier vest over top of his uniform and normal patrol vest knocked on the door.
"Hi, I was sent here by Sergeant Westergard to relieve Constable Bjorgman."
"And you are...?"
"Constable Hector Haddock, 19 Division."
"Constable Haddock. You are also a subject officer. My name is Investigator Saga Noren, Police Complaints Commission, Arendelle City Region. Wait outside, I'll be speaking to you in a moment."
Investigator Noren turned back to Kristoff.
"I think we're just about done here. As soon as you leave, you are to report back to 19 Division and surrender the rest of the evidence. That means your clothes, your vest, and your rifle."
Kristoff nodded. "Understood."
The investigator glanced at Elsa's hand. There was a conspicuous patch of blood.
"Constable Bjorgman, what is your relationship with Constable Arendelle?"
Kristoff was taken aback.
"Sorry?"
"Are you in a relationship with Constable Arendelle?"
"No! Nothing of the sort."
Noren did not look convinced. Kristoff shifted nervously. The two briefly glanced at Elsa. There was silence.
"It's just..." started Kristoff, quietly. "I...She looks like him."
"Detective Inspector..."
"Yes."
There was a pregnant pause as Investigator Noren considered Kristoff's words before she finally spoke.
"That will be all, Constable Bjorgman. You may go now."
On the way back to the police station, Kristoff bought food for Sven. Kristoff himself bought a hot dog. A television inside the food cart was tuned to a local news station. A large red banner over top of a clip of the Royal Police commissioner speaking read: "Shooting in East End: Female police officer, suspect, dead."
The video switched to a clip of him speaking to Hans. The footage zoomed in to his hands, which were dripping with blood. The food vendor stole a glance at Kristoff's hands, then his plate carrier vest, which was still on, over top of his jacket. The vest was emblazoned with "POLICE" in bright white letters. Those letters were stained by smears of blood.
The vendor opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but quickly closed it. This did not go unnoticed by Kristoff, who finished his hot dog and quickly left.
After surrendering his vest, uniform, and rifle to the Police Complaints Commission, Kristoff went home. After setting his keys down on a table beside the door, he went to the bathroom to take a shower. He was silent as pale streaks of red flowed down the drain.
When he was finished, Kristoff shut off the lights and went to bed. Sven was already fast asleep.
The next day, Kristoff was assigned to booking. He wouldn't be able to do field work until the Police Complaints Commission returned his gear. He spent his day processing suspects and filling out forms. Near the end of his shift, Hector came over to the booking desk.
"Hey Kristoff."
"Hey Hiccup."
"Stuck in cell block, eh?"
"Yeah, I'm stuck doing booking. Sven's been itching for a walk all day, but I can't go anywhere until the end of my shift."
"Well at least you don't have to clean cells. You remember a Thomas Lachance?"
"I booked him this morning, why?"
"He crapped all over the floor."
"Jesus."
"You get any sleep last night?"
"No, not really. I felt rough in the morning."
"I couldn't sleep either. I kept remembering things. Remember how the place smelled when we walked in? How it smelled half coppery and half like piss? Remember how you could see the blood pouring from every orifice of Rapunzel's face? She was dead, but the blood kept coming and..."
"Hiccup, I get it. Enough."
It was then that Kristoff noticed the pained expression on Hector's face. Hector hushed to a whisper.
"They just looked like a pile of bodies. When you see one of your own like that, you get..." Hector paused abruptly.
"You...It's not comfortable."
Kristoff looked at him sympathetically. He struggled to find something to say to Hector, but words were not forthcoming. Thankfully, Hans interrupted.
"Haddock, is cell four clean?"
"Yes, sir. Cell four is clean."
"Good. Take over booking from Bjorgman until the end of your shift. Bjorgman, come with me."
Kristoff followed Hans until they reached the Chief Inspector's office, where the Inspector and Chief Inspector were waiting. Kristoff tensed. Something serious was happening. The Chief Inspector spoke.
"Sergeant, Constable. I'm sure that you've been spoken to by the Police Complaints Commission about yesterday's shooting. From what I know there was a lot of shooting, especially from high-powered firearms."
Kristoff's heart fell into his stomach.
"Preliminary findings from the Police Complaints Commission show that handgun, shotgun, and rifle rounds, presumably of police origin were fired into the residence at 2800 Hogan Road. Many of them, especially rifle rounds penetrated through the walls, windows, and front door of the house."
Hans crossed his arms and gave a knowing glance at him.
"Three people died at the scene. The resident of the dwelling, Signe Larsdottir, a suspected prowler, Klaus Berger, and sadly, a colleague of ours, Constable Rapunzel Corona. Three people received gunshot wounds. Constable Corona, Constable Elsa Arendelle, and the prowler, Klaus Berger. Gentlemen, ballistics tests have come back."
Kristoff braced for bad news.
"None of your rounds hit either Constable Corona or Constable Arendelle."
Kristoff breathed out a sigh of relief. The Chief Inspector chuckled.
"I bet you two got scared witless when you saw the two of us in here. Relax, gentlemen. Constable Bjorgman, I think you'll be glad to know that the majority of the rounds in the perp came from your rifle. The rest were Sergeant Westergard's doing."
The Chief Inspector opened a drawer in his desk. From it, he produced two pairs of rank slips. One was that of a Sergeant. Three bright white chevrons and a small purple and green flag of Arendelle were embroidered onto the rectangle. Underneath the flag was Kristoff's badge number. The other pair of rank slips bore the rank of an Inspector.
"Now for the real reason we've brought you here. Inspector Mikkelson here is transferring to CID. We need someone to fill his shoes. Sergeant Westergard, you'll be promoted to the uniform division Inspector. Constable Bjorgman, you will be promoted to Sergeant. This change is effective in three weeks time."
Kristoff opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry, I can't accept."
All eyes in the room fell on Kristoff.
