18:30
"Shit."
"Language."
"Sorry… two could be a coincidence. Three…" Indigo Nettle stared at the white sheet covering the deceased and shook her head. She turned to her partner and superior. "What's the plan?"
Detective Inspector Nathan Furrow stood tall and proud. His white blonde hair had been slicked back over his skull, showing off his hard cheekbones and pointed chin. A pencil-thin moustache split in the middle rested on his upper lip, and his piercing blue eyes were covered by a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. As he stared at the scene with his hands behind his back, his face gave no hint to what he was thinking.
He was known around the CID as the Iceman. Apparently the same people who named serial killers came up with just as inventive names for superiors. While it was true to those who didn't know him, Indigo simply knew him as calculating and calm. His eyes flicked over the scene, starting at the white sheet covering the victim and the small gazebo covering both. They glanced to the broken telephone pole, the electric cable which had been cut free, and trailed over the street where a car had stopped, finally resting at the bloody handprint at the front door of the hotel.
Barriers had already been erected, blocking the street off completely. Officers milled around the scene of the crime, looking through the grass or moving down the street, looking for evidence. Some stood at the barriers to ensure no-one passed while others had notepads and were questioning witnesses. Nathan could see two standing outside. A young man in his twenties and a woman who could only be his girlfriend.
"The plan." Nathan replied after his split-second analyse. "Go through what we know."
This was no surprise to Indigo. Nathan knew exactly what information they had, but he liked hearing Indigo recap it. Perhaps he thought of it as a test for her. Either way, Indigo started by nodding to the covered body. "The victim's name is Jace Ryan. He came from Canada to attend the For the People festival. After the bus crash which he, the other contest winners, and some musicians were involved in, he was given a place at the hotel free of charge by one of the festival's organizers, Eddy Cool." She glanced up to the overcast sky. A few droplets of rain still hit the floor occasionally, but the torrent from an hour ago had subsided for the most part. "Unfortunately, the rain has washed away most evidence outside, but that's not to say we haven't got any evidence."
Indigo led Nathan to the body. She crouched over the sheet while Nathan stood, peering under his glasses. She could almost see the gears turning in his head. Indigo peeled the white sheet down to the young man's chest.
The most noticeable thing about Jace Ryan's body was the thick red markings on his neck, caused by the telephone cable strangling him. It was blackened in some places, burnt. His eyes were speckled with red and his mouth was a thin line.
"What seems to have happened is lightning struck that telephone pole-" She motioned with her hand. "-which broke the cable free. The cable came down, wrapped itself around the victim's neck, and strangled him to death."
"Is that the official cause of death?" Nathan asked.
"No. Coroner hasn't arrived yet – apparently he's been held up."
"It's been an hour since we were called."
"He was held up for an hour." Indigo shrugged. "I expect he'll be here within the next ten minutes or so."
"Continue."
"The victim, according to Mr. Harvey's witness account, stumbled out of the hotel doors." She motioned with her hands again, first to the couple standing by the car, and then to the hotel doors. Indigo started walking, Nathan following close behind. "Apparently he was shouting at nothing. 'Insane' he was described. Mr. Harvey says that the victim was covered in blood, all over his face, his clothes, his arms. That matches with the state of the victim. His arms were shredded through from glass, which came from-" Indigo pushed through the lobby doors with an elbow and motioned at a broken glass table. "This table."
"Has the third witness been questioned?" Nathan's gaze turned to the receptionists desk, where a blonde lady sat sniffling, dabbing at her eyes with tissues.
"Yes."
"Good. There were four of the other contest winners from the bus staying here, Jacey Rae Callibaster, Ruby Ascot, Corey Walker, and Emma Fischer. Find them, bring them down into the lobby, I'll want to talk to them."
Indigo nodded, and walked to the desk to get the room information. Nathan followed her with her eyes. Indigo was one of the best with an upbeat personality that could get serious in a heartbeat. Initially, there were worries by a couple of the… undesirable policeman that a black woman couldn't be that high in the food chain. Indigo proved them all wrong, working hard and getting along wonderfully with near everyone. Indigo wasn't scared to speak her mind and Nathan considered that one of her best traits. He looked around the large lobby, noting a camera high up in a corner looking towards the window and down to the seats. He turned and walked up to the sniffling receptionist as Indigo walked off, a key in her hand.
"Excuse me, miss," Nathan said quietly. The receptionist looked up at him, make-up smeared and eyes red. "Do you have a security room where the feed for that camera leads to?"
"Y-Yes." The receptionist pointed to a door at the back, almost hidden by the stairs. "Go at your pleasure. It's unlocked. T-Todd should be in there."
"Thank you." Nathan approached the door and let himself in, the light level immediately lowering even more than it already was. It was dark and dank and dirty. Nathan glanced around the room. It was small, almost like a dead-end corridor. At the end of the room a desk stood with a grated box. Through the grates he could see a screen with the current-time grainy feed of the camera.
"Not th' most beautiful of places, but it does its job."
A man was sat facing the wall at the other end of the room, almost invisible in black clothes as he leaned over an open folder. He shut it with a thump and turned, pushing up his glasses with the palm of his hand.
"Police, I presume?"
"Nathan Furrow, Detective Inspector." Nathan offered his hand in a polite gesture, despite the fact that he certainly didn't think this man's hands had been washed any time recently. "Todd?"
"Aye, hasn't changed last I checked." Todd shook the hand quickly. "You'll be wantin' to look at the camera feed?"
"If it wouldn't be any trouble."
"Go 'head. Fuck all happens round here anyway. The remote's inside the grate – the code for the padlock is one-five-eight-one." Todd stood up and left, pushing past Nathan. Nathan was surprised. In his experience, the security liked to watch the police, some were suspicious, while others just wanted to make sure their machines weren't broken. It seemed that security was not a big deal at this hotel.
He put in the code and pulled open the grated door. As promised, the remote sat inside at the base of the monitor, although it was covered with a layer of dust. Nathan held it gingerly and hit the rewind button. Waiting a few minutes, he saw the last hour zip by, the police disappearing backwards out of the building. The camera was positioned just so it caught the door, but not the windows, stopping just short, so Nathan could not see anything happening outside. The lobby was quiet for the last hour. At the motion of movement he paused the video and spotted two women heading towards the door. One seemed to be aggravated and angry, the detail in the video too bad to catch the expression. The other was trying to hold her back. The short-haired woman pushed past and disappeared out the door. Only a few seconds and she came back in and strode past the longer-haired one, disappearing out of view. The longer-haired one stayed there for a few seconds, before following.
Interesting. Nathan hit the rewind again and waited until another motion hit the cameras. He watched in fast-rewind as the victim backed through the door, fell onto the broken table, picked himself up, the table forming below him, and sat down in a seat. Nathan paused and played the video.
Jace Ryan sat with his head in his arms on the table, unmoving. After a few seconds his head jerked upwards, and despite the quality and black-and-white, Nathan could see what he could only assume was blood on the man's cheek. He stared blankly ahead before the receptionist approached. After a few more seconds he finally noticed her. Or… he was looking past the receptionist, shouting, his face twisting. Jace pushed himself off the seat and backed away, tripping and smashing through the table. Nathan watched as he picked himself up, completely ignoring the fact that his arms were now covered in glass, and went out of the door in a rush, leaving a blood trail behind him. He paused the video, the receptionist standing at the window, watching.
"Something angered him." Nathan said. "The question is what?" He turned and looked down at Indigo. She was as silent as a cat, but Nathan's hearing was excellent.
"Perhaps a nightmare had lingered? He saw something that wasn't there… freaked out and ran outside."
"It could be. Are the four gathered?"
"Six."
"Oh?"
"Sabrina Holland and Adam Treeland both were here. Sabrina in Ruby Ascot's room and Adam in Jacey Rae Callibaster's. Would you like me to bring them here? It's as isolated as you're going to get."
"No. I want to talk to them together. They seem like a group, if we keep them together they may feel a little bit more comfortable. The more comfortable they are, the more likely they'll be honest." Nathan led the way out of the security room, Todd nowhere to be seen. Standing at the base of the stairs in varying states of emotion stood the now four foreign survivors and two visitors.
He spotted the two girls from the camera straight away. One with bright red hair that couldn't be seen on the black-and-white feed, and the other with a harsh scar on her lip. The red-haired girl had been crying, her eyes were wet and she was blinking rapidly. The scarred one seemed upset but was keeping composed.
Another female was pale and standing stock-still, glancing at Nathan as he approached. She seemed to be more foreign than just America. Perhaps Swedish or German. The last female was on the chubby side of things, wearing black clothes and black make-up. She was pale, but Nathan could guess that it was a natural colour.
One of the men was wringing a beanie cap through his hands nervously, his eyes flitting to the window and then back to the floor. The other had his arms crossed stiffly and his mouth set in a thin line.
"I'm Detective Inspector Nathan Furrow." Nathan greeted. "Could I get your names?" Indigo stood at his elbow, notepad in hand.
"…Corey." The one with the beanie said after a moment of silence.
"Adam Treeland."
"Jacey Rae."
"Emma."
"…R-Ruby…"
And finally, "Sabrina."
Nathan nodded. "Thank you. Now, as you are aware, Jace Ryan was involved in an accident about an hour ago."
"Awful lot of police for an accident." Sabrina put in. "Especially detectives.
"We are making sure to cover all bases. We wouldn't want to miss something vital. Let us start with something simple, okay? Did any of you know Jace Ryan?"
"We didn't know him." Sabrina said. "The only connection we had was from the bus"
"H-He wasn't exactly talkative." Corey put in. "He liked to be alone, I think. He definitely seemed moody a lot of the time… even angry."
"With what?" Nathan asked.
"With life." Sabrina answered, looking off the side. Nathan caught the look from Ruby, an accusing glare. It was clear she knew something. Nathan made a note in the back of his head to talk to her alone later.
"What the hell is going on!?" Nathan turned around to find a thin man storm into the building, two police officers trailing him. He was red in the face and angry. "I hear something went wrong here but a dead body!? That's… that's just…"
"Could I ask who you are, sir?" Nathan questioned.
The man frowned and adjusted his tie. "I am Terry Salt, and I own this establishment. Could you explain just what is happening?"
Nathan glanced to Indigo but she was already stepping forward. "Of course. Come with me, sir, and I'll explain what has happened." She led him away to the corner of the room, away from Nathan. He turned back to the survivors. "Sabrina. Adam. You two don't have a room here."
"We were invited." Sabrina said. Adam nodded in agreement. Nathan glanced towards Terry Salt and noticed him getting increasingly agitated. He knew he'd have to step in.
"That's all the questions I have for now. Do not leave the premises, there is a possibility you may be in danger. If you'd like to inquire more or come forward with information you know, find either myself or Indigo, or talk to one of the police officers outside the door."
"I see." Sabrina snorted. "So this is a murder investigation."
"Why would you say that?" Nathan was interested in Sabrina. She seemed intelligent, yet naïve.
"Come on, detective inspector, it's obvious. You wouldn't have this much going on if this were an accident." She turned to the other survivors. "Better get your alibis in order. They'll be trying to pin this on one of us." The glare at Nathan was full of hostility, surprising him somewhat. He took note to look her up on the record system. She's encountered authority before, without a doubt. The question was, what had she experienced… or what has she done?
A/N:- Thanks to LocalTalent53 & YajuuKikushi for the reviews! Okay, so good news! I have the next four-five chapters planned out, so I'm gonna tentatively say that it'll only be a few days 'till the next chapter. Tentatively, mind you, things like go wrong just when you got things right.
Fun Fact:- Indigo and Nathan are the last two major characters to be introduced in the story, so the full main cast has now been revealed.
'Till the next time!