Thank you for still reading my stuff and for all of your comments! It is so nice to hear from you! I've missed you guys!
It seems like when I had all the time in the world, locked down by myself I couldn't write, and now that things are opening back up, and I'm starting a new job, I have so much to say and no time to say it. I am still working on other chapters and will hopfully be able to update soon!
I remember this, the crispness in the air and the scent of fallen leaves as they crunch underfoot. I remember this scent of early morning frost and the cool damp earth. Autumn in Toronto, so different from the dry dusty scent of the Golden Gate Park that mingled with a salt breeze from the ocean, and the tinge of smoke that drifted into the city from the wildfires in the hills beyond. They say that scent is the most powerful of our senses linked to memory. And it must be true, because I can still remember the subtile perfume you were wearing as you stepped closer to scowl at me, the very first time we spoke, on a hill in the woods, much like the one I am standing on now.
"Hey Doc!" The officer with a dark ponytail waved at me.
I vaguely remembered her as someone Gail had been unhappy with, but I couldn't for the life of me remember why or her name. I waved back and walked in her direction.
"Hey!" She said again with a sparkle in her eyes and a toothy smile, "I'm so happy you're back!"
I must have looked puzzled as I tilted my head to look at her better.
"Andy. Andy McNally, well, really Swarek now, but still McNally here…" She continued enthusiastically, and looked like she might try to hug me. "Anyway, we are all so glad that they picked you!"
The way she said it made me think that Gail might comment that McNally was so sporty that everything was like picking teams for softball to her. And that made me smile and almost snort out loud as I stifled a laugh, so I just nodded at her and walked faster. I could see the bright pink jogging suit sticking out from behind a large boulder as she lifted up the crime scene tape and ushered me past the rookie who was standing guard.
I remembered then, something about Andy McNally having slept with Gails ex-boyfriend Nick, but she she seemed to have married Detective Sam Swarek since I went to San Francisco, if the name change was any indication. Hadn't he been her training officer? It all felt so incestuous, so I asked, "What do we have here?" As soon as we stopped to get a look at the victim, in an attempt to get our conversation back on track.
"Caucasian woman appearing to be in her late twenties, found by another jogger's dog at around six forty five a.m." She replied, "we haven't touched the body, because… ummm… because the detective in charge told us not to, so we don't know if she was carrying any I.D., but it looks like she may have been hit in the head."
Well that was different. I wondered how much more training the officers at the fifteenth division had done around medical jurisprudence to be this careful. Not that I was complaining, but I could remember just how cavalier about crime scene contamination many of them had been before I left, especially Detective Swarek. I could only assume that he was the detective in charge, given her avoidance of using the Detective's name. In the week I had been back, I had noticed a definite change in the way officers were following procedural rules and regulations much more closely then they had when I left two years ago. It made me wonder what had happened, or if it was simply an administrative shift for the better.
It was good to be back! And on this case, I remembered why I chose to return was more than just about a girl I had never gotten over. I remembered what it felt like to be doing field work, my favorite job, in my favorite city. It made me want to hum a happy tune and smile like a fool, which of course would be completely inappropriate.
Our victim had indeed been struck over the head with a blunt object, and then stabbed in the side of her throat. Something her long hair had hidden at first glance, a dark red stain seeping into the ground blow, and coloring her dark red hair a different shade. As I knelt down to examine the wound, I caught sight of Doc Martens and skinny black jeans covered legs striding purposefully across my crime scene out of the corner of my eye.
Great. Where were the Rookies who were supposed to keep civilians at a safe distance away from the body? The feet stopped and I could hear the sound of a picture being taken on someone's phone.
"Hey!" I called out without taking my eyes from the gash in the victim's throat, "You're not allowed down here! Officers could you…?"
"Are you so sure about that? Because I am…" The smirk in the voice that interrupted me made my heart leap and sink at once.
I remember this feeling, the sheer electricity of it as I looked up to see her standing not more than seven meters away, and then noticed the flash of her gold detective's shield clipped to her belt.
"So.. I finally managed after I swallowed so hard it hurt and I was sure she heard my gulp, "Are you the lead detective on this case? Because I appreciate the care you've taken to preserve this crime scene." I finally told her.
She shrugged, but the shy smile on her face was the real one she used to only show to me.