Juan's POV
It was another day in the office and I was at my desk reviewing a few things from my computer.
But I soon noticed Jones walking towards me with a disgusted expression on his face.
"What's seems to be the problem, Jones?" I asked,
"Juan. Did you eat your breakfast this morning?" Jones questioned,
"Yeah, Why?" I responded,
"Well, You're going to need an iron stomach for this one. We just had a new case and all I can tell you is that a girl named, Jennifer Carter, did not have a happy ending," Jones explained,
With that, I turned off my computer and stood up from my chair.
"Where was her body found?" I questioned,
"She was discovered in one of the butcher warehouses, near the docks," Jones revealed, "I can't say I'm thrilled, but should we get going then?"
"Indeed," I responded,
Crime Scene...
The whole warehouse was blocked off once again by Police Tape and the police officers were present to ensure no one trespasses within the scene.
Jones and I then enter the warehouse, and the moment I saw the body. I felt my stomach tingle as I covered my nose and mouth with my right hand.
Jennifer Carter was hanging upside down with her bound feet hooked on one of the ceiling hooks, stripped to her underwear, and her dry blood dripping onto the floor.
"Damn... Whoever did this, must have been sick in the head," I muttered,
"Yeah," Jones agreed,
"But enough about that. Jones, get some guys, and a body bag for the poor girl. I'll investigate the scene for a moment," I ordered,
"Okay," Jones said, as radios a few guys to help with the body.
I looked around and saw a bloody shoe print just a few meters below the victim's body. I kneeled, pulled out a camera I got when I was first sent here, and took a picture of the footprint.
Then I stood up straight and kept looking around the warehouse for more clues. There, I saw a trash can with its lid slightly open.
Jones, who just finished bring down the victim into a body bag, spotted me opening a garage can and immediately went to my side.
"You want to take a look at the garbage can?" Jones asked,
"The lid was recently opened. So I'll take a gander at it and see if I can find something noteworthy," I said,
As I carefully searched the trash can, I soon noticed a black handle at the very bottom of the can, grabbed it, and carefully pulled it out of the can.
What I found in the can was a bloody cleaver which caused Jones to pale a bit.
"Looks like we just found our murder weapon, Jones," I said,
"Indeed, and the thought of someone waving this in front of your nose... Jennifer must have been terrified," Jones added,
"And here's the worst part. Our Murderer stood there and watched our victim bled to death," I added, as I put the bloody cleaver inside a large evidence bag and put it away.
"By the way, Jones. Who owns this warehouse?" I asked,
"That would be a certain, Raoul Colletti. He's waiting to be interrogated," Jones replied,
"Alright, Let's go talk to him," I said, "Afterward, We get the results from Nathan and have Alex examine this shoe print,"
Jones and I approached the owner of the butcher warehouse whose also accompanied by two other people who were on the scene as well.
"Your name is Raoul Colletti?" I asked as Jones and I approached the butcher,
"Yes, I am," Raoul responded,
"Can you tell us anything you know about the victim?" I interrogated,
"It was such a tragedy... Jennifer often came to the shop. She was a sweet kid, always smiling," Raoul said with grief,
"Okay, Mr. Colletti, apart from you, Who else having access to this warehouse?" Jones questioned,
"Well... my apprentice, Raphael Soza, has a set of keys. And my daughter, of course. She's the one who discovered the body first," Raoul told,
"Looks like we have ourselves a few more suspects to interrogate seeing how they're holding the keys to this warehouse," Jones said,
"Indeed," I agreed,
We first approached Raoul's daughter, Trisa Colletti, since she was the first who found the body.
"I still can't shake that image out of my head... She looked like a pig!" Trish said in a surprised manner,
"We're very sorry you had to see that. Were you friends with Jennifer?" Jones questioned,
"Oh no, we didn't hang out together. She was too posh for me," Trish answered, "And she was a flirt, I can tell you THAT. I wouldn't be surprised if she got the wrong kind of guy excited...!"
I frowned at her last comment, but I decided not to say anything else as Jones and I went to interrogate Raoul's apprentice, Raphael Soza.
"Mr. Soza?" I called out,
"Yes, Officers?" Raphael responded,
"We would like to ask of you regarding your occupation with Raoul Colletti," Jones said,
"I've been Mr. Colletti's apprentice for two years. After my mother split on me and left me to rot in that hobo camp, he's the only one who gave me a chance," Raphael explained,
"Mr. Colletti told us that Jennifer was a regular to his shop, Do you know her well, Mr. Soza?" I questioned,
"Uh... Yeah. We just talked, that's all," Raphael said nervously,
"Are you sure, Mr. Soza?" I questioned with a strict tone,
"Yes! Look I've been in a relationship with Trist for six months. I don't pay attention to other girls," Raphael stated,
"So, you're working for the father and dating the daughter? That's quite a comfy arrangement you've got there!" Jones said,
"The Collettis' has been very kind to me. Life in Cooperville's tough, you know. I'm glad they're not afraid of me," Raphael said,
"Alright then, That is all we need to ask of you for now. But we will investigate your possessions, Mr. Soza," I said, then Jones and I walked away from him,
"So, we're going to Cooperville?" Jones assumed,
"Yeah, but can you lead the way. I'm still not familiar with travel through these places," I said,
"Alright, In fact. I think there's someone there I would like to introduce you to," Jones agreed as he and I went into the squad car.
Cooperville
We stopped by a nearby homeless camp, and as we make our way through to meet someone. I couldn't help but glance around as I saw the condition of the people living here.
I felt pity for them since they were forced to live in poor conditions due to various reasons. The worse part, some of these people tend to have themselves harassed by local gang members of the Vipers.
But as we make our way through, We reached a certain tent and its elderly resident looked up to us and gave a smile despite that he had only one tooth left in his mouth.
"Jones! Long time no see," The Old man greeted heartfully,
"It is," Jones greeted back, as the two shook hands. Then the old man turns to me,
"So, who's the recruit?" The old asked,
"This is Juan Martinez, my new partner," Jones introduced,
"Pleasure to meet you, Sir," I greeted, as I reached my hand to him,
"You too, Juan. Folks here call me One-Tooth-Sam, de facto mayor of Cooperville, and an old friend of Jones," One-Tooth-Sam greeted back, shook my hand as well, "So what brings both of here?"
"We're investigating a murder case, and we were hoping that you would know where Raphael Soza sleeps in?" I stated,
"Yeah, he sleeps in that shack right over there," One-Tooth-Sam said, as he pointed at the said shack,
After that, Jones and I started investigating Raphael's Shack. A moment later, I noticed something on Raphael's sleeping mat and pulled out a pair of pink panties with the initiate J at the front.
"Hey, Jones," I called out,
Jones went to my side and noticed what I was holding.
"Those panties are a bit fancy for the neighborhood," Jones commented,
"And I highly doubt that they belong here, especially Raphael's shack," I added, "What's more, these panties have a letter 'J',"
"But we can't be sure if it's our victim's. How about we head back and get a closer look to confirm that theory," Jones suggested,
"Sure thing, We can also get the results from guys back in the lab. I'm sure their already done examining what we found in the warehouse," I said,
Back in Grimsbourough Police Department
I've already finished examining the panties for any strains of DNA and sent the samples to Grace for immediate analysis.
But while we wait for her to finish the analysis, Jones and I went to the morgue where Nathan had just finished his autopsy with our victim.
"So, Nathan. What do you have for us?" I asked while Jones wasn't ready for what he was about to hear next,
"Jennifer was hit over the head with a blunt object, but she was still alive when the killer sliced her open," Nathan explained, "And what's more, her heart is missing!"
Jones started groaning in disgust while Nathan and I took notice of this.
"Jones, are you alright? You're looking a little green," Nathan noted,
"No, I'm... okay," Jones said, but a moment later, he started to hurl and I knew what was going to happen next, and passed a barf bag for him.
There, Jones grabbed the barf bag from my hand, walked a few meters away from us, and started emptying his stomach inside the bag.
"Continue," I insisted,
"I noticed that Jennifer had numerous burn marks on her breast. Her killer is obviously a smoker..." Nathan concluded, "... But they can't be very experienced. They left strands of their hair in Jennifer's wounds. Juan, you're looking for someone with black hair,"
"Thanks, Nathan," I thanked, then I went to Jones' side, "You alright, Jones?"
"Yeah... I'm fine now," Jones said, as he threw the barf bag in the nearest trash can, "Let's go to Alex and see what he found out about the footprint,"
After we've left the morgue, we went to Alex's workplace.
"So what did you find for us, Alex?" I asked,
"The shoe print you found on the crime scene leaves a lot to be desired, you know," Alex commented, "But since I'm awesome, I was still able to determine that your killer's feet are 10 inches long!"
"Good work, Digital God," I praised,
"You're welcome," Alex replied, then Jones and I went to Grace next,
"Hey, Juan! Great job on the DNA you found in those panties. I've compared them with Jennifer's and it's definitely hers," Grace said, "But there wasn't just her DNA on those panties! I also found DNA belonging to a certain Raphael Soza!"
"Well, it looks like Raphael wasn't telling us everything," Jones commented, "Let's go talk to him about this,"
"And while we're at it, We should talk to Sam as well. He might know something regarding our victim's affair with him," I added,
Cooperville...
We arrived at the Cooperville and spotted Raphael standing near his shack.
"Mr. Soza," I called out, and Raphael turns to us,
"What now, Officers?" Raphael questioned,
"We've got quite a mystery on our hands, Raphael. How did your DNA end up on Jennifer's panties? Did you exchange underwear?" Jones interrogated, which caused to Raphael feel annoyed at Jones' words,
"No need to be so sarcastic, mister. I don't know how her panties got here, but I sure didn't take them! We were friends, nothing more!" Raphael sneered, "I don't know how my DNA ended up in those!"
"Either way, We will be keeping a close eye on you, Mr. Soza," I stated, "Whether you admit it or not, you are still connected to the victim of the case,"
After that confrontation, Jones and I went to One-Tooth Sam and asked him about Raphael and Jennifer. He proclaimed that Raphael wouldn't do something like that and told us to get to the bottom of this case.
Jones and I agreed to his request and soon left to return to the police station.
Grimsbourough Police Department
Jones and I walked into the police department, we discussed a few things regarding the case as well as the relationships of suspects to the victim.
A moment later, one of the officers of the department, Officer Ramirez, approached us.
"Detective Juan," Ramirez greeted,
"Officer Ramirez, Do you have something to tell us?" I asked,
"Yes, Vanessa Carter, the victim's mother, is ready to see you. She's still in shock, though" Ramirez explained, "Also, some of the officers have discovered a backpack in the crime scene. Apparently, it belongs to your victim,"
"Thanks, Ramirez," I thanked then I turned to Jones, "Well, Jones. Looks like we have a bag to search, and a mother to consult,"
"Let's get to it then," Jones said,
We first searched the victim's backpack, pulled out the victim's cellphone, and passed it to Alex's hands.
While he was working on the phone, Jones and I drove to the victim's house and consult with the victim's mother, who was seen crying by the sofa while holding a cigarette in between her right fingers.
"I c-can't belie... believe my baby's dead! I told her! I t-told her not to go near that hobo camp! Deviants, murderers, the lot of them!" Vanessa cried out in between her sobs, "She was seeing a boy in that camp! Oh, she wouldn't admit it, but I knew! I knew! And now she's dead!"
"We'll keep that in mind, Mrs. Carter. In the meantime, you won't mind us looking around your house," Jones requested,
Vanessa Carter responded with a nod and decided to head outside Once she was out the door, Jones rubbed his eyes for a moment.
"I wish Mrs. Carter wouldn't chain-smoke like that. Makes my eyes water," Jones commented,
"You could say that, but considering how she lost her daughter. She just can't help herself," I said, "But enough about that, let's search the house and see if we could find anything regarding our victim,"
"Yeah, but anyway. Can you search the kitchen without me, Juan? I really need to get some fresh air!" Jones said,
I nodded then started searching the kitchen for anything I could find useful, and my eyes laid on a written paper that was torn to pieces.
"Hmmm... I think I fix this," I muttered, then looked around for something to fix the page,
That's when I set my eyes on some tape I spotted, grabbed it, and started putting the pieces together. Once I've finished, I began to read the following message.
"Raphael and I are THROUGH! He's NEVER going to leave Trish-the-Cow, too afraid of losing his job! That family's POISON! I HATE THEM ALL!" I read calmly, and started gathering my thoughts on this, 'Looks like Jennifer has some major issues if she's mad with the Collettis. Specifically, Trish Colletti, Raphael's Girlfriend. I better talk to those two when I get the chance,'
A moment later, Jones comes back inside the house and approached me.
"What you got there, Partner?" Jones asked,
"Just some page from our victim's diaries. Apparently, she broke up with Raphael because he refused to break up with Trist Colletti," I explained,
"Whoa, this thing between Jennifer and Raphael must have been more serious than we thought if she wanted him to leave Trish for her!" Jones assumed,
"I know. That's why we will be going to those two lovebirds and see if we could get some answers from them," I said,
"Speaking of talk. I got a call from Alex, and he sent this message to us," Jones said, as he pulls out his phone, and showed me the text message,
"There wasn't much about the victim's cellphone since it was filled with text messages of the victim and her friends. But one certain message stands out the most," I read, and scroll down on the phone, "This message was sent two hours before her death 'I'm not scared of you! I'm going to tell. You'll pay for what you did!' And it was sent to... Raoul Colletti?"
"That's right, and this means we have three suspects to interrogate," Jones concluded,
"Well, let's start with Raphael first then we talk to the Collettis next," I declared,
"Well let's get going then," Jones insisted,
Cooperville...
We've reach Cooperville and found Raphael standing nearby his shack and immediately noticed us walking towards him.
"What do you want now?" Raphael questioned,
"An explanation, I just found a ripped page from Jennifer's diary and it said that you and she were through because you couldn't break up with Trish Colletti," I explained which made Raphael sweat nervously, "Care to tell us the truth this time?"
"Okay, yes, we fooled around once or twice..." Raphael admitted, " But she kept telling me to break up with Trish, that the Collettis was like poison, she was insanely hateful towards them!"
"And breaking up with Trish would have meant losing your job, wouldn't it? How convenient that Jennifer's dead..." Jones stated,
"I would have never killed her! I just told her to get lost, I never hurt her!" Raphael reasoned,
"We will still investigate this matter, Mr. Soza. So don't think that you're in the clear just yet," I said,
"Fine, Look, are we done?" Raphael questioned,
"For now," Jones replied,
"Good Hey, you wouldn't happen to have some cigarettes, would you? I could use some, it's been a really crappy day," Raphael requested,
Unfortunately for him, We told him that we didn't and left Cooperville to interrogate the Collettis.
The first one we approached was Trish Colletti.
"Mrs. Colletti?" I called out,
"It's you two again. What do you want from me this time?" Trish questioned,
"We've recently learned from Jennifer's diary that Raphael was having an affair with the victim. Do you know something about this?" I asked,
"A girl is dead and all you care to do is spread filthy lies around? You're disgusting!" Trish accused,
"We very much doubt Jennifer would lie in her own dia-" Jones gets cut off when Trish yelled, "Shut up, SHUT UP! Raphael was NOT having an affair with that... with Jennifer! He loves ME! He didn't care about that snobby flirt!"
I frowned at Trish's hesitation in the middle of her sentence. But I kept it in mind as an assumption.
"You seem to harbor a lot of hate towards Jennifer, Trish. Why is that, if she didn't steal your boyfriend?" I questioned,
"Like I said. She was a snob and a flirt! Sorry for not swooning over her!" Trish yelled, then started to calm down, "Now if you're done, I'd like to go out for a smoke. Dad hates it when I smoke inside,"
After that conversation, We went to Raoul Colletti next.
"Mr. Colletti, We have to ask you something," I said,
"Sure, officers. What do you have in mind?" Raoul questioned,
"Did Jennifer recently sent this message to you?" I asked, and showed him Jennifer's message through my phone,
"That... that message was nonsense! I just laughed it off. Thought she had dialed the wrong number." Raoul explained,
"Why would she have had your number in the first place, Mr. Colletti? Fast orders of kidneys?" Jones assumed,
"Look, let's be serious here! You know how kids are, always making up stories! She was just having me on, that's all!" Raoul reasoned,
"We will be the judge of that. But before we go we need to know your shoe size, and your daughter's as well," I requested,
"... We both wear a size 10. Trish always complains that she got my feet, haha," Raoul said while nervously chuckling at the end,
Then, we left him be. But we kept note of what he said to us earlier.
"I admit, I don't know what to think. If Jennifer's message was really addressed to Mr. Colletti, then he's becoming our number one suspect," Jones said, "But he denies it, and of course SHE can't talk anymore,"
"In that case, how about we check things at Cooperville and see what we can find there," I suggested,
"Good idea, Maybe inspiration will strike us there..." Jones agreed,
After that, We made our way to Cooperville and searched for clues. There, I spotted a bloodstained rag lying on the ground just near a garbage can.
"Hey, Jones!" I called out, and as soon as he approached me. I showed him the bloodstained rag,
"The blood on that rag is still fresh... and that's the kind of rag butchers use! Can you collect a sample?" Jones questioned,
"I'll collect it when we get back to the station. That way, we can send it to Grace faster," I said,
As soon as we went back to the station, I've collected a sample from the rag and sent it to Grace for examination.
A couple of minutes later, Jones and I went to Grace's lab to see the results of the blood test.
"So, Grace. What can you tell us about blood on the rag?" I asked,
"Most of the blood on that rag was Jennifer's, but not all. Your killer must have cut themselves doing their dirty job," Grace explained, "Comparing DNA with our entire database would take weeks, but I can tell you this straight away: your killer's blood type is O positive!"
"Now that's what we like to know. Thanks, Grace," Jones thanked,
After that, Jones and I went out of the lab and made our way to the desks.
"Well, Partner. What do you make of this case?" Jones asked,
"In my opinion, I'd say that three out of five of the suspects were too involved with Jennifer. And those three would be Raphael Soza, Trish Colletti, and Raoul Colletti," I told,
"Indeed, Raphael was having an affair with the victim, and Trish, whether she believes in the affair or not, clearly hated Jennifer anyway," Jones agreed, "And there's that weird message Jennifer sent to Mr. Colletti..."
"But look at the bright side, We've discovered another piece of evidence and I have a feeling that we're getting closer to our killer, Jones," I said,
"I guess you're right about that," Jones said, "Oh, I just remembered something,"
"What is it?" I asked,
"I asked Ramirez to fill us in on our last suspects' shoe sizes to gain time. Mrs. Carter wears a size 9.5, and Sam wears a size 10.5. He also smokes like a chimney," Jones told,
"Well that crosses them off of the list, But what about Raphael's Shoesize?" I asked,
"His shoe size is 10. Basically, this means that-" Before Jones could finish his sentence, Ramirez runs towards them, "Jones! Juan! Mrs. Carter is here to speak with you. She's in hysterics, she won't stop crying! I think you ought to come quick!"
Jones and I glanced at each other then Ramirez escorted us to Vanessa Carter, who was crying so loud that one or two of the officers were trying to calm her down while the rest were staring at her before going about their businesses.
"Mrs. Carter. What seems to be the problem?" I asked, as soon as Jones and I approached her,
"My daughter's heart! THEY SOLD ME MY DAUGHTER'S HEART!" Vanessa cried out loud,
"What... please, Mrs. Carter, calm down. Who sold you your daughter's heart? Where is it?" Jones asked,
"This morning! Before they said my Jenny was dead! I went to buy some meat! And there's... there's a heart in there, and I never bought any!" Vanessa explained, "Don't you understand? They gave me my daughter's heart so I would EAT it!"
"Okay, Calm down for a moment, Mrs. Carter. Where are the groceries you're talking about?" I asked,
After Vanessa told us where her groceries were, Jones and I went to her house and immediately spotted the grocery bag on the table.
"I'll, uh, let you search this bag, Juan. I think I saw something over... over there," Jones said as he turns away from the bag,
I slipped in some gloves and searched deep inside the bag. Once I spotted heart, I slowly pulled it out of the bag and Jones started to pale a bit.
"Oh God, is that what I think it is?" Jones asked,
"It is," I answered, then placed the heart inside an evidence bag, "Let's get this to the lab,"
Grimsbourough Police Department...
After several minutes of waiting for Grace to finish examining the heart, We made our way into the lab.
"So, Grace. Does this heart belong to our victim?" I asked,
"Correct, Juan. . Are you telling me the killer sold Jennifer's heart to her own mother?!" Grace asked with a frown look on her face,
"Evidently, yes. Did you find anything else? Can you get fingerprints off of... of that?" Jones asked,
"No, but I found something else. There were yellow fibers stuck to her heart. Plain cotton, nothing remarkable... but now you know your killer was wearing yellow clothes!" Grace concluded,
"That means we have everything we need to arrest our killer," I noted,
"Well, I'm not sorry to see the end of this case. I only hope Jennifer's killer hasn't had time to carve somebody else up!" Jones said, Let's go arrest that freak, shall we, Juan?"
"You got it, Jones," I agreed,
With everything, I needed to arrest the murderer. The suspect that matches the profile of the killer was Butcher's daughter, Trish Colletti.
Jones and I then drove our way to the butcher shop and arrest her as soon as we spotted her.
"Trish Colletti, You are under arrest for the murder of Jennifer Carter," I stated, as I pulled a pair of handcuffs,
Trish frantically glances around the room after being found out, and her eyes laid onto her father, "Dad, you're not going to let them arrest me, are you? Dad! DO something!"
" I... they have proof, sweetie. How... how could you do such a thing?" Raoul questioned in disbelief of knowing his daughter commit such a thing,
"That bitch slept with my boyfriend! And she kept flirting with you dad, I SAW her! What, I was supposed to let that fly?!" Trish shouted angrily,
"Are you meaning to tell us you cut open this girl because you thought she was a flirt?!" Jones yelled,
"She was a TRAMP! I had to teach her to behave!" Trish yelled back,
"By cutting her up? You're quite sick in the head, Don't you think?" I noted,
"SHE HAD IT COMING! I regret nothing, nothing! She bled like the pig she was!" Trish admitted,
"We've heard more than enough. Trish Colletti," Jones stated, then we escorted her to the police car, reads her rights, and turned her over to booking for her upcoming trial...
In Court...
"Never have I heard of such a heinous crime in all my years presiding this Court. For this reason, Trish Colletti, despite being 16 years of age, you have been tried as an adult for the kidnapping, torture, and slaughter of Jennifer Carter." Judge Hall stated,
" I only did what had to be done! Raphael was under her spell, but now he knows I did it for love, for us!" Trish insanely deliberated out loud,
With Raphael present, he could only shrink nervously in his seat while Raoul could only close his eyes and accepted that his own daughter had changed into a murderer.
" I think what Raphael KNOWS is that he's lucky you didn't have time to carve him up as well..." Jones pointed out,
"STOP LYING! He hated her, he wanted her gone, she was a witch!" Trish yelled out loud,
Vanessa Carter couldn't speak up as she kept sobbing for the loss of her daughter while her other daughter was comforting her mother but was still affected by the loss.
"Silence in the Court! Trish Colletti, you are hereby sentenced to life in jail, with psychological monitoring and a chance for parole in 40 years. Court is adjourned!" Judge Hall concluded, slammed her gavel once, and two officers escorted Trish out to the courtroom,
Outside the Court House
"I wonder how Mrs. Carter will ever manage to rebuild her life... She couldn't even speak during the trial," Jones wondered, "And I don't know how I'd feel in Mr. Colletti's shoes. Knowing that your own child has been capable of such cruelty..."
"Tell me about it," I agreed,
"In any case, I'm impressed with you," Jones complimented,
"What for?" I asked,
" you didn't even puke once!" Jones noted, and slightly chuckled at this,
"I guess you're right about that," I said,
Grimsbourough Police Department
As soon as I finished filing the case into my computer. I went to Chief King's office after one of the officers told me that he wished to see me.
As I walked into the Chief's office and noticed that Jones was present. But I didn't question it as I gave a salute to Chief King.
"At ease," King ordered and I lowered my hand, "You did splendidly with this case, You two. I know it can't have been a walk in the park, but you kept your cool and got to the bottom of things. Great job!"
"Thank you, Sir," Jones and I thanked simultaneously,
"Now, I think you should check up on Mrs. Carter and Mr. Colletti. Both lost a daughter today, and I want to make sure they won't do anything they might regret," King ordered, "And while you're at it, please go talk to One-Tooth-Sam. He's brought up some serious concerns about the homeless camp's safety,"
"Yes sir!" Jones and I responded, left the office room, and we made our first stop in Raoul's Butchershop.
Upon our arrival there, We've spotted Raoul working and the latter immediately spots us.
"Mr. Colletti. Jones and I came here to see on how you're going so far," I said, and Raoul could only sigh to himself,
"I've been good. But I still cannot believe my own daughter could have done such a terrible thing..." Raoul said,
"We're very sorry for that, Mr. Colletti," I apologized, and Jones nodded along.
"There's no need for an apology. You two were just doing you're job. However, I must tell you that I haven't slept in two days, I see Jennifer's blood everywhere! ... Please, inspectors, could you inspect my warehouse and check there aren't any more objects tainted with her blood?"
"... of course, Mr. Colletti! We'll... be happy to look at all that blood for you!" Jones said while he paled a little bit,
As we let him be, Jones and I walked our way to the warehouse.
"Okay, Raoul can't be serious, can he? This place is COVERED with blood! How are we supposed to figure out which is pork and which is woman?!" Jones complained, "I'm relying on your instincts on this one, Juan. If anyone can find human blood in this mess, it's you!"
"Sure thing, Jones," I said,
Once we arrived at the warehouse, We started searching the warehouse for anything that's stained by the victim's blood. A moment later, I found a pair of glasses that were near the exact location where the victim was hanging and picked it up.
"See, what did I tell you? You've probably found the only object with Jennifer's blood on it!" Jones commented as soon as he went to my side,
"But we can't be too sure that this belongs to our victim, Jones. I'm going to have to collect a sample first, then send it to Grace for verification," I said,
"Right, and I'll leave that to you as well," Jones stated,
After I collected a blood sample from the glasses, I sent it to Grace for examination. While that's happening, Jones and I went to Vanessa Carter's house to see how she was holding up.
When we arrived at her house, Vanessa Carter was still sobbing over the loss of her daughter.
"Mrs. Carter, Jones and I came here to see how you're holding up so far," I said,
"Oh officers, you've got to help me! My sweet little baby will be buried tomorrow and I cannot find her baptism medal anywhere! She needs to wear it for her eternal rest!" Vanessa requested,
"Of course we'll help you! Juan's instincts never fail; we will find your medal in no time, don't you worry!" Jones assured,
After that, we went to the kitchen and searched for the said medal. A few moments later, we found it, but it was broken into several pieces.
"Juan, I think you've struck gold, as usual!" Jones praised, "Well, I say 'gold' but... what kind of cheap medal breaks into so many pieces?!
"I can label a few. But I won't, also I don't think we should give the medal to Mrs. Carter in this condition," I noted, "I'm going to need a pair of tweezers, and some glue to fix this,"
"There's some in the car, I'll go get it for you," Jones said,
After he did come back with the tweezers and glue, I worked on putting the pieces together. A few moments later, the pieces of the medal were now together.
"Great job, Juan! This is indeed a baptism medal... Let's just hope it's the one Mrs. Carter was looking for!" Jones said,
We then approached Mrs. Carter and with her daughter's baptism medal on hand.
"Mrs. Carter, we found the medal and Detective Juan repaired it when we found it in pieces. Is this your daughter's?" Jones asked,
"It... looks like it, yes. But my oldest daughter has the same. Let me see..." Vanessa took the medal and examined it. Unfortunately, she couldn't read the birthdate behind the medal due to it being scratched off, "I... I cannot read the birthdate! How can I know for sure? Oh, my poor baby girl!"
"Calm down, Mrs. Carter. Detective Juan here is used to this kind of thing. He will decipher this birthdate for you," Jones said,
"He's right, Mrs. Carter. Just give me a few minutes and I will decipher the birthdate of your daughter's medal," I assured,
"O-Okay," Vanessa replied, and passes the medal to me again,
Afterward, Jones and I decided to head back to the station to decipher the birthdate of the medal.
Once I've deciphered the birthdate of the medal, I wrote the date in a tag and attached it at the back of the medal.
"I don't know how you manage to decipher these things, Juan! It all looks like gibberish to me!" Jones commented,
"You did say that this kind of situation is a specialty of mine," I said,
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. But anyway, let's go and show the birthday to Mrs. Carter," Jones said,
"But before you go there, Boys. I have something important to say to you two," Grace said, as she approached us,
"So Grace, what's the results of the blood we sent you?" I asked,
"I've analyzed the blood you collected from those glasses, and it comes up positive for the victim!" Grace concluded, "But, hm... I thought this case was closed?"
"Haha, yeah... long story. Anyway, thanks Grace, I don't know what Juan and I would do without you!" Jones said,
"Indeed, buy anyway. Let's get going, Jones. We've need got a medal to return and a revelation to tell," I stated,
Jones and I then left the station and head to Vanessa's house first.
"Mrs. Carter, Detective Juan has done wonders once again! Is your daughter's birthdate: 04/12/1995?" Jones assumed,
" Yes, it is! Oh, what a relief! Thank you so much, Detective Juan! Now my daughter can truly rest in peace! Please, take this, as thanks!" Vanessa said and gave us a couple of sandwiches,
To which we accepted before going to Raoul's workshop to tell him the results of the glasses.
Upon our arrival, He had already noticed us from a mile away.
"Ah, Officers! Did you come here to tell me something?" Raoul questioned,
"Yes, Mr. Colletti. We've checked your warehouse and found that the only object that has traces of the victim's blood in it was a pair of glasses," I told,
" Thank you so much, Detective Juan! If everyone was as selfless as you, maybe my daughter wouldn't have become a murderer," Raoul gratefully thanked,
"Well, unfortunately, we'll never know about that, will we?" Jones doubted,
"I guess not. Anyway, thanks again. Maybe now I'll finally manage to sleep at night!" Raoul said in relief,
After that, Jones and I left Raoul's workplace and went to Cooperville to meet up with One-Tooth Sam.
Once we've arrived in Cooperville, We made our way to One-Tooth Sam's tent and the latter immediately spots us and approached us.
"Oh good, just the people I needed! Look, the Vipers between and Tony Marconi's henchmen, things here are getting worse and worse. We have to hide everything we have, or those goons take it from us!" One Tooth Sam said,
"I understand your frustration Sam, but so far we haven't been able to pin anything on those guys..." Jones said and I nodded my head,
" Ha, I'm not asking for that much! But I've heard that your pal here, Juan, is a crack at finding lost stuff, and I can't figure out where I've hidden my lucky gold tooth," One-Tooth Sam expected,
"You hear that Juan? We've got a bit of a reputation!" Jones praised,
"Indeed, Jones," I agreed before turning my head to One Tooth Sam, "And you don't have to worry about a thing, Sam. We'll find that tooth of yours in no time,"
"Thanks, I'd be grateful for you doing this for me," One Tooth Sam thanked,
After which, we started searching around the camp in a matter of minutes. Then I searched a trash can and noticed something glimmering inside of it.
I dug deep into the trash can, and after a while. I picked up a small golden tooth from inside the trash can.
"Hey, Jones! I found it," I called out,
Then he went to my side and smiled at what I was holding.
"Where you'd find it?" Jones questioned,
"Inside the trash can," I said,
"In any case, Great job on finding this tiny tooth in that huge trash can," Jones praised, "Now let's go give it back to Sam,"
We then went back to One Tooth Sam's tent.
"Sam, We've got one gold tooth, fresh from the trash!" I announced,
"Already?!" Sam exclaimed in surprise, but he soon gave us a smile, "Ha, I see the guys didn't lie, Juan really IS a crack! Thanks, Detective!"
"Hey, I helped a bit too, you know!" Jones noted,
"Sure... the important thing is that you believe it! I'm pretty good at finding stuff too. Here, Juan, this is for you!" Sam stated and gave me a clean Jaunty cap.
"Thanks," I thanked,
"Anytime, and if you ever stop by in Cooperville. Let me know," Sam said,
After Jones and I said our goodbyes to him, We went back to the station to file the case then I went on home.
Juan's Residences
After I've returned home, I looked at the wall clock and realized that I was the one who had came home first before my sisters.
Then I decided to get something to drink and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
I picked up a glass with my right hand, held a pitcher with my left, and started pouring water for myself.
As soon as I finished drinking two glasses of water, I was about to set the glass down to the sink. But something unexpected occurred.
I soon groaned in pain when my right arm was starting to burn up, and I accidentally dropped the glass onto the floor. Causing it to shatter upon impact.
But I tended to my right arm first and gripped my left hand onto my right forearm as I kept groaning in pain.
I went to the fridge, picked up a bottle containing some pain relievers that were prescribed to me, and swallowed at least one to two pills.
Then I picked up another glass, filled it with water, and drank it to have the pills go down my throat.
Afterward, I set the glass onto the sink, and breathe for a moment. I momentarily glanced at my right hand, and the fingers on my right hand were slightly twitching.
Once the pain was gone, I went swept the shattered glass off of the floor, dispose of it in the trash, then laid down onto the couch and sighed heavily.
'When will this end...' I asked myself as I stared at the ceiling,
