Chapter 2

Angel arrived at Tranquility Beach, where dozens of police cars were in the parking lot. She got out of her cruiser and met with Captain Biggins.

"Victim is over there," he pointed out and Angel walked out onto the open beach.

She found the female victim lying on her back and she was being examined by the coroner, Hannah Gideon.

Hannah Gideon had been the town's coroner for ten years, but usually she dealt with bodies from the hospital, and she had yet to find a homicide victim. Hannah went to forensics school in Vancouver and became the city's coroner for a short time before being transferred to Mystic Rock Harbor.

She became Angel's good friend when Angel was hired three years ago. Hannah was a dog humanoid with dark brown hair, tan skin, and chocolate brown eyes.

"Who found her?" Angel asked, as she put on gloves.

"A jogger spotted her in the surf. At first, he thought it was some trash, but curiosity got the best of him and he pulled her in and called us," Dr. Gideon replied.

The dog girl was naked, but her belly and chest was riddled with stab wounds.

"Was she stabbed on land before being tossed in the water?" Angel asked.

"Not sure, I'll know more when we take her back, but this is a homicide," Dr. Gideon said and her assistants came with a gurney and a body bag.

Angel looked out on the beach and the ocean. There were a lot of questions swarming in her head.

"Detective Lyons?" Captain Biggins said to her and she went back to reality. "There's a young man here, he said he knew the victim, sort of."

"Whatever information he has, it could be useful," Angel replied and she walked up to the cat humanoid.

"What's your name?" Angel asked him.

"Fred or Freddy, whatever you like to call me," the cat boy replied.

"You said that you knew the victim, what can you tell me?" she asked, again.

"I was at a bonfire party last night, tons of people. Jean was her name," Fred answered. "She and I, well, hit it off, and she wanted to go swimming," he added.

"Swimming?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I was going to go in, but I guess I passed out before I went into the water," Fred replied. "I had too much to drink," he added in a whisper.

"You didn't see anything unusual when Jean went into the water?" Angel asked.

"No, it was dark, very dark," Fred replied and Angel felt a bit disappointed.

She allowed the cat boy to leave and turns to an officer, "Did anyone recover the victim's personal belongings?" she asked.

"We recovered her clothes a little further down along with her drivers' license," the officer answered and Angel looked at the license. The girl's name was 'Jean Coppin' and she was from the city of Prince Rupert.

Angel decided to leave and head to the police station to report the incident.

The Mystic Rock Harbor PD was a small station with little staff as the town was not like Vancouver or any other big city.

Angel went to her desk and booted up her computer. She opened up a file that allowed her to report any crime or incident.

She typed in the victim's first name 'Jean' and 'Coppin' for the last name. Angel put in 'Tranquility Beach' for the location where the victim was found. She looked at the slot where it said 'Cause of Death'. She was about to type in, when a voice says, "Mrs. Swagger!"

Angel turned around to see the mayor, Vincent 'Vinny' Giroux with some of his staff and Dr. Gideon was with him, too.

"Mayor Giroux, good morning," Angel replied.

"Listen, I understand that a body was found at Tranquility Beach and Dr. Gideon said it is a homicide, do you think so?" the mayor asked.

"From the stab wounds I saw—" "Whoa, whoa, stab wounds?" Mayor Giroux interrupted, "Well, I saw the body and I happen to know that they are propeller blade wounds," he said.

"Excuse me?" Angel asked.

"Listen, my staff and I believe that this poor girl went out too far and was hit by a passing boat," the mayor replied.

"You mean you think it was an accident? Dr. Gideon said—" "I made a mistake, Angel," Hannah cut in, "I agree with the mayor, the wounds were consistent with a boat's propeller blades."

Angel did not know what to say; she obviously disagreed with the mayor's theory.

"Listen, Mrs. Swagger," Mayor Giroux said to Angel, "The town is in preparation for Canada Day. This is the one day of the year where people from around the world come to our town and enjoy our beaches.

"Now, if you say there is…I don't know, a serial killer on the loose, then the tourists will go ballistic and pack up and leave. Now, the town's businesses rely on tourist dollars, when the money does not come, then how will the people get by with no heat or food when winter comes?" Mayor Giroux asked.

Angel took this as a warning; she did not want to be made the town's enemy, but she feared that there was a killer out there, targeting swimmers.

Angel nodded at the mayor and says, "Alright sir, I agree with you, the victim died from a boating accident."

"Very good," Mayor Giroux replied and he and his staff leave.

Angel looks at Hannah and asks, "Did he bully you into saying something else?"

"Angel, not now," Dr. Gideon replied and turned away.

"No, I'm serious; he did bully you into changing your mind. You said you dealt with homicide victims in Vancouver and you saw victims like Jean," Angel said to her friend.

"Yeah, but I was the coroner in the Vancouver morgue for a short time, so I didn't see much stabbing victims," Hannah replied and leaves.

Angel was sure that the mayor pressured Hannah into saying something else other than homicide on her report.

She turned back to her report and types in 'Boating Accident' in the Cause of Death slot. Angel then looks at her clock; it was getting close to noon. She finished up her report and packed up her things and headed on home.