Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Mike did his best to keep his face blank.
This was hard to do given the person who was in the backseat of the car while his partner was driving them to the victim's residence.
It had been obvious that Toby had spent the night with his girlfriend when Mike had been picked up at the office. The fact that the two had arrived in the same car so early as well as that she immediately got into the backseat as soon as they arrived told him that he never went home last night. That didn't bother him so much as that he wasn't told about the third wheel tagging along in their investigation; though he probably would have stayed silent about the whole thing. As long as Toby was his partner, Mike would have to get used to the fact that Spencer would be a presence in his life.
While Mike had nothing but respect for his partner, his general dislike of Spencer would always be there. He had done so much to never speak to any of the girls again after leaving Rosewood for the military all those years ago, thinking that it would last forever. His trips home while on leave always coincided with not having to be in Aria's presence, which saddened his parents given that they were siblings, and he made sure that he was always at work until he was able to get his own place away from Rosewood. Having to work with Spencer was harder than being back in basic as well as working as an MP before his discharge.
Of course, Spencer was the one he disliked the most given what had happened. The fact that everyone had listened to her when she backed up Alison's claim that Mona had been working with Charles made him all the angrier; especially since he also had believed her. Given that Alison had stabbed Spencer in the back, no one would believe that she would be fooled by the blonde so easily so everyone believed the lie and Mona had paid for it. He had bought what his sister and Spencer had said, betraying the person who had put so much trust in him and lost her when she left town.
His only consolation was that the lie had scarred the friendship the girls and Alison which would never recover. The last year of high school had been quite eventful with Alison basically forced out of town by Leona Vanderwaal after she launched a lawsuit against the blonde for the false imprisonment of her daughter. Aria and Hanna had stopped talking to Alison before the blonde had left for France with even some tension between the four girls themselves for most of the summer; though they reconciled just before Emily left for California to be with Paige. From what he had heard from Lucas, Alison had not stepped foot in Rosewood since she had left and was more unpopular than ever in town; becoming a local bogeyman of sorts.
That had brought a smile to his face when he had heard it.
Mike had never gotten the chance to apologize to Mona for betraying her; with her leaving town before he could even get a chance to see her. The interview she gave to the media after she was released, which he wasn't mentioned in, basically scathed the entire town as well as revealed some pretty dark secrets that more than a few people wanted to stay hidden. Because of Mona, the town knew all about Jessica DiLaurentis's many affairs, that Charles of was Peter Hasting's son, Alison blinding Jenna, and even various men that Alison had dated; some of whom were quite a bit older than the blonde. In Mona's wake, there were a lot of embarrassed people in town that had to make a run for it; including the entire DiLaurentis Clan.
He had tried to get a message to Mona through her mother but even she did not know where her daughter had gone. Leona had informed him that her daughter was angry with her and hoped that she would forgive her one day so any attempt at communication was impossible. Mike had no contact with Mona's mother for years and had been tempted to contact her since she still lived in the same house; chickening out because he was too afraid to screw things up between mother and daughter. Instead, Mike decided to hunt for Mona on his own and find some way of getting back into her heart; or at least find out if she is happy.
As they neared the victim's residence, it was apparent that the young woman had lived in the more modest section of town. Alice's finances had not revealed much about her spending habits with only a few credit cards and enough to live on in the bank. All of her transactions displayed nothing unusual and were of food as well as the normal bills of someone living in the city. If Alice had any hobbies, she paid in cash though no withdrawals were indicated at first glance. They were now hoping that the residence would provide clues on the victim's final days and who maybe could have murdered her.
"So her roommate will be there waiting for us?" Spencer asked from the backseat in an attempt to end the silence that was driving her insane.
"Yes; her roommate, whose name is Tasha Lamont, said that she didn't have school or work today so she will be there to let us in," answered Mike politely from the passenger seat. It irked him to have to answer her but as Toby said, he had to show respect to the office.
"Well I checked the FBI Database last night and Alice is nowhere in the system that warranted suspicion. I also looked to see if there were any deaths with similar MO's and nothing came up so if this is a Serial, then this is the first victim," Spencer informed the two young men. The thought that were more deaths like this to come filled her with dread.
"If this is a Serial; we might be looking at something that someone she knew is using to draw us away from him or her," Mike countered, not ready to believe this was a Serial killing until a second body shows up. He had seen similar things like this in the past as an MP so he was reluctant to jump on the Serial Killer train unlike his fellow officers.
"That could be; but the perpetrator went to a lot of trouble to display the body like that at the Federal Building in Brookhaven. If that was to throw us off the trail of him or her knowing the victim, it would have been less risky to just dump the body somewhere and accomplish the same goal," Toby stated, speaking up before Spencer and his partner had to concede the point.
"Did you find anything on the surveillance tapes or any trace of the hackers?" inquired the young woman, changing the subject for what they actually knew.
"We're still looking though there are potentially hours of footage to go through; even going back months since we don't know how long ago our assailant scouted out the location to display the body. As for the hacking, I am also still going through the data and no luck; though it is definitely two different signatures," Mike answered with some hesitation. As good as he had gotten over the years, he was still a newbie in some areas of computer hacking.
"Did you guys need help? My evening is free," Spencer said and had no problem looking at tapes for hours on end since it would make her feel useful. She already had clearance from her boss and Tanner to work the case.
"That sounds good; we'll tackle it tonight while Mike handles the computer end," Toby said before Mike could speak up. While Mike wasn't happy to have Spencer spend the evening going over evidence with the, better she than he when it came to those surveillance tapes.
After another minute, the three arrived at the victim's residence; an apartment complex that looked to be well kept. The building had a fresh coat of blue paint and there were various shrubberies lining the perimeter of the complex. All that could be seen were windows which indicated that the entrances to the individual apartments were located on the inside and the vehicles for residents located in an underground parking garage; a norm for this city. Seeing a free space on the street, Toby parking the car and placed his tag indicating that this was a police vehicle to avoid and problems. The three then walked across the street to where the complex's entrance was; a pair of double doors with a clean glass window in the middle.
"Nice place" Mike commented as he looked around once they were inside. He made a mental note to see if there were any vacancies while he was here given that he was looking for his own place. Mike had saved quite a bit of money over the years so finances were not an issue when it came to renting a place on his own.
"Probably pricy though; which explains the roommate. I see cameras so we will have to get tapes from the manager on our way out," Toby said as he spotted the globes in the ceiling. Everything had cameras now for security; which was either a good or bad thing depending on who you asked.
"As well as who has been in and out of the building other than the people who lived here; which they hopefully have records of. If out assailant is a Serial, he or she might have been stalking the victim," Spencer said which earned a motion of agreement from her fellow companions.
The apartment was on the second floor but since the elevators were out for some reason, the three were forced to take the stairs. While they traveled up the staircase which seemed to have cameras as well, they passed various people; mostly younger men and women heading to school for the day. Since Spencer had gone straight to the academy after high school, she didn't have the whole college experience like her peers did so she wondered if she had missed out somehow; still believing that she had made the right choice. Toby was never interested in college and Mike got all the learning he needed in the military.
Once they reached the apartment, Toby made note of the security camera in the hallway ceiling which could be an asset. Mike knocked on the door and the three waited until the door opened to reveal a blonde. She was wearing really short pants and a white tank top that showed a little too much in Toby's opinion. She was tall, Caucasian, and had dust on her face with the smell of cleaning product coming from the apartment. She was wearing headphones but took them off with the music being heard loudly; a combination of rap and new age rock. The blonde was so casual with her clothing that Spencer felt a little awkward with her black and blue pantsuit.
"Ms. Lamont? I am Officer Cavanaugh and this is Officer Montgomery as well as Agent Hastings from the FBI. You spoke to my partner on the phone," Toby said to the young woman and she perked up once they had identified themselves.
"Oh yes; sorry, I've been cleaning my room all day," the woman said as she opened the door wider to let them in. That sent alarm bells in all three heads since the roommate could be destroying evidence.
Once they were inside, they looked around the apartment and noticed that it was a lot smaller than they would have thought. Both the living room and Kitchen had no space in between them with a single counter that was used to eat. The kitchen had modern appliances though they seemed used and stood out with the wooden countertops. The floor lacked any carpet and instead had a white tile that looked rather plain; which would have earned an insult from Alison if she had seen it. The front room had a single black couch with a flat screen television on a metal stand in front of it on the far wall. The walls were of a cheap white plaster and bare of any decorations; thus leaving them plain. There were two doors on opposite sides of the room that was assumed to be one of the victim's rooms.
"I still can't believe she is gone; I wished that I had gone with her," Tasha said and she seemed to be genuinely sad that her friend was gone. However, the three had dealt with good liars before and could not take the blonde at her word until she was removed as a suspect.
"How long did you know her?" Mike asked as he got out his PDA to take notes while Spencer and Toby started putting on gloves for when they entered the victim's room.
"About two years now; we met through an ad online when I needed a roommate in order to move in. We were kind of friends but she was more focused on her schooling than wanting to hang out to have drinks," informed Tasha as she just stood there and smiled at the three.
"Had she been acting differently lately?" inquired Spencer as she looked around the place. She concluded that both roommates' personal effects had to be located in their respected rooms given the lack of personality in the apartment.
"Actually, now that you mention it; she was acting a little weird lately. Alice kept asking me if I had been in her room or gotten any weird messages," stated the young blonde and that perked their attention.
"What kind of messages?" Mike asked as he glanced at his comrades. Though he had been late to the affair with A, he had a full experience with what Charles had done back in the day.
"I don't know; Alice was very private about her personal life and I never bothered to ask since always kept things to herself," Tasha answered with a shrug.
"Where is her room?" Toby inquired and Tasha walked them over to the door on the far side of the apartment.
"If she had any family, I'd ask if they wanted her stuff since I don't know what to do with it. The manager said that I could have a few months to plan on what to do in regards to my living situation so there is no rush. I haven't been in here since I knew you guys would want to look through her stuff so knock yourselves out," stated the blonde as she opened the door to let the three inside. She then went back to finish what she was doing while they investigated.
The room itself was pretty clean and tidy; though having a bit more depth than the front part of the apartment. The bed was an old wooden fashion poster style with green bedding including the pillows while the night stand next to it was made of metal; with an little night lamp for personal use. The walls had pictures of various locations and monuments; mostly located in Asia and religious in nature. There was a large black oak dresser next to the bed on the opposite side of the night stand with a small bathroom next to it. The bathroom was medium size with its own shower; no door but a curtain for some privacy and rather clean. The carpet was purple and cheap with a few stains but not noticeable unless you looked for them.
Alice had a computer for personal use which mike immediately went to after making sure he was wearing a pair of latex gloves. The small table it was on was a mix of metal and light brown wood with the computer itself a fairly recent model; having its own printer and scanner with an external hard drive for more memory. While he booted the computer, Spencer headed to the dresser while Toby went for the small closet next to the door. They could hear vacuuming coming from the other room but ignored it while focusing on their own search; knowing that the room hadn't been touched given the small layer of dust everywhere.
"I am surprised that she doesn't have any pictures of herself," Spencer said as she went through the dresser drawers and the victim's clothing. Every article of clothing she saw was rather conservative and nothing flashy at all.
"Alice was an orphan and they are psychologically prone to being loners with no photos of family with her being a ward of the State until she was of age," Toby stated as he found a slightly barren closet with very few shoes and coats. There were shoe boxes full of old papers and school work going back years. There were also old documents for official stuff like bills and payments.
"I am surprised that she doesn't have any books; oh wait, looks like she has a few Kindles so everything might be digital for her," Spencer said as she found a stack of the digital devices in the victim's top drawer.
"That fits with her internet use; she had quite a large Amazon account for all of her things. I am also finding nothing but stuff on archeology as well as most of her digital purchases relating to the subject," Mike informed once he broke into the computer. Other than the usual schoolwork and bills, he wasn't finding anything out of the ordinary.
"Anything from her e-mails?" Toby inquired as his search of the closet was coming up empty so he decided to check underneath the bed with his flashlight.
"Nothing so far; just a lot of things relating to her various accounts and school. I'll go through her trash to see if anything is there though I doubt it after all of this time," Mike stated as he checked the trash folder. As expected, the folder was empty since it had been weeks since she had filled her spam folder.
He was about to check Alice's history going back months when an unnamed folder off to the side caught his attention. Clicking on it, there was a long list of unnamed e-mails which warranted his curiosity so he decided to check them out; starting with the most recent one. What he found nearly caused him to cry out but his jaw did drop none the less since it brought up a memory from the past. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe what he was reading and blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
It was an A message.
Please Read and Review; also a shout out to my friend Paraddicted for the pre-read and you should check out her stories!