Some of the chapters in this story are a little shorter than the ones I usually write, but I'm hoping to update this story very frequently (multiple times a week)!
It also will have more angst than the stories I usually write, so be forewarned! For the romantics among us, there will be a strong focus on Perry and Della!
Enjoying the feel of the balmy spring breeze upon his face, Hamilton Burger snapped the last pieces of his telescope into place. Smiling, he pointed it at the night sky and took a quick peek through the lens. Astronomy was one of his favorite pastimes, but as a busy district attorney, his opportunities to gaze at the stars were few and far between. But, thankfully, this was Saturday evening of a three-day weekend, so he could allow himself a few hours of his favorite hobby.
In the house behind him, he faintly heard the telephone ringing. It rang twice, then stopped. He thought no more of it until the back door suddenly swung open and his wife's voice called out across the lawn,
"Hamilton?"
"Yes, dear?" he immediately responded.
"There is a Lieutenant Anderson on the phone asking to speak to you. He said that you know him?"
The District Attorney sighed and began to walk back to the house. Entering it, he tenderly brushed his finger against Lydia's rosy cheek. She was a private soul, preferring to stay at home whenever possible; resultantly, she was a rare sight at Bar Association events and the golfing tournaments that her husband frequented. Even so, she was the love of his life and his favorite confidante.
"Yes, I know Lieutenant Anderson. He is a very recent addition to the Homicide Division. Tragg has taken him under his wing and is teaching him."
"Well then, you had better see what he wants," Lydia replied, nodding at the phone.
Hamilton walked over and picked up the receiver, which his wife had left off the hook.
"Hello, Andy?"
"Good evening, Mr. Burger. I am so sorry to trouble you at home, and particularly on a holiday weekend, but I did not know who else to call."
"Don't worry about it, Andy. Just tell me what is going on."
"Homicide got a tip about a suspicious death a few hours ago, and when we came out to investigate, we indeed did find a dead body in the suspect's apartment." Andy took a nervous breath and lowered his voice. "Technically, it seems like such a straightforward case, but since we arrived, Lieutenant Tragg has been…acting very oddly."
"What do you mean?" Hamilton Burger inquired, frowning and wrinkling his brow in confusion.
"He's…it's as if he's blindly furious and almost irrational. Every order he gave, he gave at the top of his lungs. He forced the lab technicians to go over areas they had already swept for clues at least two more times. And his behavior towards the suspect…borders on unprofessional, at least."
"Could you be more specific?" the District Attorney asked in disbelief. The description Andy was giving did not sound like his mild-mannered friend Arthur Tragg at all.
"Instead of questioning him properly, he simply berated him for killing the victim. And then Lieutenant Tragg made a gesture as if he were going to strike the man, despite the fact that he was already in handcuffs and standing quietly between two officers. I reflexively caught his arm when I saw what he was about to do, and managed to prevent him…but he shook me off in the next second and grimly commanded me to leave the scene and go look around the lobby of the building. That's where I am making this telephone call from."
"Isn't Sergeant Brice there?"
"Yes, but he has not spoken a word since we entered the apartment. He – and the entire homicide team – simply did whatever Lieutenant Tragg told them to do, in deafening silence." Andy took a shaky breath. "I know it is unseemly for me to question my mentor in this way, especially considering that he has forty years of experience in homicide, and I less than a month. Perhaps I am making a mountain out of a molehill, but it seems that he is walking a very fine line, if he has not already crossed it. I fear that if he continues on in this way it won't take a very brilliant lawyer to allege that any confession the suspect gives was obtained under duress, or that the unhinged behavior of the police force made it very unlikely that the crime scene was properly processed. That would effectively make it impossible for you to successfully prosecute him."
"You did the right thing by calling me, Andy. I will be right over and see if I can't figure out what all this is about. What is the address?"
"The Rosewood Apartments, Unit 201."
"Thank you. I'll see you in ten minutes."
With that, Hamilton hung up the phone.
"You are going out?" Lydia Burger asked.
"I have to. Something appears to be wrong with Tragg."
His wife immediately fetched his coat from the closet and offered it to him, saying,
"Don't worry about your telescope, I will put the cover on it to protect it from the dew."
"Thank you, darling." He leaned down and placed a quick kiss on her lip. "Don't wait up for me."
"You know me better than to suggest that, Hamilton," the lady replied. "Just get back home safe."
He nodded, and headed out into the night through the front door.
Uh-oh. Something is going on, and it's probably not good.
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