Case #1: Romeo
Chapter 5
The
Golden Arms Hotel
Atlanta, Georgia
Sunday, October 6, 2002
7:55 AM
“Hold on just a second
Logan,” she said abruptly, putting down the phone. “What do you think you’re doing?
I told you to get out!” Hope
said grabbing Chris by the wrist.
“I’m not
going anywhere.” He jerked his
wrist out of Hope’s grasp and that’s when she saw it, the blood, on his
sleeve.
She suppressed
the gasp that was threatening to escape her lips. She had to try to keep him at ease and indicating that she
had seen the blood on his sleeve would surely not do that.
Hope picked up
the cell phone. “I’ll have to
call you back, Logan! Something has
come up!”
“Wait
Hope-,” Logan called from the other end but it was too late, she had already
hung up the phone.
Hope tossed the
phone onto the bed next to her coat and turned to Chris.
“Fine! If you insist on
staying, then stay! But I’m
leaving. I think we have fought
enough for one morning don’t you?” Hope
went over to the bed and grabbed her coat and cellular phone.
“I’ll call you later on in the afternoon.
Maybe by then we will both be calm enough to talk like adults.
She slipped into the coat and straightened the collar. “I’ll call you later.”
“Do what you
want.” She could sense the
irritation in his voice.
He didn’t
expect her to leave. But the sound
of the door opening and closing indicated that she had.
Sleuths Headquarters | Trace Lab
Atlanta, Georgia
Sunday, October 6, 2002
8:30 AM
“Got
anything for us?” Jason Arquette
asked as he and Toni McIver entered the Trace Lab.
The Lab Tech,
Miranda Douglas, swiveled around in her chair to face the two Sleuths.
Her obviously dyed black hair, and her gothic attire, didn’t fit the
formal office, but somehow it fit her personality perfectly.
“I ran the
print through AFIS and you’ll never guess who’s name popped out.
You’re so not going to believe this, but Bryant Adams is the guy that
belongs to that print!” Miranda Douglas exclaimed, excitedly.
“Bryant Adams
as in the Police Chief’s son?” 
“That’s the
one.” Miranda handed Jason a
sheet of paper that was fresh out of the printer.
“And that white fiber belongs to your run of the mill polyester
button-up. Near impossible to
trace…mass-production can be a bitch.”
“But not
impossible?” Toni added quickly.
Miranda placed
the index finger of her left hand on the tip of her nose, and pointed her right
at Toni. “Right on.
Be assured that I’ll try every possibility.”
“Thanks M!”
Jason said as he and Toni started to leave.
They were halfway out the door when Jason turned back around. “I almost
forgot. Anything from CODIS
?”
“Shane’s
working on it over in the DNA lab. I’ll
get him to phone your cell when he gets the results.”
“What
happened to Clint?” Jason asked.
“Medical
Leave.”
Jason nodded.
“Thanks Again.” He
winked at her as he closed the door behind him.
“So?”
Toni began. “The two of
you have something going on?”
“What!”
Jason was surprised by her forwardness.
“Who? Me and…her…Me
and Miranda?”
“No you and
Clint.” Her sarcasm made him
smile. “Yes. You and Miranda?”
“We went out
a few times; nothing real serious. Casual
dating is what I think the people with social lives call it.”
“Um-hum.”
“What?”
He looked at her playfully.
“Nothing
serious.” She replied with a
smirk.
Atmosphere Café
Atlanta, Georgia
Sunday, October 6th, 2002
9:03 AM
“I
won’t let you do this Logan.” Hope
grabbed him by the arm as he started to get up from the booth.
“He could have gotten that blood on his sleeve anywhere.”
Logan sat back
down. “True. But I’m betting he got the blood on his sleeve while
murdering the latest DB.”
“We don’t
know that for sure. What is that
quote you like again ‘innocent until the evidence proves otherwise’.”
Logan shook his
head. “Not this time. This
time it’s guilty until the evidence proves otherwise.”
“I don’t
want you doing anything stupid Logan. They
could strip you of your Investigator’s License.”
“I just want
to talk to the SOB. See what I can
get out of him. I promise, I’ll
keep a cool head.” Logan slid out
of the booth again and stood up. “I promise!”
“Be
careful.”
He nodded and
then left the café.
“I fear this
is one promise you won’t be able to keep.”
Annie Donaldson’s Home
Atlanta, Georgia
Sunday, October 6, 2003
9:30 AM
“Why
are we here again exactly?”
Jason handed
Toni a pair of rubber gloves. “We
could have missed something earlier, I just want to make sure that we have
collected all the evidence that we can.”
“The more
evidence the better chance we have of catching this guy.”
“Exactly!”
Jason put his rubber gloves on before opening the door.
“Ladies first.”
Toni maneuvered
past him and inside of the house. She
walked into the dark room, past the piano, and towards the first bedroom.
“What are we looking for exactly?” She turned to look at him but was
temporarily blinded, when he flicked on the overhead lights, and her eyes tried
to adjust to the sudden brightness.
“Anything
that could have been used to make such a deep wound. Some sort of wire or twine would be
my guess.”
“Wire or
twine.” She repeated.
“I’m on it.”
Sleuths Headquarters | DNA Lab
Atlanta, Georgia
Sunday, October 6, 2002
10:24 AM
Miranda
Douglas opened up the glass double doors simultaneously, making her entrance, as
she always did.
“All hail
Miranda, Queen of the Goths!” Shane
McDuffie announced, sarcastically, in his fading Irish accent as she entered.
Miranda was
floored. Shane actually said
something sarcastic, he’s usually so quiet? “Glad to see you finally stepped
out of that shell of yours.”
Shane grinned.
“You’ve created a monster.”
“Glad to be
of some assistance in your corruption.”
“So what
brings you to the land of DNA?”
“Have you
finished processing the DNA Jason brought in earlier?”
Shane motioned
over towards the printer. “Printing
now.”
“Good!
Jason and the new gal, whatever her name is, are at the second crime
scene now so as soon as you get those results in your hot little hands could you
give ‘em a call?”
“No
Problem.”
“Great.”
Miranda turned to leave when Shane spoke up.
“Toni.”
Miranda turned
and looked at him strangely. “Huh?”
“The new gal?
Her name is Toni.” He
turned and went back to his work.
Annie Donaldson’s Home
Atlanta, Georgia
Sunday, October 6, 2002
10:35 AM
Jason flipped
open his cell phone. “Arquette.”
“I have some
bad news Jason. I ran the DNA you
collected at the scene through CODIS and nothing. It’s not in the system.”
Shane McDuffie said reluctantly.
“Damn!
Okay, we haven’t found anything here, so we’re on our way back to
HQ.”
“Wait!”
Toni called from the other side of the room.
“I found something!”
The Golden Arms Hotel
Atlanta, Georgia
Sunday, October 6, 2002
10:45 AM
“I have
everything under control. Trust
me!” Chris Maloney switched the
phone from one ear to the other. “No!
Hope doesn’t have a clue.”
Chris’
conversation was abruptly cut short when Logan busted into the hotel room
wilding his 9mm Glock.
“Whoa man
what’s going on here?” Chris
said dropping the phone to the floor.
Logan didn’t
say a word to Chris he just advanced forward with the gun pointed at Chris’
chest.
Terms used in this Chapter
CODIS (Combined DNA Index System): Searches the convicted offender index, which records DNA information about sex offenders and other criminals, against the Forensic Index, which records DNA information gathered at crime scenes. This system makes it possible to identify serial offenders.
