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Case # 3: Burn Chapter 1 : Partner by, Derick W.
USING A RAZOR BLADE HE SCRAPED the white powder across the glass surface of his coffee table into a neat line. This was all part of his ritual, the perfect high during the perfect murder. He snorted the cocaine, and shook his head violently wailing loudly like some sort of beast. It was time, the last few moments of John’s life, and he watched – enjoying the macabre display. The noose tightens and tightens like a boa constrictor chocking the life from its prey. Thoughts explode into the brain – Grab the Rope! Help Me! Get Air! Move! – But it makes no difference. All coordination is lost. The beams creak threatening to break due to his weight. The rope makes a tearing sound. A final, useless, gasp for air. The final heartbeat before death, and it is over. The body just hangs there – lifeless. Gently swaying as it loses momentum. He
took one final look at the hanging body before he touched the flame from
his lighter against the gasoline soaked sofa.
The sofa lit up like a torch.
The flames flickering, in a strobe light fashion, cast an eerie
orange glow over John Ledgers contorted face.
Toni
McIver Atlanta,
Georgia December
19, 2002 It
was raining in Atlanta on Thursday, December 19. The
relentless downpour, which began at dawn, made small rivers in the
streets, and puddles on playing fields and lawns.
Toni McIver went to sleep to the sound of rain drumming up against
her apartment window. She was
dreaming a terrifying dream as night dissipated into the murky hours of
Friday morning. A
masked face plagued her dreams. Her
bedroom was dark when suddenly the face appeared out of nowhere, at the
foot of her bed, staring at her. Suddenly,
she jolted up out of bed, and stared blindly into the dark.
She didn’t know what had awakened her until the telephone rang
– again. Fumbling around in
the dark, she found the receiver. “Toni?” “Yes.”
She reached for the lamp and switched it on.
It was 3:08 A.M. “Richard
O’Brien here. We finally
extinguished the fire. You
can come process the scene whenever you’re ready.” “Thanks
Richard.” She replied
groggily. “I’ll be there
in fifteen minutes.”
Ledger
Residence Atlanta,
Georgia December
20, 2002 3:40
A.M. Thirty
minutes later Toni finally arrived at the scene. Half asleep, and obviously in a hurry getting dressed, she
stepped out of her car wearing a light blue sweatshirt, blue jeans, and
mismatched sneakers. Her
auburn hair was tied up in a loose ponytail. Richard
O’Brien was the first to approach her.
“Toni McIver, I presume.” “You’d
make a good detective.” She
snapped. “I
didn’t want to call you, but Logan said that it was imperative that you
process the scene as soon as we got the blaze extinguished.” Toni
plastered on one of her best smiles.
She was still wondering why Logan had chosen her to work this case.
“Is it safe to walk around inside of the ruins?” “Checked
and double checked. It should
be safe.” Should
be safe, Toni
thought. Suddenly she
didn’t feel so safe working in such a hazardous area.
“You guys got a hardhat I could borrow?
You know, just in case.” “Hey
Keith.” Richard yelled to
one of his colleagues. “Bring
the lady a hardhat, would ya.”
The
General enjoyed being amongst them. Knowing
what he had done, knowing that he had started the fires.
But the pretty, redheaded, Federal Agent worried him. His
face was illuminated by the orange glow from the end of his cigarette, as
he watched Toni enter the house. He rejoiced in the fact that soon all of John Ledger’s dirty little secrets would be unearthed for the entire world to see.
“Whatever
you do, don’t touch anything.” Toni
instructed him. Making
their way through the charred ruins Toni could get a sense of what the
mans life was like. According
to the blackened beer bottles that littered the heat damaged kitchen
table, she determined that he frequently enjoyed a nightcap and didn’t
believe in cleaning up after himself. Venturing
out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the living room, Toni smelled
the burnt flesh. It reeked.
Richard
smelt it too. It invaded his
nostrils at such a force that he almost vomited. “I
can handle this alone.” Toni
said, taking her hand away from her mouth long enough to speak.
“If you need to go outside and catch your breath.” Richard’s
eyes were watering. He had
been holding his breath. Nodding,
he handed Toni the flashlight and backtracked through the house, until he
was outside. Toni
smiled widely to suppress her gag reflexes, and made her way into the
living area where she expected to find a well-cooked corpse. But, instead, when she entered the living room there was a
man standing there – waiting. Toni
paused in the doorway, shining the flashlight in his direction.
“Who are you? And what are you doing in my crime scene?” He
turned around, slowly, and smiled. “Hello.
I’m Kyle Weston you must be Toni McIver?
I’ve heard a lot about you.”
He pulled off his latex glove and extended his hand out to her.
“Nice to me you.” Toni
was confused. She knew that
Kyle would be joining her in the field, but he wasn’t supposed to arrive
for five more days. “Can I
see some I.D.?” “Sure.”
Kyle replied, reaching into his back pocket with his ungloved hand
and retrieving his wallet. He took out his driver’s license and handed them to Toni. “I’ve
already taken the liberty of calling the coroner. She should be here soon to examine the body and prepare if
for transport.” Toni
handed him back his I.D. “You’re
I.D. checks out Detective Weston and I’m glad to have you joining me.” Kyle
could sense a but coming. “But?” “But
I’m in charge of this investigation, and the only one us that will be
taking liberties will be me. Understand?” “Understood.
Now that we’re done pissing on bushes, can we finish up here?
I would really enjoy at least an hour of sleep before noon.” Toni
realized that Kyle obviously wasn’t trying to make a good first
impression; but none of that mattered now.
Even though Toni didn’t care much for her new partner, he did
have a good point – she also wanted to get at least an hour of sleep in
before noon. Toni
was curious to know all that she could about the investigation; especially
any inside information that Kyle could give her on which of her co-workers
could be behind these arsons. She
was very blatant when it came to asking questions.
She didn’t believe in pussyfooting around. “So which one of us do you think is behind,” – she
looked around the room – “all of this?” “For
all I know it could be you.” He
snapped on a new pair of surgical gloves, and handed Toni a pair.
“Now, lets get to work proving your innocence.”
He said with a wink and a smile. Toni
glared at him for a moment. He
was making it impossible for her to contain her anger and she really
didn’t care. She hoped he
realized that she hated him. “I’ll
process the right side of the room. I
wouldn’t want to get to close to you, I might set you on fire.”
She could almost taste the venom in her voice. “Have
it your way.” He said, as
he plucked a strange fiber off of the blacked flesh of the victim and
placed it inside of a small metal container, which the forensics world
liked to refer to as an evidence button.
They would have to examine the body more closely later with the
laser, as soon as it was transported to the morgue. Toni
crouched down beside the remains of the couch; burnt wood, melted plastic,
and burnt fabric made up the debris.
She collected a piece of the burnt fabric with forceps and held it
up under her nose – gasoline. “I
think I’ve found the point of origin.”
Toni remained crouched down beside the debris. Kyle
joined her, and he crouched down. Smelling
the fabric Kyle instantly agreed – the couch had been doused with
gasoline. “The General has
struck again. This…” He
said referring to the torched couch “is his signature.
Not to mention the cocaine and semen I found in the carpet.” “Just
the kind of guy a girl would love to take home to mama.”
Toni replied sarcastically. She
had to admit it even though Kyle was a real jackass he really did know his
forensics. And, she liked
that in a co-worker. “Did
he leave masturbatory secretions at the other three crime scenes?”
“Yes.”
Kyle replied. “Then
obviously I’m not the culprit. So
you can scratch my name off the suspect list.” Kyle
chuckled. “Yeah.
I guess I can. Even though it is possible to transport semen.”
He went on for what seemed like an hour about how it was possible
for semen to be transported to the scene of the crime and then
transplanted by the perpetrator – male or female. Toni
didn’t buy his theory. The
General was a real sick individual who seemed to enjoy “signing” his
handy work with his own bodily fluid.
The General was definitely male. Toni
found it a little odd that Logan had allowed two of their Lab Techs into
the field, but she didn’t pay it much attention.
Logan had been acting very strange lately anyway.
“Whoa! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kyle yelled at Clint from across the room where he was collecting samples. “Don’t directly touch the evidence. Now what could have possibly been a invaluable clue has been tainted by your fingerprints.” Kyle joined Clint over by the dresser and took the Glock out of Clint’s grasp with a gloved hand, before he placed it into a clear evidence bag. “Don’t you lab techs know anything?” “Sorry
dude. I was just trying
–,” Clint started to apologize. He
looked in Toni’s direction. “Don’t worry about it Clint, we all make mistakes.” She said understandingly. “Hell, I did the same thing on my first time out. Got yelled at by a prick, too.”
“How
about you and your punk rock girlfriend over there get out of here,”
Kyle said, referring to another Lab Technician, Miranda Douglas. “I think Toni and I can finish it up from here.” Clint
and Miranda had already started packing up their gear.
“Where do you guys think you’re going?”
Toni asked. “We
still have a crime scene to process.” Miranda
turned and faced Kyle. “If
you ever call me a punk rock again, I’m going to kick your ass.” “She’s
serious isn’t she?” Kyle
asked, when Toni rejoined him over by the corpse. “Like
a heart attack.” Toni
replied. “And if she
doesn’t I will.” “I
get the feeling that I’m not very popular around here.” “You’re
not.” Toni took her forceps
and began processing the scene. “Coroner’s
here.” Clint ushered the
coroner, Rachel Leery, into the room. Rachel
Leery walked into the room her black hair was slightly damp, from the
rain. “What do you have for
me?” She asked.
She already had on her surgical gloves. Kyle
replied. “White male, early
thirties, well-done.” “And
who’s he?” Rachel asked. “Rachel
Leery this is my new partner, Kyle Weston.” “Nice
to meet you.” Rachel
gestured for her team to come in. “I
presume you’ve finished with him?” “He’s
all yours.” Toni watched as
Rachel’s team loaded the body onto a gurney, covered it with a white
sheet, and strapped it down. The
body was now ready for transport to the morgue, where they would hopefully
be able to lift prints if the victim’s fingers weren’t burnt to badly. “I’ll
try to make a case for you Toni.” Rachel
assured her. “Arson cases
are the worst.” Suddenly, Toni didn’t feel so sure that they would be able to solve this case. No one else had been able to catch The General. And Toni didn’t think she could, either.
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Clint
Hudson, one of the accompanying Lab Technicians, was pulling out something
from beneath a stack of sweaters in a bottom drawer, a policeman’s badge
and a department issued Glock, when he was suddenly interrupted.