Chapter 1:505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTZFV4mCoG
Murder on 32nd Street (pt. 3)
I met Gibson, who stood halfway between the road and the house. "What do you make of it all Cole?" Gibson asked. As many years as I've known Gibson, there was never a moment of desperation in his voice. This was not one of those moments. He had all the answers, and still starved for more information. He shared my common ideal about justice and truth. Gibson was the only man I could fully trust from the department. A partner at heart, he always fought for my side of things, even when things went astray eight years ago. He was a reassurance of my decision to return to the force. I didn't know what I'd do without him.
"Nothing adds up. Laura, the amputation, the ragdoll, none of it makes sense." I paused to collect my thoughts. "We need a policewoman to escort Laura to the hospital."
"Why?"
"She's been rapped and she needs to get examined before we can continue with her as part of our investigation."
"I'll call one over."
He left my side to carry out my order when Roy noticed me. He approached and directed his voice toward me in his usual arrogant manner. "Did the girl give you any dirt?"
I showed him the bagged ragdoll and watched his confusion set in.
"What the hell is this?" he begrudgingly remarked as he stole the evidence from my hands.
"The girl said the killer gave it to her."
For the first time since I've known him, I saw Roy at a loss of words. I wouldn't have known what to say if the roles had been reversed and Roy spoke to Laura instead of myself. I imagined that conversation going vastly different.
"Why would this maniac mangle a bunch of half-wit college kids and give the girl a child's doll?"
"I don't know" I sighed, retrieving the doll. "He never touched her. It was like he was only after the men."
We passed an officer on our walk back to the road and I stopped long enough to hand him the ragdoll. "Make sure to give this over to evidence, and see if they can't pull any DNA from it. If we're lucky, we might find our killer."
The officer nodded firmly and I continued on to the crime scene.
"This girl, she's our only witness of the crime, and our only know connection to the case. I think she has more to offer than a silly children's toy."
I was hesitant, but I asked anyway. "Should we bring her in for questioning after she's done at the hospital?"
"As far as I'm concerned, she's involved in killing those kids. She's the only survivor and she didn't speak until she saw you. That's more than I need."
I stopped cold in my tracks and stared deeply, aggressively into Roy's eyes, clearly taking him aback. "Okay. Say she's brought down to the station, we ask her a few questions, and then we let her go on with her happy little life. Somehow, I don't think it's going to work that way."
Roy's face now resembled a determined bulldog. "Look, I don't care if you like me, and to be frank, you're not at the top of my list either, but she's our only lead and our best bet at catching this freak. She'll give us what we're after."
"Say she does. What happens then? What happens if she didn't kill those kids? We'll be back to square one with no suspects and no leads. While we're scratching our asses the killer will be out there planning his next move. This girl, she isn't our killer."
"Really Einstein? How do you know?"
"I trust my instincts Roy; I never turn down a gut feeling."
"And how exactly has that worked out for you so far?"
He looked at me coldly as he inhaled the fumes that came from the cigarette.
"Let me tell you something Cole, you over-obsessive, narrow-minded control freak. I've watched you blow important cases, ruin your marriage, and destroy any shot of making a respectable man out of yourself. And you have the nerve to preach to me about instinct? Come to your senses. I know you probably feel connected to this girl for some fucked up reason, but she's involved. Whether you care to admit it or not. Not everyone is who they seem. I thought you'd understand that by now."
He inhaled the remainder of his cigarette, flicked the butt in my face, and brushed past me.
"We'll take this girl in for questioning, see if she knows anything more. If not, then we'll scratch her off our list. But for right now there's nothing left to keep us around. We've done our job. Cleanup can come and do theirs."
Roy was right about one of the above; I couldn't stay here another minute. I had no doubt Laura would be a problem. She's useful, but not as a suspect.
I took one last look at the bodies before I walked to my car. I couldn't begin to imagine what was in store for me. My only hope was that we'd catch the bastard before he murdered any more people. Laura passed through my mind again and a deep sadness overcame me. She was too young to go through such a tragedy, though there was no definitive age limit for death. If she came out of this in one piece she would never be the same. It doesn't matter how much a person does for you, or what they do for you, you'll never be the person you were. And the saying 'Time heals all wounds,' that's bullshit. It's a feeling only a father would know. Gwen and Derik could easily be subjugated to this carnage. The thought of that puts a lump in my neck. It made me wonder if we were doing enough to prevent such occurrences from happening. This event suggests not. If there's one thing I've learned since I earned my badge it's that some people fear death, and others, well, they feed on it. We may not be able to catch all the psychos in this world, but we can sure as hell try.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
