At the first free moment I get after the deadline has expired, meaning - Right now!
Remember, the topic of the month is
"An investigation gone wrong"
Author #1
„Charlotte ? I thought you`re still on vacation.“
“Don`t remind me. I came back yesterday. I tell you, blue sky, white beaches and azure water every day for two weeks. Aruba is beautiful.” She smiled, interrupted by a short cough. “And now I`m back here, standing in these snowy woods at this ungodly hour.”
She lit a cigarette, took a deep breath and when exhaling she took a look at the scene. A large tree, a rope, a ladder and a corpse. Male, blonde hair, approximately 30 years old.
“Tell me something.”, she said to the dead body.
“Pardon ? I thought, you would tell me something about him.”
“Sorry, Bill, I was in thoughts. Well, I can`t tell you that much right now. Looks like a suicide.”
“Time of death ?”
“Pfff, hard to say considering the cold. Maybe around midnight, but that`s just a first guess. We`ll take him with us and tomorrow I can say a little bit more.”
“Okay, Charlotte, see you at the morgue then.”
“Bye. And Bill, please do me a favor and keep the media at distance as long as we`re working here.” She pointed at a group of Journalists.
“Sorry, Charlotte, but I think you will have to feed the hungry pack.”, Bill replied with a grin.
“Okay”, she said, rolling her eyes.
*******
`THAT`s a story`, he thought. An official who worked at the Department of Defense found dead. And a hint that it was maybe a forced death. While driving back to the bureau he saw a headline before his eyes: Murder in the Government !
He stopped his car near the publishing house. While entering he thought about what to do next.
`Call Ginger. Maybe she knows something.`, he thought. When reaching his desk he picked up the phone and dialed a number.
*******
“Lovesickness ?”, she asked.
“They`ve found a suicide note in his house. He has been divorced since a few weeks. Seems as if he couldn`t get over it. Tragic.”, Bill answered.
She took another look at the dead man. Does not look like a labile guy. But heck, who can tell what drives a man over the edge. She remembered one of her ex-friends who began stalking when she left him.
“Charlotte, may it be you don`t believe it was a suicide ?”
“Are you reading my thoughts ?”
“Yes, when your thoughts can be read in your eyes. Do you really believe he didn`t hang himself ?”
“Just a vague feeling, Bill. There are a few small hematoma on his arms. And I`ve found this in his mouth.” She showed him a small plastic bag with a single fiber in it.
“I know it`s not much, but something here makes me suspicious.”
“Listen, Charlotte. We found him just a few hundred yards from his house. We have the ladder. A neighbor recognized it as the victim`s. We have questioned his ex-wife. She said, he sounded nervous when she called him a few days ago. And we have his note.”
“Is it handwritten ?”
“No.”
“Hm….”
She looked him in the eye. Bill is one of, no, the best friend she has since he helped to stop her ex-friend from stalking. He did it for a certain reason but since then they didn`t came closer and still he does her any favor. So why not ask for another one.
“Can`t you investigate a little more, Bill ?”, she said, winking with her green eyes.
“Sure.”, he answered and thought `But this time it`s not for free, Charlotte.`
*******
All for nothing.
“Damned !”, he shouted in his car and hit the steering wheel. He had interviewed all of the victim`s relatives, friends and colleagues, but nobody said anything useful. Good friend, caring father, worked hard, no enemies. Okay, his wife had a lover, but that`s uninteresting. If Ginger doesn`t tell him anything of value, the story is over.
He parked his car and went toward a pub where he and Ginger had a date. He took a look at the sign over the entrance. “The Rat Pit”. He laughed.
*******
“We`ve found nothing.”, he said.
“So it was actually suicide ?”, she asked.
“What I meant was that we`ve found absolutely nothing, Charlotte. We checked his private laptop. For a man in his position I think it`s quite unusual to have no, I repeat, no files or mails containing anything beyond some chitchat on his computer.”
“Maybe he had all sensitive data on CD ?”
“Maybe. But there were none. Not even a post-it saying something like `Buy milk`. The whole house made a complete uninhabited impression.”
“Uninhabited ?”, she asked, still sounding tired.
Bill sat up and left the bed.
“Charlotte. Look at your home. Books and notes on your desk. The kitchen untidy. Clothing that needs to be washed and ironed. Face it, your apartment is a mess. And you`re not a desperate guy poised to commit suicide.”
“You could make a start by picking up your clothes.”, she said with a smile, “I get your point, Bill. So what are we doing now ?”
`Good point`, he thought. Detective William Shaffer, married, two children, hadn`t been much of a hero so far and this whole story stinks. On the other hand he didn`t want to screw up his relation with Charlotte right now.
`Well, there should be no harm in going ahead a little more.` he said to himself and added `And I should cure my addiction to redheads.`
“Maybe I can investigate a little at his job.”, he meant.
*******
Ginger is great ! This fellow seemed to have his fingers in every pie. Working at the research department, being responsible for the budget and public procurements, he must have been corrupt as can be. But she also said that there must be more to it than that. Sound logical. A little corruption is nothing to deserve such a pathetic death for. Finally she said she would arrange a meeting with an Insider this week.
*******
It was a busy morning at the morgue. There was a shootout at the docks that night and now Charlotte was carrying out a postmortem on the victim. While weighing the brain, Bill came in.
“Hi Bill, anything new about our suicidal blonde ?”
“I`ve been at his bureau but the police had already been there and confiscated all material in his desk.”
“So ?”
He came closer and said: “Charlotte. I am the police and none of the guys of the homicide division has been there to confiscate anything. I talked to his superior, but he wasn`t that communicative. I tell you, he was afraid.”
“Afraid ? Of what ?”
“Good question ! A friend of mine works for the Feds. I think I`ll ask him if he can find out something about our mysterious man.”
*******
He noticed his hands were shaking. Maybe because he hadn`t slept that much the last days. Or maybe because he`s been working round the clock. The meeting with the informant revealed some dynamite. This guy was not just corrupt. As it seems, he was responsible for several deals with arms and technology being sold to countries and investing the receipts in some projects run by the Agency to destabilize other countries. So far it was just his job. But someday he must have decided to sell technology and his knowledge about the Agency`s projects to a third party on his own. Hence it is no wonder that he was found dead.
The informant has given him some evidence for his story and right now he sat at home, making a backup copy of the disk and his article for the newspaper.
Then the lights went out.
*******
She turned on the lights. Suddenly the bell rang. When she opened the door, she saw Bill. He came in without saying anything but his eyes expressed that he was nervous. He went to the living room and sat down.
“Charlotte, it was a suicide.”
“What ?”
“I tell you, that man killed himself. So please close the file.”
She looked at him. She knew him for three years now but she never saw being anxious before.
“What happened ?”
“I`ve called my friend. A few hours later he called back, giving me the `advice` to stop investigating. And that`s what I`m going to do. And you should too !”
“And what shall I write in my report ? That there are some inconsistencies in this case but I decided to declare it a suicide because a `friend` of a friend told me to ?”
“That`s what I beg you to do.”
“But I want to know the truth !”
“Charlotte ! Stop it !”
*******
“STOP ! HELP !”, he shouted, but nobody could hear him. He stood on top of a ladder, tied, gagged and with a noose around his neck. In front of him were two men. In the next moment one of them gave the ladder a push.
The neck didn`t break but he became unconscious after a few seconds. Five minutes later one of the men removed the gag and said: “Farewell, Martin.”
*******
Nearly a week had passed since that evening and she hadn`t heard anything from Bill since then. Finally she called him at his office. A female voice answered.
“I would like to speak with Detective Shaffer.”
“Oh, Bill isn`t here anymore. He asked to be transferred to the traffic police.”, the woman said.
“And where can I find him ?”
“6th Precinct. But he is not at work. One of his children had an accident so he is in the hospital right now.”
“Thanks”. Charlotte put down the phone. She went back to the desk to finish her report and stared at the monitor.
NAME: CHADWICK
FIRST NAME: MARTIN
DATE OF BIRTH: AUGUST 2, 1980
DAY OF DEATH: FEBRUARY 26, 2009
CAUSE OF DEATH: UNKNOWN
She made a pause, looking at the blinking cursor. Eventually she made a decision.
CAUSE OF DEATH: STRANGULATION (SUICIDE)