Run by emily_michele
Nick glared across the table at the detective. “Excuse me?!” he asked incredulously. “A ghost? That’s the best you’ve got? A ghost?!”
Kendall Jones looked up and stared down the tall blonde man standing across the table from him. “I’m not implying that our suspect is a ghost, Mr. Carter,” he replied defensively. “I’m just saying that he- or she- was apparently a seasoned professional. He knew how to avoid leaving a part of himself at the crime scene. It’s only day one of the investigation. I’m sure we’ll find something soon. I was actually hoping the two of you might be able to help us out.” He turned his attention back to the siblings sitting across from him.
Annie widened her eyes, but still didn’t say anything, so Josh was left to do the talking again. “How can we help?” he asked expectantly, eager to actually have something to do besides mourn and question the seemingly senseless death of both his parents.
Detective Jones took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he brought his hands together on top of the table and leaned forward. “The only issue with the robbery gone wrong theory-- and I’m telling you that’s really what it looks like so far-- is that the house is still chock full of valuables-- things that should have been taken if this was truly a robbery gone awry. Do the two of you think you would be able to tell if anything was missing?”
Annie looked at him and nodded, while Josh shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
He stood up. “How do you feel about going tonight?” Annie’s shoulders tensed under Nick’s hands, and he kneaded them softly.
“Tonight?” Josh stared up at him wide-eyed, like a deer frozen in headlights.
Detective Jones put a hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s fresh. It’s not going to be easy. But the sooner you can either confirm or deny that we’re working with a burglar, we can crossmatch any evidence we happen to find with our database of convicted house burglars, bank robbers, and the like. It would make us one step closer to finding this guy. I have a feeling whoever it was is likely to skip town, so the sooner the better.”
Annie stood up, momentarily knocking Nick off-balance as she pushed him out of the way. “Let’s go,” she said, her jaw set in determination.
There were two marked police cars-- one from the Boca Raton Police Department, and the other belonging to the Florida State Police, and several unmarked official vehicles-- parked in the driveway and along the street in front of the Donohue’s large, waterfront home. The house, which he’d only been in twice before now, reminded Nick of his own place in Tampa, save for the bright yellow crime scene tape, of course. The yellow tape was stretched from light pole to fancy light pole across the driveway and sidewalk in front of the house, and perpendicular to the sidewalk back to a big fountain in the back yard, with “Crime Scene- Do Not Enter” emblazoned across it in bold, black letters. It was the first time Nick had seen the real crime scene tape up close and personal, and he shuddered at the thought of what he was going to see when he followed Annie, Josh, and the investigators into the house. Officer Davis lifted the plastic tape above his head, and Annie and Josh walked under it, with Nick following suit, except he had to duck because he was taller than the rest of them. He turned to look at Howie, but he stood still on the sidewalk beside their rental car and held his hands out in front of him. “I’ll wait,” he said cautiously. This was a personal, family thing, and he felt perhaps he’d already intruded enough for one day. Nick nodded, and silently wished he could stay behind with him, but Annie’s hand was clutched tightly in his, and he didn’t plan on letting go any time soon.
Detective Jones led them across the grass and brought them into the house through the front door. “Put these on.” He pulled several shoe covers, much like those worn by surgeons in the operating room, out of a dispenser on the bookcase in the foyer and passed them around. Annie scoffed inwardly at the irony as she pulled back the elastic and pulled them on. Her father had been a well-known general surgeon. “This is very much an active investigation, so don’t touch anything, okay?” The detective looked at the three of them pointedly as he spoke. “When we finish up, you’ll have complete control over the place.”
Once they moved into the living room, it became abundantly clear why the investigators thought they were dealing with a robbery. The place had been completely ransacked. Books, picture frames, and knick-knacks were strewn across the floor, broken glass everywhere. Detective Jones pointed to the French doors leading out to the back patio. “We think that’s where the guy came in.” One of the glass panels near the door knob was broken out neatly and shards of glass glinted harshly on the hardwood floor. Nick glanced into the kitchen as they walked by and immediately regretted it. As it was the primary crime scene, the door was blocked off with the same crime scene tape from outside, but it was easy to see the dark crimson blood spatter splashed the whitewashed cabinets. He pressed his hand on the small of Annie’s back and purposefully pushed her gently in another direction. “Other than the obvious, does anything look particularly out of place yet?” The two Donohue children shook their heads just as an older woman stuck her head out the kitchen door.
“Kendall, you need to see this.” Detective Jones immediately pulled his head up attentively and started walking towards her. Annie and Josh instinctively started to follow, but he turned to stop them. “Not right now. I’ll let you know if it’s something significant. Keep looking around and let me know if anything at all seems ‘off’ to you. Just remember not to touch anything.” He left them standing in the living room with Officer Davis and trudged into the kitchen, ducking underneath the crime scene tape on his way. “What do you have for me, Natalie?” he asked with an air of professionalism.
The woman held up a pair of tweezers and Kendall leaned forward to take a closer look at the hair she had pinched in between the prongs. “It’s blonde,” he noted.
“Is anyone linked to the case so far blonde?”
Kendall shook his head. “No. The housekeeper was Hispanic, and the Donohues are all varying shades of brunette, red, and gray. Are you sure this isn’t gray? Maybe it belongs to one of the victims?”
Natalie held the short hair against her white glove. “Definitely blonde.”
The detective let out a long, low whistle. “Well, now it just got a little more interesting, didn’t it?”
Another agent eyed him cautiously. “Have you seen the background check on the fiancé?”
“Yes,” he answered curtly.
“Do you think there’s any motive there?”
“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.” He turned on his heel and marched authoritatively towards the door, stooping down to grab a white envelope from a black toolbox in the floor on his way. “Get that to the lab for analysis ASAP and get me an arrest warrant if it looks like I’m going to need one.”
He found Nick, Annie, Josh, and Officer Davis standing on the stairs. “Nick. Can I have a word with you, please?”
Nick turned to look at the detective and brought his finger to his chest, pointing to himself. “With me?”
“Yes.” Nick started descending the stairs, his hand still clutched tightly in Annie’s. “Alone.”
Nick paused with one foot poised in the air above a stair. He turned to look at his fiancé and reluctantly let go of her. “I’ll be back soon, okay?” Annie nodded silently and he jogged down the rest of the stairs.
Kendall led him into the empty dining room and shut the large, wooden double doors behind him. “When was the last time you were in this residence, Mr. Carter?” he asked.
Nick raised an eyebrow. “Last month,” he answered honestly.
“What was the nature of that visit?”
“The Donohues are old-fashioned, Detective Jones. If I’m going to go through with getting married, I’m going to do it right. I was here to ask for their daughter’s hand.”
“So, you were alone?”
“Yes.”
“And how did that go for you?”
Nick stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground as he cleared his throat nervously. “Not so good,” he admitted.
“And why is that?” Detective Jones stepped closer so that he could look the man in the eye.
“Jack wasn’t too keen on the idea of his daughter marrying a--” Nick paused. “Celebrity,” he finished. Not surprisingly, Kendall’s expression didn’t change. “I take it you already knew that about me?”
“Of course I did,” he answered shortly. “Tell me, Mr. Carter. Did their response to your asking permission to marry their daughter make you angry?”
“Well, yeah, but--” He watched as curiously as the detective pulled a pair of latex gloves out of his back pocket and donned them, then tore open a white packet and pulled out a long, q-tip shaped swab. “Swallow, then open your mouth.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a specimen swab. I need to collect a DNA sample,” the detective answered non-chalantly.
Nick gulped, his eyes suddenly wide with fear. He gasped in sudden realization. “Wait a minute! Do you think I’m a suspect?!”
“Right now, everyone’s a suspect, Mr. Carter. Now, swallow again and open wide.”
