Investigation (27)

A second later, we heard police sirens closing in on us and minutes later a patrol car stopped a few meters away from us and three men stepped out of it. The two of them were cops dressed in their uniform with a utility belt and a baton while the odd one was dressed in casual clothes with a rectangular-framed spectacle resting on his nose. He wore a dark blazer with a white shirt underneath and black pants.

They introduced themselves to us. The one with the round plump face was Detective Jones and the other one with a slender built was his partner, Detective Garcia. The man dressed in casual clothes was a medical examiner, Dr. Davis. It was hard to take in their features in the dim light of the lamp-posts, but I assumed all three of them to be in their early thirties.

"Who among you is Katherine Grayson?" Detective Jones asked, flitting his head among all of us. He had broad shoulders with a solid built. His hair were cropped above his ears.

"I am Katherine Grayson. I was the one who called." I answered taking a step ahead.

The three of them looked at me, scanning me from head to toe.

"So what exactly happened?" Detective Garcia asked, crossing his arms and planting his feet wide. He was tall and slender with a thick waist.

"We were hiking in the forest and suddenly we found a dead body." I answered.

"Why were you not following the trail?" Detective Jones interrupted.

"It was getting dark, so we decided to take a shortcut and entered the forest, that's how we found the body." Cee explained.

"What was the condition of the body?"

"The corpse was of a woman, crucified to a tree and her throat was slashed." She answered.

"Anything else other than this?"

"There was a strange mark carved on her forehead." I added.

Both the officers exchanged a look. Detective Jones shut his eyes and massaged the inner corners. Detective Garcia sighed and placed his hands on his waist.

"You have a killer on the run, Detectives. Catch the killer before we find another body like that." Dr. Davis ridiculed them.

They ignored Dr. Davis and turned towards us. "Do you remember the location, where the body was?" Detective Jones asked.

"Yes. We took a right turn from witch's castle and we walked for almost a mile towards south." I responded.

"Good. . . we might need one of you to show us the location." Detective Jones asked as he turned his head towards left looking at the dense forest ahead.

We all looked at each other, debating who should go along with them when finally Lucas spoke.

"I will come." He stepped forward.

"I'll come too." Cee raised her hand and stepped forward as well.

Dr. Davis took out a pair of gloves from his pocket and wore them. Both the detectives did the same.

"One of you is enough. We don't need a crowd there." Dr. Davis grumbled while adjusting the gloves properly on his fingers and hand. It was pretty evident that he was annoyed at us, or maybe he was just grumpy.

"Then I'll go." Cee suggested, "I have used that shortcut a lot of times, I know the path by heart." I knew why she was doing this, so she could get some inside information about the matter. It was all so obvious.

"Cee, you should stay here, let Lucas go." Zach put a hand on her shoulder as he suggested her.

"Boy!" Detective Jones addressed Lucas, ignoring Cee. "Do you know the location properly?"

"Yes. I'm good at remembering things." He confirmed.

"This is no place for a girl to go." Detective Jones replied to Cee. "Lead the way." He instructed Lucas, and all of them went into the forest.

"Bloody sexists!" Cee muttered and walked back furiously towards the bench. She sat with her arms folded, anger was evident on her face.

Zach looked at me, and we shared a confused look as to confirm what to say to her. A minute later, he spoke. "You both can go home, if you want to. I'll wait here for Lucas."

"It's alright Zach." I answered.

"Yeah, it's no big deal." Cee responded.

"Okay then." He spoke.

Half an hour later, the two detectives and the medic returned along with Lucas and walked over to us. Lucas walked casually behind them, his hands were buried inside the pockets of his jeans.

"You all can go home now and don't ever try to roam in the forest, it's not safe here." Detective Garcia advised, removing his hand gloves.

"Officer, do you have any leads? What do you think, is it a serial killer or perhaps a witch?" Cee asked.

"There's nothing like witches kid and. . . it's confidential work, we don't disclose information like that kid. Go home now." Detective Jones responded with hostility clear in his voice. The three of them walked over to their patrol car, leaving the four of us all alone.

"What's their problem? I was just asking a simple question. Would that have costed them something to answer it? Jerks!" Cee was again fuming up.

"Calm down Cecelia." Zach put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault."

"I know right? It's just that officer." Cee pointed at Detective Jones. "He seemed to have some sort of problem with me."

"Detective Jones?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. "He seemed pretty tough." 

"It won't cost him anything if he would act a bit nicer to people." She scoffed.

"Yeah with a job like that, people tend to act that way." Lucas remarked.

"Hey Lucas, while you were with them. . . did you hear them talk about something regarding the case or some lead?" She inquired.

Lucas shook his head. "No. They were being discreet."

"I see." Cee put a hand on her chin, analyzing.

"I think we should go now." I interrupted the two of them.

"Yeah. . . I need to get home early tonight." Cee informed and we walked back to where we have parked our cars. Cee unlocked the door of her ford and before entering she waved a hand at Lucas and Zach. "See you guys next Monday. Bye Bye." She spoke out loud.

"Goodbye Cee and Kat." Zach waved back at her.

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