Chapter 3

I couldn't stop thinking about what Dave said. This case had something to do with my dad? Does that mean the same killer murdered him? But why? Why hadn't Dave said anything earlier? Have I been chasing after the wrong person all this time?

All these thoughts were rushing through my mind nonstop, and I just couldn't seem to grab hold of them. But as I got off the car and focused on the scene in front of me, that was enough to pull me back to deal with what we were working on.

Yellow crime scene police tapes were wrapped around the tree. And just like always the neighbours had gathered waiting to hear on in the latest talk of the town.

"Where is it? And why can't you send these people away! You know the chief was barely able to hold off those bloodhounds barking up this tree with their cameras!" I yelled at Mike.

"Sorry about that Susan… but we were short on hands. But now more officers have been dispatched and they're on their way. And the axe is up there."

And there I saw it. Hammered into the first branch of this tree was the axe with dried up bloodstains.

We still didn't know if it is what was used to kill Katy, but it was sitting up there eerily like it was making its mark on the tree, too. Whoever had done this had to be at least 6ft 2 to reach this height.

Within a few minutes after us, the forensic team reached and started doing their thing. And I took this time to see if I could find anything more. The lady who first found the axe had already been taken to the station to get a statement, so there was nothing I could get from her now.

"Did you find anything?" I asked Max.

"I tried speaking to the people who had gathered here, and they didn't have anything important to say. I inspected the area also, and there was nothing. Just like our murder scenes, it's pretty clean."

"I guess our only hope is to visit Katy's funeral then…Try to see if you can get anything from the people there. Keep an eye for anything suspicious too. I'll speak to Ned and see if I can find out anything more about Katy."

The funeral was held at the local church and it was crowded. Clearly, Katy was quite popular. At the front, her casket remained closed, and the pastor was saying a prayer out loud. At the back, people were either in their own world chatting away or on their phones.

I walked past them and reached the front to get a better view. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ned wiping away tears that seemed to be falling down one after the other. James who sat next to him had red eyes that were hardly blinking and focused on the pastor.

I doubt he had any idea what the pastor was saying. Katy's parents were on the same bench with Katy's dad holding on to his wife, who was falling apart as each minute passed by.

Everyone was mourning in their own way, and watching them was painful.

I felt a sense of guilt build up within me for not being able to do anything even after 3 days. I knew very well how much I hated on the cops for not being able to find my dad's killer. But after joining them myself, I also knew how hard it was.

We tried hard and worked all night, but it was still not enough.

As I was scanning the crowd at the benches one girl just seemed to stand out. She was sitting right next to Ned and was trying to 'comfort' him by patting on his back lightly and holding his hand. She didn't seem like she really cared about Katy though. In fact, I could swear I saw her smirk when the pastor ended his prayer with an amen.

"Katy was such a sweet child. I remember the day she was born and I was holding on to her so tight because I was scared I might drop her. She was always the one to comfort me even when she was little and didn't understand everything that was going on. Before my husband's business started growing, the 3 of us lived in a tiny home. There were days we hardly had anything to eat and we would sacrifice our shares for Katy. But she somehow always knew…Katy always knew…and she never ate alone. Though we weren't able to give Katy everything that she wanted, she was never one to complain. She made our lives special. She meant the world to us. And now without her, I can't imagine life ever being the same. Katy, I hope you remember that mama always loves you. Katy, I miss you so much. I…."

Katy's mom broke down in front of the crowd.

"Wake up Katy…. mama's here…I'm so sorry baby… How am I going to live without you …wake up Katy…I'm so sorry I couldn't be a good mother… I promise I'll try harder this time…I'm so sorry…Wake…up…Don't leave me alone…"

Mrs Price kept crying in front of her casket bringing tears to the eyes of everyone at the church. James who was barely holding it together also ended up balling out his eyes. And Mr Price who was trying his best to be strong for his wife finally managed to calm her down and move her away from the casket.

I wiped away the lone tear that was falling from my right eye and focused on the crowd again. Katy's mom reminded me of myself when my dad died. That feeling of helplessness and knowing I couldn't do anything to protect my dad made me feel like I had become the most worthless person on earth. I felt like I didn't deserve to live anymore. And there was no reason for me to keep living anymore…I was not there when my dad needed me the most…but I will be now. He and Katy will get the justice they deserve.

The ceremony continued on with Ned and James giving their own speeches along with a few other friends of Katy's. After 30 minutes with a final prayer, her casket was taken to the cemetery. Katy's parents, Ned, James and some other relatives and friends of Katy's followed along. But among them, the girl that smirked didn't seem to be there.

I took time looking around and scanning the place for anything that I could find. And eventually, I caught the eye of that girl. She was in a corner laughing and chatting away.

"Hi…I'm Susan Wilson from NYPD. Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Me? I don't have anything to say…"

"It's nothing much. I just have a few questions to ask"

"Okay…"

We moved away from the crowd as she was bidding goodbye to her bunch of friends, who also didn't seem like the rest of the people at this funeral. If this was like those typical high schools, then this girl would probably be like that Queen B whom you don't want to get on the wrong side with. But I couldn't be judging too soon. That would be an amateur move from someone who worked for 7 years in the force.

"So I noticed you were sitting next to Ned at the front. How do you know Katy?"

"She's a friend, obviously…"

"I mean for how…" I got cut off by my phone buzzing in my pocket.

"Excuse me for a minute…"

It was Max, and he had apparently found the manager of a coffee shop that Katy had been working part-time in. The manager was quite close to Katy and had hired her 3 years ago.

"Get here quick…we definitely don't want to miss out on any leads at this point", he said.

"But I was just talking to…" I turned around and noticed that girl had already left. Well, maybe I was just seeing things. There was no way she would be smirking.

"Okay, I'll be there in five".

As I was walking towards where Max was, a slight drizzle started to break out. It slowly made the ground muddier and hard to walk on. It was like the weather was mourning in its own way.

Weirdly, it always seemed to rain at funerals. Even at my dad's church service, I remember tripping on overgrown grass and making an entire mess of myself. I also remember thinking it couldn't get any worse. But on the same day, my mother decided to show up wanting to reconcile. What was she thinking that she could suddenly show up after 12 years and pretend to take on the parent role in my life! As if all that she did would be forgiven in one moment just because I had no one to live with anymore. Thinking about her got my blood boiling.

"Jude Baker," said Max.

"Huh?"

"The manager's name is Jude Baker. 38 years old. Runs the shop with his grandma. Has known Katy for 3 years".

"Were you able to get anything else?"

"Not yet, I was waiting for you cause somehow you always manage to get people to fess up," he said with a straight face.

"Hey don't be mad, I won't tell on you and Amy getting it on in the night duty room" I replied laughing.

"Shut up and we were not!"

"So Jude how are you feeling?"

"I've seen better days…" he replied.

After 10 minutes of talking to Jude, we weren't able to find anything much from him. He almost had the same sweet things to say about Katy, like those who were giving speeches at the service. So yeah, we were at a dead-end, at least for now.

"Let's get back to the station, there's clearly nothing more we can get by hanging around here."

"But what about speaking to Ned?" asked Max.

"Trust me when I tell you now is not the best time to talk to him. As much as I want to get straight into solving this case, I can also understand how Ned must be feeling right now. So we'll have to push that for tomorrow".

As we were driving away from the church, suddenly my heartbeat picked up. I became nervous. The back of my neck started heating up and my entire body felt like it was on fire. Getting back to the station meant I would finally be able to hear about what had truly happened to my dad. I wanted to know, but I was also scared to find out.

From out of the car window, the trees on the roadside seemed like someone was skipping through a video on high speed and it was starting to give me a headache. I didn't always get carsick, but when my head was filled with thoughts and my anxiety was building up by the minute, it was unavoidable. So I closed my eyes and started working through things one by one in my head.

Over the years, dad's case has been weighing me down. And no matter how upbeat I tried to be about it, there was no progress at all. I didn't tell Charlie, but every bit and piece that I could find on my dad's case was mapped out on the wall of The Hideout. And whenever I felt like just moving on from it once and for all, I pushed myself to walk back in. I couldn't give up.

The Hideout is 15 minutes away from our home and located in the basement of the old house I used to live in with my dad. I tried selling it and getting rid of everything, but my conscience didn't allow me to.

Selling the house felt like I was giving up on my dad and I couldn't do that.

Dad used the hideout when he was working on cases. He mapped out his findings and sometimes worked on cases on his own. And as a kid I thought it was the coolest thing ever but, now I'm just mad about it.

Sure he managed to solve cases that weren't even reported. But solo was a definite NO in the force.

I guess dad just didn't want to put Dave in trouble because he had a wife and 4 small kids depending on him. And as much as I hate dad for it, I would've done the same if it was Max. But that didn't mean dad was on his own either.

What about me?

"Susan, Susan get off!" Max's yelling pulled me out of my thoughts and once again that nervousness settled in.

"Why do you keep spacing out so much?"

"Sorry just got a lot on my head…"

Walking through the station doors every step I took felt like I was walking on the rocks that were barely floating away on hot lava.

"Niña, did you find anything?" asked Dave

"No…Ned was an emotional wreck at the funeral which is normal given that his girlfriend just died. And James was not in any good shape either. So we'll meet up with them tomorrow. Hopefully, they'll be in a better condition to talk to us".

"Okay... Max, Amy and Jay get to the meeting room. We have a guest waiting for us"

"Dave, when you say guest it's never a good thing. Remember the last time there was a guest in the inspection room and it turned out to be a drugged up Drake wielding a sharp pencil. And you know how I feel about pointed things!" whined Jay.

"Chico tonto!"

"Did you just swear at me! What did you say? What does that mean? How am I supposed to know what you are saying in Spanish!"

"Exactamente, how was I supposed to know that it was going to be a 'pointy situation'"? teased Dave.

"Can we just hurry up?" I said.

The nervousness was building within me with every passing minute and now I just wanted to get done with everything. So I moved past the others and walked straight into the meeting room.

"Tyler?! What are you doing here?"