A Bloody Grim Payne

The Dockyard Killer (Part 1)

It was a new morning at the office, and luckily for Payne, Tom was at school, so she brought her motorbike to work. She'd exchanged her brown blazer for her original black one, realising that she looked rather foolish with a brown blazer and black trousers. Besides, she preferred the black blazer. She kept the cap from One-Tooth Sam, and her hair remained in a ponytail. She'd probably wear the brown blazer again if she ever bought a brown pair of trousers and got bored with the black ones.

While working on a few reports and making small talk with whoever came into the office, the Brit had gone for a cup of coffee, only to find sticky notes on the coffee machine.

'Payne, Listen To My Sister And Use Decaf! - Sinclair (Obvs Not Terrie, Because I'm Not A Woman!)' ...She knew that.

'payne, listen to their sister and use decaf - Thompson (not my brother Zeke, because he doesn't wear skirts like I sometimes do... y'all gotta admit i pull them off well even though i have twig legs)' ...She met Thompson's older brother before. He didn't seem like the type to pull off a skirt. But when Thompson did, it actually went well.

'Payne, listen to what they said! - Jones (...Do you even know any other Joneses???)' ...She did not.

Payne grumbled, frustrated about her old partner, a Grimsborough native who'd moved to Littleby, Sinclair's older sister, telling her office mates of her caffeine addiction. Grabbing some decaf, she sighed and took a coffee-infused chocolate bar from her bag. She couldn't go cold turkey off the amount of caffeine she had, so she had also grabbed a few energy drinks and popped them in the fridge. Most were Rocket Cow.

Payne sat back at her desk. The room was empty sans her. Jones was taking Polaris for a walk, helping the dog bond to the brunet even more. Sinclair, Thompson, and Charlie were on a case. It was rather boring for Payne, who liked a case. At times like these, she hoped to either suddenly come up with an idea for a hobby to get into or for a case to burst through the office doors.

Then the office doors burst open.

"Hey, Detective Payne! We've got a fresh case!" Jones grinned, slightly panting. Polaris stood beside him, wagging his tail.

"Finally!" Payne cried with relief, chugging the rest of her coffee and pulling her blazer back on. She grabbed her bag, which held her forensics kit, and dragged her partner into the lift.

"You sound too happy to find out that someone's died, Payne..." Jones frowned at her, then shook his head, "Well, I guess you're not reluctant, despite what happened last time."

"I know murders are bad, Jones. I just got bored. Anyway, what do you know so far?"

Hopping into the squad car, Jones took the driver's seat as he explained.

"A barge driver called James Smith called to say that he found a body at Bradley Docks, and the Chief asked us to investigate. Nathan and some officers that are keeping guard are waiting for us to process the scene!"

....................

They arrived at the docks, seeing containers of all colours. Some names stood out - Greene Holdings, and Bluehill Pharmaceutical, for example. They found the dead man beside a crate that was covered in a blue tarp, his hand laying limply on his stomach. The man had short black hair and some thin facial hair. He wore a green tank top and blue jeans, along with green shoes. Eerily, one of his eyes was still open, showing the detectives a blue eye which had all of the life and light stolen from it. Payne got a glimpse of the corpse's slit abdomen before Nathan zipped the body bag up.

"Hey, Payne. Hey, Jones," he greeted them both, "Just let me move this body and I'll be out of your hair."

"No Martine today?" Payne asked.