Morana Barnes: Murderous Love

40. Morana Barnes

December 14th, 2022 7:25 am

Another Survivor:

It didn't seem real. It seemed silly. Of all the careful ways they conducted their crimes to make sure they didn't get caught and they have a slip-up of this caliber. It was ridiculous how easily they messed up but it was a victory. A victory I would relish in. I rushed toward the interrogation room where Chaset was with Erin and our boss. The smile on my face was huge as I burst into the room.

Chaset and our boss sat across from a very unhappy-looking Lousey. When his eyes met mine his glare didn't falter. I already knew why he was upset. He found out we'd been watching him, suspecting him of being our killer. "What is it, Barnes?" Chaset asked.

"We got him," I said. Chaset stared at me and then glanced back at Erin. He seemed to pale, on the verge of defending his name but I cut him off. "Not Erin. He didn't do it. I told you he didn't do it,"

"What do you mean he didn't do it? You have no proof of that Barnes,"

"I do. We just got a call. One of the killer's victims is being transported to the hospital for emergency services and the other... She didn't survive. Let's go," I said, turning out of the room. I was on cloud nine. I heard Chaset catching up to me with a curious look on her face. She was confused.

"You just got a call?"

"Yep, Logan's already on his way there. He'll be able to tell us what time the attack happened. We were watching Erin for a while, up until about 3 this morning so if it happened anywhere between 1-3 then Erin isn't our culprit,"

"Which means you would've been right. Which, if you are I apologize but you can't tell me that he wasn't suspicious,"

"I won't tell you he wasn't suspicious because he definitely was but I can tell you that you should listen to your gut feeling. You can't be so black and white Chaset, there are gray areas." I smiled as we walked out the front door of the station.

***

Walking onto the scene I looked around. There were cops everywhere just like all the other crime scenes. People stood around watching and we kept our eye out for Logan. When we found him we stopped by him. He didn't move from his spot and just started speaking. "I can say this happened about 5 hours ago, maybe around 2 this morning," that was the first confirmation.

"She didn't die from our killer's usual tactics, she died from Blunt Force trauma to the head. It seemed our killer may have slammed her head against the car. She lost consciousness then and there. Your survivor was wheeled to the hospital immediately although the chances of her survival are futile. She was in bad shape. The witnesses are over there to your left, I told them you'd be ready to question them on what they've seen or heard,"

We walked in that direction looking at the two people who looked worse for wear. They were going through it after seeing such a harrowing scene. They looked at us and took deep breaths. "Good morning, I am detective Barnes, this is my partner detective Chaset. Would you mind if we asked you two a few questions?" While they knew they were bound to be questioned if they weren't mentally up to par for it we understood and would be willing to give them a minute.

"Of course not," the woman spoke.

"Did you two happen to see anything?" Chaset asked, getting straight into it.

"No, all we heard was her screaming. When seeing her we were surprised by the amount of power she had left in her to yell for help. She was wobbling and weak from her blood loss. She looked awful," the woman said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Yeah, when we saw her and she noticed us she collapsed. We asked if she was okay, even though we could see she wasn't. We just wanted her to respond but she didn't. I called the cops and gave them our location but she was already blacked out. Do you think she'll survive?"

"Jury's still out but hopefully she still has some of that fight left in her," Chaset said.

"Do you have any general idea where the attack could've happened?"

"Based on the pathway we found her on, she could've been by the park where the bathrooms are,"

"What about her friend here?" Chaset asked.

"We have no idea. We didn't know about her until we started walking to our car and someone screamed after seeing her body,"

"Thank you so much for your cooperation and help," I said and they nodded. As Chaset and I walked away my eyebrows furrowed.

"What is it?" Chaset asked.

"How the hell did no one see anything? I mean someone murdered in the parking lot and a bleeding woman walking searching for help?"

"Well, it was early in the morning. Not many people are out,"

"But enough was. No one heard any screaming or anything. It's been like this in every case,"

"They probably assumed it was a group of drunk people,"

"Chaset as much as I would love to believe that I do think there is a clear difference between drunk screams and 'i'm being murdered help me' screams,"

"Look who's being black and white now," Chaset laughed.

I rolled my eyes at Chaset but a small smile appeared. I felt rejuvenated. We were going to get them. As much as I wanted to go straight to the hospital and see how our survivor was doing I wanted to give them a few days. "So where to now?" Chaset asked.

"The bathrooms are witnesses were talking about. If that's the scene of the crime, evidence will still be there,"

"What makes you so sure?"

"It didn't rain Chaset and I don't think the sprinklers turned on,"

"What if they did?"

"Only one way to find out." We walked towards the bathrooms to inspect the scene and see if we could find anything else.

December 17th, 2022 1:00 pm

Walking into the hospital it was quiet. Everything was bright from the lights hanging from the ceiling and there were limited people inside. I'd been reviewing evidence from the crime scene while Chaset got a head start on talking to our survivor and the sketch artist.

As I walked down the hall I went to the desk where a nurse stood. He looked up at me and I showed my badge to him. "I'm looking for Cathay Stargler," I said.

"Room B32. Straight down this hall to your left," he said pointing me in the right direction.

"Ok, thank you," I smiled and made my way there. As soon as I reached the door Chaset stepped out of the room. The look on her face made me pause in my tracks. My stomach flipped at the expression and my hands became sweaty. My heart sped up and it felt like that one feeling all over again.

It was just as debilitating as the first time as I wrapped my hands around my stomach and slightly bent over. I was trying to catch the breath that was sucked from me. I blew out a breath and stood up straight looking at Chaset.

"What happened?" I questioned. The look on Chaset's face is what spurred on this awful feeling and I knew whatever it wasn't good. It would turn my life upside in a way I never knew it could. "Chaset, What is it?"

"Morana...." she never said my first name unless it was dire. That feeling intensified tenfold and there was a brick in my throat. I breathed in a ragged breath as my eyes watered immediately. My mind was racing trying to figure out what could be this dire.

"I need you to sit down and listen to what I'm about to tell you."