Cheat the Truth

Chapter 5

Thomas arrived at the address that his sergeant sent him. He could tell it wasn't as big as the last one. There weren't nearly as many officers and detectives running around this time. Before leaving his car he shot a message to Tabitha.

Thomas: I am so sorry! I promise I will make up for having to leave. Have a good day.

Thomas returned his phone to his pocket and walked towards the scene, noting all the little things he thought might be important.

On his way inside Thomas stopped to look at the door, he noticed there were no signs of forced entry. Either the victim knew the killer or forgot to lock the door. Thomas was betting on the first option.

Once he got inside he noticed everything seemed to be organized.

He was confused. He knew that most murderers wanted valuables or money, meaning things were normally thrown around. He looked around the house for his sergeant.

"Sergeant," he called out.

"Up here."

Thomas rushed up the stairs, following his voice. His eyes bulged as he took in the blood bath of another female victim. The tub was overflowing with bright red water. Her throat was slashed open and she had five stab wounds to the chest.

Looks like she must have put up a fight. I wonder why she is in the tub though.

"Odd, isn't it?" Sergeant didn't look away from the tub as he spoke to Thomas.

Thomas nodded but stayed quiet for a few minutes longer as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Anyone have any idea what happened here?" he finally broke the silence.

Sergeant shook his head, " So far we are all confused on this one. We are hoping someone saw something and is willing to come forward. Forensic is searching for prints and anything else of importance."

Thomas worked the scene, moving slowly from room to room. Everything had a place and seemed to be undisturbed. This stumped him.

It seems as if the person who did this knew the place well.

Then Thomas saw a strange book sitting alone on the dresser in the bedroom. He wondered if it wasn't a book at all. He walked over, pulled on a pair of gloves and picked the book up, sure enough it was a booksafe. It opened right up and inside sat family photos.

Thomas thumbed through the photos, he noticed someone that resembled Cody

. I wonder if this is his family home. Did he do this? Maybe he murdered his mother and took her money? But why would he do that?

"Sergeant!" He called out urgently.

Within seconds the sergeant was standing by his side. "Good eye, rookie." He nudged Thomas' arm, looking at the booksafe that lay open on the dresser. "Whoever did this must have known it was here. Go ahead and turn in for the day, forensic can deal with it from here."

Thomas turned the photos over to show the sergeant what he found inside.

Sergeant nodded as he took the evidence from Thomas' hand and looked through. "It must have been his mom." Sergeant said just what Thomas had been thinking.

Thomas walked slowly back to his car, still looking around at the house to see if he could find anything else of importance.

As soon as he got into his car he took out his phone and shot Tabitha a message.

Thomas: I'm off duty, do you mind if I stop by?

Before Tabitha could even answer Thomas started making his way towards her house.

About a block away, Thomas saw a fancy blue car speeding down the road. He flipped on his lights and buzzed his siren. The driver pulled off to the side of the road and Thomas was able to run the plates. The registration belonged to Cody Haze.

Before getting out of his car Thomas called for backup.

"10-33." Thomas radioed in his location. Then stepped slowly out of the cruiser and approached to the driver side of cody's vehicle, keeping one hand on his gun.

As the tinted window rolled down only a silhouetted figure could be seen. However, the cocking of a gun was apparent. The muzzle smoked and flashed followed by a loud bang. In the blink of an eye Thomas was on the ground with a seering bullet in his shoulder.

Through the blinding pain he could feel the blood rushing out of his body. Thomas had no strength to defend himself but in the distance he could hear the sirens as Cody's car sped off.