The Greystone Cases: Burgundy Stream

              We couldn't believe what we were looking at. I don't think there's any way you can prepare your nerves for the sight of someone drenched in blood. There are only a few things I knew for sure at that moment. One, is that this scene is truly horrifying, in a shake-your-world kind of way. Two, I had never heard my girlfriend, Julie, look so panicked. And three, no matter what events had led up to this scene, we had to help our friend, Kathy.

"OH MY GOSH, KATHY WHAT HAPPENED?!" Julie screamed as she ran over to our friend.

Through her gasping and crying, she was barely able to speak, and the only words we could make out were "dumped", "blood", and "the stream". Brian, Kathy's boyfriend, took off his coat and covered her up while she sank to the ground.

"Kathy, calm down, take a breath. I need you to slow down and tell me what happened." Brian was surprisingly calm.

"I don't know," Kathy said, shakily. "I was walking here because you said you had to come to school, and I didn't believe you because it's a Saturday, and then..." She was barely able to talk through her crying.

After a moment of pause, Professor Bantle, our chemistry professor, ran over and tried to help get to the bottom of the situation. "Kathy, are you bleeding anywhere? This isn't your blood, is it?"

"No, it was dumped on me!" Kathy couldn't help but scream.

"Ok, one moment, let me call the detectives, I think they're still in the parking lot." Professor Bantle pulled out his phone and stepped away for a moment.

"Why are the detectives here? Brian, what the hell is going on?!" Kathy asked.

Apparently, Brian did not tell her about the events leading up to this morning. Brian looked at me, looking unsure of what to say, and also afraid of what I might say. I looked at Julie, my girlfriend, who shared the same look as Brian. "There was a misunderstanding with Brian's study group, and we had to meet with Professor and the detectives to get it sorted out." I didn't feel right saying much else. At this point, it's up to Brian to fill her in with the details.

"Oh my god, baby are you OK?!" She looked straight at Brian, more concerned than she was before. She sharply turns her attention to us, demanding a response. "Is he in trouble?!"

"He's going to be OK, you guys can sort that out later. Right now, we need to figure out what happened to you." I did not want to be the one to explain to Kathy that her boyfriend had been involved with a group of students that stole diamonds that belonged to a diamond anvil cell that we were using in our chemistry class and that we met here to return the diamonds to Professor Bantle, which is why the detectives were also there.

"Ok, the detectives hadn't even left the parking lot, they are on their way back now, so everyone sit tight." Professor Bantle informed us with his always calm demeanor. "It sounded like you were saying that someone dumped blood on you, is that right?"

Kathy nodded silently. She had finally stopped crying but was still visibly upset.

"OK, did you get a look at the person who did it? Male or female? Tall or short? Any kind of accent, or tattoos, or anything that stood out?" Professor Bantle had switched into some kind of mode we hadn't seen before, it was both smart and intense.

Kathy, still on the ground, silently looked up at Julie, and then at Brian. Before anyone could ask more questions, she finally was able to calmly string words together about what had just happened. "I don't know what happened, this was just dumped all over me. There was no one there, it was just me, I looked around and couldn't find anyone." She held both of her blood-covered arms out and looked in disgust.