The list of sinners

...Donovan...

The news of a lifeless body arrived early in the morning. A simple citizen had made a report in the secretary's repertoire of the department, which had raised all the employees on their feet, something that had been missing for a long time. I was heading towards the address sent from Cameroon, which corresponded to a simple park. I parked a bit further away and quickly made my way to the scene.

"Arrival time 06:20 am", I said, looking at my watch.

Officers had surrounded the area with tapes that made loud calls to avoid being crossed. The body still lay on the ground, waiting for the medical examiner to transport it to the examination laboratory, but that body would not go anywhere without being seen by the detectives.

"Officer Willow," I said.

"Detective Mayfire, welcome."

The officer helped me lift the yellow tape. I headed straight to the body to not waste any more time. It was still lying on the ground, covered with a white cloth just enough to avoid that gruesome scene from the eyes of other citizens. Such a scene was not a beautiful way to start the day.

"Officer Burke, what do we have here?"

"The victim is a girl around 20 years old, but it's not certain yet."

"Has she been identified?"

"Not yet... but her bag is being checked by Detective Sinclair hoping to find something."

"Alright, can you give me a pair of gloves?"

"Of course."

Officer Burke handed me the gloves, and I quickly put them on, making sure they weren't torn or could contaminate any fingerprints. I removed the white cloth from her body, revealing slowly the cold, lifeless body. It was a brunette girl with beautiful green eyes still wide open, not letting go of the terror of that murder for a single moment.

Her mouth was open, showing signs of surprise, and blood had flowed like hot lava from the hemorrhage. I lifted the cloth further up to the lower abdomen. There were holes all over the abdomen, some of them not bleeding much.

"Two... four... six... eight... eight stab wounds."

"Donovan!"

"Yes, Cameroon, come here."

"I managed to find her car registration," he said after a short run. Her name is Devorah Miller.

"Alright, is there anything else suspicious in her bag?"

"Just common items that will pass as evidence."

I shook my head lightly, still holding onto the girl's wounds.

"What did you find, Donovan?" Cameroon asked.

"Most likely these wounds were made by the same weapon that killed Rebecca, but this girl has eight wounds."

"While Rebecca had nine."

"Right, but perhaps there could be another wound that could have been covered up, but we'll leave that to the medical examiner."

"As for the boy who found her, he's not able to speak at the moment and is recovering," Cameroon informed me.

"Alright."

The ambulance arrived at that moment, drawing attention with its loud siren. Doctor Santes and her staff quickly got out of the vehicle.

"Detective Mayfire, if you allow me, I want to take the victim," she said.

"Of course, doctor, go ahead."

The victim's body was now in the hands of the doctor, who would examine it and produce the results in the form of an autopsy.

"Cameroon, tell one of the officers to check the internal data system for the girl's parents so we can proceed with questioning," I said as my eyes followed the stretcher.

"I'm on it."

Cameroon entered the crowd of police forces. As I took a step forward, something rolled at my feet. I looked down and, with the gloves still on, picked it up.

"An apple?!"

What could an apple do at this crime scene? I had brought the apple from all sides, but its bright red color seemed to pierce, to sink its teeth into and drown in that sadness that could fill the mouth with liquid, to undermine every judgment.

"Perhaps the victim dropped it."

An apple couldn't be taken as evidence as it could spoil over time, so I left it on the ground without paying much attention. After all, what could a red apple tell us?