The Reckoning of the Offended

Chapter 7

Carol's boots on the gravel silenced everyone at the crime scene before she was even seen. Meredith hurried up to her best friend and muttered something to her. It was obviously something important as Carol released a quick "Huh!" at the comment. The rest of the officers started talking amongst themselves again and barking orders at each other. Unfortunately, there were no witnesses at the time though some people heard things. The victim was a young girl whose body was cut in half and her face mutilated into the Joker's smile.

"Her name is Peggy Rogers. She is 13 and she attended the Q686 Queens Metropolitan High School as you can tell by the blue, black, red and yellow uniform. Her right shoe is missing and one of her purple scrunchies is missing too. She looks horrific!" Meredith exclaims, tears rolling down her face as she thought about her own teenage daughter, Jess. Carol hugged Meredith and guided her away from the scene.

"Meredith," Carol explained, "You go home and take a break. I'll explain to the commander about this. OK? Do you think that's a reasonable thing to do?" Meredith didn't answer, she just nodded her head. Getting in her GMC pickup truck, Meredith drove off into the dusk, the moon peeking slyly above the evergreen trees. Carol spun around and jogged back to the crime scene, taking photos on her iPhone 13 Pro. The silence in the tent was broken by the sound of the camera shutter clicking open and closed. Gravel crunched under foot as Carol walked around the victim, memorizing every little detail and storing it in her mind. "This will come in handy later," Carol thought.

The orange sun was just rising as Carol looked up and stretched out her weary limbs. It was going to be another one of those days without sleep again. She could always catch up on her sleep later if she had the time. Carol ambled over to her car and headed back to the station, phone ringing as she opened the door. Peeking at the name in neon blue, Carol answered it and smiled. It was her boyfriend, George Lane. Answering the phone, Carol cleared her throat before saying "Hey babe, what you are doing at the moment?"