Close to the Victim

Chapter One: Dial "Em" for Murder

Emma Gordon
She removed the bloody insurance card from the visor and buckled herself in to drive over to the precinct. Emma felt the echo of mistrust spiraling a morning matinee in her gut. When she arrived at the precinct even the backwash of the tar-like coffee left a maddening guilt in her.

Detective Scott had already put her husband Charlie's name on the murder board.

At least he had the good sense to pick the only photograph where he was not smiling. Emma could still feel the sting of his electric grin. Sebastian Scott was exactly what you would expect out of a lead detective. He was domineering, a control freak, and never right about anything.

He thought that Charlie had committed suicide, and if she was really being honest with herself, they all did. They were just looking into it as a professional courtesy. Bash, what people called Detective Scott, was just waiting for Captain Hale to chalk it up to just another NYC suicide.

Bash saw her peering through the white blinds, she couldn't avoid him any longer.

A swollen breath carried her away from her desk and to his self-righteous side. He gave her that one-look glance that meant she should distance herself. He may have been right because he next pinned a photo of Charlie face down in a pool of his own blood drowning in the pavement.

Emma gritted her teeth but decided she needed to be honest with herself.

She was a junior detective, she should have seen the signs. His tie was ever-so crooked as if Marilynn couldn't help but loosen it for him. It was a small thing, but it gave Emma something she didn't need. She had a motive, so she had to destroy Marilynn's car. It had to be done.

Bash put his hand on her shoulder after Emma's stiff upper lip formed an open hangar. "I'm not going to tell you not to worry, Gordon."

Bash always had a way of making everyone uncomfortable. He was somewhat of a Sherlock without the good sense to show some bedside manner to the Vic's family. Unfortunately, now she was the "Vic's family", so she was now at the receiving end of his sharp digging honesty.

To maintain some semblance of sanity, Emma replied, " Oh, for a minute I thought you were going to send me your condolences or something normal. Thanks, Bash. You make a girl feel all warm inside, maybe it's all vomit and dislike of you, but that was a really nice statement."

Bash sighed. "Speaking of statements, you have to give yours, Gordon. I expect you to give me a minute by minute play by play of you finding your husband. Leave out nothing."

Emma scoffed. "Do you want to know what color socks I was wearing too?"

He gave her a threatening grimace. "You know why we're looking into this, Gordon. Let's just get through this so you can begin your five year long celibacy pact to yourself."

Bash's comment scratched her heart with a wrought iron key. He knew her too well. They could very well spend hours arguing about why a Vic went out for coffee the day of their murder. But as soon as Emma's mouth opened to dispute this, Tommy Sullivan appeared beside her.

Tommy was their forensics guy. More importantly though, he was Charlie's best friend. Emma's face brightened and the anger that was bubbling at the seams of her fizzled out. Tommy reached to give her a hug. For a moment, she forgot Tommy carried the secret of Charlie's affair too.

When she let go of him a heaviness broke her and she asked, "Any good news?"

Tommy took a step back from Emma. In a nervous stretch of silence, the question thickened in the air the longer he held it in. Finally, he emptied her deepest fears into the pits of her hell broken eardrums. "The results were inconclusive, Emma."