dead pulse

Dead pulse- chapter 2 part 1

"Missing?"

The snow was thinning now, gentle flakes floating gracefully to the ground. Distant cars beeped and a child cried loudly, neighbours argued and drunken old men guffawed, unknowing and uncaring about the pale upturned palms at rest under the snow. But nobody knew about them. A tree falls in an empty forest.

"Missing." Cole Armstrong confirmed, heaving a deep sigh. She folded her arms in for warmth, and kicked the sludgy snow from her shiny black martens.  Behind her, six forensic investigators were taking photos of the blood that lay in the snow, like petals, rose petals, sprinkled carefully onto the cotton ground. This could've almost been a beautiful sight, if not for the violently kicked up flurries of snow, the savage slashes breaking its smooth surface. A single decrepit bench sat, isolated, and half buried. Another tree falls in the empty forest.

Ashe Keate blinked vigorously, four or five times, before running a slender hand through her coppery-brown hair. "Ooooh boy- It's just too cold for october... Fun all the way. I'm tired. What is it, eight thirty? Okay, not bad, but Kane Roberts is biting my ear off 'cause I missplaced a bunch of documents on Harvey Nesbon, I really need to get that sorted... And my coffee is going cold. My day's going bad already and it's only eight thirty. Life goes on.  Well, What have the 'sics got so far?" she murmured, adding  a small cough on the end. "I swear... "

"-I know" Cole finished, with what could've been a smile playing on her thin lips. She had that knowing look in her falsely coloured eyes. "Well, the forensics have just alerted me of spatters of blood in the snow. Not arterial, more the sort running from an open wound... no weapons found at the scene,  By the scuffed up snow, sign of a struggle, and obviously we can tell who won, as there is a trail in the snow where they dragged our victim away"

Ashe's fringe was standing upright against the wind, which Cole had to cough over a laugh because of it. Ashe was pretty, with mossy green-brown eyes that seemed to have seen all the shit the world crapped out, but still managed to see the fun in life. She had a beauty spot on the corner of her mouth, and brown hair that came down just past her shoulders. In comparison to Cole, she was quite short. But then Cole was pretty tall, so you could actually say she was average sized. she tightened her grey wrap-around trench coat, shivering. Ashe's one was almost exactly the same, but black.

"I see" She said, frowning, and a troubled look crossed her face.

"But"

Cole supressed the urge to  roll her eyes, but whilst Ashe flew into a coughing fit, she allowed a small sigh.

"But what?"

"The kidnapper has left no footprints"

"Wh- Do you mind telling me how?"

"Could be anything, from more snow settling over his prints or... I don't actually know"

They stood close to each other in the park, both wrapped tight in coats and scarves. The weather was not getting any better, and the snow continued to pound at their faces. Cole's usually spiked short hair had been blown over by the wind, and spread out over her forehead, making her look like a young boy. Her tired face and dark circles made her look so much older than her late twenties. She had become slightly insomniac, Ashe had told her jokingly. But she never told her that she wasn't joking.

"Well you're clued up... Who alerted you? And I hope you realise my coffee's going cold..."

"I do realise Ashe, I just don't care. No offence, I love you. Anyway, Got a call at seven thirty in the morning from a man, mid fifties, he was walking his dog when he noticed the blood splats and flurries. Seems like a nice chap, he was telling the operator about his dog, Albert."