Dark Corners / ✓

twelve: of cold cases

"I love rumors! Facts can be so misleading, where rumors, true or false, are often revealing." Col. Hans Landa, Inglourious Basterds 

Natalie Cutkosky was murdered October sixth, two-thousand-and-five.

What I managed to gather from online articles wasn't anything that I didn't already know from news reports of that night - she had been stabbed to death in her own home, and her family woke up to the gruesome scene. There weren't any screams during the attack which might have been the most chilling part of the story.

It almost felt wrong, sitting in my apartment and reading articles about the murder, but I couldn't help it. I was slowly getting pulled into everything happening with Griffin, and I felt like I needed to understand more. I knew Griffin wouldn't tell me anything, so I decided to do my own research.

None of the family members made any statements, but I was slightly surprised to see an article briefly mention that Mr. Cutkosky was thought to be a murder suspect. Nothing else had been reported along with his potential involvement, and when I Googled it, nothing more came up.

The case had gone cold quickly. The murder weapon wasn't found, and all DNA samples in the house had been the family. The blood was all Mrs. Cutkosky's - no evidence. The murder weapon wasn't found (up until recently, from what Griffin told me, but that wasn't online), leaving absolutely no way to catch the killers. 

There was something suspicious - something that made me look around my apartment slowly and hold my laptop a little tighter.

According to one of the first articles I clicked on, there had been a sign of forced entry. The hinges on the door were broken. But after further investigation, the police reported that the hinges seemed to be broken from inside the house.

Just like what happened to Griffin's door.

I slammed my laptop shut and put it on my living room table, taking a deep breath and standing up, shaking out my limbs. I knew it was probably a coincidence - hell, for all I knew, Griffin could've slammed his door too hard and broken the hinges. Still - even though I knew it was a coincidence - I couldn't help but feel uneasy. 

The whole situation was just too damn strange. The murder weapon for Mrs. Cutkosky's murder shows up, and yet the police still can't find the murderer. And shortly after that, Grant gets in a car accident and Griffin's apartment almost goes up in flames twice? It was all just too strange and I couldn't help but think about it.

I sighed and laid my head against the wall and closed my eyes, clenching my hands into fists by my sides. A few months ago, none of this would have mattered to me. I wouldn't be sitting in my apartment, alone, reading about a cold case. Now though, it was the only thing on my mind. God, how things had changed so quickly.

Frankly, it explained Griffin's paranoia. I couldn't imagine what it was like to live your life knowing the person who murdered your mom was out there, free. I couldn't imagine what it was like for the murder weapon to be handed in by an anonymous person and still have the police turn up with nothing. I couldn't imagine what was going through Griffin's mind.

I jumped back from the wall when I heard a crash. I frowned and took a step forward, just in time to hear another bang on the wall. It was coming from Griffin's side - another bang. It sounded like he was trying to punch his way through the wall.

I quickly walked over to the door and stepped out, pushing it closed behind me and walking over to Griffin's. Banging my fists on the door a few times, I took a step back and waited. I always heard weird things from Griffin's apartment - him talking loudly to himself, the occasional sound of something being knocked over, and, sometimes, even cries. But I never heard Griffin sound like he was smashing on his wall.