The Road to Darkness

Case 6: Twisted Anterior

"Yato had a partner before me? But he's only been here 3 years" Nakamura stated, confused.

"His partner was a great man, strong-willed and passionate for what he did but somewhere down the line, his heart was tainted and he ended up killing himself" the chief explained.

"Or so they stay," I corrected.

"Yato, this is indeed a serious matter, we all know he's dead."

I began to chuckle. "He's just playing with us, he's not dead, he's just waiting...for his time to strike."

"Well....." the chief coughed while lighting a cigarette. "He sure waited a while didn't he?"

"I could really help you Yato but if you wouldn't mind, could you give me more details about what happened between you two and what type of person he was?" Nakamura asked.

The Chief and I looked at each other before I looked to Nakamura, "Jimmy Stenson, age 33, he would now be 36. He worked here 4 years before me and was the top detective. He and the chief had a special relationship because his father was the chief beforehand. He was a rather level-headed man that would speak his mind and wasn't afraid of who heard him. The first day of my second year here at the department is when everything changed.

We got a call about a murderer that killed six people out in the mountains, close by where Berry and I used to go as kids. There was a lounge up there where the victims were killed. We decided to spend at least a night there to see if he showed up, we thought it be a breather from all the city air and hustle. The person who owned the lounge said it would stay open no matter what, so closing it was not an option.

Berry and a lady named Cindy, who is a photographer, heard about our case and decided that the best idea would be for us all to go together, to make it seem like a real trip to the mountains and not a copy case. Jimmy and I knew they just wanted a free trip but we thought it might actually be a good idea.

The next week, we all packed up and headed up to the mountain. We agreed on staying for three days and if nothing happened, we'd go back. We lost all contact with the outside world because of the extreme weather but it didn't really matter, what would we have done? Called to say "help we're about to die"? The mountains were at least two hours from the nearest police station so that was not an option.

The day we got there, we unpacked whatever we brought and just relaxed. We talked about how things were between us and even had a few drinks before a man came from the snowing tundra. He slammed the door until it was busted open. In a flash, I pulled out my gun and aimed at the man but he collapsed on the ground and showed a major shotgun wound on his back.

We tried to help but he died after knocking the door down. While Berry and I investigated, Cindy took some pictures and Jimmy looked around outside.

"There's no sign of a struggle or any bruises or scrapes so it looks like he was shot from behind and the killer ran off" Berry concluded.

I touched his body around his chest and neck. "Hmm hypothermia hasn't set in either, he couldn't have been out longer then."

"But who would be out here in this weather? Isn't this the only shelter around here?" Cindy asked.

"That's not the only thing that bothers me" Jimmy added, walking back in. "It's only us here and it was rather quiet before this happened but we didn't hear a gunshot."

"You're right even in weather like this a shotgun wound like this had to have come from a powerful gun" Berry realized.

"This is very strange it makes no sense why anyone would be up here besides us and the killer" I wondered.