Waters of Oblivion

Chapter 2.4: The Break-In

"Miss Baldwin, over here please," urged the man standing in the center of her disheveled office. "Detective Chip Johnson with the Metropolitan Police Department, Robbery Homicide division."

Taking a few steps forward, Reine shook his outstretched hand.

Gabe was no more than two paces behind her the entire time, and he addressed the detective first. "Gabriel Moran. What happened here?"

"That's what I'm here to find out. Now if you'd excuse us, Mr. Moran. I have a few questions that I'd like to ask Miss Baldwin." The detective glared authoritatively.

With a small nod, Gabe moved back into the hallway to join the campus security officer already standing there. He stayed close enough to still see – and hear – everything that was happening inside. 

"Now, Miss Baldwin, if I may," the detective began, redirecting her focus to the task at hand. "When did you leave your office today?"

"A couple of minutes before six," she answered.

His eyes widened. "That's very specific."

"Yes, well I teach a class upstairs starting at six, and I usually get there fifteen minutes early to set up." She tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "But today I was running late."

He jotted her answer down in a small notebook. "Was anyone else still around the department at that time?"

"I'm not sure. I was in such a rush to get out," she said, rubbing her temple while trying to recall the events of that evening. "I don't think so."

"And what time did you leave the building?" he asked.

"Nine sharp."

Her response was so quick that the detective glanced up from the notebook and met her eyes. As if putting two and two together, he turned his head slightly to look at Gabe.

Still in the hallway, he seemed preoccupied with his cell phone.

Detective Johnson scribbled something in his notebook again before continuing. "Officer Holmes found the door ajar on his usual rounds about an hour ago. Can you please take a look around, and let me know if you think something is missing?" Johnson stepped aside to let her move freely.

She didn't need to walk around to tell if anything had been taken. The office was small enough for Reine to scan its entire contents easily from a single point. Even in its current, disheveled state.

One wall was lined with bookshelves; however, most of the volumes were strewn onto the floor. Her desk still contained a monitor and laptop docking station, but because the actual computer was always in her possession, that was luckily not available to the burglar.

"While you're looking around," Detective Johnson interrupted. "Could you tell me if anything unusual has happened to you lately? Any suspicious people or activities that have caught your eye? Any friends acting strangely? Or perhaps someone new has come into your life recently that we should check out?"

Reine glanced into the hallway again. Gabe now looked back at her.

She didn't want to tell the detective she had only met him three days earlier. She wanted to find the connection, if there was any at all, on her own. Involving the police at this point would just lead to more unnecessary intrusions into her life. However, her actions had given her away to the keen-eyed detective.

"How long have you known Mr. . . . uhm, Moran?" He checked his notebook to make sure he had gotten the name right.

"We met on Friday," she said.