Once Upon A Murder (Wattys 2016)

Chapter 1

Briana had slept late into the night. Her last case was a success, they had caught the killer within a week earning them a huge round of applause and pat on the back from the department. Her chief Carrie Houston couldn't be more happier with the team reaching their deadlines earlier than expected. Having partied late into the night, followed by last minute reporting work, it was already two am by the time she slept. With few more tabs to fill and feeling too lazy to turn off the system, Briana simply sprawled herself on the king-size bed. At the age of Twenty eight, Briana had more successful cases up her sleeve than her counter parts. The gruesome murders would have repelled anyone else but not Briana. She felt she had been brought up for this kind of work and fighting for justice against the dead, she felt complete.

As she shuffled around on her bed, the warm blue quilt outlined her firm yet shapely body. With one leg propped out of the blanket and dusky black hair sprawled over her head, she slept at ease. Every now and then her brow furrowed and her tongue slid out slightly to lick her dry pink lips. She must have fallen in an almost deep trance when her cell phone rang on the bed side table.

Cursing her luck, Briana opened her eyelids. She brushed her hair off her face and stretched her hand outwardly to pick the ringing phone. With her blue eyes scanning the picture of artistically painted Madonna's face on the wall, Briana answered the phone.

"Detective Lovegood, here"

"Bri, it's Adam", Adam shouted from the other end. Briana could hear the sounds of siren wailing in the background. It was her usual routine, rolling her eyes, she asked,

"Another murder, what is it? a knife, gunpoint, axe.."

"No, no, stop. Just come over. You really wanna see this. I am sending you the address", with that her partner Adam Gates was gone.

She sighed and pushed her ass off the bed. Adam Gates, her partner was a good three inches taller than Briana. A Caucasian with the height of 6 foot three inches he could easily send shivers down anyone's spine but only people close to him knew that he was a child wearing huge suits to cover his six pack abs and carrying a badge. Women drooled at his very presence and that served a huge advantage for Briana. The sexier Adam spoke, the easier they confessed.

Smiling at the image of Adam, Briana dressed quickly into a white shirt, black blazer and black trousers. She combed her hair hastily into a pony and having neatly adjusted the badge and gun in their place, Briana looked longingly at her bed.

"Why, Oh, Why do the murders happen at night?", She cursed as she ran out of her house to her car.

The night was the only time you didn't have much traffic and Briana reached the destination in twenty minutes. She could see about a dozen patrol cars and two ambulances already parked around the area. Not many people were around, the news hadn't reached the reporters yet.

Showing her badge to the officer in charge of letting people in, Briana walked into the Central park with one other officer who helped her locate the scene of crime. There was hushed talks all around her, people rushed past her carrying equipments, flashes from the photographer's being taken hit her eyes every now and then, yellow tape covered a whole lot of area near the crime scene. Amidst all this confusion, Briana found the tall figure she was searching for.

"Hey, so what's up", Briana asked pushing her hand into the pocket as cold night air rushed past her, carrying with it the orange yellow leaves from the trees in the park.

She looked ahead hoping to catch some victim but all around all she could see was only the yellow tape.

"Where's the victim?", She dropped in her next question before Adam could speak.

"Come with me", Adam said leading Briana through the yellow tape. Adam held on to Briana's hand as he led the way through the high bushes and once she crossed them, her sight was captivated by what lay in front of her.

She gawked a whole minute before whispering, "Sleeping Beauty".

What lay in front of her was something that came straight out of the Charles Perrault's books. In front of Briana stood a forest of yellowing trees, their leaves falling off of them ever so gracefully. Thick bushes surrounded them and at the trunk of the tree, sprawled against the rock was women dressed in all pink. She wore a crown across her blond head, the pink dress flowed on either side of the rock, her hands neatly nested against her tummy, she seemed every bit a princess except that she was a bit pale. The rock itself was surrounded by thorns that had tiny white flowers spring from it.

"I... Wow, it looks every bit from the Sleeping Beauty", Briana commented her heart still pounding with heavy beats with the beautiful sight the lay in front of her.

"Yea, except in that the Sleeping Beauty wakes up when kissed but not her", Adam pointed out.

Briana walked forward towards the rocks, wanting to have a closer look.

"I wouldn't take that path if I were you", Dr Lanie, the medical examiner, a tall dusky women with beautiful waved hair and deep brown eyes shouted from other end of the rock.

"Lanie, you're there. Why what's wrong?", She asked shrugging as she made her way towards Lanie who was already at a close proximity with the rock.

"You see the thorns, their poisonous. Not the kind that could kill you but for sure it could give you few itches that will cause marks that last forever. Unless of course you go for plastic surgery." Lanie explained and Briana nodded.

"What's surprising is, the park doesn't allow to grow such things" Lanie continued while move Briana continued towards the Sleeping Beauty mesmerised by the artistry that went through it.

"Surprising! every thing about this is surprising. Look at the whole set up. It straight out of the book, the trees, the poisonous thorns, the rock, the dress, the crown.", Adam added while I nodded.

"So whose the victim", Briana asked scanning the body for any signs of struggle or wound marks.

"Massie Dolworth, age 28, works with a software firm, only daughter." Adam responds.

"I don't see any marks. How did she die?" Briana asks turning away from the body to look at Lanie.

"Yup, that's another interesting thing. No scratch marks, no struggles nothing. It is as though, this women walked into the park, dressed like that and simply died on the rocks. I am guessing it's poison but I am not sure. Can let you know more only later", Lanie says as she shrugs at her helplessness to the case.

Briana nods and moves away from the rock. Once out, Lanie walks in to take her position by the rock.

"Have we informed the parents yet?", Briana asks feeling sad at the dead women that lay in front of her

"Officers are on the way."

"Looks like this is going to be an interesting case after all", Briana says looking at Adam and when suddenly Lanie shouts.

"Guys, I found something against her thighs. Its... "

"What is it?", Both Briana and Adam shout as they rush in towards Lanie.

"A audio Cassette", Lanie says she pulls it off the body.

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Hey Guys,

This is my new book, it's a mystery thriller. I got this idea, totally inspired from the Castle, one of my favorite serials and had this thought for a long time now.

Hope you enjoy reading it. And this book will be entered as part of the watty2016.. so please read and comment. Do let me know what you think and vote share and comment.. love you all loads. Have fun....