THE CRIMINAL FILES ~ Tragedy at its Finest

O N E

/Do I look lonely? I see the shadows on my face. People have told me, I don't look the same. Maybe I lost weight, I'm playing hooky, with the best of the best, put my heart on my chest - so that you can see it too./

The cool breeze coming in from the windows was just exactly what everyone needed. Driving down the winding streets, and crooked roads made everyone edgy, especially Jack.

"Are we there yet?" He whined.

"Dude, shut up." Owen countered. But you could tell he was getting restless as well. Only May and I were calm. In fact, we enjoyed the long road trips. If only the guys did, too.

When it came to travelling, Owen and Jack preferred the jet, greatly. But, because it was undergoing maintenance, we had to take our big, black SUV. Sure, the jet was nice, with it's adjustable seats, and the room to move around...but using SUV's was just as fine. It didn't have the same exact privileges a jet had, but personally, I felt more at ease on the ground, then in the air. I could handle heights, but I always made sure to never sit beside the window or else I would find myself throwing up everything from my breakfast, to the dinner I had the previous night.

I looked over to my right and saw May leaning against her palm that held her face up as she slept peacefully. I smiled, and sighed watching the road when a balled up candy wrapper hit me in the back of the head. I stepped on the brake, and turned my head around to see Jack on his phone and Owen pretending to be mesmerized with something outside of his window. "Idiots..." I muttered and instantly both men began bickering at me. Not that I cared, I wasn't listening to their initial conversation anyways.

*****

Slamming the door behind me, I strutted forward with May beside me, while Jack and Owen wandered over to the surrounding area that had been populated with officers.

"Ah, finally. We thought they were lying once they said they were sending the FBI." An older guy, who I recognized as the Sheriff told us.

"I'm Agent Logan, and that's my friend Agent Walker..." May replied.

The Sheriff nodded and shot both of us a warm smile. "Where's the body?" I asked, trying to get past friendly discussion. It's not that I didn't like conversing with other Detectives and Officers, it just never ended up being over coffee. My black boots caused the autumn leaves to crunch. The ground had been blanketed with all different shades of red, orange and yellow. I walked up a hill, leading myself to the crime scene, even though I asked the Sheriff to show me.

At the top of the steep hill, May got help from the Sheriff while I leaned down to inspect the body. "Her name's Maria Scott, 16, A plus student, highly observant..." the Sheriff's voice bled out, slowly, and quietly. "How could anyone do this to Maria?" He asked.

May and I looked to each other, and stayed that way for a bit. My eyes trailed down back to Maria. Her skin had a discoloration to it, the same discoloration that happens to a dead body. I noticed that the she wasn't placed down with remorse. Except...

Getting up, I noticed the small clumps of leaves placed around her body. "Was she covered in leaves?"

His gaze returned from her body and looked up to mine. "Uh, yeah...but the wind blew everything around, before we could keep it on the body."

I nodded, and placed on a pair of white gloves. I placed two fingers on the side of her head and moved it to the other side gently. There was a purple and black ring around her neck. I sighed and heaved myself up, seeing the guys coming up the hill with a younger officer. "Sheriff..."

"David's...fine." He said.

"David," I corrected, "I'd like this body to be sent to the Coroner's office right away, let the ME take a look at it. And I would like a list of all the people in this town."