When Corpses Lie

Four People and a Funeral

I wasn't ready to do it. Yes, I had investigated several murder cases before, but I never saw someone I knew lying dead in front of me. I finally started understanding what people truly felt when they found that someone they loved had been taken away from them, and that they could blame someone for it.

You would think that managing to blame someome would be better, but it never is. Blaming someone implies that it was their fault and it makes you hate them and think that you could have stopped them. But you never can. Like pain, you never know when it will strike.

I entered the office. His body wasn't there, which made it a little bit easier. I took a second to calm down and I started the investigation afterwards. There was even more blood than I remembered. Splattered on the walls and staining the carpet. I picked up a pair of gloves from my suitcase and I started examining the crime scene. I took some pictures first with my phone, because I could end up needing to check the placement and positioning of everything.

The first thing I looked at was the trophy. Pieces of it scattered all on the floor. I collected as many as possible, in order to glue them back together whenever I would have the chance. I then looked at his files. Was he killed because of that investigation? The note said otherwise, but then again, it could be disguising the real motive. Now that I come to think of it, the note did more than the crowd control and putting us on edge.

It also allowed the killer to disguise some facts, by putting both false and true information in there.

My investigation continued. I took his files. They were somehow covered in blood, even though they were on top of the table. Maybe the killer hit him in the back of the head from the side and that made him spin 180 degress, and while falling, he hitted his head on the desk, making the blood splatter onto those documents. I tried to read them, but I didn't understand anything in that. There was a lot of bank talk in it. I had to ask Hannah to interpret those files. At least the killer didn't took anything from them since the pages were still ordered and the numbers in the bottom corners were consecutive.

- What are you doing? - I turned around. Danielle and Louise were standing behind me.

- Investigating the scene. Shouldn't you two be getting some sleep?

- Well, - Louise said, pointing at Danielle. - This one wouldn't go asleep and since she was constantly moving, I also didn't manage to fall asleep. And I also wanted to see how Robert was doing. - She took a brief pause. - I still can't believe this happened. - I didn't speak. - And now we won't be able to save the hospital...

- What do you mean?

- For some reason the hospital wasn't paying the rental of the space that was bank property before hand. We asked Stan if he could look into it but he said no.

- So you two have a motive.

- What? - They both said at the same time. Danielle carried on: - You can't possibly think that we would such a thing.

- Well, technically you had a motive. If the hospital were to shut down 'cuz of the money problems, you would end up losing your jobs. - The two were about to start talking again but I continued: - However... I don't think you would do this, Danielle. This was premeditated. And if you were the killer and you had killed him for that reason, then this wouldn't have been premeditated. And Louise is off the hook too because she has an alibi.

- Neither of us would have murdered him for that. - Louise said, almost laughing between words. - We barely knew the guy. Robert was the one that brought him this year and last year too. I only talked to him about this and nothing else. I can't say that I'm gonna miss him.

- Yeah, me neither. - I said. - But it still weirds me out. I have to investigate the death of someone I know. Kinda freaks me out. But hey, what are you gonna do 'bout it? - I said, finding a little bit of happiness inside of me.

I was lying. I knew Stan before that. I was actually relatively close to him, because I usually hanged out with Robert and him. But for some reason lying to others kind of convinced me that what I was saying was true. Funny, isn't it? Hiding my feelings right there was both good and bad. Good, because I managed to carry on with the investigation. Bad, because the pain would only hide and wait.

The conversation ended right there. I went down to the beach to look at the actual corpse. The scenario itself kind of had its comfort... Dying next to the waves, hearing the water echoing... It was peaceful. He was relatively lucky, for someone that had been killed.

He had a wound on his head that matched the bottom of a trophy. A massive pool of blood was on his head, way bigger than I had ever seen in a blood force trauma victim.

Next to the body there was a bloody jacket, probably used by the killer and a pair of gloves. I would end up carrying the body in the morning, but I couldn't do it alone. I putted the gloves in a bag and took the coat inside.

On my way to the house, I bumped into Danielle, very excited:

- Oh good, you're here. Robert just woke up.