The Hauntings

Chapter 17

"Ladies, we're treating this as a murder investigation. Here are photos of the victim's jugular area and another of what was found on the body." The Detective sits forward in his chair pushing over an image, to the two distraught women, sitting across the metal table.

His dark, navy suit unruffled in the early hours of the morning, showing no signs of the twelve hour day that the Detective has had to endure. The only hints are of the dark circles of fatigue, under his eyes, displaying the stress of  his job. 

Elizabeth's hangover is beginning to seep in, from the aid of countless glasses of water and mugs of strong coffee shoved in her hand, forcing her to sober up, as if the news of Nelson's death hadn't been enough. Both women are still dressed in their clubbing clothes from the night before, however their make-up has long washed away and their hair disheveled, not forgetting the sharp white light of the interrogation room bringing out their placid complexions of shock. 

They both look down at the images, Scarlett gasps. Elizabeth tries to control her nausea. The photograph that is the most graphic, is the one showing a thinly sliced forearm. The deep lines prominent against the pale human skin. The arms eventually leads up to a face, which is turned away, capturing one blood streaked cheek. This still doesn't stand out, as much as the engraved words on the arm.

REVENGE

L

The Detective gives the two shaken girls, time to absorb the images, so they have a chance to collect their fluctuating thoughts and emotions. The close contacts of the victim, are the most useful at this point in time. They can indicate to the police force, potential suspects and the killer's motives. 

The police force had found no trace of forceful entry to the moderate apartment. A fractured hockey stick was found, underneath an indented wall, hinting there may have been some resistant from the  side of the victim or the culprit.  The victim's phone was also recovered or what ever was left of it. The victim seemed a private person but was also a very cautious considering he had installed the state-of-the-art security system, that still remained active and the CCTV footage had been so conveniently erased. The forensic team had informed the detective, that the fatal wound that killed the victim, could not have been self-inflicted  as the angle of penetration of the sharp object used, made it virtually impossible, being it at an exact 90 degree angle. There had been enough evidence to identify the victim as Nelson Barcroft, who worked as part of the team for the famous singer, Elizabeth Silver.

Elizabeth had been informed as soon as the police had tracked down the brief phone call made and raided the apartment to find Nelson's broken body. 

"I know this maybe hard for you Ms Silver, as for you too, Ms Evans to take in this monstrous act on Nelson. But it is necessary for us to bring to justice the criminal who has committed this tragedy, therefore I need you to consider, if this crime could have possibly been aimed at you? You are both very successful young women in your chosen career paths. Is there is anyone that might want to seek revenge on you?" The Detective asked delicately, focusing more on Elizabeth, as she is the more popular individual out of the two females before him. 

Elizabeth sniffles, clutching her head with her hands, she shakes her head. "I don't know...There are people that maybe are jealous of me because of my career, you know but not envious that they would go on to kill someone that is part of my team." she rasps, her voice quivering, as she makes eye contact with the hazel eyes of the Detective.

"It's alright Ms Silver, we will get to the bottom of this tragic event. Just-"

"He rang me!" Elizabeth blurts, cutting across the Detective's assurances.