True Crime: Five and Counting

Chapter 4: Getting Answers

        It wasn't long till Gary found out the identity of the last victim. Karla, the friend who had called in Jenna's odd absence, was troubled by some horrifying news. Her younger brother had not only gone over to stay a few days and help Jenna and his friends move, he had gone to die with them.

        Karla was distraught and crying. She was now at the scene watching the police carry out the body bags. Gary tried very hard to keep her calm and comfort her. He tried to distract her from what was happening.

        "Karla, I need you to help me out. Can you think of anyone that would want to hurt Jenna?" Gary spoke softly and caring.

        Karla spoke with a shaky voice. "The only people I can think of is maybe one of Jenna's boyfriends."

        "One of?" Gary questioned, wanting to know more.

        "Jenna was seeing two different guys. One of them is named Joseph and the other one is Mason. She's been seeing Joseph on and off for a long time now. She would always tell me about her arguments with him. I know that he's abusive. He's hit her before."

        Gary made note of this. "Tell me about the other guy."

        "Mason is a really nice guy, but he's really jealous. I know he's been really pushing her to end things with Joseph. Mason has been causing a lot of problems. He was not afraid to let Joseph know he was seeing her. They had words quite a few times."

       Gary had two suspects. Both men had a possible motive. He had a good place to start. He made sure that Karla didn't have anything else to say before letting her leave.

        Gary had one more person of interest to speak with before leaving the crime scene. He had discovered that Jenna was simply renting the house. He wanted to speak to the real owner.

To Gary's luck, the man was already there wondering what was going on. The detective approached the concerned old man and introduced himself.

        "Glad to meet you lieutenant. I'm Jacob." A large wrinkled hand reached out and shook Gary's. "What in the world is going on? An old coworker from the fire station called and told me a truck was sent to one of the houses I own."

        The sixty year old retired fireman listened to the tragedy that had unfolded. Tears welled up in his eyes. He was upset to hear that his new tenants were dead. Gary was hoping Jacob could clear up a few questions for him.

        "If you ever need any repairs done, do licensed professionals do them?"

        "Yes. I hire licensed professionals to do all the work and repairs."

        "Have you had any problems or malfunctioning appliances in this paticular house before?"

        "No. Not at all. Everything in it has been working just fine."

        "So you've never had to send repairmen to this house?"

        "Never."

        Gary made note of this. He didn't have much else to ask Jacob, so he thanked him and walked away. He didn't have much left to do at the crime scene either. The detective got into his car and looked back over his notes. He decided it was time to pay Joseph and Mason a visit.