Against All Odds

Chapter 47

Lucas

Who knew an apprenticeship at a police station could be so mind numbingly boring? For the past weeks all I've been doing is filing reports, folding letters into envelopes and making the police officers teas and coffees at their request.

As boring as it is I've stuck with it, observing the goings on of the police station. The others seem to respect me. No doubt they'd heard that, even though I'm very young to be given this opportunity, I'd been the inside man in my father's case. The reason for the reduced rates of drug dealing. I'd also made many enemies during that case as my Dad wasn't the only one caught and sent to prison. Luckily they're all behind bars.
This means, however, that I'd been welcomed in to the station with open arms. They don't treat me like I'm an eighteen year old lad. They treat me as one of their own.

"Jackson, that's enough paper work for you today." Officer Evans, a plump but jolly lady, tells me and I hold in a sigh of relief. "Detective Russell is on his way here, he wants you to join him on a case he's just been given."

My heart begins to race. A proper case?! This is the moment I've been waiting for.

"Thank you for letting me know." I smile at her, standing up so she can relieve me of my duties.

"Be careful out there, don't try too hard to impress Bob."

~~~

The drive to our destination takes just ten minutes. Bob, the detective I'm shadowing, makes small talk, asking me how my holiday with my mates was and how Eve's family's getting on.

He then gives me the low down of the case.
A murder occurred late last night. The victim was a female woman in her early thirties. Cause of death is uncertain.

"You're going to see your first dead body Luc, you up for it?" Detective Bob Russell glances over at me once he's parked the car but I'm gazing at the block of flats we've arrived at. There's so much going on around the usually calm neighborhood. Police tap, cars and officers all gathered around mainly trying to keep the reports away. People dressed in white overalls are coming and going. "Lucas?"

I snap my attention back to him.

"I'm ready."

Nodding his head, he got out of the car and I follow suit, walking just behind him as he approaches the police tap cornering off the scene.

He flashes his badge and is immediately allowed entrance.
We're led into the flats by a police officer who repeats what Detective Russell told me in the car.

A murder, thought to be caused by strangling.

When we get to the flat where the murder occurred there's suddenly less people and noise. It's oddly quiet.

"And you're telling me we have no witnesses?" I suddenly zone in on the professional conversation between the detective and police officer.

"As far as we know there are none apart from the old lady, Mrs Paddy, who called the police." The officer grimaces. "Apparently the victim comes over every morning to give Mrs Paddy some company. This morning she never came and when she tried to get into the flat there was no answer. She decided to call the police and this is what we found."

The man gestures towards the bedroom of the small flat.
Detective Russell nods and strides towards to room in which a corpse lay. I feel unease settle in my stomach. Praying I wouldn't be sick, I follow him.

He's observing the body of a woman who, when alive, was a rather good looking lady. Now, however, she's anything but beautiful.

Her skin is pale white, eyes open with an unmoving stare. There's bruises and cuts all over her, the blood dry after being left for so long. The neck has severe, dark bruises which poses the clear possibility that her death was caused by strangling.

There was definitely a struggle before her death, which makes it seem odd that there were no witnesses. Surely someone would have heard the fight?

The last obvious thing about the body is the ugly marks on her inner thighs. Naked as the body is, it's upsettingly clear that this victim was raped before she was killed.

The fact that there was no witnesses and no forced entry into the flat makes me sure that the victim knew her murderer personally.

All these thoughts whizz around my mind before I even consider freaking out about the fact that I'm looking at a dead person.

"What do you reckon?" Detective Russell asks me and, after a moment's pause, I rely everything I'd just thought. He seems mildly impressed and agrees with the majority of my statements. "You got almost everything. But remember the scenery can tell you more than the corpse itself."

I frown, glancing around the room. The detective points to a small item on the floor that seems to have fallen off the bed. A needle.

"This lady could have taken her own life with what I'm guessing is heroin." Detective Russell explains, making me realize the case isn't as straight forward as it at first seemed. "We won't know the true cause of death until the body is examined in the lab and we have the autopsy report. At the moment I can see two different scenarios. Either she was raped and strangled to death or she was attacked, strangled during the rape but died later from overdosing on heroin."

The rest of the day was spent examining the flat for clues, watching CCTV footage and interviewing the other residents of the flats to try and find out who the culprit could be. It was fascinating watching and I learnt so much. For example I had no idea there are so many different techniques of how to searching a crime scene.

By the end of the day I'm utterly exhausted and yet totally in awe at the day I'd just experienced. Trying to solve a possible murder for the first time is definitely not something I'll forget anytime soon.