The Crying Game

Chapter Two

Janice pulled up to the crime scene not even ten minutes later. She had done a lot of speeding to get here, navigating her way recklessly through the bustling New York City traffic and praying no cops were paying her any mind as she drove—luckily the Lord seemed to be on her side. And now as she pulled up, she could see the scene was like chaos.

In front of some alley, there was yellow police tape, blocking any witnesses from entering. Four uniformed officers stood in front of the tape, instructing the curious passerbys to stay a few feet back and let the police do their jobs. There were reporters shouting out and asking the officers if these murders had anything to do with the "Maidens of Sorrow."

Janice could see white sheets strewn over the bodies, could see the bright flash of the camera from the darkened alley as the forensics team took pictures. Curious bystanders were trying to record what was going on and Janice heard the police men and women sternly tell them not to record.

It had been a while since Janice had been called onto such a high-profile case. Sure, the baron was a very important figure, but the work she had done mostly remained anonymous. The baron's mother only wanted to know what happened to her son and Janice filled that in for her. The baron paid Janice and then Janice was on her way. Living in an age where people followed your every move, it didn't take long before people had found out that she had solved the baron's case.

But, she had never actually let herself be seen in public like this before. Yeah, okay, she'd done a few interviews and her face might have been plastered in the New York Times for the murders she solved, but never like this. This was front-page news. And as soon as she accepted this job, she would be, too. Everything she did would be under constant scrutiny. The murderer, whoever he or she was, would be watching her. No doubt wondering if she was as good as the stories claimed her to be.

Still, as terrifying as all of that was, in Janice's mind a tiny face filled her vision. The big brown eyes of a beautiful twenty-six-year-old woman with a wild afro of hair framing her face. Janice's heart twisted in her chest and her eyes tightened on the wheel.

This case was exactly like that case. The case that the detectives in her town had abruptly stopped looking into.

No, Janice knew she couldn't stop here.

She had waited almost sixteen years for this moment.

Janice stepped out of the car and began walking forward, hands shoved in her pockets to protect them from the chill. At the moment, she was surrounded by red and blue lights, the far away howl of more police sirens—no doubt coming to contain this situation which was quickly becoming out of control as people tried to press forward, eager to see the bodies of the girl lying dead in the alley.

Janice couldn't help but frown. What in the hell had this world come to where people were actually craving seeing dead bodies?

As she walked up to the crime scene, Commissioner Alistair looked up and his eyes locked with hers. He waved her over timidly, looking completely unhappy to be doing so.

Seeing the Commissioner waving someone over, the reporters followed his gaze to see where he was looking. Janice didn't even have a chance to blink before she was being swarmed, camera lights in her face, microphones pressed against her lips.

"Miss. Cooper, have you finally been roped into the case of the Maidens of Sorrow?"

"Miss. Cooper, given the fact that our own police department has been unable to find any leads, do you think you can?"

"How do you plan to go about this situation? How do you plan to find the murderer?"

Janice sighed, pushing her way through the reporters until she was standing in front of the yellow tape. The officers who were holding the crowd at bay looked at her warily. Janice couldn't help the grin that spread across her face at the sight of their uneasiness.