THE RELIC GUILD (and other stories) Updated regularly.

THE KINGS OF BRAN'S CAULDRON (part 4 of 10)

SOMEWHERE ELSE: Birthday Singer

Detective Grogan stood sipping tea from a Styrofoam cup, and watched as the forensic team busied themselves around the body lying face down and naked on the bed. The dead girl was a student, still in her teens. To Grogan, she looked comfortable somehow, with her cheek resting on a soft pillow, and her arms relaxed by her sides. She seemed peaceful, at rest, as if she could wake any moment from a deep sleep.
Someone nudged Grogan from behind, just as he was taking a sip of his drink, making him spill hot tea down his chin and shirt. Summoning his most baleful glare, he turned, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
"Stop pissing about, Alice," he growled.
"Only trying to raise a smile, chief," Alice said. She then stopped grinning as she looked at the body on the bed. "God knows we need it sometimes."
The girl was attractive, even in death. She had an hourglass figure, buxom and curvy; her hair was blonde, with only the beginnings of dark roots showing through.
"Such a shame," Grogan whispered.
"I know," Alice replied. "Why can't I get a girlfriend like that?"
"Because you're ugly," Grogan retorted. "Now let's have some respect for the dead, lass." He cocked his head to one side, and narrowed his eyes. "Alice, no one's messed around with the scene, have they? No one's touched the body?"
"No. This is how she was found. Why?"
"The way she's lying ... If you'd just swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills, wouldn't you be under the covers? Curled into a ball? Clutching at the sheets? Something more than just lying there so bloody ... normally."
"Who knows?" Alice replied. "I've never wanted to kill myself. What's on your mind?"
"I'm not sure. But I get the feeling this has been staged."
Alice shrugged. "Well, none of the neighbours report seeing or hearing anything. And the pills she took you can buy over the counter. The only unusual thing here is her NI number."
"Yeah, how about that?" Grogan said. "RCF. Not the first one we've had, is it?"
"As far as I can see this is cut and dry, chief," Alice said. "Just another suicide. And nothing's going to change that just because she's a clone. Why don't we come back to it tomorrow? Let the forensic boys do their job, and see what they turn up."
"Ah, you're probably right, Alice," Grogan said, and patted the young woman's shoulder. "It's been a long night. Come on, I'll buy you supper."

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