A STUDY IN FEELINGS DEMO

It reeked.
Even in my eight years of being a homicide detective the smell of a rotting corpse was always an unpleasant shock, not that I show it. Hundreds of bloody decaying unfortunate souls later and I'm blown away by an acid dosed school principal body, burnt is rarely a nice thing.

He was the principal of a fairly small primary school, roughly 200 students I predict. Only his saggy, balding head is left after being doused with hydrofluoric acid, luckily he was on a plastic surface otherwise he would be on the bottom floor.

"Heyy Charlie!"
Not again. I turn to face the beaming face of my colleague, how she manages smiling in such an environment I'll never know.

My signature exasperated sigh leaves me. "It's Lieutenant Fields for the last time, Detective Amber..."

"I told you to just call me Di, don't even think about calling me 'Miss Dion Amber' again grumpy pants." Even when trying to be intimidating she is bubbly, most likely due to those deep chocolate brown eyes... Annoying.

"Ah Miss Amber and Miss Fields, come over here and I'll give you some background info." A young police officer who I'm not familiar with ushers us over.

"You will refer to me as Lieutenant Fields, you should recognise me as your superior." My cold gaze does the trick and I see him shiver a bit.

He hesitates before beginning. "His name was Leroy Haney, 56 years old. He became principal 9 years ago, despite his appearance he's quite a kind soul."

Dion's sporadic nature kicks in. "Really? I've met very few people with a receding hairline like that who has a 'kind soul'."It takes all of my strength not to smile then. Despite my general dislike for her she manages to almost make me lose my mask.

I'm not sure when I began to be so cold and reserved. My deep skin with cool undertones, dark challenging eyes and lack of shortness adds to the effect. I've already made a name for myself in the precinct as being the "iceman" , it's too late for a change of heart, even if I wanted it.I suppose that's why detective work suited me, I get to interrogate people and solve gruesome cases while also helping improve this city.

My thoughts are interrupted by the young officer. "The problem is, there are so many suspects."That catches my attention.

"So many? Why is that?" Curious how someone like him would have so many people wanting his death.

Dion pipes in."Do you have a list of the suspects?"
"On the bench over there, after you check it out try to get some stuff out of the suspects."We walk over to the bench, a long list indeed, 15 names on the first page.

"Fucking hell that's a lot, wonder what he did to be such a target." Dion's eyes browse the paper,her shoulder length frizzy auburn hair falling forward.

"Let's start with the first name, Eleanor Haney. 49 year old sister."

Later

"Pleasure to" sniff "Meet you" sniff "Mr Fields and Miss Amber".
"It's Lieutenant-" I'm cut off before I can correct the incredibly emotional Miss Haney. Her graying hair in an unruly bun, delicate hands clutching a tissue box.

Dions people skills come in very handy in moments like this. "We are incredibly sorry for your loss madam, are you able to tell us anything about your brother before his...passing?"

"H-He was so sweet, yet a lot of the staff disliked him, I was never sure why. He had a job at the local petrol station before, miserable he was. Teaching the kids filled him with j-joy."Useless information. 

"Did he have any enemies?" "Fields gosh that's on the nose!" Amber pipes in.

"No no it's ok. The closest I can think of was his roommate back in University or his ex-wife."Interesting, struggled quite a bit pre-principal.

"Thank you for your time Miss, is there anything else you would like to tell us about?" Dion's voice is soft and understanding, the sort that can make you spill all your secrets.

Ellenor is silent for a moment before saying "He used to teach a grade 5 class at the start of his career, those kids were belligerent all right, hated him. They're all living their own lives now.One of them even left the class for 'unknown' reasons." Hmm...there's a bit more to this than we thought.

I give my best attempt at sympathy. "Thank you, we will find who killed him."
"Can't wait to find out the bitch who killed him." She suspects a female huh? Suspicious...

We leave the home of Eleanor Haney. Standing quietly side by side. I can hear her gentle breaths and feel her crimson coat brushing slightly against my navy one.

I break the silence. "There's something big underneath all this." She nods in agreement.
"Let's head back to the precinct and decide what's next. Sound good?" 

She's looking right at me, trying to break my walls down, right into my eyes.

"...Sure."Before I know it she's practically bouncing to the car. I brush the deep brown, mid length hair out of my face.

Did I hesitate? Surely not. I'm just tired...yes that's it.

I have a strong feeling that this case will be nothing like expected.