Halloween Phone Call

Chapter 3 - Evidence Room

Crackling electricity sparked along the image, fingers digging into the edge as the man on the other side blinked a few times. He adjusted his glasses, then looked to Cooper behind it.

"Yeah, we have that piece of evidence," Johnson said, moving back behind his desk to grab a key. "You think I'll get to pull the switch if this ends up helping the investigation?"

"No, you know that honor goes to the leading officer," Cooper said, grabbing the key from him.

It was considered an honor to be a police officer, a person of the law. The world rejected sinners, and the way they rejected them was through the government. Particularly the police who convicted those that broke the law.

Murder by far was the worst sin, and sending a murderer to death was considered a high honor. To condemn a sinner to hell was as high as a saint, it was what every police officer strived for. To get a confession from a murderer, to send them to the chair and be the one to take a sinner from the world.

No wonder Johnson wanted to be the one to pull the switch, it would advance his career. The act of him even participating in this crime would boost him, anyone who was even slightly involved in solving a murder case this size was bound for a decent reward. And even if one didn't pull the switch themselves, they were still held up as being a protector of society.

Gwen was one of the highest police officers around, her accomplishments were astounding. She was an amazing detective, one who had pulled the switch on a number of cases. Cooper himself had managed to get in a good number himself, and they had become partners due to it.

In the end, they were a good team. Gwen dealt with the people, and her ability to understand the suspects helped get confessions. And in certain situations, even when they got a confession, she delved deeper despite the evidence and found the true murderer whenever someone would confess despite their innocence. She was good with the people, and Cooper was good with the evidence and technology. It was a good balance. Though, in the end, it really was Gwen who carried their investigations. She had more of a passion for this then Cooper.

There wasn't much in the evidence room for this case. The murder weapon was enclosed within a sealed bag, wrapped carefully. As was the machine, set next to the jar of dust.

It was an odd looking machine, with the power source connected to the side. It was built pretty well, and it looked really advanced.

But there was one problem. It was utterly destroyed.

Pieces were cracked, others bent, and a few left as just scrapes. The only thing in tact was the power source, and that was due to the protective covering to ensure no one would get shocked from it. It didn't matter to Cooper, he was electricity. An electrical monster only got a power up from a shock, it wouldn't do anything but give him more energy.

From the looks of it, it had been thrown to the ground before it was smashed repeatedly from the top, likely from a blunt object. A light bat, or maybe a shoe would be a good option. If it was something with more force, like a heavy weighted bat or a crowbar, there would be far more damage.

But there wasn't, and Cooper could still see the parts. His husband worked with some of this stuff, so he could easily replace a few parts. It would be a little difficult to find the right router, though, but the coding was intact it seemed. That was good. Once he gave it a little boost to the battery, and once he fixed it up, all he would have to do would be reactivate the code and give it a better covering.

Well, time to get started.

~~~~~~

If Gwen had thought the first skeleton was worse, she was wrong.