-The Hunt Of The Bloody Bride-

Natasha's home : 8:03 am.

A woman with brown hair and beautiful green eyes was preparing a coffee when the phone rang.

''Allo? Lieutenant O'Brien?'' A voice said.

'' Yes.'' Natasha responded.

'' We have a murder in Rosewood Avenue.'' The voice signaled.

'' Okay, I am coming.''

Victim's flat, crime scene: 8:37 am

The lieutenant entered the apartment. Her teammate, the lieutenant Dean Collins, a blond man, came to her.

''The victim is a woman named Alison Shelley. She was 35 years old and worked in a clothing shop. Her colleague found the body.'' He said.

Then, the two policemen proceeded to the bedroom, where the body was. A woman was lying peacefully on the bed in an immaculate white dress. Weirdly, there was no blood.

'' Hey Derek! What did you find?'' The brunette asked.

'' Based on cadaveric lividity, the murder dates back around 48 hours. The victim was stabbed in the heart, she died instantly. But as you can see, there is no blood. The murderer must have killed her in another place and transported the dead body here. She had a lot of bruises and these marks show that she must have been bound up. All of this could be a staging.'' The medical examiner, Derek Allen, explained.

'' Okay, thank you.'' The two teammates thanked.

Police Station, interrogation room: 9:12 am

Natasha and Dean were interrogating the victim's colleague who found the corpse, Malia Singer.

''I was worried because Alison hadn't came to work for 2 days and she didn't respond to my calls or my texts.'' Malia explained, tears fell down her face.

'' Did she have any enemies?''One of the lieutenant asked.

'' No, I don't think so. She was a really kind person...'' The red haired woman said. ''But, a few days ago, a man came to the shop. Alison and he had a fight.''

'' Was that her boyfriend?'' Natasha interrogated.

'' No... I had never seen him before.''

'' Okay, thank you. Can you describe him to make a facial composite?"

'' Yeah of course. And lieutenant, I don't know if it can help you but the last time I saw her, she was scared and she said someone was following her.'' The witness finished.

Morgue: 10:06 am

Derek was doing sampling on a dead body when Natasha penetrated the room accompanied by Dean. The medical examiner was a really smart guy, cinnamon hair and green eyes.

The policewoman asked.'' Got anything new yet?''

'' Yeah. I've just received the result from my expertise. The killer must have used a hunting knife according to the shape and size of the wound. I also found something on her fingernails: traces of sulfur and rust, and a piece of skin but the DNA is partial and gives nothing. Our victim fought back.'' The men informed.

'' That helps us a lot, thanks.'' Dean said.

Computer laboratory 11:00 am

Misha Novak was watching the surveillance camera. Our two policemen entered and greeted the IT specialist who explained what he had found.

'' Her friend was right, Alison was followed by this man everywhere she went.'' He said, showing a man with a black sweat, a hoodie and sun glasses, on the picture. '' He gets into the same car every time. It belongs to a certain Harry Whittemore and guess what? It is the same man as on the facial composite.''

Harry Whittemore's house: 1:12 pm

The two lieutenants got a warrant to search the suspect's house. They were knocking on the door but nobody responded so they broke it to enter. The two of us were checking every room of the house when Dean screamed from the bedroom.

'' Nat' come here!''

'' Did you find someth-'' She cut herself.

Dean was standing in front of an open cupboard. Inside, there were dozens and dozens of photos of Alison. That was definitely creepy.

'' We have to find this Harry Whittemore. He must be the murderer.'' The blue eyed man affirmed.

'' Yeah.'' She nodded.

Police Station, interrogation room: 3:36 pm

A man in his 40's was sitting in the room, waiting for some explications, in particular why he was here.

Then the two policemen entered in.

'' Harry Whittemore, why did we find more than 50 pictures of Alison Shelley, killed some days ago, in your house?'' Natasha interrogated.

'' I want my lawyer.''He simply responded, shrugging.

'' Mr Whittemore, you are the principal suspect in this case, I advise you to speak.'' Dean frowned angrily.

'' You don't have any proof.'' Harry grinned.

Later, lieutenant O'Brien and lieutenant Collins came out with no clues. Dean was very tense and her friend tried to comfort him.

'' Don't worry, if it is him, we will arrest him. I want an officer to follow him until the investigation is completed.''

Abandoned factory: 7:54 pm

When Harry was released from custody, he directly went to an old factory. The policeman, charged of guarding the suspect, warned the two lieutenants.

When they arrived on the spot, they armed themselves with their guns.

"He panicked. There is his mistake!" Natasha whispered to the other lieutenant.

The two representatives of the law entered in the factory. They were following the sounds emitted by the suspect when they found him in front of an old rusted chair. On the right, there was a table with a bloody hunt knife and on the ground, a huge pool of dried blood.

"Harry Whittemore, you're under arrest, hands up!" The policewoman screamed. Her arm was pointed at the killer while Dean handcuffed him.

Police Station, lieutenant's desk: 9:14 pm

Derek was explaining something new to the policemen.

"Harry Whittemore is in fact Sam Hale. He has fragile mental health and a background with us. He had been arrested for several assaults on women. He had a wife but he beat her and one day she denounced him, at that moment he disappeared up until now."

"During the second interrogation he said that the day he saw Alison in the street for the first time, he fell in love with her and when he confessed his feelings and wanted to marry her, she refused. He felt betrayed, as with his former wife. He took his revenge and killed her. Now, I understand why she wore a white dress." Natasha told.

"I will call this case The Hunt Of The Bloody Bride in the report!" Dean exclaimed theatrically with great gestures.

"It's worthy of an investigation by Sherlock Holmes or Richard Castle." The medical examiner chuckled, while Natasha rolled her eyes.

A new case closed.

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Hey!

I am sorry for the mistakes but hope you enjoyed!

Thank for read it.

You can read the short story of my friend yesno220

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