Marked For Murder

Chapter Four

     Charlie pushed the door and walked in, Gabriel hot on her heels. She had had just about enough of that officer, and she needed to get him of her tail.

     Noticing an empty spot that had just been evacuated, she made a beeline for it. She was barely seated when he slid into the chair in front of her and settled down.

   "So," he said as he picked up a menu, "I think we've got to do a background check. Get acquainted with her schedule, what might a killer use, you know, get to know her."

   Charlie picked up a notebook and started scribbling.

   "So we know she was a pro baseball player. The best on the team. She was also just offered a contract by a Red Sox agent, and the deal breaker was to win the next game."

   "Get this, she died right before that game, no surprise there," she said as frowned at her notebook.

   "So you're saying rival player? Good option. We're gonna need the coach, ask him a few questions."

   "I'm not saying it's impossible, but I wouldn't right this off to a teenager feeling bad cause someone else got the big break he was looking for," she said with a shrug.

   "I don't see why not. It's not only possible, it's also highly probable. Kids these days are more scary than some of the adults we've got locked up. Real psychos."

   "It wasn't just her you know. Four other team mates. I'd like to see such a kid."

     She chose to believe kids we're still angelic and innocent, even though she knew it was a far cry from the truth. It was just too... impossible for a kid to do that. She hoped.

     They dropped the topic, each choosing to study the filed exhibits and statements that were made available to them.

     She checked her watch regularly, making sure they were still on time, and was just about to signal him to start packing when she came across a video in her tablet.

     Footage of the crime scene from their own officers, as well as from witnesses at the crime scene had been stored away in the department's records, ready for her to access and retrieve at anytime.

     Now as she looked down at the device in her hand, watching as shocked and confused teenagers parted way for a crazed Riley Carmichael, barreling down the hallway in a half demented state, she began to question all the conclusions they had drawn.

     Knitting her eyebrows together, she kept on studying the video, trying to make sense out of the senseless. "Th-there could... also be another option."

   "Wh-what if...if she wasn't murdered at all " Her words came out carefully and guarded.

     With furrowed eyebrows, he opened his mouth to question her judgment before getting interrupted by the waiter.

   "Hello. What can I get ya both?"

     She looked up at the lanky guy with a hand on his hip and some gum in his mouth. It didn't take her two seconds to write him off. Maybe that explained her single status. Anyways, this guy pissed her, especially as he was interrupting their conversation.

   "A root beer with some Texas wings and a double cheeseburger. Thanks"

   "I...," she looked back at the menu, deliberating. "I'll just have the same. No, cheeseburgers and some coke. Forget the wings."

   "You sure honey? Those things are wicked," he said with one hand still on his hip, the other punctuating his words with wild gestures.

   "I'm sure." As he walked away, she looked back at her partner, eager to hear his take on her opinion.