Can You Keep A Secret? | COMPLETE

Chapter One

He didn't see it coming. How could he?

His killer was silent, skilled. He didn't know they were there until he was struggling for breath and his vision was blurred and he was seeing spots. Then a sting in his throat... His hands came up and clutched the sliced skin of his neck... He slumped and fell to the floor, the blood spilling from his wound spreading across the carpet. Then he was dead.

The killer stood over the body, arms crossed and back straight as they leaned over the victim to admire their work. Then they wiped the blood off their blade onto their sleeve, and left.

***

The police showed up after the man's roommate came home and found the body.

Detective Brear entered the room where the forensics analysts and medical examiners were at work. She made her way over to where the outline of the body was. She crossed her arms once she was at the foot of the outline and leaned over to get an idea of what had happened there.

After a moment of looking around, the detective headed back outside, where Detective Rosen and Captain Young were asking the victim's roommate about the victim.

"...any enemies Mr. Rambeau may have had?" Detective Rosen asked.

The roommate shook her head. "No. No one I can think of," she said.

"Are you sure? You can't think of anyone?" Captain Young interjected.

The roommate shook her head again, then froze. "Wait! Actually, um... I just thought of something," she said.

"Okay, go ahead," Detective Rosen urged her on. "What is it?"

"He's never been a fan of cops," the roommate explained. "He's attended many Anti-Blue Lives marches and protests. A few detectives and officers got in the way... He has a small record from these."

Evangeline picked up on this. "It might be a cop, then," she whispered to herself, and looked around at everyone there, everyone coming from and entering the house; the crowd that had gathered outside, nearly pushing each other over the police tape blocking them from the property; and the detectives and officers investigating the property.

Everyone was a suspect now.

***

The detective let out a long sigh as she closed the file. No other leads other than what she and the other detectives and police had found at the crime scene. The captain had called for the names of everyone on the San Francisco Police Department and had assigned Evangeline to look for anything that tied any of them to the victim.

She pulled the crime scene photos back over and looked over them. Then she noticed something strange near the victim in one of the photographs. Something small and golden. She put her hand to her throat and didn't feel a chain there. Her necklace was gone.

Though it seemed impossible to her that her necklace ended up at the crime scene, she opened the file again searched the rest of the photos for any that was a close up of it.

She found one.

"Shit," she whispered. It certainly looked like her necklace. Golden and shaped like a small acorn. It had been her mother's before she died in a car crash. She started to feel panicked. She couldn't have done this. There was no way. But... how did her necklace show up at the crime scene?

Her phone rang, startling her. She exhaled heavily and answered. "Hello?"

"Hi sweetie," came the voice of her best friend Anastasia. "You sound tired."

"I am, Stasia," Evangeline said, rubbing at her eyes with her free hand. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out for drinks?" the other woman said. "You in?"

"I wish I could, but I'm working on a case."

"Oh... Not even one drink?"

"This is important," the detective said. "Maybe later?"

"Fine. Have fun with the case."

Then the call ended. She tossed her phone on the desktop and covered her face with her hands. What is she going to do about this? There is evidence that will make her a main suspect.

She sat silently for a moment. Then she grabbed her phone and texted Anastasia.

Meet me at Sonny's in ten.

Anastasia left her on read, and Evangeline gathered her things together and headed out.

She was going to need help.