Chapter16
1956 Words
March 6th, 9:19 AM, Wolfdale City Police Department, Homicide Division
“Sergeant, I’m glad you’re here,” George blurted out, panicking.
His face was pale, causing any onlooker to notice the scars on his face. They were obtained from fighting off some rogue werewolves during the search and rescue mission to find my partner’s–now ex-partner–son.
“Don’t get too excited. I’m still on vacation,” I reminded my new partner. “Dare I ask how the case is coming along?”
George rubbed his face and let out a frustrated sigh. He said a lot without saying anything.
“That bad?” I inquired, smirking and arching one eyebrow.
“Yeah—”
“Anderson Jacobs was found unresponsive under suspicious circumstances,” Captain Winston explained, handing George the newest reports on the case.
“How unresponsive?” I pressed anyone for more information.
“Noah has him now,” Isaiah Barton answered.
“Damn—”
“Needless to say, Demi and Raymond are in a panic over this incident,” George put in.
“Yeah, Jabberwocky would have a field day over it,” I muttered, rubbing my face. “Has IA stuck their noses in this mess yet?”
“Not that we know of,” Captain Winton replied. “But who knows how long Fenton can hold them off? This shouldn’t have happened. No one outside of those directly involved with his case knew of his whereabouts,” he rattled, then added, “But apart from our struggles, how’s fatherhood treating you, Mike?”
“About the same,” I honestly answered. “I just dropped Jewel off at school after her three-day suspension for fighting.”
“Damn, Mike,” Barton laughed. “You’ve got yourself a future hoodlum. First shoplifting and now fighting. That’s a nice little rap sheet she’s making.”
“Shut up, Barton!” I yelled. “That’s my daughter you’re talking about!” A loud, angry growl rumbled from my throat. My fist hit my desk with tremendous force, causing it and those around me to shake. He’s lucky I didn’t hit him. My wolf has taken fatherhood seriously.
“Detective Barton, back off,” Captain Winston warned my colleague. “Cut them both some slack. They’ve only known each other for what? A week?”
I nodded a yes. “Give or take.”
“Do you know anything about her, Mike?” the captain asked me while George answered the phone.
“No, not really,” I grumbled. “My mind is still grappling with the fact that I have a daughter…from my dead mate. I’m stumped.”
“Sorry to interrupt, but Chief Edwards is ready for Mike in his office,” George stated after hanging up the receiver.
“Okay, thanks,” I replied, then let out a sigh. As I stood up to leave, the icy breeze flitted by me, and the same photo fell from the board. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to deal with it. Chief Edwards summoned me to the station for a specific reason. Besides, I’m still on vacation.
Chief Edwards’ Office
After I exited the elevator, I followed the corridor toward Chief Edwards’ office. I nodded to a few uniformed officers in passing. Turning the corner to his office, I overheard two voices–Fenton Edwards and the lovely (cough) Madam Mayor Jabberwocky.
“You want to get honest with me about The Roundhouse, Madam Mayor?” the Chief of Police pressed the city’s mayor.
“Honest about what, Fenton? The Roundhouse is a nightclub. Nothing more. Nothing less,” the mayor professed.
“How much revenue is it bringing into the city?”
“Enough,” she said snarkily. “What’s with the interrogation, Fenton?”
“You asked about the missing students before, Madam Mayor. I’m getting close to giving an answer about them,” Fenton Edwards stated. However, it sounded like a veiled threat. It makes me wonder what the Chief has on the mayor. Here’s hoping “whatever” he has, sticks.
“Humph,” Jabberwocky grunted, crossing her arms in front of her. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“You and everyone else in town will find out soon enough,” the Chief answered. “If we’re done here, Madam Mayor, I have another appointment waiting for me outside.”
“Fine… I’ll leave,” she complained as she stood up, smoothing out her business suit. “Don’t be so hasty with your veiled threats, Fenton. I can still install another chief of police in your place if you’re not careful.”
A small growl rumbled from my chest, causing Jabberwocky’s face to lose color. It was a beautiful sight to behold as she walked past me. She couldn’t leave the police station fast enough. Chief Edwards tried to hide his snicker, waving at me to enter his office. I smirked and shrugged, taking my usual seat.
“She’d be shocked finding out about you,” I quietly reminded him. “We don’t need to give her more fuel to use against you.”
“Thanks.”
“So… Why am I here?” I inquired with my boss. I refrained from drumming my hands on his desk. But it was so tempting… Wink. “I’m still on vacation, correct?”
“On the record, yes. You’re still on vacation. But…”
I darted one of my eyebrows upward. “But?”
“I would like you to question all the night shift forensic teams. We need to keep Anderson’s untimely and mysterious demise to ourselves…for now,” Chief Edwards instructed.
“Have our favorite minions recovered the CCTV footage from that night?” I asked.
“Perhaps you should ask them yourself?” he suggested.
“I thought George was the lead detective working this case?” I inquired, being confused on the matter.
“He is technically… But since Anderson Jacobs was found unresponsive under suspicious circumstances, it’s a new case. I need you to hunt down the answers surrounding those circumstances,” Chief Edwards instructed. “You will report back only to me, understood?”
I nodded my head, acknowledging the assignment, and then muttered, “Yeah.”
“Good. Head down to forensics. Miss Mason and Mr. Cornell have some documents for Hanna Grim…ahem, Lowell to help decipher,” he further instructed me and then quietly mumbled, “I’ll never get used to calling her by that name.” I seem to struggle with it too.
“You’ll get it, Chief…in time,” I politely encouraged him. Here’s hoping I can too. “I’m gonna head downstairs now.”
“Thank you, Mike, for stopping in and helping on this delicate situation,” he said.
“Sure…no problem.”
10:25 AM, Wolfdale City Police Department, Outside of the Forensics Lab
Yeah, so with me still technically on vacation, I can’t use my PIN code (Badge number in this case) to open the door. Everything is “off the record”...for now. Chief Fenton Edwards called ahead to notify my favorite forensic minions about my arrival. While I was waiting for them to let me enter, I took a good look around at the placements of the CCTV cameras. Sneaking in would be incredibly difficult. One would have to know the layout of the police department, which only leads one–namely me–to believe that one of our own is responsible. I can only hope to discover who it is before IA gets involved. Fingers crossed.
The sound of the door releasing brought me out of my thoughts. Instead of Cerber-nerd’s usually cheerful face greeting me, it was crestfallen.
“Thank you for coming in, Sergeant,” Raymond Cornell rattled off by rote, but notes of worry were also behind them. I can’t fault the guy. His job is literally on the line.
“Sure,” I said in an empathetic voice. “Is there a private place where we can discuss this snafu?”
“Yes, Sergeant. In the back,” he replied.
“Good. Let’s use it.”
“Please follow me, Sergeant.”
We walked past the morning shift minions and into their evidence locker area. Anderson’s temporary holding cell was roped off with police tape. Nothing was touched except when our new victim was moved out. The smell was ripe and caused my eyes to water.
“Clean the locker pronto and sift through the bedding for anything suspicious,” I commanded.
“Demi is getting dressed for the task as we speak,” he informed me.
“Now…how about the CCTV footage? Were you able to pull them up?”
“Yes, Demi and I have been working on transferring the footage to an SD card,” he stated. “Chief Edwards suggested that you could look through it—,” he said, and then whispered, “off-site.”
I nodded, acknowledging my extra task in solving this impromptu case. Maybe I can borrow an extra laptop from my cousin. There wasn’t any reason for me to own one–until now.
“Let me know if you find anything when you clean the locker,” I instructed. “Was Noah notified of my assignment?”
“Yes, Chief Edwards has already discussed this matter with him,” Demon, my favorite minion, answered before pulling the respirator mask in place. “You can use our phone to buzz him.”
She pointed to the item on the square metal post. It hung above the required fire extinguisher. I immediately dialed the city morgue, which is conveniently located across the way.
“Good morning. City morgue, Dr. Davidson speaking. How may I help you?” Noah rattled off the standard greeting.
“Hey, Noah,” I answered.
“Hey, Mike. How’s your vacation going?”
“Meh..” I answered honestly. “I’ve had better. But I didn’t call to chat. I need the deets on Anderson Jacobs. Is there any progress with the autopsy?”
“Right. Chief Edwards did mention you will be handling this case,” he rambled. “The autopsy is unfortunately crawling at a snail’s pace, Mike. Human autopsies I can do.” He paused, then sighed. “But…I’m thoroughly stumped on how to proceed with him.”
“Were you able to get a toxicology report started at least?”
“That’s about the only item I can check off where his autopsy is concerned.”
“Has Gil offered you any help?” I inquired.
“No. Of course, not. He still gets weirded out,” Noah answered, however, with a huff.
“Okay, thanks. Are we still looking at the standard three-week period for getting the results on the toxicology?”
“Yep. But I’ll keep you informed on anything else,” Noah replied.
“Thanks. I’ll talk with ya later. I need to see someone about an item to help with this case,” I rattled off.
“Sure, not a problem. Talk to you soon. Bye,” Noah said and then hung up.
Hanging up the receiver, I turned to address Demon and Cerber-nerd. Raymond was getting prepared to help Demi with the clean-up.
“Okay, my minions, contact me as soon as the video files are uploaded. I’m outta here.”
“Thanks for your help, Sergeant,” Demon stated, muffled through the mask. “Unless you want to suit up and give us a hand?”
“If it weren’t for Jewel, I’d stick around to help,” I confessed. “But she starts her community service today. I don’t want her to be late for it.”
- Writer
