LIVING ON THE EDGE

CHAPTER: 1

96, Maury County, Tennessee, U.S- 10th May 2019

A foul smell rose from the rusty garbage bin behind the grocery food store. The smell was evidence enough for Allen Gray to realize that there was a dead body in the vicinity. The store owner mumbled a silent prayer to Almighty God, while he had goosebumps all over his body, particularly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The hot, putrid smell of rotting flesh filled his nostrils, causing him to drop the bag of garbage and peer into the large rubbish container. A fearful glance revealed only bags of trash, but behind the dumpster, in a thicket of overgrown weeds, a pale, leathery hand and a leg lay outstretched. 

Allen the grocery shop owner, went further to have a close look. He saw that the fingers were stiff with rigor mortis, and were curved into a claw. Between the overgrowth and the dumpster lay a pool of blood, that had dried and blackened, due to the passage of hours that had probably passed since the murder. It was a woman's body, Allen found on closer inspection, with even her strands of wayward blonde hair being drenched in blood. Blood seemed to have been oozing from beneath the perforated skull. Even in the body's deteriorating condition, it was clear that this woman did not belong to Maury County. Her degraded hand showed signs of a recent manicure, and the large diamond dangling from her finger told a story that went beyond robbery. 

Allen observed six bullet wounds over her body, all at the front. The first one would have surely done the job, but whoever had murdered this woman had been very angry. Money surely had not been the motive. Allen's heart raced as he hastened towards the back door.

He informed the police. Police from Maury County, Tennessee arrived within an hour. The overworked and underpaid detectives examined the crime scene and talked to Allen Gray, the grocery shop owner, but he had very little information to share. The store had opened only a couple of weeks back, and he did not know or had very little information about the neighborhood as yet. The detectives took the storeowner's statement, and his contact number, and headed back to the alley, and waited for the medical examiner to show up.    

Within fifteen to twenty minutes, an ambulance came roaring up to shop number 96,  Maury County, with sirens screaming and lights flashing. It entered the circular driveway with a spurt of dust. Hard on its heels was another police car, also flashing lights and sirens.

One of the paramedics, a girl with a nose ring and bubblegum in her mouth, came up to stand next to the Detective. "Where is the deceased?" she asked. She was led by Allen behind the backdoor of his shop into the alley, with her colleague, a young boy, right behind. 

One of the Police inspectors, who had just arrived told Allen Gray,  "I have been told to bring you downtown, at the  Maury County   police station." He said, "We are also going to take your fingerprints, and you will need to make a formal statement. Let's go."

The fifteen minutes trip to the town passed in absolute silence. The inspector and Allen sat on opposite sides of the police car without uttering a word to each other.

Maury County police headquarters were located in a modern ten-story building, with a fenced, fiercely guarded parking lot in the back. Allen was guided through the steel door in the back and into a corridor. Another uniformed officer was sitting behind a desk just inside the door.  

Allen was taken up for his fingerprints and then ended up in an interrogation room like a criminal, which he had only ever seen on TV. The room had a big window on one wall, and a table with a couple of uncomfortable chairs around it, in the center of the room, and otherwise the room was empty. He did not know what the detectives were doing during that time. Were they busy somewhere else, or were they just watching him sweat through the glass door? But whatever it was, it had him in a complete fix by the time the door opened and a male detective came in.

The Detective had a round of questions for him, which Allen answered to the best of his abilities. He was asked to give his signature on the statement, and then he was free to leave the place.