The Body: A Fanfic Short (Part 2)
12:45am Detective Neverson’s Home
“Aye, Jones. You know you’re going to be big after cracking and solving this latest case right.”
“Neverson, man. I’m ready. It’s been 12 years on petty, misdemeanor cases. So, I’m just ready. Captain’s finally gonna let me have my balls back.”
“Neverson, Jones, don’t get too cocky. Everyone is this damn room knows I’m the man one with the cojones around here. And Jones, you should be thanking me for starting you out on the small cases. It was the only way your ass was getting any damn action out here. The ladies and older women were always lining up for you when you arrived on the scene,” Ross jabbed.
“Jones!” Clutching at my pillow and throwing my head back in disgust, I sighed. This was the fifth-night terror I’d had concerning my slain friend. Detective Jones and I worked on the force together 6 of the 12 years he’d served with us. In addition for the past few nights, my mind has been racing about all the possible scenarios that I this case could unveil. Normally, my attitude towards cases is decently neutral. But with this case hitting so close to home, I don’t know how my nerves will stack up overall.Â
For over 48 hours, the forensics team, the other detectives, and crew have scoured the victim site, the neighboring homes by the river and community and the surrounding wildlife for any leads on how Detective Jones was compromised and ultimately murdered.Â
Since this past weekend’s discovery, I’ve only physically gone to the site once more. The grisly details have made me angrier than anything and I know it’s not healthy to consider wanted to seek revenge or retaliation as it could put the entire staff in danger.Â
“It’s the Captain? Wonder what is new,” I muttered as I noticed his call. “Captain Ross. Good morning.”
“Morning Neverson! Sorry for the late-night call. But I wanted to share the latest information with you. We’re going to need you to come downtown though. What’s going on? You’ve been distant.”
“Sorry Captain. I’ve been so angry and emotional about all this shit. I’m good though. We got to find the murderer and get Jones’ family some sort of resolve.”
“Trust, Neverson. I’ve never wanted more revenge on these sick bastards than I do right now. We will find out who did this mess and we will bring them down. See you in a bit.”
After ending the call with Ross, I groaned heavily. I didn’t want to come downtown right now, but I knew I had no other option. Since I hardly leave at this time of the hour, I decided to take Duke with me. As I was slapping together a decent outfit for the pop-up, Duke trotted into my room wagging his tail in excitement.Â
“Duke. Hey boy. You must’ve known we’re getting ready for another late-night adventure.” Barking in response, I laughed and motioned for him to come closer so I could attach his leash.Â
“Duke, I really don’t want to face this mess right now but it’s for a fallen friend of mine. Time to strap up and get this shit solved.” Turning down my living room lights and turning off everything else, we were on our way.Â
“So ladies and gentlemen, what I have before you is the markings of a war that has been waged on our team. Unfortunately, Jones was targeted as a result of retaliation for solving the homicide/suicide/rape case and we are in dire need to avenge his death and save ourselves and our loved ones.”
“Captain Ross, what’s all this?”
“This is everything that was collected at the site and around the site that possibly ties itself to Jones and the murderer. We have clothing samples, skin cell samples, dirt, water collection, soil sections and photographs to review. Greg, was it still noted that he didn’t have any bodily bruises?”
“Well, Captain. I wish I could report that, but I, unfortunately, can’t. Contrary to what we first projected, under the exam lights on camera lenses, Jones suffered from a few contusions, scratches and presumably stab wounds. In addition, when we turned him over in an effort to find the point of entry for the stabbing and we discovered bullet fragments and a possibly fatal gunshot wound on his lower back.”
“Those sons of… did you get any other person’s DNA?”
“Yes. There were three different sample specimens collected. So in all, there were about 4 people present at the time of his death.”
“Tina, can you tell me what the official cause of death was?”
“Captain Ross, we haven’t ruled out asphyxiation because we are still correlating the other wounds and their timelines. I’ll have a definitive answer by noon,” she guaranteed. As I sat there in disbelief and anger, I noticed I had an anonymous call. Silently gaining the attention of everyone in the room to silence themselves, answered the call and placed it on speaker phone.
“Hello, Detective Neverson?”
“I hope that I didn’t disturb you?”
“No. I was already awake,” I answered becoming increasingly annoyed at the stalling tactic that this caller was using. It was clear that anyone that wanted to talk with me at this hour had a legitimate reason to call me. But I had to remain calm in order to get what I needed out of this person.
“Great. I just want to tell you something.”
“Your tip last week is gone. Don’t expect to ever get anything else out it. She’s dead, he’s dead and the next person that will be on the list will be you. Give it up,” the anonymous caller warned. My team was quickly trying to gather whatever audio they could of the call for evidence and I tried to stay on the line as long as I could, but the caller quickly hung up.
“Captain Ross. It’s cool. I’m glad that idiot called us. We got a pin on the location and we got his voice.”
“Yeah, but how do we know that it was anything legitimate?”
“Captain. That person that just called has to be watching everything that we are doing. So let’s reconvene after we’ve all had some sleep,” I suggested. I couldn’t possibly process anything more because my mind was still racing from the caller and the characteristics of the call.
“Okay. I agree. But just to be on the safe side everyone is going to stay up here,” the captain ordered.
Scoffing at his request I asked, “Cap? Are you being serious right now?”
“Serious as a stroke, Neverson. I’m not losing anyone else on this force to those sicko’s out there. You will stay, or you will be suspended. And for the rest of you, I suggest you call your families and let them know it’s going to be a long ass few weeks to come. If you need me, I will be in my office resting my eyes until tomorrow,” he mentioned before retiring to his office. Everyone in the room groaned in discontent and made sure I knew how upset they were.
“Damn, Neverson! Why did you even answer the call,” Greg said.
“Because it’s my damn job,” I replied before walking to my desk with Duke and stretching forward to contemplate additional motives and eventually fall asleep.
