This guy’s a real piece of work. The second I read the findings, I called C.S.I. to go over the apartment again, but I doubt they’ll find anything.” The frustration in his voice dug at her and she had to fight the urge to lay her hand on his arm.
“Seven days from yesterday was Tuesday, that would mean they were taken right after last week’s Judo lesson, just days after he killed the doorman and the desk clerk in our building.” The words were bitter in her mouth. “If I had gone by to see them, or called them, maybe I would have noticed they were missing. We could have been looking for kidnap victims, instead of finding murder victims.” She was so disappointed in herself, that she felt sick to her stomach.
“I told you before, it’s not your fault. We interviewed them that night and they were fine. If we had known, followed up we might have found them missing too.” He smiled at her sweetly and her spirits lifted. He closed the file and set it aside to return to his half eaten breakfast. “I got you the same coffee you ordered yesterday, but I didn’t know what to order you for breakfast.” After shoveling a forkful of his omelet into his mouth, he turned and waved to the flirty waitress. When she swayed her way over to him and asked, in her richest bedroom voice, what she could do for him, he coolly told her that his friend needed to order and went back to his food. The distance and chill in his tone apparently told her that he had no interest, because her entire demeanor changed. After taking Elizabeth’s order, she all but stomped away.
“You hurt her feelings. She was hoping to see you socially, I think.” Elizabeth giggled slightly as she took a sip of her coffee.
“She’s not my type.” Though his voice was calm when he said the words, the quick look he flicked her, and the fire in his eyes when he did so, made her blush. She wanted to flirt back, but feeling the brief case next to her leg shift a bit, she remembered the file inside and her decision to share it with him. Sighing, she lifted the bag to her lap and fished out the old file folder. He watched her actions with heightened interest and upon seeing the folder, he stiffened. Swallowing another bite, he sat up straighter. “Is that your parents’ case file?” He almost looked shocked. She nodded and set it on the table beside him. Whipping his fingers quickly, he picked it up and flipped through its pages and pictures. Elizabeth sat silently watching his face as he read the reports and studied the crime scene photos. She could even see the grimace he tried to hide as he looked down at the images of the victims, knowing full well they were her parents.
“I wasn’t sure if you had found it yet, so I decided to bring you my copy.” The words were hard to say. It had taken a lot to give him that file, and all the horrible memories it contained. “It might not be much help though. The lead detective redacted the hell out of it before he mailed it to me. He didn’t think a high school senior should have it in the first place.”
“Thank you for this. It can’t be easy for you. I tried to find it on my own, but I didn’t even know which state to start in. I was planning to ask you about it yesterday, but we got...distracted.” A comforting smile spread across his face, but before she could respond, the rejected waitress appeared again and plopped her poppy seed bagel down in front of her. Nodding, she left him to read as she ate.
As he read through the case file he knew the killer was one and the same man. Everything about the scene was precisely the same, the file was incomplete, though. Thick black lines obscured the names of the victims and entire sections of the officer’s notes. Part of him wanted to know what in this case had been so heinous that it warranted being so heavily redacted, but he knew it was probably to do with the fact that she, a child and the daughter of the victims, had discovered the bodies.
“Seven days from yesterday was Tuesday, that would mean they were taken right after last week’s Judo lesson, just days after he killed the doorman and the desk clerk in our building.” The words were bitter in her mouth. “If I had gone by to see them, or called them, maybe I would have noticed they were missing. We could have been looking for kidnap victims, instead of finding murder victims.” She was so disappointed in herself, that she felt sick to her stomach.
“I told you before, it’s not your fault. We interviewed them that night and they were fine. If we had known, followed up we might have found them missing too.” He smiled at her sweetly and her spirits lifted. He closed the file and set it aside to return to his half eaten breakfast. “I got you the same coffee you ordered yesterday, but I didn’t know what to order you for breakfast.” After shoveling a forkful of his omelet into his mouth, he turned and waved to the flirty waitress. When she swayed her way over to him and asked, in her richest bedroom voice, what she could do for him, he coolly told her that his friend needed to order and went back to his food. The distance and chill in his tone apparently told her that he had no interest, because her entire demeanor changed. After taking Elizabeth’s order, she all but stomped away.
“You hurt her feelings. She was hoping to see you socially, I think.” Elizabeth giggled slightly as she took a sip of her coffee.
“She’s not my type.” Though his voice was calm when he said the words, the quick look he flicked her, and the fire in his eyes when he did so, made her blush. She wanted to flirt back, but feeling the brief case next to her leg shift a bit, she remembered the file inside and her decision to share it with him. Sighing, she lifted the bag to her lap and fished out the old file folder. He watched her actions with heightened interest and upon seeing the folder, he stiffened. Swallowing another bite, he sat up straighter. “Is that your parents’ case file?” He almost looked shocked. She nodded and set it on the table beside him. Whipping his fingers quickly, he picked it up and flipped through its pages and pictures. Elizabeth sat silently watching his face as he read the reports and studied the crime scene photos. She could even see the grimace he tried to hide as he looked down at the images of the victims, knowing full well they were her parents.
“I wasn’t sure if you had found it yet, so I decided to bring you my copy.” The words were hard to say. It had taken a lot to give him that file, and all the horrible memories it contained. “It might not be much help though. The lead detective redacted the hell out of it before he mailed it to me. He didn’t think a high school senior should have it in the first place.”
“Thank you for this. It can’t be easy for you. I tried to find it on my own, but I didn’t even know which state to start in. I was planning to ask you about it yesterday, but we got...distracted.” A comforting smile spread across his face, but before she could respond, the rejected waitress appeared again and plopped her poppy seed bagel down in front of her. Nodding, she left him to read as she ate.
As he read through the case file he knew the killer was one and the same man. Everything about the scene was precisely the same, the file was incomplete, though. Thick black lines obscured the names of the victims and entire sections of the officer’s notes. Part of him wanted to know what in this case had been so heinous that it warranted being so heavily redacted, but he knew it was probably to do with the fact that she, a child and the daughter of the victims, had discovered the bodies.
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