Chapter 5

Nathan Frost’s POV

Police tape was strung across the entrance to the house on the corner, before Jane and I turned into the next quiet street so that to not alert the cops present on duty. We still had no idea who had been assigned the case and who had been the first one to be here on the scene. I was driving slowly pulling in next to the tape. As I alighted from the car, Jane followed my suit. I did not even bother to tell to stay in the car because she was never going to listen to me like always.

The body had been hurriedly and hastily covered with a bed-sheet so that to not disturb any of the onlookers in case someone did slip inside. Slipping on my latex gloves, I pulled away the bed-sheet and sucked in a breathe sharply. It was not a pleasant sight at all.

The woman on the floor was lifeless. Lifeless. Her auburn hair was scattered in multiple places, stained with dried blood; crimson. Her emerald green eyes were wide open, but her jade irises held a sudden sadness. Her clothes, a lime green tunic and some black capris, were bloody. Her body was slumped over, half-sitting, half-laying on the cold linoleum floor. And the smell. The smell was the most disturbing thing I had ever sniffed. It was a blatant her bowels had been released, and all too soon. My heart pounded as one question continued to race through my mind: Who did this?

Jane was standing beside me but she had not put a cloth over her nose like me. She crouched down by the body which was spread down on the floor.

“Rigor mortis has come and gone,” commented Jane as she looked at me,” that means that she has been lying here for hours. This murder has been done sometime yesterday and not today morning.”

“Can you pinpoint the time of the murder?” I asked as I looked at the body and grimaced. I could not even imagine the amount of torture that she had endured before dying.

“Yeah, of course I can. What do you think I am?” Jane scowled at me but I was least bothered about that at the moment. This was the second body that has been found in the last seven days.

“The report on the last body that you said has been found will take some time because you can obviously understand that the condition has probably deteriorated but I can work on this one fast. The murder has been done sometime last night and she finally could not hold it any longer. She had been bound with nylon ropes from the marks that I can see and the slashes have been made with a sharp blade and not the kind that you find in the kitchen set,” said Jane and I nodded.

I believed in her expertise and she has never failed me. Even when everyone was in doubt I knew that Jane always had my back, just like I had hers.

“Who gave you the permission to enter here? Hey!! You!! Get away from there!!” came a rough voice from the doorway and almost immediately I whirled and wanted to punch in the face of the man who had spoken. Jane was not even fazed at the reaction.

“Why was the post unguarded and why on earth was the door empty?” I asked as the cop recognized me and immediately looked contrite.

“No Sir. Actually we were called by Detective Loft for a quick huddle,” said the cop and I could not control my temper any longer.

“What the fuck is going on here? Are you kidding me? Huddle? What is this? An American football game?” I shouted and two more cops appeared in the doorway to see what the commotion was all about. Before they could say anything I said again,” The dead body of the victim has been lying here unguarded. No ambulance has been called. There is no ME present on the site. I cannot bear this level of incompetence any longer!!”

“Who has got this audacity to shout here at a crime scene?” came a heavy voice. A stocky and heavily set man with a beefy mustache came inside from the door and I glared at him.

“Heavens!!! It is Bloody Roadblock,” muttered Jane as she looked at the man. According to her, he was the most incompetent and sexist man she had ever met in her life and for the same reason her husband Greg had once broken this one’s nose in a bar fight.

“What are you doing messing about here?” the officer demanded snidely as I felt the sudden urge to take him down and then strangle him.” Commander has placed me in the sole charge of this investigation. And I already have the killer locked up in our new police station just down the road.”

“Inspector Loft,” I started with a grimace on my face and an equally grim voice. Sometimes, screaming or violence did not do the trick and if it was someone who had no sense of propriety whatsoever then putting him back in his place was the only option.” How long has the body been lying here?”

“How am I supposed to answer that exactly?” snapped the man and I could hear Jane nutter behind my back,” this should be entertaining!!”

“You are trying to tell me that you have no idea when you have arrived here. There was no one guarding the dead body of the victim. No ambulance has been called and neither the official pathologist is here. And still after that you wish me to believe that you are and have been put in charge by the Commander?” I asked with a sick grin playing on my lips.

“Because…” the man folded his arms across his chest and it puffed out in pride and then he said smugly,” because the constables have been trying to establish the identity of the victim from the handbag that we had found abandoned upstairs. Nothing in their handbags..”

“Both men should have been here and at the door guarding the body. It should have been you to conduct the search and the investigation and I think you could have dealt with searching the houses,” I replied.

“I don’t need any lessons in investigation from you Frost. And I have been here for two hours and I have already called the pathologist, Dr. Carper and he could be arriving any minute now. Who the hell do you think you are that you can barge in here and give me orders? And I am sure that you want me to hand over everything to your pet pathologist.” asked the man and I snapped.

“Dr. Jane Diego is the top pathologist in the country and she has more experience in every single thing than you can imagine. And what is this about a serial killer about the new police station down the street? What is his name and what evidence do you have against him to charge him with a beastly crime like this?” I asked.

“Well I think even a noob like you should know that. A murderer often returns to the scene of the crime I spotted this clown stopping by coming inside and looking at the body here. I dashed out here and nabbed him,” said Roadblock.

“He went under the sheet and then contaminated the crime scene and then checked who she was? How are you not sure that he was not a reporter?” I asked.

“Well he refused to give me his name and refused to give one word to me or at the police station. I had him searched but he had nothing on him which would give us any clue about who he was,” said Roadblock and I grimaced.

“Maybe you had not checked him thoroughly,” I said.

“I am not a douche like you who likes to hold and touch and cop a feel on men. I know what it means to do my job. Only you would want to molest a man in the name of searching him thoroughly!!”

Enough was enough.

My hand rose up so fast that he did not even get a chance to side block or put out a hand to stop my attack and my fist connected with his jaw with a sickening crack. It was the sound which I knew meant that I had broken at least two of his teeth. And he was immediately on the ground bleeding from his mouth as I spoke in a loud and clear voice,” I am the Chief of Scotland Yard and I am the one who takes the decisions here. You will try and understand and learn how to respect me or else you know Roadblock, putting you under suspension and then subsequent charges of insubordination and attack on your superiors can cost you your job. You are as off now relieved of this case and I don’t want your face any where near me till I do not complete the investigation.”

The man who had fallen down on the ground coughed and spat and a piece of tooth came out along with some blood as he stood up and said,” You don’t know who you are messing with, weannie. I am going to make your life a living hell. Rest assured about that.”

“It seems like you have a real death wish, Loft,” spoke Jane this time and her voice was vibrating with anger.

“And you are the only one who will deal with a fucking faggot like him. You just wait and watch where he is sent and what is done with him. You messed with the wrong man this time,” said Roadblock as he stomped out of the way and the room and I did not even bother to grace him with a response. Once he had left I looked at all the other constables.

“Is there anyone else in the room who has some problem with my personal life and sexuality? Because if you do then you can leave and I am not going to even say anything,” I said and all of them stood quietly and none of them moved.

“Good, now since that is settled let’s get to work,” I said as I turned to them and then said that they needed to get hold of the paramedics and the ambulance as soon as possible since this body needed to be moved from here.

“This place has been marked that is a good start but this is a high profile murder case so you all need to be extra careful with this one and make sure that there is no leak to the media. Or everyone’s job is at stake,” I said and everyone nodded.

It did not take long for the body to be removed from the crime scene to the morgue and Jane said that she was going to travel with the body to the morgue for extra protection. But something about what old Roadblock had said made me slightly worried. What connections did he actually have that he was not even bothered by the Chief of Scotland Yard?

He was bellowing at me like he was nothing more than a bull. He was always a bully but trying to disgrace me in front of other constables of the yard, he had gone too far today and I needed to know the reason behind that. Rage was building up inside me like a volcanic eruption, however I knew that it was not going to help me any real way at all.