“What did you mean by what you said earlier?” Jake inquired.
Mike shrugged and responded. “I’m surprised you’re the only one who hasn’t noticed this but the Captain had his hands in the cookie jar around the precinct but nobody had the guts to do a thing about it”.
Jake felt his lower jaw threaten to fall but managed to keep up appearances.
“Why didn’t anyone try to go to the board with the complaints?” Jake asked.
“He was a good dude you know? Regardless of the flirting and often times crazy comments, he didn’t impose himself on any lady who wasn’t willing to get down with him”, Mike replied. “He went after the singles mostly but we never speak of it”.
Jake wondered if the Captain’s supposed flirtatious nature had brought him some bad luck but none of what Mike was telling him seemed to make any sense.
“Did he have someone in particular who he was into?” Jake inquired, almost sounding like he was a novice in the office.
Mike shook his head. “From what I heard, he had one time things only and that was it… I guess the ladies dug that you know?”
The information thus far remained nothing but tattered and crazy words he could not relate to anything. One thing he could attest to though was the possible presence of a woman in the room where the Captain had been killed and he would know better once the forensic team came back with the item he gave to them for analysis.
Looking better and somewhat fresher, Sarah returned into the house. “I’m sorry you had to see me the way I was earlier”.
Jake shrugged it off and nodded. “It is alright… we all are shaken by this tragedy but we will find the killer and get this crime the justice it deserves”.
Mike looked back from where he stood and waved at Sarah. “We will find the killer Sarah… I promise you we will”.
She nodded, waved back at him and slapped on a pair of gloves as they began covering every inch of the room for clues as to what might have happened. Jake couldn’t help but return to the front door to check things out for himself again. It was perfect and no doubt not tampered with. The windows had been shut and in perfect condition too while the backdoor had been bolted from the inside almost as though he never went out through it or even used it.
“Interesting”, he noted to himself before returning to the duo in the living room.
Slowly approaching, the duo broke apart awkwardly while Jake paid no attention to them.
“Does any of you know if the Captain was paranoid in any way through his life?” he asked.
Sarah shook her head while Mike did the same.
“Why?” they asked in chorus.
Jake pointed to the windows and then the back door saying, “The windows are sealed shut and the backdoor is bolted from the inside in a manner I’m sure doesn’t look like he wanted it ever opened”.
Mike shrugged, as did Sarah who walked over to check the windows immediately.
“This case keeps getting odd”, Jake noted before heading for the front door to get some air.
Sarah ran after him and called out to him to stop. “I was wondering if I could speak with you for a minute”.
He encouraged her to speak while leaning against her car.
“This entire Captain business is leaving me somewhat scared of being alone for a while… do you mind we spent the night out today? Just you and I”, she offered.
Taking a minute to think about it, Jake nodded and agreed.
“I’ve had enough torment with my day already and a cool night would do fine”, he smiled.
She nodded, reached for her car and got out a notepad to scribble an address on before handing it to him. “That’s a nice restaurant I know in Downing Street”.
She waved him goodbye and returned to the crime scene immediately. Taking a minute to watch her walk away, he turned back around to wave down a cab. He would head home for the day to sort his house and hopefully wait on whatever the forensics team had taken from the house. He was no use there yet and returning to the precinct would do him no good, with the terrible mood going around within the officers upon losing one of their own.
The cab man tuned on his radio and news of the Captain’s death aired in what the reporters were calling the murder of a sweet tooth Captain.
“Whatever that means”, Jake sighed and closed his eyes.
He had three problems now to deal; the Captain, the murders and whoever was messing with him.
***
Wiping his face with the back of his hand and blaming himself someway for agreeing to go on the date, Jake walked across the street he had been standing on for the past thirty minutes. It wasn’t a usual habit to keep a lady waiting but he had decided to get there sooner, and wait an extra five minutes after Sarah arrived and took her seat.
Sipping from her wine glass in her gorgeous and lovely looking red gown, she continued to stare at her watch until she saw him walk through the door. Donning his favorite tux and bearing an apologetic smile, he approached her table.
“I am so sorry for showing up late”, he apologized immediately. “Something came up and I had to rush through it”.
Bobbing her head and chuckling softly, she responded, “I was thinking I’d have to finish the bottle of wine myself”.
Jake laughed and cleared his throat before ordering for a wine glass.
“So, how are you dealing with the Captain’s death?” Jake asked.
Taking in every emotion smitten on her face, he couldn’t help but wonder what affiliation she had with the Captain.
Close to tear but fighting it back, Sarah answered. “It has been hard… seeing it splattered all over the television and across every newspaper I
