“Is there something bothering you?” Felicia sounded concerned.
He wondered if he could explain to her what his disturbing suspicions were.
“Letting her in on anything I know will only open me up to getting made”, he concluded.
The entire ordeal was getting deeper than he had imagined and if his suspicions were right, then Sarah might have known who he was already and only befriended him in a bid to nail him hard and properly. There was the issue of his missing trophy box too, and the most disturbing part, Mike Rondon sniffing around for truffles.
Calming himself and smiling mildly before collecting the entire information they had on the lipstick, he waved gently at Felicia, “Thank for everything… I owe you a lot and I know”.
He had hoped his sudden calmness would toss her off her desire to know what was bothering him as he left the office and closed the door gently behind him. Taking a moment to lean against the door and recount his thought and intent, Jake understood he was in a game of cat and mouse and he had played the mousy part for too long already.
“I need to find out what those two know”, he sighed and walked away towards the elevator like a man unburdened by anything.
It was all he could do after all.
***
“Jake! Hey Jake!” the persistent voice of Mike Rondon kept calling out.
Jake cursed his luck and thought he had made the wrong choice by not going down the stairs instead of opting for the elevator.
“Hey buddy… I’ve been looking all over for you”, Mike noted. “These cases are heating up and the Mayor is getting involved with some hotshot coming to take the reign of things around here”.
Hiding away the file he had just received underneath his coat, Jake turned around and replied, “It means we have to find this killer fast”.
Mike agreed with a definite nod and a soft sigh while they shared the awkwardness in silence for a few seconds.
“By the way, have you gotten anything back from the forensics team or the coroner?” Mike inquired.
Lying through his teeth, Jake replied casually, “No… not at all and in fact, I was just heading over to the coroner’s office right away”.
Mike motioned towards the elevator and punched the key to have it open. “Let’s go see what they found out then”.
Uncomfortable but very much in need to keep up his appearances, Jake agreed with a nod and an outstretched hand towards the open doors, “Sure… why not?”
Stepping in together just while the doors slammed shut before them, Jake pictured every possible scenario of occurrence in his head while Mike seemed awfully on edge. His subtle stare in Jake’s direction while they listened to the opera music playing in the elevator’s background continued for the next minute before the elevator came to a halt and the door chimed open.
Mike stepped out first and journeyed down the hall while Jake followed him.
“My luck must be running high today”, the familiar feminine voice called out from behind, prompting both men to halt.
Mike remained focused on the coroner’s office door ahead while Jake turned to greet Sarah, “This building is feeling smaller by the minute”.
Sarah burst into laughter and ran her hair behind her left ear, “I got a call from the coroner working on the body saying he was done analyzing the body”.
“Hey Sarah”, Mike finally greeted without looking back.
“Detective Mike”, Sarah greeted before leading the line.
Noting the awkwardness, he kept to himself as he tailed the duo and tried to watch out for signs that might help him understand what their objectives were with him. Something about them both definitely troubled him now and he needed answers more than ever but the Captain’s death also needed solving so his personal troubles had to be cast aside momentarily.
“I’m glad you guys are here”, the coroner coughed gently. “I am really sorry for your loss”.
Jake wondered why he had not seen the man before him at the morgue the other night he came to view the dead body of the police officer. Sarah had been there and she had given him the lowdown of everything he needed about the corpse.
“What am I missing?” Jake asked himself.
Stepping closer to the body, the coroner went about explaining all he had observed. “I was initially surprised by the manner in which the Captain had been killed, sighting there were no signs indicating he struggled while these cuts were made”.
He pointed at the deep lacerations on the Captain’s neck as well as more around his wrists and other body parts.
“When I dug deeper into the body, I realized whoever did this poisoned him first, then set about carving his skin and gruesomely finishing the job with this deep cut to his jugular vein while he was still alive and aware”, the man explained.
Sarah didn’t flinch but Mike seemed awfully uncomfortable.
“You mean he was well aware of his killer carving him up?” Jake asked.
The coroner nodded and went ahead to close the body.
“One more thing”, the man cleared his throat and shook his head. “You might be looking for a left handed killer this time and unlike the previous body which I explained to my dear lady here when she arrived with the body, this killer is skilled and most probably the master and not the protégé”.
Mike stepped forward immediately. “Could it be that he is showing his protégé how it’s done?”
With a slight shrug, the coroner replied, “Yes… that might be the case”.
The man walked out from their sight and left the three detectives with the dead body as they seemed unsure of what to do next. For Jake, the stakes had gotten higher and whatever he needed to do, he needed to get it done fast. The killer had made a very good copy work of his killing method and brought it out on display perfectly, thereby incriminating him this time around.
“To what end?” Jake heard himself ask out loud.
Alerted
