Case 30 - An Old Leaf Part 4


    Keiko climbed into the passenger side of Sean’s car, and started the engine.  She was still wearing gloves - though she could have taken them off after leaving the crime scene, she thought it might be better not to leave fingerprints in the police mobile command center, either.  Just in case.  So instead, she removed them in the car.

    Meanwhile she tried to remember what she saw in those files, and tried to put together a scenario.

    She imagined herself visiting that apartment, gloves on her hands and a gun on her belt.  It would be unlikely she would have a key, so she would try knocking on the door?  No...what if they didn’t answer?  What if they knew death was coming, then they might try the...

    ...the fire escape.

    Keiko slipped her gloves on again, turned the car off, and quickly yet silently moved back toward the apartment building.  Only this time, she looked down the alley next to it.  The fire escape was kind of rusty, but it looked functional.  The lowest staircase was counterweighted and retracted.

    She carefully approached, and looked for something to pull down the staircase.  There wasn’t anything, so she used her own personal abilities to reach it - she stood across the alley, took a running jump at a doorknob on a locked door, and vaulted herself up to the fire escape.

    Pulling down on the staircase lowered it, noisily.  That proved it was functional, and a perfectly good entry point.  But the window in the apartment was locked, she remembered, so the killer exited through the front door.  But why?

    Then she descended and peeked into the dumpster next to the building.  There were only a few trash bags at the bottom, so it had been emptied recently.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Garbage day.”  she whispered.  “They were killed on garbage day.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What are you doing?”  Sean asked from the end of the alley.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We’d have to go to the city dump to find the body.”  Keiko whispered, trying to make sure the cops nearby wouldn’t hear.  “If the second guy is dead, that is.”

    Sean shook his head.  “The garbage collectors are required to report any bodies to the police.  And since they sort through garbage to look for recyclables...”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hmm.”  Keiko replied.  “This is getting complicated, and confusing.  But wait--”  She looked up toward the roof.  The fire escape led up there, too.

    He nodded.  “Let’s go up and take a look.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Let’s not ask your boss again.”  Keiko suggested.  She jumped off the same doorknob, as before, and pulled the fire escape staircase down.


---


    The roof was windy, but every once in a while Keiko could pick up the a distant, rancid smell.  That meant the source had to be relatively close.  She looked at Sean.  

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do you smell that?”  she asked.

    Sean looked very serious when he nodded.  He started walking around the roof, sniffing the air as if he were a bloodhound tracking down a scent.  Being a police detective for so long, there were certain smells that set off immediate alarm bells in his head.  This was one of them.

    He started walking around slowly, sniffing the air as he walked among the two water storage tanks, large chiller, storage shed, skylight, elevator housing, and stairway exit protruding from the roof.  They created many surfaces and crevices for something to hide.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It wouldn’t be from the water tanks, the water would absorb the smell.”  Keiko noted.  “Unless--”

    Sean’s eyes met hers, and they said at the same time, “One of them is empty.”

    He took the gun off of his nearly concealed belt holster, and rapped it hard against the side of one of the water tanks.  It made a nice, heavy thud.  The density of the gun made it a good striking took to check whether the wooden vessel was full or empty.

    The other water tank made a loud ‘whack’ sound, which echoed.  That tank was either empty, or mostly empty.  Satisfied, he holstered the gun.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Look.”  Keiko pointed to the base of the tank.  There was a large rusted water valve in the middle of the corroded pipe, and it had two areas smoothed out like someone held on to it tightly to turn it.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s evidence.”  Sean noted.  “The tank had to be drained ahead of time.  If there’s a body in there, it shows premeditation.”

    The two of them climbed up to the maintenance door on the tank.  Sean opened it first, and shined a small but powerful LED flashlight into the interior of the tank.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh, my god!”  he exclaimed, quickly covering his nose and mouth, both to hold off the smell, and the wave of nausea he felt at what he saw.

    Keiko stared, completely unaffected by either.

    The walls of the tank were blackened by ash, and the body had been burned into what resembled a large barbecue gone horribly wrong, a melted mass of burned flesh and raw meat.  Running from the light were hundreds of flies, and a small pack of rats.

    Sean slid down the short ladder, and moved to a corner of the roof, leaned forward, trying not to be sick.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s quiet disgusting.”  Keiko commented calmly.  She shut the maintenance door and climbed down to help Sean.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Are you okay?”  she asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’ve seen some nauseating things--”  Sean mumbled, as he shook his head.  He still looked a little green.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I suppose we call your boss now.”  Keiko suggested.  She smiled almost evilly as she suggested, “Maybe we shouldn’t tell him what’s in there until he sees for himself.”

    That finally distracted Sean enough to laugh, as he reached for his phone.

    Keiko finally sneezed into her hand, twice.  Then she looked sideways, and admitted, “Strong smells like that make me sneeze.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“But they don’t make you...?”  He paused mid-sentence when his boss answered at the other end.  “Yeah, it’s Sean Morrison.  My detective friend and I found a body.”



TO BE CONTINUED
    


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2008 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- World Class and all characters therein are property of 
--    Strike Two and Jason Froikin.