Case 36: Courter in Yellow

Hotel Crime Scene(11)

Dipper POV

Valentino met us in the bullpen, and quickly filled us in as we speed walked to my car, he took passenger seat as Wendy jumped in the back.

"They found a man beaten and unresponsive in a hotel room, he's being taken to the Hospital now, crime scene techs are already working their magic and the responding officers are waiting for us." He said he had a laptop in his lap that he was typing quickly into. Wendy was practically climbing into the front seat over the back of Valentino's chair. "He was just left there in the bed, but from these pictures I doubt it happened there, the room is way to clean. This is most likely just a drop off place." She reached over and scrolled through the computer for him. Out the corner of my eye I could see him swat her hand away.

"We'll have to ask the tech's but yeah, You're right there's just not enough blood in the room."

"The room, have they talked to the front desk, was the room checked out to anyone?" I asked, Valentino started typing again.

"No it wasn't. The front desk said the room had been rented out the day before by a couple who checked out around noon. The room was also cleaned after they left, the body was found when someone else rented the room." He explained. I could see red and blue flashing lights ahead as we came up upon the hotel.

I packed in the cluster of marked and unmarked cop cars with they're lights all on. The sirens ringing out loud and clear through the closed doors of my car.

Outside the car uniformed cops looked up and came over as we all got out looking around the small parking lot. Reflexively we all flip out our badges, gaining us full access to the crime scene.

Things like this don't happen often in places like Gravity Falls so when it does, it draws the attention of everyone, including all the cops. The reporting officer, one of the only few that was actually mandated to me on the scene, nodded at the flashed ID and came over right away leading us into room 13B.

"Detectives, it's an ugly one, the boy got sent off and they're workin on him now." He held up the tap around the walkway, the three of us stupped underneath entering the scene, met with the camera flashes and people quickly shuffling around the small room. Crime scene techs, some of my favorite people on the plant. A man behind a large camera lens nods to me, I join his side looking over the bed. He snapped another picture before saying anything.

"Off the bat, whatever happened to him, didn't happen here." he mutters looking around.

I hummed, "Not enough blood, nor enough signs of a struggle."

"Not even sure the man was conscious when he was dropped here." he turns the back end of his camera towards me showing me a small screen, a photo from when the man was still sprawled on the bed was displayed, "The way he's laying is stiff, like someone dropped him here and positioned his limbs." with one clip a new image, closer in on the man's upper body appears on the screen, "From what the EM's said he was very close to dying, still not sure if he'll make it." He pointed to wounds around his chest, "Normally with cases like this the pattern is more sexual, more focused around." He clicked over to another image of the man, you could see on the edges the EM's getting ants and moving into care for the wounds already photographed. This photo focused around the man's... lower region. "If this had been a crime of passion, or one of sexual frustration, the brutality would be focused here for his face. But it's not, in fact most of the wounds were inflicted in a way that the placement and the depth are all not lethal. However in sheer amount it could be lethal and definitely extremely painful." He clicked thought more images of the man. "We'll get a better read on his wounds and how they were inflicted from the hospital. He eyed me, looking up from his camera for the first time since I walked over.