The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 10*

"So what time is Beverly arriving tomorrow?" Sam's question had brought a smile to his partner's face.

"I said I would meet her at the airport at four o'clock, if that's ok with you of course?" Hank responded, glancing at his partner.

"Finish work early on a Friday? Hmm, I think I could cope with that," Sam said as he was now also smiling at the thought.

"You don't have to," Hank told him. "I could always swing by the station to pick you up on the way back."

"I don't think there will be any need for that," Sam told him, his smile broadening further.
"While we're on happy thoughts," Sam continued, "I wonder if the locals are any more forgiving now they have a case of their own."

"Hmm probably not, why? What are you thinking?" Hank asked.

"Well...," Sam began tentatively. "We did say we wanted to keep an eye on how the hotel murder case was going."

"Oh my God, don't tell me you were thinking of asking her?" Hank laughed. "Can I watch?"

"Hmm, not my best idea huh?" Sam pondered.

"Err, no mate, that's a terrible idea. I can only imagine how that would go down, could be entertaining though!" The very thought giving Hank some considerable amusement. "To be honest," Hank told him, "we'll be better off seeing if we can get captain Beesley to keep an eye on it for us. I mean Brookes is bound to be keeping him up to date with what's going on. Maybe he could relay that information to us?"

"Yeah, interesting thought," Sam replied as he reached into his top pocket.

"He was quite helpful last time we asked," Hank suggested.

"Speak of the devil," Sam smiled, holding up his cell phone, showing an incoming call from captain Beesley. He answered the call and placed the phone on the desk so they could both hear it.

"Johnson, Harvey, got one for you, and this time it definitely is for you. I'm at the scene now and I've checked it myself. The eight ball is most definitely in play."

"Got it, we're on our way. Send us the details and we'll be there as quick as we can," Sam told him before ending the call. By the time they had put their jackets on they had both received the text message containing the location of this latest discovery.

The car sped its way through the town, eventually stopping by what appeared to be an old warehouse. Sam and Hank sat in the car and looked on at the scene ahead of them; neither of them spoke but they both felt a little uncomfortable. This was unlike any murder scene they had encountered before. There was no yellow tape, no crowds, and no chaos, no cordoned off section even, just one solitary officer standing by the main entrance.

They parked the car and made their way over to the warehouse and with a quick flash of the badge they were inside where things began to look much more like they were expecting. There was a plastic tent set up in the middle of the room and several people were scurrying around the outskirts of it with clipboards and various pieces of equipment.

"Hey guys, glad you made it." They turned around to see the familiar face of captain Beesley behind them. "I've held off as many people as I can," he told them. "I wanted you to see the scene undisturbed. We've put the protective covering up and we've searched the perimeter but the body itself is exactly how it was discovered." Sam and Hank both nodded in appreciation.

"Speaking of which, who exactly did discover it?" Hank questioned, looking around the scene and not seeing anyone who wasn't displaying a badge or a laminate.

"Ah, yes we've taken a statement and let her go but we've got her details if you should want to speak to her further. The body was discovered and reported by a dog walker. Said the dog was barking and scratching at the door. She tried the handle and found it to be unlocked. As soon as it opened the dog ran inside, she followed, and found...," Captain Beesley trailed off as he nodded his head, his eyes widening, and pointed to the tent in the middle of the warehouse.

"Unlocked huh? Interesting," Sam responded as he, and his partner, shared a momentary glance between them, neither of them surprised to be hearing this.

"You've searched the perimeter you said? Anything turn up?" Hank asked.

"Unfortunately not, no. The whole place seems spotless. There's a full set of prints on the door handle of course but we fully expect those to belong to the dog walker." The two detectives shared the same knowing glance as before; again unsurprised by this response.

"Damn, so how long has it been empty for?" Sam asked.

"We'd have to check to be sure but not long, few weeks maybe, a month at the most, certainly no more than that," the captain answered.

"So no footage from the cameras then?" Hank asked, pointing to several CCTV cameras hanging from the ceiling that he had noticed as soon as they walked in. The captain shrugged his shoulders as he finally glanced up as well, almost surprised to see them.

"Again, we'd have to check, but chances are they were disconnected when the previous occupants moved out." Hank was expecting exactly that response but continued his line of questioning all the same.

"Do we know who the last occupiers were?"

Captain Beesley shook his head, "Not as yet, no. But I can certainly help you look into that."

"And what about our friend in the tent?" Sam added. "Any clues to who they might be?"

Captain Beesley shook his head once more. "Afraid not, I've put a blanket down to keep certain things under wraps," he said, rubbing his hand over his chest, referring to the pool ball, "but otherwise it's completely untouched." Both Sam and Hank gave a little smile.

"Ok, no worries, let's see what we've got then shall we?" Sam suggested, taking a step forward with Hank and captain Beesley following; the three of them making their way over to the tented area. Captain Beesley opened the zip and held the flap to one side as the two detectives stepped inside, both detectives mentally preparing themselves for the scene.