Devil in the Details

Chapter Four

Evelyn had reached her desk when Floyd swooped out of his office. It was clear he'd been waiting for her and appeared to be wearing the same clothes as yesterday. He smelled of coffee and smoke, making her wonder if he had picked cigarettes back up.

"Did you even get any sleep?" She asked, doubting that he had. Floyd was known to pull overtime on regular days, there was no telling what he'd do on a case like this. He'd been all about his work and Evelyn since his wife, Marie, had died of cancer when Evelyn was still young. He had nothing else, and this case was always the one that haunted him.

"Did you?" He countered. Evelyn sighed and looked away, setting her bag on her desk instead. She hadn't gotten much sleep at all. It wasn't because she'd found the body, or that the Garret Falls Vampire could be back. She hadn't slept because she kept thinking about how she could have dreamed it happening.

They spent most of the night and the next morning at the crime scene, combing every inch for clues. They had picked up shards of glass, bagged dinnerware, and dusted for prints. It didn't seem like they had found anything useful. Jason Newton appeared to have been the victim of some blunt force trauma before his murder. It was likely from the killer, and had been laying there for several days at least. That meant that he had been dead well before her dream. Still, she had no way of explaining what had happened. She had dreamt of the scene as she had found it, right down to the last drop of blood.

As far as Evelyn knew, she'd never even been to that cabin and had no way of knowing what any of it looked like. She hadn't told Diana, and she hadn't told Floyd. She didn't know if she'd tell either of them at all. It was too hard to believe. She hadn't even told Diana what they'd found, or that it was a murder investigation.

"No." she admitted, avoiding his eyes, "not much."

"James." Floyd said, looking past her. Evelyn looked back over her shoulder as he approached. James didn't seem to have gotten much sleep either. He had a bit of stubble and his shirt wasn't tucked. He smelled of cologne and his hair was wet, suggesting that he'd gotten a few steps further than they had.

"Chief." James replied. He dropped his lunch on his desk and came over. "Anything new?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you two about," he replied. "Come to my office."

James raised his eyebrows, looking at Evelyn, who shrugged. She didn't know what was going on either. Floyd's tone didn't leave room for arguments. They followed him to his office, where he shut the door. The state of the room clarified what Evelyn already suspected: Floyd had been at work all night. Disposable brown coffee cups filled the small trash can beside his desk. Stacks of old files sat on the other side, threatening to topple over.

"We don't have an official coroner's report yet," Floyd began, taking his seat. He fanned out some papers in front of him on the desk. "The state is going to be bringing in another coroner on this one to assist. We have to wait for that. I'm going to ask for the feds assistance as well. They'll be here as consultants to help us get ahead of this thing."

"But you do have something." James guessed. "In the way of a coroner's report?"

"I do." He leaned forward. "I want you two working on this case. Evelyn, do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes." Evelyn said. Her voice was steady. "This won't be my first murder case."

"But it will be your first here." Floyd replied, "any questions, James? Arguments?" James stood a bit straighter by the door.

"No, chief." He replied.

"Good." Floyd replied, flicking his wrist, "now, shut that door."

"What's going on?" Evelyn asked, taking a seat in front of the desk. Floyd sighed and rubbed at the stubble on his chin. James came over and took the seat next to her.