The Murder Of 1998

Chapter Two

One week earlier

Seth Lance shifted his neck around, hearing a satisfying crack. He groaned but then shook it off. He lifted his coffee towards his lips, taking a sip of it. Another crime scene. He rubbed his eyes and started to look around the house. It was fairly clean. No sign of forced entry. No struggle. He kept looking around as the crime scene investigators took pictures of around the house. There wasn't really anything to look at. At least not on the downstairs level. All the horror was in the upstairs master bedroom.

He walked up the stairs and peaked into the true crime scene. Blood was everywhere.

"Got anything, Nancy?" Seth asked the medical examiner who was crouched next to the bed, looking at the body of Emily LaBelle. She tilted her head up to look at Detective Lance's brown eyes. She rose up to her feet to face him.

"So far not much. She must have been lying down on the bed, possibly reading a book, when the killer walked in. She must have known the killer since she didn't attempt to flee or even fight back."

Detective Lance yawned and Nancy Davis took it as a sign of disrespect. She furrowed her eyebrows at the detective.

"I seem to be boring you." She stated.

"Oh, no no no. I just stayed up really late last night. Um, please continue."

Nancy rolled her eyes before she turned back to the body on the bed. "She was stabbed about twenty-one times. Once in the stomach and the rest in the chest. No money or valuables were stolen, so robbery is out of the question." She held her clipboard close to her chest. "Our killer first sat on the edge of the bed when he made the first stab. The way the stab wounds were angled are proof of that. The first one is slanted, but after that they go straight down which means he straddled her then." She pointed her latex gloved finger up to the wall and ceiling which had blood spatters on them. "The way some of these are angled suggest that our killer is probably right handed."

Seth pressed his lips together. "Alright, so... what? Does that help us in anyway?"

Nancy turned to look at Seth. "No. But, your killer did do this," she pointed to the wedding ring that laid on the night stand next to Emily's side of the bed. Seth shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok, and?" He said.

"Look at the tan line around the victims ring finger. Its still prominent. Which means the killer took it off her after he killed her."

"Hm, something tells me this was personal." Seth placed his hand on his chin. "What about the time of death?"

"I'd say about five hours ago. Until I do an autopsy, this is all I know."

The killer had to be near by. Five hours would give him enough time to start disposing of the murder weapon and clean himself up.

"Great. Hopefully our killer isn't far." He heard his phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled out his scratched up flip phone and looked at the caller ID. His partner, Detective Walter Ottoson. "Detective Lance," Seth said.

"Hey there, Seth. Sorry I'm running a little late," a man with a low voice spoke. "Car wouldn't start up so I took a cab. But I'm a minute away from the location. Should be there soon."

"Alright then. I'm just talking with Nancy who's giving me a run down of the crime scene. Once you get here why don't you and me start by questioning the dad?"

"Great. I'll be there soon." He hung up his phone and slid it back into his pocket as he took a sip of his coffee.

"How's his sister by the way?" Nancy asked curiously since she never really bothered to know about the wellness of Walter's sister. Seth shrugged his shoulders.