BBS

I've been busy on another project (An actual book :@ ) and haven't been able to get back to this one. Also, I've realized that my 3rd chapter will be about twice as long as my first two. So to get it off my mind, I'm posting the first half of chapter 3, and will post the second half at a later date. I haven't had a chance to write it yet. Since this one is a serial, I've got to coordinate where I want the events to happen. I've been wanting to do a fresh zombie short story, but I haven't figured out what I want to do yet, so look forward to that at some time in the future. And so you know, I have no idea how the crime lab works. My only 'knowledge' is fictional. That's right, CSI. My story has fallen under the CSI Effect. Since I don't plan on publishing this and it's all in fun, I don't care. I hope you guys don't mind it either.

Chapter Three - Reasonable Doubt

"3 years ago, Edward Vann was sentenced to life in prison. Today, because of new evidence, he walks a free man." Tom couldn't believe his ears. The reporter continued, "In 2003, the employees of Speedee Tax were murdered in what appeared to be in cold blood. Originally, Mr. Vann appeared to be the only survivor of the massacre, but after a long trial, and questionable evidence, we learned that Edward was the killer." During the narration, the television switched from Edwards mug shot, the building where Speedee Tax operated, and finally Peter Vega. "Oh no. Here we go." Tom thought aloud. "On the 4th day of the trial, the prosecutors put this man on the stand. Peter Vega. The investigator assigned to the case. After forensics had collected on the murder scene, Peter supposedly had found additional evidence that they had missed. A tuft of hair on the corner of a desk. But according to pictures taken before this discovery, the hair was not there. This is where the trial changed directions." The phone rang, and Tom answered. "Hello?" Tom said into the phone, but keeping his attention to the TV.

"Tommy!" It was Peter. "Peter. You are not going to believe what I'm watching right now." Tom said.
"Let me guess. Lord of the G-Strings on Skinamax." Peter laughed.
"Edward Vann was released.? Tom replied as if not hearing Peter.
"Yeah. Sure. Really. What are you watching?"
"I'm serious." Tom paused to listen to the report. "...the same hair was found..."
"Remember that supposed planted evidence you found? Apparently they found more of it on one of the victims. It matches Edward's story." Tom stared in disbelief.
"Was the case reopened or something? I can't believe this." Peter said.
"I don't know. I'm just finding out about this. I'll call the office first thing tomorrow. I'm sure someone is going to want to talk to you. Do you want me to let them know where you are?"
"Man." There was a long pause. "Yeah. I guess you'll have to. So I guess the case is reopened?" Peter asked.
"I don't know. We'll see, I guess." Tom answered. "Give me a minute while I switch to the living room phone.

Peter and Tom talked about the case a bit more before playing catch up on their individual lives. Tom told Peter about the current case he was on, and it was followed by Peter telling Tom about the 500 dancing Santa Clauses he had to make before Christmas. Around the midnight hour, Tom and Peter called it a night. Tom hung up the phone and went back to the bedroom. Elizabeth had fallen asleep. Tom got into bed and after about half an hour, finally fell asleep.

Edward Dean walks into Speedee Tax. "Good Morning Eddie." the receptionist said. Edward smiles, turns and locks the door behind him. Taking a final look outside, he pulls the shade closed. As Edward is closing the shade, one of his coworkers walks by. "What in the world are you doing?" Edward answers by pulling the handgun out of his pocket and pointing it at his coworkers face. A short and very loud pop is heard, as Edward pulls the trigger. His coworkers head explodes in a cloud of blood, and splashes against the wall behind him. The receptionists scream is cut short with another loud pop, and her lifeless body slumps out of her chair and onto the ground. 2 more quick pops sound as 2 concerned coworkers round the corner to see what all the commotion is. Stepping over the bodies Edward heads down the hall to his bosses office. Looking to his left he sees the woman who sits across from him trying to remain unseen beneath her desk. Edward lets her know that he can see her with a bullet. Before he can grab the doorknob to open the door, it turns and the boss's son appears from behind it. Edward shoves the door and knocks the man down. As the man tries to scuttle away from Edward, Edward shoots him in the chest bringing a "NO!!" from his father, Edwards's boss. Edward turns the gun towards his boss and shoots him in the stomach. As the boss's son claws at his chest and gasps for breath through blood and bone, Edwards's boss grabs for the gun. With no emotion in Edwards face, he overpowers his boss, yet humors him by continuing to fight him for the gun. As the pain becomes unbearable and the blood leaves his body, his boss finally succumbs to death. Edwards walks back to the front door. He peeks through the shade and after insuring that no one has pulled up, opens the shade and unlocks the door. Edward walks back to his desk, boots up his computer, and shoots himself in the side. After about 40 minutes, Edward starts to become light headed and finally calls 911.

Tom restlessly rolls around in his sleep.

Standing in the boss's office, Peter looks over his shoulder into the hall. After feeling the coast being clear, Peter reaches into his left pocket and feels the murder weapon. Reaching into his right pocket, Peter pulls out a plastic bag containing a clump of hair. Making sure his hand does not make contact with the hair; he carefully places it on the corner of the desk. "What are you doing?" Startled Peter turns around to see Hunter standing in the doorway.

Tom awakes and sees Elizabeth holding his hand. "Honey? What are you doing? Are you awake?" Tom discovers that he is sitting on the edge of the bed. "Tom, are you ok?" Elizabeth asks. "I'm fine. I must have fallen back asleep or something." Tom replayed the dream in his head. "You were...mumbling something. It woke me up, and you were just sitting here mumbling. It kind of creeped me out. Are you sure you are ok?" Elizabeth let go of his hand and tries to rub the goose bumps from her arms. "I just had a bad dream, that's all. I'm fine though. You can go back to sleep." Tom stands up and begins his morning routine of getting ready for work. Elizabeth stands and says, "I'm awake now. I can start the day early. Do you want coffee? Breakfast?" Elizabeth offered. Heading for the bathroom, Tom answers, "Sure. I'm actually pretty hungry considering." "Considering what?" Elizabeth asked, "Considering I just killed a bunch of people in my dream" Tom thought, but answered "Considering I didn't sleep very well."

Tom was very curious about the Vann case, but he had his own case to solve. When Tom arrived at work, he decided to send Edmond, the lead in the crime lab, an email asking about the newly discovered evidence. Upon running Outlook, Tom had seen that he had already gotten an email regarding the case the night before. "Never checked my email last night. Oh well." As it turns out, the crime lab had a new member on their team, and to get a handle on the ropes, was given this case for training. The new guy found a hair on one of the victim's sweater that the original team had missed. The hair that was supposedly planted was thrown out of the case. Even though it could not be used in the case, it was still kept as evidence outside the case. The hair newly found was a match to the clump of hair found on the desk. This new hair supported Edwards?s story of an intruder, and gave reasonable doubt.

After the small since of closure, Tom went back to his own current case. This case was strange. The Whitakers were killed in the bedroom, yet the bodies were at the dining table. There was a smudge on a clock. Tom thought for a minute. ?They were shot, but maybe the clock was also used. It was unplugged. A hit to the head could knock someone out.? Tom wrote some notes down. Daylight was coming, and people started to trickle into the office with there tired good mornings. Tom stood up to get his 3rd cup of coffee when the phone rang.

?Detective Stevens? We have the son.? Said someone on the phone.
?Great. Bring him in. Did he say anything?? Tom replied.
?Not really. Pulled up about 10 minutes ago, grabbed his bags and headed for the door. We told him to come to the station, and he asked if everything was ok. I didn?t say anything to him after that.? replied the officer on the scene.
?Send him to Becky. I?ll come see him when she says he?s ready.? Tom said.

Becky is sort of a counselor around the station. She?ll break the bad news, but also observe his reaction. Even though you are innocent until proven guilty, any mannerisms from potential suspects could show something. Becky didn?t come get Tom for a couple of hours. Around the 10 o?clock hour, Tom was able to meet Mike Whitaker, the son.

Yeah, I don't know if I could be an editor, but I could read it through and offer suggestions. I am not so great at run ons and spell check is my best friend. lol. As much as I read I should be great but alas, I am not. :)

Cool. Thanks. Well if you like to read, then maybe if I ever get something, you could be my editor. :)

I would love to write a book, but I don't think I can write that many words. I've always been told if I want to write a book, to write everything down. This originally was a short story, but I had some more ideas for it, so I decided to serialize it.
This story has 2 story arcs. The short one (5 chapters) and a long one (entirety). The short story arcs for this particular story will cover the cases he currently is working on. The large story arc is based off of Hunter's first drawing introduced in the first chapter.

I have no idea if any of my stories will ever be large enough to fill a book, but if one ever got that big, I'd probably would take the next step in seeing if it would be publishable (is that a word?) I figured it was a good start to have them on paper or on the computer. I also wanted to share, hoping others would post their stories too.

I'm writing another one that I will be posting the first chapter soon. After that, I will be going back to this one for a chapter. I write them down as they come to me. It's what was suggested, and it seems to be helping me stick with it.

Chapter Two - Sunrise Sunset

Tom went over the case in his head as he drove home. The Whitakers. Family of three. Susan, the wife, stayed at home while the father worked. The notes he and his temp wrote up revealed Susan to be a possible online gambler. A computer desk in one of the rooms was covered with cigarettes, and the occasional "5 Tokens Free" mail flyers. Tom would know more after forensics have examined the contents of the computer. Buster, the husband, worked at a local carpet depot. His friend and coworker Red was the one that called in. According to Red, Buster had left work as usual the evening before, but didn't show up the next day. Buster rarely missed a day of work, and if he did, Red was sure that he would have at least called in. After work, Red went by the house to make sure everything was ok. Red said he looked in the windows and saw them at the dinner table. He banged on the windows, but Susan and Buster did not respond. That?s when he called 911.

After questioning Red, Tom was told that the Whitakers had probably been murdered the night before Red found them. From the pictures in the house, they knew of a son. Red said his name was Mike, 36 and still living at home. Buster had said Mike was at some convention. Red wasn?t sure as he didn't understand. "Something about comics or Star Trek." Tom remembered going to a few Sci-Fi conventions when he was younger. He had a feeling that Mike went to a similar one. Tom had requested a cop at the address till the son returned. He had his temp check to see if he could find out what conventions were going on at the time. Tom wasn't sure when Mike left, or when he'd be coming back. Tom?s ringing cell phone brought him back to the present.

Tom answered the phone, "Hello?"
"Hey budro, long time no see!"
"Peter?! Where the hell have you been? I haven't heard from you since the trial. Figured you were upset with me or something."

Tom was happy to hear from Peter. Peter was his old partner, and lost his job after a lengthy IA investigation. During the trial of a man accused of killing his coworkers, evidence that was to be used to clear the killers name was found out to be planted evidence. This is what the prosecutors believed, that is. In the final days, Edward Vann, was sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of 7 of his coworkers. To this day, Edward has preached his innocence. For reasons Tom can?t explain, the plant fell on Peter. Walking through that night over and over again in his head, all signs pointed to Peter, but Tom could not except that he really did it. Since no solid evidence linked Peter to the plant, he was just encouraged to leave the force.

"Nah. I just have been busy. I'm down here in Virginia now."
"You're kidding. Are you back to blue? I?m still with BPD." Tom shook his head in disbelief.
"Nope. Walked away from that whole thing. Why work for a team that doesn?t even trust their own. I got a business of my own now."
"Pete. I told it like it was. The evidence was there. I don?t believe that you did it, but it was there."
"Don't worry about it Tom. I wasn?t talking about you. You did your job. How are the wife and kid?"
"They are doing great. Hunter is growing up. Learning to be independent. Elizabeth is wonderful. You got a special someone?"
"Nah. I'm still going solo. Is Hunter still your little detective?"
"Unfortunately yes. I don't know. I think he's ok, but Liz thinks differently. I'll do whatever she asks though. She knows what's best. So what's this about your own business?" Tom was glad to change the subject. Tom didn?t know what he was feeling right now. Was it guilt? Is that why he didn't like talking about Hunter's ability? Was it because he wants to keep it secret?
"Yeah, I make things. Crafts. Foods. You know...crap. I make crap. HAHA. You know those fairs you and your wife go to. Let's just say I'm one of those guys."
"Food" I didn't know you could cook. Are you sure you aren?t seeing someone?" Tom laughed.
"Well, I'm not seeing her. She's my coworker. I share the business with her. She's nice, but 10 years my younger."
"Big deal Pete. Love is love." Tom pulled into his driveway, and put his car in park. "Hey Pete. I just pulled up in my driveway. I've got to go do the family thing. Can you give me a call back around 10-11?"
"Sure. Tell the family I said Hello."
Tom smiled, "Will do? Hey, Pete. What's the name of your business?"
"Knick Knacks, Candy, Snacks"
Tom laughed again, "I'll talk to you soon Pete."
"Alright. See ya."

Tom grabbed his papers and headed for the door. Even with hands full, Tom was able to get his keys and unlock the door. Bob the Builder was waiting for him inside. "Hey!!! If it isn't Bob the Builder!" Hunter gave his dad some joyful hums. Hunter rarely shows emotion in his face. He does one thing to show 3 emotions. He hums when he's happy, he hums when he's irritated, and he hums when he's upset. His hums are more of an "M" sound, and so he "Mmmms" more than really ?Hhhmms.? His upset hums are more straining, so Tom and Elizabeth know when he's in need. "Hunter is Bob the Builder!" "Are going to go trick or treating soon?" Tom put his work on the table by the door and went to hug Hunter. The two walked into the kitchen where Elizabeth was heating up Tom's dinner. Tom sat Hunter down at the dining room table, and pulled the Hungry Caterpillar from the bookshelf. Tom sat down next to Hunter and began to read.

Hunter has a collection of books in the kitchen. He reads while his mom eats her breakfast. In the morning it's Auburn's Field Guide for Trees. In the evening it's The Hungry Caterpillar. After Hunter eats his cereal, he flips through the book to look at the different trees. Elizabeth would frequently read the tree he is looking at, and give the brief descriptions. Tom finished reading the book just as Elizabeth set his dinner on the table. "Guess who called me today?" Tom asked his wife.

"Peter Vega?" his wife answered. "How'd you know?" Tom asked puzzled. "I saw his name on the caller ID. Hunter and I were at the park. How is he doing?" Tom told her about Pete's new job and his possible special someone. Elizabeth laughed at that. During the remainder of the night Elizabeth and Tom put Hunter in bed, and they went to bed themselves to relax. Tom, awaiting Pete's phone call, and Elizabeth, watching the evening news.

Elizabeth reminded Tom that Halloween was in a little more than a week. Tom had let Elizabeth make the final plans and he would follow her lead. "So. Halloween." Elizabeth began. "Yes?" Tom answered. "We are going to hit friends and family first and then head to the festival." Elizabeth concluded. "Do you think Hunter is ready?" Tom asked. Elizabeth paused in thought, "I think so. He seems to be doing ok with dressing up everyday. He's comfortable with going to select places, and I've talked a lot about dressing up and getting candy for Halloween for the past week. I think he's ready." "Great. Now all you have to do is plan for Thanksgiving and Christmas." Tom said jokingly. Elizabeth glared at him as Tom smirked. Then something on the television caught his eye.

"Edward Vann. Released from Prison."