As you begin your search, you leave the Spiral with the words from the board fresh in your mind:
Specialist Chris McCabe was found dead at a bus stop beside the mall at 2 A.M. yesterday morning. His body was drained of blood; yet his body was unmarked. Would think Chris would have put up a fight?
Several options were open to you - heading to the crime scene; as the attack happened this morning. Or begin by searching for more clues.
Stepping out into the cold night air and Alex pulls out a cigarette. As he lights it, he faces Rafe. "Naturally we should go to the crime scene, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to do a background check on this guy. He may have an arrest record or a dirty secret he doesn't want found. I'm not that gifted with computers. After we examine the scene could you look into Specialist McCabe?" The words come out professional and a bit sterile.
Alex takes a drag off the cigarette.
This kid was tech savvy. A deficiency that still plagues Alex. Hopefully not one that would stall the investigation. A vampire feeding on military specialists was oddly coincidental in his mind. Assuming of course it was a vampire. There were worse creatures out there that could do this. I shouldn't think about that. Better to fear the monster I do know than the one I don't.
Following Alex out, Rafe pops a piece of candy in his mouth and rolls it around a little bit. "Sure, but looking for dirty secrets takes time. I can set up an algorithm that looks for things connected with Specialist McCabe on the web, but it would make more sense to look at his military profile. If this guy has a criminal record, they'll know." He zipped up his coat, the cold evening wasn't one for strutting around without a coat on. "You said you knew some people there?"
Time. There was never enough of it. Never. Still patience was a virtue.
Taking another drag Alex points to his car. "We can take mine if you prefer." He blows the smoke out of his nose.
"I know some people in the military. Mostly Marines but I have a few old friends in the army. Once morning rolls around I can give them a call." Depriving soldiers sleep was a bad idea. They didn't get much to begin with. "Why don't we go investigate the scene of the crime and then tomorrow we can both do individual work. Once we've done that we can meet back here tomorrow night to share information." Hopefully the kid hadn't been scared off by the tenets of the bar.
Perhaps I should be more concerned about them letting him in than him coming back.
Investigate the scene, it sounded so professional. "Yeah lets go.. we can take your car. Let me just get my bag out of the car, and we can go." He went over to his 2003 Dodge Durango, and got his bag containing his laptop among other things. "Lets go."
Time: 9:15 PM
Location: The bus stop beside Arden Fair Mall
The mall, Arden Fair, is located in a nice nieghborhood. Fast food restaurants and business parks surround the mall, which is criss crossed by two long main streets that run perpindicular to the mall. The bus stop is located on one of these streets, Parkway Drive. Raising your eyes, you see that a parking lot separates this bus stop from the mall itself.
The bus stop itself has been roped off with yellow caution tape. All evidence seems to have been carted away some time earlier; as you don't see any of the yellow cards that are so popular on CSI. There are no detectives in place as far as you can tell, although you see two uniformed officers talking with two men dressed in blue overalls.
A small group of onlookers peers at the bus stop from the parking lot. The majority seem to be teenagers. One in particular catches your eye. She is a young woman, a teenage Filapina of about 17 years of age. She is absolutely beuatiful with a heart shaped face and dark, lovely eyes framed by long lashes. The lashes of the young woman are lined with unshed tears. She wears conservative clothing, a long sleeved white shirt and a knee length navy skirt.
Another brunnette in her twenties is whispering to a blonde woman of about the same age as herself. The brunnette is absolutely beuatiful, her brown hair falling in soft waves. She wears a teal cardigan and a tan skirt that shows off her lithe, athletic body. The blonde woman beside her is dressed in a lavender cardigan, although she wears dark jeans. The two seem very interested in getting a better look at the bus stop; but the barricade prevents thier efforts.
Alex parks his car in the parking lot as close to the bus stop as available. As he steps out of the car, he slides on a pair of thin leather gloves that he pulled from the console. He wasn't about to leave fingerprints at a crime scene.
Once he and Rafe are near the edge of the crowd he pops his neck. "Try not to draw attention to yourself." The words aren't condescending or commanding. They are meant simply as a suggestion.
Surveying the crowd, Alex spies the Filapina and the brunette and blonde women. The one about to cry however draws his attention more than the others. Shedding tears? Do you know the late Specialist McCabe? Moving through the crowd he tries to be unobtrusive and steps up alongside the woman. "Did you know him well Ms?" Alex's tone is soft.
The teenage girl glances up at Alex, appearing slightly startled. "Yes, I knew Chris." She said after she glances at you for a moment. "I wouldn't say well. I moved to town recently and he was kind to me.
Rafe steps out of the car, and nods at Alex's advice. He grabs his bag and motions at the mall "I'm gonna head in there, I'll bring back a cup of coffee." He walks to the mall, keeping an eye out for camera's pointed at the bus stop and mall cops. The night watch might have seen something and talked to his coworkers about it, or he might have seen something on the camera's. If Rafe was lucky he could get access to the tapes, but it wasn't likely he thought.
"Not too well no. I was the military as well. When I heard about what happened I wanted to see for myself." What he said wasn't a lie. At least not completely. He was in the military. That said he wasn't here to be questioned by the girl. She was his lead.
"How did you know him, if you don't mind me asking?"
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