Evangeline took several photos of the corpse before she closed the body bag and told one of her assistants to bring the body back to the city and into the fridge as quickly as possible. Water corpses tended to decompose at an accelerated speed once they were back on land, and if Evangeline wanted to preserve any evidence, she had to be quick.
George watched as the ATV with the corpse started in the direction of Charleston. About ten minutes later, two more ATVs appeared to transport the other two bodies while CSI combed through the area. It was getting dark, the whole ordeal having eaten up the entire day, and high-power beams were set up, the generators disturbing the peace of the area with their loud humming. Berta was less than happy and watched all the proceedings like a hawk, sometimes bellowing at people to be more careful. When the last body was on its way to the precinct, Andi and George decided it was time to head there as well. They walked back, using two flashlights they had borrowed from CSI. Once they were out of earshot, Andi started the mind game they always played when confronted with a new case. It was meant to force them to look at the facts without considering whatever Andi had already gained from his little informants, thus making the build-up of the case as solid and plausible as possible before they started following clues nobody else knew about.
“What do you think?”
George gathered his thoughts. “Three older men, bound with chains and drowned in a lake hardly deep and big enough to take the bodies. According to Berta there are no alligators here because the lake doesn’t offer enough prey. It’s information everybody could easily access by simply looking at the website of the foundation. According to Evangeline, the corpses haven’t been in the water for long, four days max, and their clothes suggest they weren’t poor. Some kind of drug deal gone wrong? But we don’t have any big drug wars going on at the moment. Revenge? Weapon dealing? The possibilities are endless. I’d say it’s most likely something shady. How did they get there? Why weren’t their ankles bound as well? Did somebody force them into the water?”
It was a long list of questions, one that would hopefully shorten once Evangeline was done with the autopsies. Andi made a humming sound in the back of his throat. He always did that when he was going through options. George found it a little unnerving how well he knew his partner after such a short amount of time—with his previous partners, it had taken him a lot longer to get to know them even half as well. In most cases, he had been gone before he reached this level of familiarity. He blamed Andi’sgeschenk. Because his partner needed extra care, George was a lot more attentive when it came to his quirks and behavioral patterns.
“Whatever it is, it’s big.”
“I agree. Any thoughts?”
“Apart from what you said? No. I’m curious what Evangeline is going to find out.”
“Yeah, let’s hope she comes up with some substantial clues. It would be nice to work with some scientifically proven evidence for a change.”
Andi mock gasped. “Are you saying you don’t like the evidence I provide?”
“I love the evidence you provide, especially when it helps us catch a killer. What I don’t like is writing reports filled with the equivalent of fairy dust and rainbows.”
“I resent that. It’s good for your creativity and teaches you to think outside the box.” There was a hint of laughter in Andi’s voice. He loved teasing George about his admittedly strict take on rules and the proper handling of things. Andi was much more relaxed when it came to writing reports and stuff, though George had to admit his partner was never sloppy. Just casual.
“I’m doing my best, and I dare say I’ve already gotten better.”
“That you have.” All amusement was gone from Andi’s voice, leaving behind an earnestness George didn’t know what to make of. They marched on in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
AT THEprecinct, Chief Norris was already awaiting them, her arms crossed in front of her upper body. She didn’t look happy, and George wasn’t sure if it was the late hour—it was now after ten in the evening—the fact they had brought in three corpses, or general annoyance with Andi and, by extension, George.
“Detectives, it seems your knack for finding trouble is getting stronger every month.” It sounded like an accusation. As usual, Andi ignored the chief completely and left it to George to deal with her.
“We weren’t actively looking, I can assure you. All we wanted was some peace and quiet.”
“Instead, you got three corpses.”
“Yes.” George had found out it was best to let Chief Norris butt her head against a polite but firm wall until she gave up. Since she usually went home around six, she ran out of steam quickly.
“I’m expecting your reports tomorrow.”
“Of course, Chief.” George gave her a brief nod.
With furrowed brows, the chief left for her office. George followed Andi to their desks, where his partner had already fired up his PC.
“Let’s write this stupid report and then go home. There’s not much we can do until Evangeline is done with the autopsies assuming the chief is handing the case to us.”
Which was a fifty-fifty chance. After the spectacular solve and busting of the human trafficking ring in spring, Chief Norris had used their excellent performance as an excuse to saddle them with what she thought of as the nastiest cases that came up, obviously secretly hoping they would either fail or make a mistake that gave her an excuse to get rid of Andi. Depending on who the victims were and how thin evidence was, she would decide who got the case. Chief Norris wasn’t exactly subtle in her endeavors to establish other detectives as the stars of Charleston PD by giving them the slam-dunk cases, but had yet to be successful. Thanks to Andi’sgeschenk, they had cracked cases other detectives would have never been able to solve, had even made it look easy—which it was for Andi—and much to Chief Norris’s anger and George’s secret delight, everybody knew it. Her tactics weren’t working, and it made her crankier every day. George was waiting for the moment when she finally exploded, already preparing himself for war with the chief because he was determined not to take any shit from her. He sat down at his desk, started his own PC, and got ready to spin a tale of plausibility.
3. A New Case
THE NEXTmorning, it took Andi only one look into Chief Norris’s thunderous expression to know they had the case. She didn’t even wait until they had taken off their jackets before she beckoned them into her office. George rolled his eyes and put on his pleasant face, a mask he wore a lot when he had to deal with people. Sometimes Andi wished he had such a mask himself, one that would help him get along better with the human population in general. Then he thought about how much energy it cost to keep such a façade going and was glad he’d given up on being amiable long ago.
In her office, Chief Norris motioned them to sit before she cut right to the chase, not wasting any time with fake pleasantries, which was the one thing Andi could appreciate about her. They didn’t like each other, they both had acknowledged it, so there was no need to play pretend.
“Detectives, I just got a call from the mayor. Dr. Melcourt was able to identify the three victims, they were upstanding citizens of Charleston, and she wants the PD’s best detectives on the case, which is you.”
Andi wondered how much it had cost her to say those words and had no shame enjoying her discomfort.
“I’m sure it’s superfluous to stress how important it is for you to be successful and finding the killer or killers as soon as possible.” Now there was a hint of glee in her voice, telling Andi she had no problem with this high-profile case going south as long as she could blame him and George. What a stupid cow. Andi kept his mouth shut, though, letting George do the talking, which was the more peaceful option for everybody involved.
