Ravenshire

Chapter Two

After sitting for a while, calling her a second time, and she still hadn't shown up, he had decided to take a look around the building and outside the door to check if there was any form of break in or forced entry.

He was regretting breaking the door now, because every form of evidence he could have gotten from there had gone, but considering the fact that the door had been bolted from inside, it meant if she had really been murdered the killer didn't go through the door or the killer was someone she knew, and he was still inside, or he had killed her and found another way out.

His head was spinning and he didn't know what to conclude. He wasn't going into the building alone, so there was no way he was going to confirm if the killer was there or not till Sage arrived. He was done with checking the surroundings and he hadn't found anything suspicious.

There was nothing left for him to do, and the day was breaking. Sage said she was close by, but 10 minutes had passed and she wasn't there yet. He was about calling her a third time, when he saw her pull into the driveway.

Stepping out of her car, Sage smiled wearily at Gavin, she could see the anger lines starting to form on his forehead, and she wasn't ready for any form of questioning or query. But there was something more than anger edged across his eyebrow, she also noticed the worry marks and maybe fear. Walking up to him, she stretched her hand for a handshake.

“I am sorry, I am late, I came here as soon as I could”, Sage said, trying to ease the tension.

They were more than just colleagues, but the situation at hand and his face told her it wasn't the right time to say something funny. Gavin looked at her outstretched hand, taking it into his palm, taking a quick scan at her body. She looked tired, and he almost felt sorry for her, the anger he had felt earlier starting to dissipate gradually, bringing his eyes back to her face, smiling gently, then leading her to the direction of the house, his hand leaving hers.

She looked at the broken door in shock, looking at Gavin for an explanation, but he shook his head towards the house. She understood, whatever happened inside would explain the situation of the door.

Taking a step inside, she scanned the environment, wondering what she was looking for. The drapes were drawn, and the lights were out, so it was dark inside. The tiny light coming through the door didn't go far, so it was difficult for her to see. Turning to look at Gavin once more, she turned on her flash.

She felt the tiny gasps escape her lips. She didn't want to believe it, there was no way the pretty innocent looking girl lying on the couch was dead,

“She's not really dead right, it's all a prank, you both are pulling my legs right”, Sage said, her voice quivering, looking at Gavin but getting no response.

She moved closer to the body, putting her palm on the girl's forehead, then beneath her nose, then searched for a pulse. Gavin had called her, everything told her that the girl was dead, but she was hoping, somehow, the cold body and no breath sign would be irrelevant, and she would find a pulse, even if it was tiny, an indication that the young lady wasn't dead and there was an explanation for her lying cold motionless.

“She's dead Sage”, Gavin whispered into her ears, bringing her back to reality.

She looked at him briefly before sinking to the floor, putting her head in between her knees and rocking gently. She stayed in that position for 5 min, Gavin watching her and saying nothing.

Pulling herself together, she headed to the other part of the house, searching each room for evidence and to make sure there was nobody in the house, she entered the kitchen, saw the leftover pasta and dirty dishes, heating up the pasta, taking a bite, thrashing the rest and cleaning the dishes,

Gavin watching her quietly.

It was after she was done, she called the ambulance, closed the door, they were going to decide what to do about the broken door later and. It was sitting in her car that she realized that she had tampered with possible evidence, but it couldn't be murder, nothing in the house had shown she was murdered, and Ravenshire was a town where murder didn't happen.

She wondered why Gavin hadn't stopped or said anything while she was so busy trying to clean the place, believing it was what Emily would have wanted, groaning softly as she drove out of the driveway.

Gavin had followed the ambulance, to ensure there was no physical mark on the body that they had missed.

They were going to meet at the station after he was done to decide the next course of action. She hoped she wouldn't have to be the one to break the news to her parents. Thinking back, she realized she hadn't seen any form or sign of Emily living with a family member or anybody at all, but it wasn't much of an issue if she was a legal adult. It was normal in Ravenshire and most times, getting a house here wasn't so hard. She wondered who could have called Gavin though,

“Who told him there was a body, how had he known?”.

This was something they would talk about when he got back. And she really hoped Emily's death had been peaceful, and she hadn't been murdered.

Groaning again, she focused her attention on the road, not paying attention to her surroundings. She was starting to have a headache, and she wanted to get to the station and rest a bit before Gavin reached there.

She was thinking again, the headache hadn't subsided at all, she was wondering if it had to do with waking up early or if it was how she had started the day.

How was Ravenshire going to react to the news or were they going to keep it secret? It wasn't that people didn't die, young healthy looking people didn't just die. She wondered who had seen Emily last and if she had been okay, how was she going to go round asking questions without raising suspicion, was she and Gavin going to tell the whole Sheriff sheriffs department or were they going to do a private investigation on their own. She groaned again, standing up to move a bit.

The department was quiet and no one had come, glancing at her watch, checking the time. It was eight in the morning but she felt like she had done two days at once without resting.

She groaned again, catching herself, she needed to stop groaning, she didn't think she could stay there with the silence eating at her.

She went to grab the keys to her car and the building when she heard noise coming from the doorside.