Just One Witness

In the Beginning

No body, no evidence, no witness and the autopsy report gone. This case took an unexpected turn and William was about to lose his mind because ‘who would be daring enough to do this?’. Beads of sweat were visible on his bald head as he wiped away the strains on his forehead and neck, his brooding became more obvious as he continuously tapped his feet. ‘Who could have done this?’, he continuously asked himself. The Police had visited the witness’ home but found nothing out of the ordinary except that she wasn’t there. She wasn’t at the safe house nor was she taking her calls. He had asked her to run to the safe house if she felt threatened, and had asked Elise to check if she was there but she wasn’t and the court session was already 30 minutes in.

He wished he had super powers to put the missing puzzles together but wishful thinking could do nothing. 

And Volka…he sat so calmly, it was like nothing had happened. This man had been accused of murdering a college student in cold blood and all evidence which could put him behind bars was gone. Never in the history of William’s career as a Prosecutor had he ever come across such an incident, at most were tampered evidence, kidn*pped witnesses and most common was witnesses changing their testimony owing to several reasons but no one had ever stolen a body at the morgue. Never. No personal grudges against Volka but he seemed too peaceful in the midst of the chaos going on in the courtroom. 

Six months earlier, morning joggers from Beal College, Maine had on an early Thursday morning found the body of 19 year old Sarah Drew lying by the Rackle roadside, fifteen minutes walk away from the gates of the school. Her face white as starch, mouth agape and though dead her makeup looked fresh. Daunting. The shocked joggers immediately dialled 911 and in two minutes cops and an ambulance had arrived at the scene. 

While detectives and cops swung into action - some took pictures of the crime scene, another analysed the scene, the body and collected samples and evidence at the scene and Detective Sam gathered the joggers-all boys for questioning.

Questioning the joggers had begun. ‘They were members of the school’s hockey team, all six of them. None of them touched the body. The route in question was their usual start route and they had been jogging through this path for the past 3 months in preparation for the annual Beal sport’s festival. Two of the six joggers recognized Sarah right away as they took the same classes as her, she wasn’t a violent person and no one knew her to be into drugs.’ The detective thanked them and let them be on their way. Their morning had been ruined as they turned around and headed back to the school while crime scene tapes decorated the crime scene.

The Sarah Drew case sat waiting on William’s deck that fateful monday. It was his district and he had handled a couple successful murder cases which was why Sterling had designated this particular case to him. William walked into CH&S’ Law firm, his well ironed black suit perfectly fitted, dark shades and well polished clack shoes to match his jacket while nursing a headache, the result of last night’s drinking game with Oliver and Luca. Being a successful black partner in an almost all white law firm had its perks. He got to get a couple days off after winning a three year long divorce suit for a new client, top that with full custody of the client’s child; and successfully returned to work with a headache. It was worth it.

Elevator doors opened, and he walked through the corridor in the direction of his office, flashing a smile and throwing a light nod at the lawyers in the corridor, the “Congratulations” poured in. He got to his office. “Morning sir, congratulations on the win. Mr Sterling brought in a new case file…” That’s Serena, his secretary giving him a briefing on the new case Sterling mentioned over the weekend as he walked to his seat. He barely heard the rest of what she said, pulling his seat “Please get me a cup of coffee Serena and some water”, “Yes sir”, she replied and turned towards the door”

Now seated, he took off his glasses, carefully placed it on the desk; and his jacket, gently placed it on his seat’s backrest and laid his head on his desk for what seemed to be three minutes. The musk smell of the furniture spray lightly hit his nostrils and for a moment felt calming till the sound of the opening door and Serena’s heels broke that moment. She gently placed the cup of coffee and bottled water on his desk and the air in the room made sure he immediately smelled it. Good coffee. He loved it, yet he didn’t lift his head immediately to take the cup, he needed a few minutes to calm his throbbing headache and Serena on sensing that he needed some time walked out the door to her desk.

Some thirty minutes later and a subsided headache, he drank the entire bottle of water while asking Serena to warm up his coffee over the intercom. She came in, took the cup and left. He opened the case file on his desk, reading through the witness report first before turning to the police report. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a murder case then the third paragraph…”victim found face up, mouth agape, no signs of a struggle as she laid with her bun in place and make up freshly made, however, her back was slit open, spine broken and back tied together with a Victorian style tied ribbon and a ‘thank you’ note.” He immediately rushed to look at the pictures. The front view indeed looked clean, no struggle signs or marks, no blood, no bruise. Nothing. But the back was dramatic. 

The slit was a straight line, revealing inner flesh hugging tightly to the spine and dried blood on the wound. Whoever did this must have a lot of experience using a knife and didn’t do it that thursday. A science project specimen gone awry? A surgeon maybe? His thoughts ran across surgeons, butchers, he didn’t exclude freak and unintentional killers. He had seen a lot of slit throats and stabs but nothing like this. ‘Was this a message? Revenge? Gang war? Worse still, the DNA result came back negative. Almost like the body had been washed clean before being dumped by the roadside.

Back to the reports, no items were found on the victim except the dress she was in. A little black dress that barely covered her knee. Looking closer, he noticed an almost faded bruise right before her ankle. Her feet were probably chained or an injury maybe. The case lacked a lot of information and could possibly be forgotten if there was no concrete evidence or major suspects. 

There was no autopsy report in the file, he placed a call to the Coroner’s office and was informed that the result would be ready the next day. Although it was easily assumed that the victim died from the huge slit on her back, as no hyman could have survived that but what if she died from other causes and the killer only slit her back as a distraction or a message still. But, this killer’s style had only drawn more attention to the crime. His focus was broken by the desk phone ringing, he answered on the second ring “Hello…yes I’m going through it…I’ll be with you in a couple minutes”, it was Sterling requesting to see him over the phone.

He dropped the phone, exhaled deeply and picked up his jacket. He stood up and headed for Sterling’s office. 

This case was a headliner - Murder of a popular student with a clean record from an average family. What William didn’t know was that it was ‘The Headliner’. Closing the door behind him in Sterling’s office, Sterling gestured to him to take a seat. To the new lawyers at CH&S firm, an invitation to Sterling’s office meant the case was a loss and they had to start negotiations or that it was complicated and had to strategize, for William he was going to find out soon.

Sterling offered him a shot of whisky which he accepted, shot in hand he took a fast glimpse of the office that had once belonged to Sterling's father. CH&S Law Firm, formerly C&H partners, belonged to Henry Altight, one of the original founders of the firm. Him and his late wife Cecil, both partners at different law firms founded the law firm and when Henry retired to manage his Alzheimers, Sterling stepped in, growing the firm to its current state. On the firm’s 15th year anniversary, he added his initials to the name - afterall it was family business.

The furniture in the office was as old as the building itself but looked new still and was just as strong, adjacent the window was a large framed picture of Sterling on his graduation from Harvard, all smiles. One would think he always smiled.

Way before William started working at CH&S, he had been a fan of Sterling’s courtroom detailedness and how confident his clients were in him.To be a lawyer of that calibre took years and 24 year old William did not mind giving it, that was six years ago. Now he was seated in the office of the same man he had hoped to be like years back about to receive orders and advice on what turn to take regarding this case without a lead. - You can say wishes come through. 

No major suspects, the victim was clean of fingerprints, no foreign DNA yet, these made the case all the more intriguing and obviously pre-planned. “She’s a star cheerleader and straight A student” Sterling said, “from a point of jealousy, one could start a fight and maybe add some stabs but almost ripping a human in two and thrashing her body by the roadside seems like a cannivore that’s lost interest in its meal. Wouldn't you say?” His face, always devoid of emotion, you couldn’t tell when he was upset or happy, which was why he was dubbed “Space”.

William nodded once and said “that sounds likely, but in this case DNA’s not turned up yet, not even that of an animal. Besides, we are talking humans here, there hasn’t been any case of an animal attack in years except someone getting bit by a defensive dog which was impounded as punishment and finally settling out of court.” Sterling had a soft spot for William’s jokes.

“Honestly, I think we are dealing with a freak show here. I’ve never seen anything like this. I already sent word to the DA’s office to track her cell phone although it wasn’t at the crime scene. Towers might pick up a signal that will lead us to something. Also there was no missing person’s report put out for her, she may be a free lifer or an introvert who reappears after a submerge.” “And the makeup?” Sterling asked. “I’m not sure,” William shrugged. “Corona says the make-up areas came back clean, whatever was used in applying it was new. Autopsy should come in tomorrow, hoping for a lead.”

“Hmm, any idea the brand applied? That could narrow us to stores where the make-up was purchased. I know these women put a whole lot of stuff on their faces but I also know they’re made differently. I’ve heard my wife talk about the ingredients in hers when shopping for her makeup, might come in handy,” Sterling mentioned. William noted that.

He wasn’t sure what to look out for. In four years of active practice, he felt like a novice. Whoever committed the crime didn’t want to be found, intentionally. Killers always left a clue, could be a piece of clothing during the struggle, a personal item while fleeing the crime scene, a strand of hair, finger/footprints on the victim but this one, this killer swept the crime scene and victim clean of any evidence. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow, he was excited like a drought waiting on the rain. The autopsy would have something, he was sure of that, what he wasn’t sure of was if it would be enough to factor as a lead. 

He got up, and asked for Sterling’s permission, stating that he had a lot to work on before noon. Permission granted and he gulped the whisky shot in one drink, dropped the shot glass on the desk, thanked Sterling and left. 

Something good was coming, he could feel it.

He decides to get some lunch, rings Serena to contact the restaurant down the street - Tristy  for today’s menu. He’ll have Mac n Cheese and Cobb salad, hadn’t had home food in a while and he needed all the strength he could get to work on the case, his order would be here in 20 minutes. He couldn’t stop thinking about it just as he couldn’t stop thinking about this case. Waiting on the DA’s office to find something - his phone rings - speak about the devil, they traced her phone number since they couldn’t find her phone, a cell tower in Bangor  picked up a signal from the phone 4 days ago around Trapp road which was within the city’s forest and policemen were already on their way to scout the area. 

If a good lead came from this, then the case just got started. More information about the victim was offered too. ‘19year old Sarah, a student of Biomedical science, pretty smart and popular. The only child of a school teacher and a doctor. Parents live in Oregon but she moved to Maine for college, lives outside school with a roommate, Shalon, the same age. Both single, members of the science club and good grade students. No police record. Sarah was the outgoing cheerleader and star student while Shalon is more of an introvert. Shalon said she went out a week ago for a party and never came back, she didn’t think it was anything serious as it had happened before which was why she didn’t put out a missing person’s report’. Not a strange life for a 19 year old university student.

William would pay Shalon a visit after getting feedback from the Trapp road search team, for now, he was going to devour his freshly made lunch from Tristy. At least he could count on that.

The search team had arrived at Trapp road some minutes earlier after mapping out the forest. They would search for anything that might hold reasonable DNA connected to the body. With cops, search dogs and investigators swarmed in, searching through forest floors and trees. Two hours gone and nothing turned up, some took a break while the others switched sides, a bark in the distance and all eyes lit up for something. It was Roger, one of the search dogs. He was barking at a red cup on the floor, a cop walked close and saw what seemed to be embers of a fire, ‘seemed like a party in the woods’ but the cleanup wasn’t so good. There were cigarette stubs, three red cups - one found by Roger and the other two blown away a couple feet off, some paper that looked like a wrapper and a new flask covered in leaves. An investigator came over, she wore gloves, picked the said items and put them in a transparent zip bag. The embers were put in another bag and sealed. More men walked towards the area where Roger had found those items, north of the forest was a river and a slope led to it. Some officers scanned the area while the rest scanned other areas.

Tristy meals always made him feel better, there was originality in the taste. Although slightly pricey, every meal was worth it and served fast. He was almost through with his meal. The cobb salad brought memories of his Ma, she was an excellent cook. She’d have guests over and make different meals during the weekend,beef jerky, cobb salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, collard greens, his favorite black eyed peas and fried chicken (southern style) - and lots more; He wasn’t much of a cook himself but he could make a couple dishes, though not as good Ma’s. He always told her she’d make a lot of money if she decided to open a restaurant, she’d burst into laughter and never opened her own restaurant till she passed away from cancer last year. He missed her a lot, she was one of the reasons he became a lawyer. 

She fought for and protected the weak, taught him to be a God-fearing man and made sure to whoop to him whenever he defaulted or seemed to be in bad company. He was glad she got to see him become a fine lawyer and fight for the oppressed of society because he took all his cases seriously. He hoped she was fine wherever she was now. Good memories.

On the slope, some officers gently slid to the riverside to check for any helpful clue but nothing came up. Some asked locals around if they had seen or heard any party in the woods recently or any new faces but no one saw anything and after 8 full hours of searching they returned to their station at 8pm. The investigators sent the samples they found at the woods for a match with the body and while that was going on a team in Maine questioned Shalon and the morning joggers, while another in Oregon questioned her parents. The boys maintained that they were out for their usual morning jog when they came across her body and alerted the police; Shalon also maintained that she left for a party a week ago and she didn’t put out a missing person’s report because she thought it was one of Sarah’s long week outings. 

When asked where the deceased attended the party, Shalon said the deceased didn’t give her an exact address, only that it was in New Hampshire and Josh was taking her. Joshua Kirstone, was Sarah’s friend - Also a Beal College student, he wasn’t a star student like Sarah but he did good, he was a campus DJ and played in the school’s football team. The police immediately reached out to Beal College for more information on Joshua. He lived on campus, had contacted a friend four days ago but was yet to return from the said party. His line kept ringing but there was no response. Back to Tower tracing…