The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 3*

"Oh, good the babysitters are here." The derogative comment had been made with a soft voice but was loud enough for everyone to hear, specifically Sam and Hank who had just followed captain Beesley into the building. The captain glanced around the room seeing all the heads looking in every possible direction except for the one that he and the two detectives were standing in. He remained silent but gestured for the guys to follow him as he left the main area and headed down a corridor stopping by one of the doors on its side.

"It seems certain people have made themselves scarce, which is unfortunate; I was hoping to get the introductions out of the way. The voice you did hear was Dustin Moorland, Sarah Brookes' partner. Well, I say partner very vaguely, they generally work alone but if either of them feels they need back up or a second mind then they will team up.

“Anyway, this is the office we have set up for you guys, hopefully with everything you need. Computer terminal for each of you, a phone line with phones for each of you as well, printer, and the filing cabinet in the corner contains everything we have on the case both original and current. Oh, and there are two sets of keys on the desk, one for each of the apartments we have obtained for you. There's also a key to the squad car we have made available for you to use, and we have also installed a GPS to help you get around until you start finding your way around. Both the station and the apartment blocks are pre-programmed into it, so a little less work for you guys. Anything else you need just give me a shout ok?" the captain explained to them.

"Well," Hank answered, looking around the room, "could sure do with a coffee machine in here." The captain began to laugh but the expression on Sam’s face told him this was not a good idea and that this was in fact a serious request.

"Well, there is a room with a fridge and a few supplies in it just down the hall and to the left, it’s pretty much the first door we passed on the way here but sure, I'll see what I can do," he told him, slowly backing away towards the door.

"Okay, let's get to work then," Sam said, making his way over to the filing cabinet.

"Sure, but first I'm gonna check out those supplies he mentioned," Hank responded before disappearing back into the corridor. "Good afternoon," Hank said with a smile upon finding a woman exiting the room he was heading for. She was holding onto a tray with what looked like two coffees and a handful of biscuits.

"Hmmmphh," came the response as the woman looked down her nose at the detective. "We are more than capable of handling our own murder case you know. We don't need no big city types coming in to hold our hands and help us through it," she snapped before heading off in the opposite direction.

"Ok then," Hank muttered to himself as he entered what looked like a small kitchen and opened up the cupboard next to the fridge. "You have got to be kidding me," he said out loud, looking on in disbelief after finding two jars of freeze-dried instant coffee and a bag of sugar; those were the only contents. He looked around the room and searched the remaining cupboards but only found a few snacks, mostly with post-it notes with people's names stuck onto them. He let out a large sigh and shook his head, not wanting to touch the stuff they called coffee, and somewhat reluctantly made himself a drink and headed back to the office where Sam was scratching his head.

"Instant!" He said angrily "Can you believe that? Instant! They are making me drink instant,” he cried out, slamming the cup down so hard he almost spilled it. "Oh, and I think I might have just met detective Brookes."

"Okay," Sam drawled out before turning around "And?"

"Yeah," Hank nodded, "this is gonna fun, " he said sarcastically. Sam laughed very briefly before turning back to the filing cabinet

"We have other problems, this,” Sam said, waving his hand at the metal, two drawer cabinet, “is a total mess. There's no way this has been kept up like this. There's no system or anything. It's beyond a joke there's just no…," he trailed off shaking his head and throwing his arms onto the air letting out a frustrated grunt.

"A little gift from our welcoming committee huh?" Hank suggested before taking a sip of his drink. "Oh my word, no this will never do. This is awful, I swear if he doesn't sort out a proper coffee pot by the morning, I am taking the day off and going to get one myself."

Sam smiled at his partner. "As for the welcome gift, yeah I think you're right. I can't make any sense out of any of this," he said, glaring at the disorganized filing cabinet. The guys spent a couple of very long hours rummaging through all the paperwork trying to arrange it all into some sort of system but barely making a dent into it.

"Well, I think I've had enough for one day," Sam said, sounding annoyed and frustrated. "Let's go see what these apartments are like." Sam popped his head into the captain’s office to inform him of their plans. The captain then helped them to unload their luggage from the back of his car and showed them to the vehicle he had arranged for them to use.

"Here's my card; any problems let me know. Have a good night you two and I look forward to seeing you in the morning," he told them as Hank got into the driver’s seat and Sam fired up the GPS.

"Saved destinations,” Sam said, looking at the two locations, “here we go the station or home. Guess that was pretty straightforward," he said as he selected the home option. The guys waved off the captain and headed off in the direction they were given. "Looks like a nice place," Sam said, gazing out of the passenger window at the scenery passing by. "Maybe things are finally picking up," he said again, allowing himself a small subtle smile "I don't think there's gonna be any apartment blocks down here though," he added as the car turned into a wide street lined with some rather fancy and very expensive looking homes on either side.

"You have reached your destination," the GPS chirped up.

Hank pulled over and parked up on the roadside looking around, his eyes narrowing as he saw nothing that even looked like apartments."What were you saying about things picking up?" he asked his partner. Sam closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the headrest. "Grr, technology huh?" Hank added trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, technology,” Sam groaned out, which Hank picked up on.

"Ok, so we are in Sycamore Drive," Hank said as he watched Sam tapping away on the screen "What are we looking for?"

Sam looked at the keys they had been given and checked to see the tag and what it read. Sure enough, he had his answer. "Sycamore apartments," he answered. "Our welcoming party strikes again," he muttered.

"I see, so let's put that into here and see what happens," Hank told him as Sam was still fiddling with the GPS. "s**t, address not found, that's not good."

"Are we really phoning the captain already?" Sam asked.

"Well, we could call a cab and then follow it," Hank suggested.

"You know the number?" Sam returned.

"No, but Google will," Hank added, waving his cell phone.

"True but how long will that take to arrive?" Sam responded sounding rather fed up.

"Ok call him then, I guess we're pretty stuck," Hank admitted. Sam dialed the number on the card and explained the situation they found themselves in.

"I'm so sorry, usually they are a really good bunch," the captain explained before providing the details they required. "I know it was put in correctly because I was there when it was entered, we even put in the zip code."

"Thanks, captain. Hopefully, we can get over this hurdle soon and move things forward," Sam answered as the car once again headed off in the direction given by the GPS. "Wait, stop here," Sam cried out suddenly.

"What’s wrong?" Hank asked him

"We just passed a liquor store," Sam told him. "And after a day like today I need a drink!"