The Beginning of the End

The Beginning of the End 12

Detective Aspin got out of her car and walked over to where the fallen officer still lay covered with a sheet, she lifted it and examined the body. “Damn,” she said to no one in particular, “Call the Chief and let him know what is going on. If we don’t there will be hell to pay in the morning.” One of the officers did as she said and walked to his car to make the call. She stood and looked around, annoyed with the still growing crowd. ‘What happened to my sleepy little town,’ she thought to herself, she stopped one of the passing officers and instructed him to push the crowd back. She looked around one more time, she could have sworn she saw Mr. Katz, but if she had he was gone now, so she filed it away in the back of her mind. She wasn’t sure why, or how, but her gut told her that he was more involved in this than he let on and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

“Detective,” a voice from behind her sounded and she turned around, “The Chief wasn’t happy about the call, but said since you were already on scene there was no point in him coming down. He said that he would want a full report from you first thing in the morning.” She nodded and the officer left to go assist with taping off the area. ‘f*****g Chief,’ she thought, ‘can’t even be bothered to appear when one of his own men has been murdered. I really hope this town wakes up and votes him out in the next election.’ Pushing her annoyance aside she went to meet with the M.E. who had just shown up, “Well, Doc., it seams you may have to call in an assistant if this keeps up much longer.” The M.E. looked at her, concern written across his face, “Yes,” he agreed, “After the school this morning and now this. I’m not sure my small morgue can handle the volume let alone the case load I am now under.” He shook his head as he lifted the sheet to get a look at the body. “It is you I am afraid that will feel the reproductions of this well before I do. This town is not used to murders, just the few elderly passing on each year.” She knew he was right, by morning this would be all over town and the locals will be storming city hall and the police station demanding action and results.  As she walked back to her car the thought of seeing Katz earlier popped back into her mind, she looked at her watch. ’10:30, he should still be awake,’ she thought so she put it in drive and pulled away, heading to his house to see what he had been up to that evening.

Patrick was halfway up the stairs when he heard a knock at the door, he looked at the wall clock noting the time, then called out, “Be right there.” When he opened the door, he was surprised to see the detective standing there, “Well, hello Detective Aspin, what brings you around at this time of the evening?” She looked at him for a second before answering, “I was wondering what you were doing earlier this evening,” she asked unsure how to proceed now that she was face to face with him. “Well, I did some meditating earlier, then went to the dinner for a quick bite to eat. I was just on my way up stairs to take a bath. Mind if I ask why you want to know?” Now fighting to regain her thoughts and feelings she was at a loss of words, mentally she rallied herself, “There was an incident earlier this evening,” she began and he cut in, “Are you talking about the dead officer?” He was so blunt about it that she was set back on her heels for a second, “Um, yes, I thought I saw you there when I first arrived, but you didn’t seam to hang around very long.” He looked at her wondering if there was a question or not and responded anyways, “Yes I, like others from the dinner, rushed out to see what was going on. I stood around for a few minutes before seeing you arrive. I knew you would already have your hands full, and I had nothing to offer so I came home.” She took mental notes of his steady cadence and unchanging facial expressions and was not convinced that he was telling her the whole truth, but she would have to worry about that at a later date. As of right now he was not a suspect, but then again there were no suspects. “Well, I am sorry for bothering you Mr. Katz, I’ll be going now and let you get on with your evening,” she said as she started to turn and leave. “Good night, Detective he said, and she heard the door click shut behind her. ‘The Chief won’t be happy in the morning,’ she thought to herself as she climbed back into her car, ‘Not happy at all.’