Click for Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3
Part 4: The Forensics Report
By the time Detective Shane had finished his interviews, the sun was already starting to rise over the eastern horizon. The media had long since retired back to their stations so that they could put their stories together for the morning news, the paper boy was out on his bike making his deliveries, and several of the neighbors were piling into their cars to start their days. Most people took their time walking down their driveways to try and scope out what was going on at Thompson’s place, including the neighbor directly adjacent to Thompson’s lot. He had his dog leashed up and ready for a walk, but didn’t seem to be making much progress. With the large German Shepherd tugging on the leash in one direction, the K9’s master was holding firm along the fence separating his property from the crime scene. He suddenly drew a glance from Detective Shane, which made him uneasy, and instinctively he reached in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. It was a fresh pack, and he struggled with the plastic packaging, giving Detective Shane enough time to hurry over and catch him off guard.
“Excuse me, sir. Are you Jake Thompson’s neighbor?” Shane already knew the answer to that question.
“Uh, yeah. That’s right. Pete Tucker.” He extended his hand to greet Shane who reciprocated the pleasantries. Tucker finally got his cigarette lit, and with his first drag the rush of nicotine through his veins put him at ease.
“Did you happen to see or hear anything last night Mr. Tucker? There was a homicide next door and Mr. Thompson was stabbed and killed.”
“All I heard was the loud music and shouting. At one point, at around 11:00 pm, when the shouting got particularly loud I peeked out my window and saw Jake outside arguing with a tough guy. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it sounded like they were arguing over money. It looked like they were about to get into a full-on brawl, and that’s when I called the cops to handle the noise disturbance. The guy left soon after, before the cops got there, and that’s when I shut the blinds, took a sleeping pill, and put in my ear plugs. I don’t know anything after that cause I was asleep the rest of the night.” Tucker explained.
“Did you recognize the guy Jake was arguing with? Have you ever seen him before?” Shane showed Mr. Tucker pictures of the people at the party to see if he recognized any of them.
“No, I don’t see the guy. I’ve never seen him before.” Shane took down the description of the mysterious person. Tucker was getting fidgety and glanced at the watch on his right wrist. “I need to get ready for work, are we done here?”
“Yes, thank you Mr. Tucker.” And with that, Shane had another lead.
Just as Detective Shane had finished his conversation with Pete Tucker, his cell phone rang. It was Mickey, calling in with the coroner’s report. “I’ll be right over, Mickey. Wilson, wrap things up here and we’ll meet back at the office.” Shane gave his instructions, and hopped in his car and sped off to the morgue.
“Come take a look here…” Mickey wasted no time. “You see these stab wounds over on his back were caused by a single edged blade, as you can see by the ’v’ shaped pattern on only one side of the wound. They were inflicted with such force that the entire length of the blade penetrated the victim, and the hilt of the weapon left characteristic contusions around the stab wounds. Also, the defensive wounds on the victim’s forearms and palms show that there was a little struggle, but it didn’t take long for the victim to be subdued. No traces of skin cells were found under the victim’s nails, so wasn’t able to attack back.
“Now take a look at the cut across his neck. It is consistent with the same weapon used before, but the directionality shows that a left-handed individual inflicted the fatal wound. From the incision across the jugular vein and carotid arteries, the victim bled out. Cause of death was exsanguination due to multiple stab wounds and a single incision across the victim’s neck, and the manner of death was homicide.
“Oh, and hairs were collected from the victim’s clothing and from within the wounds. They are off at trace for analysis.”
Shane crossed the quad between the morgue to his office, and he was happy to see Wilson waiting for him with some news.
“I got something here for you Detective.” Wilson was beaming. “It’s Thompson’s file. It turns out that our victim wasn’t the model citizen after all. He’s been booked for assault on two occasions, once for lewd conduct, and cited… uh… 9 times in the last 3 months for public disturbance. And guess who called in most of those offenses?” Shane wasn’t in the mood for games, “Pete Tucker. The neighbor.” Shane wasn’t surprised. “I got more for you too: Thompson’s phone records. It turns out that several calls were placed to Thompson on the night of his murder from Off the Beaten Track. A little research uncovered that it’s an off-track betting club, the same one that Thompson had considerable debt with.”
“I think it’s time we paid a little visit to our creditor. You coming?” Shane egged Wilson on, and the two of them headed out.
Follow the case and try to figure out who did it. At the conclusion of the mystery, submit your guess, and if you’re right, you’ll be entered into a draw for great prizes!
