The Fallen and the Elect
Page 26
Chapter 10
Detectives Green and Matthews suspected they'd be called in when the televised event ended abruptly. Their instincts were correct; they received the call to head to Crestview and investigate. Follow-up reports mentioned there was only one death, the circumstances reversed from their previous investigation with multiple deaths and one witness. They were relieved not to have to deal with a mass death situation again. Regardless, when they arrived, Detective Green, even more than Detective Matthews, hoped there were additional detectives dispatched. Chaos and disorder fueled the intensity of activity. The crime scene investigators already arrived and were trying to calm down the funeral attendees still excited about the event. Dr. McKay, arriving shortly before the two policemen, had already started to examine the remains. Other detectives were busy questioning witnesses. Many of them pointed to a rip in the carpet extending the entire length of the center aisle of the chapel. It began where the angel allegedly stood up to where the decedent lay covered in a white cloth. The carpet tear exposed a symmetrical crack in the underlying concrete floor matching the same ripped pattern.
Once they arrived, Detective Green briefed all the detectives that he would take lead in the investigation. Detective Green decided he and Detective Matthews would work with the doctor, who was writing notes while kneeling next to the body, instead of questioning witnesses to the death.
“Here we are again Doc. What's going on?” Detective Green asked.
“No church snoops leashed to your sides?” Dr. McKay responded.
“Naw, at least not yet.”
“Well, for all intents, this appears to be just a heart attack. Nothing weird is sticking out like last week, regardless of the stories,” Dr. McKay noted.
“Regardless of what stories?” Detective Matthews probed.
“Listening to some of the stories these witnesses are telling your partners, they’re mentioning some bizarre stuff. They’re saying the angel stared down our dead friend, who looked like he got scared, decided to go, and was getting ready to leave when the angel supposedly struck its sword on the floor and the ground shook, a gold fire raced down the aisle, and the shaking knocked our buddy here to the ground.”
“So that’s how they explain that rip in the carpet down the aisle and the crack underneath?” Detective Matthews questioned not initially realizing the carpet and floor anomaly entering into the chapel.
“What do you think it was?” Detective Green inquired.
“Look, whatever was going on in here, our dead friend here probably decided to leave. He was already agitated from the funeral and felt the small earthquake and the foundation of the building shifting and cracking the floor, all of this scared him to death, literally. Simple heart attack,” Dr. McKay surmised, noticing Detective Matthews leisurely step away from him and Detective Green and stroll up to the front of the chapel area.
Detective Green noticed his partner's actions. When he arrived where the angel was said to have appeared, Detective Matthews got down on his hands and knees and began sniffing. The bustling noise of the police investigators and witnesses talking muted, whereas everyone was mystified watching the detective sweep across multiple areas of the floor on all fours. A handful thought he had gone insane. Detective Green was the only one not confused by his partner’s actions.
“Don't worry, he does that from time to time,” Detective Green reassured to Dr. McKay without revealing the intentions or mental state of his partner. Detective Matthews returned to them and hesitantly nodded, not sure he could be certain with all the fresh flowers in place perfuming the air. He did think a sweet aroma might’ve saturated the carpet.
“Do we know who he is?” Detective Matthews asked, directing his question toward the victim.
“From what we found out, some sort of researcher at a local biomedical company, Waterfall Medical Research, a subsidiary of Everest.”
“Everest? Didn't a lot of victims at the Thomson and Thomson event work at Everest?”
Dr. McKay mulled over Detective Matthews' question before answering. “Just a coincidence. Those do happen you know.”
Detective Matthews contemplated Dr. McKay's answer more than Detective Green did. He considered that there was more in common between the two events, an alleged angel and resulting fatalities. There was the one striking difference, here, the one fatality died of a purported heart attack versus the multitude a week ago dying under mysterious circumstances yet to be determined.
“And what about the ones who allegedly got sunburned? How’d that happen?” Detective Matthews continued.
Dr. McKay smirked. “Come on, if you think an angel did that, get real. They probably all did a spray-on before coming to the funeral.”
“So you don't believe what you saw on TV?” Detective Green asked.
“That explains it right there. TV. Hell, reality shows are prompted and manipulated to increase ratings. Think about the things over the years that the news stations did to improve viewership. Same thing here, this is just a simple heart attack. Anyway, I didn’t get a chance to watch it. Someone else told me about it.”
The cadre of detectives spent several hours interviewing the people who’d been present at the funeral home. Some witnessed the doctor grab his chest during the final minutes of the manifestation. Detective Green deduced the decedent suffered a heart attack, with fright the most reasonable cause. Others mentioned they were too interested in the alleged heavenly creature to see the doctor. They described it as immensely beautiful yet intensely terrifying at the same time. The only unique information was from the children who said the angel told them its name, Gishmael. The teens and adults attending the service claimed they only heard haunting, unintelligible sounds. Detective Matthews was one of the only detectives writing the details from the children down on his notepad. The other investigators discounted their observations. Receiving the preliminary results from the CSIs, Detective Green decided he would release the initial official report citing the cause of death as a heart attack pending further results from the autopsy. No other detectives challenged the findings, especially as nothing evidentiary pointed to the contrary.
Detective Green’s cell phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Lieutenant Wilson. The first thought in Detective Green’s mind was that, due to the strange circumstances surrounding the current death, the FBI would be called back in. Answering the call, and after a few minutes discussing the circumstances of the case with his superior, Detective Green was informed that he and his partner would file their report with the intention that the police department would no longer investigate the case. Natural causes would be the explanation unless something blatantly showed premeditation or maliciousness. Detective Green concurred. He was then told the Church would be executing an independent investigation from this point on.