by BG Archer
It was then she noticed the blood, his shirt was burned up but there was no mistaking the multiple stab wounds along his chest, over half a dozen to his abdomen.
And he was only wearing a T-shirt, not the Oxford he had on minutes before. It took her a second to spot it, crumpled in a pile on his bed.
"Dan, Dan, can you hear me? You've got to stay awake. Dan!"
The voice was not Katie, but Gideon, who was somehow there, right beside her. Gideon’s voice urgent but strangely calm. There were other’s there too, all clamoring about. Gideon was at Dan’s side, and Katie stood up, moving to the bed again. Her attention still on Gideon, her hand reached into the shirt and found it. The drive was still there, and she easily slipped it into her pocket, never once letting her eyes leave the dying football star.
"Somebody call 911!" someone in the doorway cried.
Gideon for his part was leaning close to Dan, holding his hand tightly and his white T-shirt was completely soaked with the larger man's blood.
Dan could see her out of the corner of his eye. Dan's eyes began to burst with life when he saw her and it was like a marathon runner getting a second wind right before the last hundred meters of a race and making a break for it.
She leaned in, her feet dangling off his bed. Dan's eyes completely focused on her and he paused, not trying to speak for a moment, instead closing his eyes once, then opening them again.
"Sh… Sh… She… did… did… n didn’t…” Dan mumbled before coughing, blood drops splashing Katie's face.
His shaking got worst for a second and his eyes fluttered before the light left, all at once, like a flood light being smashed off.
His eyes were open, but there was no life left in them, the dullness like that of a plastic mannequin.
She moved without thinking about it, pushing past everyone in the hallway and taking the corner fast, rushing to the bathroom she had just been in and barely making it to the seat before throwing up. Even with her eyes closed, Katie could only see two images, flashing over and over in her head. One was what had just happened. Dan Reedman gutted and burned alive, and the other of her mother, strung up in the bedroom, blood everywhere.
That image was worse than what she had just witnessed, but watching the jock dying was a close second.
21
12:33AM, Sunday Oct 7th
“So you smelled the smoke and you went to investigate?”
Katie nodded as the plump officer scribbled something in his notebook.
"That's correct."
"And grabbed a pillow off the bed to help put him out?”
"Yeah."
"You have CPR training or something?"
"Yeah, I've been certified since I was fourteen and my mom was a doctor."
"I can smell some liquor on you. Have you been drinking?"
"It's a party, I'm sure you're just smelling it from other guests."
"You know the legal drinking age is twenty one. It says you’re only eighteen on your driving license. What would happen if I used breathalyzer on you right now? Do you want an MIP?"
"Not especially, but I would think that you would be here investigate a murder, not bust a college party."
The officer took a step back and folded his arms across his chest.
"I hope you're not telling me how to do my job, Miss. I'm just trying to establish a credible timeline of what happened here tonight."
"Well, you're doing a piss poor job of it. Who's the officer in charge here?"
"You're talking to me right now."
"And frankly I'd rather not. Who's in charge here? I know it's not you, Officer. I don’t deal with Boy Scouts, I deal with professionals.”
He opened his mouth to say something but at this point a women not wearing a uniform walked up to them, having overheard the conversation.
She was in her mid thirties and relatively small, with blonde hair chopped to ear length and blue eyes that saw a great deal wherever they looked. She wore jeans and a forest green blouse underneath a dark brown leather jacket, and dark red boots. Katie noticed them because she had lusted after a similar pair in one of her favorite clothing boutiques in the city.
"Everything okay over here?"
"Everything's fine, Detective Levitt," he said, his brow instantly furrowing seeing who had interrupted their conversation.
"Ah, a detective, somebody who I actually can talk to."
"Not if you're in detox tank for the night you can't," he growled.
Katie rolled her eyes at him.
"That's enough, Officer, I'll take it from here."
"But I…"
Levitt looked at him with a very pointed look and he shut up. He moved away from them both, muttering something under his breath, but Levitt ignored it and turned her eyes on Katie.
"Sorry about that. Am I correct in understanding that you were one of the first people to go to Mr. Reedman's aid?"
"Yeah. Now I know you're still just accessing the facts, but I want to be very clear that there was foul play involved."
Levitt appeared intrigued by what the younger women was saying and tilted her head to the side.
“How did you ever guess that? Was it possibly the fact he was stabbed a shit ton?”
“Oh, so you’re a funny one.”
“I try to do a set every other month at the comedy club,” Levitt said.
“Look, I saw him talking to somebody who did not belong at the party, and they were arguing. This was literally like five minutes before his death.”
Levitt looked at Katie differently, and she clicked her pen.
“Go on…”
“Older guy. Good shape, wearing a North Face jacket. They talked in a very heated manner, and Dan … Dan looked upset. Shaken by whatever the guy was telling him,” Katie said and closed her eyes. She was replaying the evening in her head, and flashed on Dan running up the stairs with a backpack. “There was another thing too. There was a man at the party who didn’t belong. He was older, Latino. He had bad scars on his face. He had a backpack at the party, blue and brown. The last time I saw Dan, he was running up the stairs to his room, carrying that same backpack. You can have somebody check, but I’m pretty sure that when we were in the bedroom I didn’t see a backpack. Also, after we called you guys I took some photos of the room, just because … Well, just because,” she said.
Katie held up her iPhone and showed the detective the pictures. Detective Levitt was writing down everything Katie said. She nodded at the pictures.
“I’ll send them to you guys of course,” Katie added.
”You a criminology major?"
"I'm a freshman."
Levitt was surprised by the answer but took it in stride.
“Okay, anything else?”
Katie started to shake her head, and then she snapped her fingers.
“Well, it could be nothing but.…”
“What is it?”
Katie described to the female detective seeing Dan arguing with Coach Kyle Briggs two weeks prior, and also having seen Briggs talking to Dan both earlier that night and the week prior.
While she talked a man around Levitt’s age dressed in a dark brown suit made his way over to them. He listened to Katie’s tale but kept his expression neutral.
"Have you seen any of these men since? Briggs, the man in the jacket, or the Latino man?” Levitt asked after Katie was done.
Katie shook her head. "No, I haven't seen any of them since I went upstairs to the bathroom.”
Levitt turned to the man in the suit, her expression, what is it?
"CSI's done an initial sweep of the building, but the murder weapon's no where to be found. We'd like to keep everyone here, but the problem is there are reports of some kids leaving as soon as we were called."
Levitt groaned. "We can't hold this many people here and search them, and a frat house is no place to question people. Just have local patrol finish interviewing people and let everyone go, we'll call in people who are relevant tomorrow. His gir
lfriend here?”
“Yeah, Amelia Wood. She’s around here somewhere sobbing.”
Tiffany walked up and hugged Katie. Her eyes were puffy red and despite everything, it felt good to have her friend hold her for a second. When she pulled away the Southern bell looked at both the detectives and frowned.
“My darling here better not be a suspect. She’s the one that found him after all.”
“Tiffany, it’s fine. I was just trying to help them out…”
“Still if you need it, I’ll have Daddy call in a lawyer so fast…”
Detective Levitt interrupted her by clearing her throat. “We aren’t looking at your friend as a suspect here, Tiffany. Relax.”
Tiffany’s back stiffened, but she did look relieved. “Okay. Well if it helps at all I heard you mentioned Amelia Wood? Dan’s girlfriend?”
Both detectives perked up.
“What about her?” detective Levitt asked.
“She couldn’t have done it. She was in the kitchen with me and Duncan Stokes. He’s one of of Dan’s teammates, and the three of us were in the kitchen when Katie started yelling. Amelia seemed pretty tipsy too.”
The two detectives exchanged a look and Levitt wrote something down in her notepad. “Good to know. Thanks.”
Levitt turned back to Katie.
"I think that will do for now. Don't be alarmed, but we'll probably want you to come in to the station in the next couple days and do a more thorough interview, considering you have a lot of evidence due to the nature of the event.”
"That's totally fine."
Levitt handed the redheaded teen a business card. Katie took it without looking at it.
"I'm sure I can get it from grumpy over there, but what was your name?"
"Katie Bell."
"You wouldn't happen to have any relation to Arthur Bell would you?"
Katie sighed. LEO’s usually recognized her last name. After all, Arthur was a “celebrity.”
"He's my father."
"Well, that explains a bit," Levitt said, making a note in her notebook. When she looked up her brow was furrowed. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Katie sighed. "Thanks. It's fine. Though nights like tonight bring up a few things, you know?"
“I’m sure warm fuzzy memories.”
“I knew a professional such as yourself would get it.”
There was an awkward silence between the two women, until Levitt spoke up. “ I'll give you call in a day or so, but if you think of anything else let me know."
"Of course."
Katie's phone started to ring and she glanced at the screen. Her father. Someone had alerted him of course, and he was making sure she was okay.
She looked up at the older women. "Speaking of my father..."
"Of course."
Katie turned her back and answered the phone, as she started to walk. Tiffany followed after her silently, and neither teen saw the two detectives watching them go.
“You think she’s involved?” Levitt’s partner asked her quietly.
Levitt didn’t turn away from the two girls fading into the night and shook her head a fraction of an inch. “I doubt it. Not seeing a motive here, where he seemed to be best friends with plenty of other people that are more likely.” She glanced at her partner. “Besides, if she did do it? If she’s half as smart as her father, we’d never catch her.”
He grunted. “I liked it better when it could just be the girlfriend.”
Levitt held up her hands. “Hey, I thought you’d be happy we get an actual interesting homicide around here. Besides, the holidays are right around the corner, we can use the overtime.”
22
Part Two: Puzzle Pieces
Sunday, Oct 7th
That evening Arthur took Katie out to an expensive Italian place they both loved in the city. Katie left around four thirty to beat traffic, which she later realized was pointless since everyone was trying to leave the city, not enter it. Total drive time was an hour and thirty, (she had a bit of a lead foot, but nothing that had ever gotten her in trouble) and she got there before her father.
Arthur showed up maybe ten minutes after Katie did wearing a charcoal pinstripe suit with a baby blue dress shirt and white tie. He'd had a haircut since she'd seen him and while he always kept it neat, there wasn't a hair out of place. There were always dark circles under his eyes, but they were much darker than the last time she had seen him. Her father’s appearance may have been immaculate, but Arthur wore an aura of haggardness almost as well as he wore his designer clothes.
They ate well and talked about multiple topics, including how school was going and the news that she was no longer dating Luke, and of course, Dan Reedman’s death. Arthur seemed concerned about this, but she shrugged it off and changed the subject to his work.
“Honey, we need to talk about this. You have to promise me to let the authorities do their jobs.”
Katie raised an eyebrow. “That’s what I’m waiting for, Dad. I’m not getting involved.”
“You mean just like how you didn’t get involved in high school right?”
Katie held up her hands like she didn’t know what he was talking about and then took a sip of water.
“I seriously have no clue what you are talking about.”
“The mascot incident? Or how about the time with the mugger? And lest we all forget the beach house incident.”
Katie batted her eyes at her father. “Daddy, you of all people know that to become a well-rounded adult you have to experience life. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to experience that.”
“You don’t have to go play amateur detective though.”
“From what I recall, I cleared all those cases. I don’t know what’s so ‘amateur’ about that.”
“This time it’s different, sweetie. This time it’s an actual murderer. Let the local detectives do their job.”
Katie folded her arms across her chest and said, “I’m happy to, as long as they actually do it.”
“When do you go in to talk to them?”
“I have an interview with the detectives tomorrow.”
“You want me to be there with you?”
“I’ll be fine. How’s your thing?”
He frowned and didn't want to really get into it. Except the truth of the matter was the last thing he wanted to deal with was the absolutely hideous report he had spent most of the day writing.
"I just think whoever did this just conveniently set it up to kill again when they wanted to. The first two victims are too similar to a Snow crime scene to just be a coincidence. There has to be more going on and the only thing I can see is someone is covering their tracks."
"Could it have been someone not at the club at all? You guys obviously exhausted your leads there."
"I would say it's a possibility but there's no way they could have known to frame Seaborn. Also … There's something I left out of the report and…"
Katie looked at her father more closely as he paused to take a sip of his Zinfandel.
"You visited him again didn't you." It wasn't a question.
"How did you know?"
"Oh please, Dad. I know when you do. You may never tell me about it and I appreciate it, but I know. I'd tell you to stop doing that to yourself, stop picking at that scab, but I know it would be pointless, wouldn't it?"
Arthur smiled at his daughter. She did know him well.
"I appreciate the gesture anyway."
"So what about visiting the bastard?"
"It was the same day I got called in, he said something along the lines of have fun today … but the way he said it, it's like he knew what was coming."
"Couldn't he just be playing more head games like he always does?"
"I'd say yes, but with the first victim looking so much like one of his scenes, I have my suspicions. I'm not the only one either. Agent Fields is also suspicious, and of course since I'm the role model, I have to be the one to put her back on the leash."
"That must be painful for you."
"Exhaustingly so. Tell me more about school. What's your favorite class?"
"Honestly, Dad, I love the general idea of higher education more than the actual classes so far. The freedom of not having to go every day, although of course I do, the information in the text book, that's all good. The way the course structure is laid out though? So far, it leaves a lot to be desired."
"You know if it's too easy for you, I'm sure it's not too late to switch for winter semester to one of the other schools you got into…"
"Dad, forget about it. We are not having this conversation again okay? I'm here for four years, no if’s, ands, or buts about it."
Arthur put up his hands. He knew better than to try to argue with his daughter about the subject, though it had taken him a while to figure that particular facet out.
"Whatever you wish, it's your decision."
Katie smiled. "Thanks for remembering that.”
She didn't mean for it to sound condescending even if it was a little bit. He didn't mind, she was clearly under more stress than she was willing to let on.
They had dessert after dinner was done, walking the two blocks down the street to their favorite ice cream shop where Arthur had a scoop of coffee ice cream in a cup and Katie had mint chocolate chip in a sugar cone.
He shook his head as he watched her mow away at her double scoop as they walked down the street. They were in a okay area of the city as they walked, and turned left to cut through a park and sit on a bench. Katie looked over at the swing sets that were lit by a street lamp. The light flickered on and off, probably from a faulty bulb. She had gone here often in high school. In fact she had smoked her first cigarette sitting on those very swings when she was fourteen. At the time Katie had been trying to impress a boy, but for the life of her in that moment she couldn't remember his name.
"It's amazing you can eat all the crap you do and look like that," Arthur said, clearly amused by his professionally athletically fit daughter.
"Running five miles multiple days a week does have it's benefits. I learned that from you, remember?"
