Untitled (any ideas?)

Untitled

He was spending yet another night sitting alone at home. Why couldn’t he be more social, maybe go out, and talk to more people? Every night is the same old thing, sitting at home, looking at case files, maybe watching a basketball game, or Law and Order on TV. He always found it utterly frightening how realistic they make most of those cases. That is one thing he would know about, he worked with detectives on a daily basis, and why wouldn’t he, he was one. Detective Derek Krumland working the seventh precinct in Seattle, Washington. He always thought women went crazy for that type of guy. That sort of strong, smart, tough guy that was the usual stereotype of a detective. So if this was true, which he thought it most likely was, then what was he doing wrong? Shouldn’t he be out with someone? Or at least out having fun with his friends. Of course, almost all of his friends were involved with a woman, so where would they rather be, out with their girl or wasting their time with him? He was a pathetic subset of a human being. He knew it; all of his friends knew it, he bet that even people on the street knew it too. He needed to get out of this slump, go meet a girl. A nice girl, pretty, but not pretty enough that she would fool around on him, great personality, good sense of humor…that’s not too much to ask is it? Were his standards to high? Is that why he could never keep a woman around? He sure as hell wasn't going to sit around and live his life like this any longer, but he had no clue how it could stop. This is the exact same routine he had gone through every day ever since he was nine years old. What do other guys do? They always seem to go to bars, or clubs, messing with four or five girls at a time. He couldn’t do that; all those girls always seemed so fake, so unreal. He wanted a real woman, he knew he would never find her in a bar. He yawned. I guess I’ll sleep on it, figure something out in the morning. He thought, as he subconsciously shuffled to his bedroom. He crawled into bed and started to think as he curled up under the covers, silently drifting off to a peaceful slumber. He dreamed of her that night. That perfect woman he had been fantasizing about for so long. Except this time, he saw her perfectly. Her perfect shape, her beautiful eyes, and bright smile, he knew he had to find her.

Good morning Seattle, this is everyone’s favorite morning DJ to listen to…in…well, in the morning. You are listening to the Marconi show. I would be Marconi, and I am here with my immensely overweight co-host who ironically we call Tiny. It is now officially seven o-clock, and for those of you still in bed, I have only one thing to say to you…what the hell are you doing? Get your ass out of bed! I have been here since 5:30, and I’m the laziest person alive. So get out of bed and go to work, or school, or whatever…just get up. What is this world coming to? We’re all lazy. So anyway, Tiny and I decided that, to wake you up, we would play you some Audioslave, and remember to listen for…

“Holy shit, did he say seven? I am going to be so late!” Derek cried out as he leapt out of bed and ran for the bathroom. Quickly turning on the shower, he stripped down and hastily got in, washing his hair as fast as he possibly could. He got out and as soon as he finished drying himself he promptly got dressed. Nice slacks, a nice shirt, and a tie. As he walked out of his apartment, he grabbed his jacket and his keys. He swiftly turned the corner, and that’s when it hit him, literally. Derek hit something, then collided with the stair rail, falling to the ground. As he was declining to the floor, he noticed a set of keys flying through the air, at first he thought they were his, but then he caught sight of the pink Hello Kitty key chain that was attached, and realized they couldn’t be his. He heard a thump on the stair in front of him, and was momentarily confused. Being a detective, he, of course, began to consider several different possibilities for what had just occurred in the last twenty seconds. Before he could get too far on his first theory, the object that made the thump noise began to stir.

“I am so sorry, I guess I just wasn’t paying attention, it was a complete accident. Besides, you’ve got nothing on me, no motive and no intent,” she giggled as she stood up.

“Don’t blame yourself, it was all my fault, I was in way too much of a hurry and I didn’t see you. So that was some pretty fancy talk there, you wouldn’t happen to be a lawyer would you?” he said changing the subject.

“Actually, yes, I just finished law school last year, I was hoping I could open my own firm with a couple friends of mine, but so far that hasn’t worked out. Oh, I guess I haven’t introduced myself yet, Amy Blackwood.”

“Derek Krumland,” he replied.

“So Derek, what is it that you do exactly?” she questioned him.

“Well, actually, I’m a detective,” he retorted proudly.

“Really? Where is it that you work?” she asked.

“I work at the seventh precinct, downtown.”

“You’re the guy from the papers? Detective Krumland? The guy that solved that unsolvable homicide? The law firm I work at prosecuted that. That was amazing I must say,” she replied, very impressed.

“Yeah?” he inquired, basking in the compliments for just a moment. “Oh, speaking of the precinct, I need to be there in…six minutes,” he said, looking at his watch. “Do you think I could get your number and maybe give you a call sometime,” he paused and then proceeded. “Maybe I could even take you out to dinner tonight, sort of as an I’m sorry for what happened here.”

“Are you asking me out?” she replied with a huge grin on her face.

“You could say that.”

She took a piece of paper and a pen out of her purse and scribbled her number down on it. She handed it to him as she asked, “Can you meet me down in the lobby at seven?” Derek nodded. “If anything comes up at the precinct, give me a call.” She turned around and slowly walked away. Derek stood there for a minute, totally dumbfounded. She turned around one last time to look at him. As she waved, she accompanied it with a wink, then disappeared around the corner. That was her, that was the girl he dreamed about just the night before. She was the perfect girl, he knew it.

He stumbled, dazed, out the lobby door and onto the street, opening his car door and sliding in. He had to call Paul, tell him what happened. Paul had been his best friend for fifteen years; he would be excited for Derek. He plucked his cell phone out of his pocket, dialed Paul’s cell phone number, and waited for him to answer. It rang once. Rang twice. Paul picked up on the third ring.

“Hey Derek! What’s happening? Shouldn’t you, like, be at the office? Fo’ shizzle!” Derek suppressed a laugh.

“Yeah, I should be, but I’m running a little late, I should be there in about fifteen minutes, but I had to tell you, the most amazing thing happened to me this morning and you will never guess!” Derek voiced excitedly.

“So how many guesses do I get?” Paul asked.

“Let’s just make it an even three.”

“You got a raise?” he questioned.

“God, one could only hope, it’s so hard to get a raise at that place, but no, try again,” Derek smirked.

“Well that sucks,” Paul said sympathetically. “Your mother finally died?”

“I’ve been praying, but she’s still in perfect health.”

“Ooh! I know this! You have been diagnosed with Ebola, and your about to crack and bleed out!” he quoted from his favorite movie BioDome staring Polly Shore. He always said it. After a while it gets rather annoying. Derek retorted with another line from the same movie, just to see what he would say.

“Nope, I’ve got a boner, and I want to put it in your ear,” Derek said, they both burst out laughing.

“Dude, I totally should have seen that coming, I mean, this is you we’re talking about,” Paul said, he was still laughing.

“You know, you really should have,” he replied.

“That was great man, I give you major props for that. Now on to more important stuff, isn’t there something you wanted to tell me?”

“We shall discuss that matter in the briefest of moments, but first, I believe it’s gravely important that I relay this top secret information to you,” Derek said as sincerely as was humanly possible at the time.

“Sure cracker, what’s crack-a-lackin’?”

“Paul,” he said slowly, making it sound important. “You’re a white boy from the suburbs, it’s best you start acting, dressing, and talking like one. You’re disgracing me, you’re disgracing your family, and you’re disgracing your momma,” Derek smiled.

“Thanks for the advice,” Paul said sarcastically. “Now what did you want to tell me? Stop leaving me in suspense, I’m dying to know!” Paul yelled excitedly, obviously anxious to hear his news.

“Okay you ready for this?” Derek heard Paul getting situated in his desk. “So I was walking out of my apartment this morning, jacket and keys in hand, and as I was turning the corner to go down the stairs, she hit me.” Derek said as he drifted off into a dreamland. He saw her. Her perfect hair, her enticing eyes, her beautiful face. She was perfect.

“Awesome dude! Wait, what hit you?” Paul asked, momentarily confused.

“She did,” he said, still in his daydream.

“Dude, who is she?”

“Amy Blackwood. She lives in my building, and she’s a lawyer. She wants to open her own firm with a couple friends from law school. She’s beautiful, and smart, and funny, she’s everything anyone could ever ask for in a girl, ever. She’s perfect. I asked her out to dinner and she said yes,” he sighed heavily.

“So how much did you pay her?” Paul asked jokingly.

“What?”

“How long did it take you to blow her up?”

Why would Paul even need to joke like that? Does he find it funny that Derek had met a girl? He never had trouble getting dates; he was good looking young, he was only 27, in shape, great personality, good sense of humor, all around perfect guy to be with. It’s just the small problem of them not wanting to stick around for too long. He hadn’t dated a girl for more than two weeks since about ninth grade. It wasn’t his fault, he knew it, there was just something about him that just wasn’t too attractive to women. Derek could tell that Amy was different, he could see it in the way she looked at him. He saw something in her eyes, something he hadn’t seen in any other girl before.

“Why the hell do you have to be like that? I could get a girl with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back. Unlike some people I know who have been single since the beginning of time,” he yelled, suddenly becoming very defensive.

“Whoa, dude, bro, homie, lighten up a bit, I was just messing around, Paul retorted, eyes wide with surprise.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry dude, I guess I really do like her. I mean, more than I thought,” he apologized.

“After one accidental meeting on the stairs?” Paul questioned.

“I guess so,” Derek replied.

“Oh dude, that’s awesome, so when do I get to meet her?”

“I guess it depends on how everything goes tonight.”

“Well call me when it’s all over, I want all the details, alright?”

“Will do,” Derek replied as he hung up.

Five minutes later he reached the office. He parked his car in his special personalized spot and walked into the building. He took the stairs two at a time to the second level of the structure. After waving to a group of people, he proceeded to his office, sat down and turned on his computer. First thing on his agenda, tell the boss to buy new modems for the precinct. They’ve had these computers since they, meaning Derek and his friend Vince had started working at the precinct. Vince was an experienced detective, he had seventeen years on Derek, they called him the best in the business, but they had never experienced detective Krumland. For the first year or two, before he finished his detective training, Vince just took him on calls and kind of used him as a consultant for all the cases, due to the fact that Derek couldn’t legally investigate cases by himself. After he finished his training Vince started handing him more and more cases to work. He moved up from robberies, to bank fraud, to the Special Victims, then finally to homicide, which is where he currently resided. Although Derek might have to manage the caseload by himself pretty soon, Vince is running for district office, and he thinks he’ll get in too. Derek knows that, and he’s fully prepared to hand out cases, and take over this precinct in the instance of Vince’s departure.

He dug his hands deep into his pockets as he waited for is computer to boot up. He brought them out a few seconds later to type in his password, and in his left hand was clutched a piece of paper, which he unfolded to revealed Amy’s number. 206 555 7219. Now he had to decide, was he desperate, or was it a sign, Derek knew he wasn’t about to admit that he was desperate. Should he call her? He couldn’t quite decide. He guessed that his heart made the decision for him, because before you knew it, he had the phone in his hand and he was almost done dialing her number. After he had finished, he held the receiver up to his ear. She answered on the second ring.

“Hey, I’m glad you called, we still on for tonight?” she asked outright.

“Hey,” he answered, slightly baffled. “How did you know it was me?”

“I have caller ID on my phone here, the number came up as Seattle Police precinct, so I kind of thought it was probably you,” she explained.

“Now it makes more sense. I just had a little down time at work, and I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do than talk to you.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet, thank you!” Derek heard her sigh on the other end. Then she paused and Derek heard a muffled voice on the other end. “Hey, I’m so sorry about this, but I have a late trial I have to go to, it’s one of those last minute things that always mess up your schedule, could we have lunch instead?”

“Sure, I can swing by your office about noon. You work at Fishers and Laidlaw, don’t you?” he asked.
“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Your firm has prosecuted a couple of our cases. I knew I had heard your name before, so I looked through a few recent case files and stumbled upon your name; Fishers and Laidlaw.”

“Nice job detective, I’ll see you at lunch,” she smirked, and then hung up.

“Hey Krumland? Krumland. Krumland!” It was Vince. Derek snapped out of his daydream and looked at him. “We got a call from night watch, I want you and the rookie to take it, show him the ropes okay? It’s his first homicide.”

“Whatever you say boss, I’ll grab him on the way out,” he said as he took the piece of paper with all the information they got from night watch. He walked out his office door. “Lincoln? Eric, I’m taking you along on a homicide, you think your ready?” he nodded. “Alright, we’re taking my car.”

“So, do you want to fill me in?” Eric asked.

“DOA, 17 year old Caucasian female, Emily Brinkle, mother said she was on her way to school.”

“What was the cause of death?”

“The police say it was most likely the twelve stab wounds in her back,” Derek explained, slightly annoyed.

“Oh,” was all he replied with. They arrived at the crime scene. It was swarming with people. Journalists, cops, civilians, all trying to get a better look. Lincoln and Krumland crossed the crime scene tape and sauntered over to the body to take a look and talk to the cops about what happened. Derek strolled over to the four uniforms standing around the body and Eric followed him. The medical examiner was with them.

“So Doc, cause of death?” Derek asked.

“Not sure, but I don’t think she was stabbed to death, these are post-mortem wounds, which means they were inflicted after she was dead,” she said, looking at Lincoln to make sure he understood. “We’re thinking that was just a cover up, to shield the real crime. You don’t have an objections on us taking the body now do you?”

“Nope, have fun with your autopsy doctor,” Derek said as he walked away. “So someone’s been tampering with my crime scene.” He looked at Lincoln. “This is your first homicide isn’t it?” he nodded. “Okay, so the first thing we’re going to do is question the victims parents. Now they are suspects, but you don’t want them to know that, so you must act as sympathetic as possible. Say things like ‘I know this is hard for you,’ or ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ that kind of thing, you got it?”

Eric nodded yet again, “I think so,”

“Alright, let’s go.”

They got back in the car, and drove the half-mile to the victim’s house. Derek knocked on the door and waited for an answer. When there was none after twenty seconds, and no sign of life inside the house, Derek signaled to Lincoln to leave a note and a business card taped to the door.