Chapter 5. A New Murder Scene

Jeremy Foster stepped out of his car and looked up at the towering skyscraper in front of him. He couldn’t believe he was back here after all these months. This building held so many memories, both good and bad. Memories of his rise to the top of the corporate world and memories of the child who had been killed because of his failure to follow standard protocols.

As he walked toward the entrance, he noticed a group of people gathered outside, their faces etched with worry and fear. Jeremy had seen that look before. He knew it meant something terrible had happened.

He approached the crowd and asked what was going on. A woman, tears streaming down her face, told him that there had been a murder in the building. Jeremy’s heart sank. He had a feeling that this was going to be more than just another case.

“Are you back?” Maria Hills made her way toward Jeremy with a cup of coffee.

“I guess,” Jeremy replied dryly.

“I am sorry about your grandfather,” she gave him a cup of coffee. “I heard he was a good man.”

“Thanks, Maria,” Jeremy said, taking a sip of the coffee. “It’s good to be back, but it’s not the reason I wanted.”

Maria nodded understandingly. “I heard about the child’s murder too. It’s all anyone can talk about since you left.”

Jeremy didn’t want to talk about the child, but he knew it was nearly impossible for him not to talk about it since it was an issue that had persisted for so long in his mind.

“I made a mistake,” Jeremy admitted. “I shouldn’t have done things the way I did.”

Maria listened intently, waiting for Jeremy to continue. He sighed heavily and continued, “I should have listened instead of trying to handle the situation myself. Maybe the child would still be alive if I had done that.”

Maria put a comforting hand on Jeremy’s shoulder, “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You did what you felt was right at that moment.”

Jeremy knew Maria was right, but it didn’t make him feel any better. He had let the guilt eat away at him for months, and he knew he needed to find closure. But right now, he had a murder case to solve, and he couldn’t let his emotions get in the way.

“Jeremy Foster is back from the wind,” Ethan Cross said with a level of mockery in his voice. “How does it feel to be back from the dark?”

Jeremy clenched his jaw, trying to keep his emotions in check. Ethan Cross was one of the detectives in the department who had never liked Jeremy, and he always found ways to belittle him.

But, still, Ethan was his partner.

“I don’t have time for your nonsense, Cross,” Jeremy replied, his voice sharp.

Ethan chuckled, “Always so serious, Foster. You should learn to lighten up a bit.”

Maria shot Ethan a disapproving look, “Ethan, we have work to do. This is not the time to talk about what is in the past.”

Ethan tried to hold himself from laughing, but it was hard for him not to mock Jeremy, especially at this point.

“Come on, man,” Jeremy raised his voice. “You need to let this go. We have a case to work on.”

As Jeremy made his way inside, he was immediately struck by the palpable tension in the air. Police officers were scattered around the area, questioning witnesses and collecting evidence. Taking careful steps to avoid interfering with the crime scene, Jeremy made his way over to the victim’s body. The young woman’s face was contorted with a mixture of fear and agony, eliciting a twinge of empathy in Jeremy’s heart. He couldn’t help but think of the unbearable pain and suffering that the victim had endured before her untimely death.

“What do we have in front of us?” Ethan asked Jeremy as he came closer to him.

Jeremy took a deep breath, trying to shake off the feeling of sadness that had overtaken him. He turned to Ethan, who had joined him beside the victim’s body.

“It looks like a robbery gone wrong,” Jeremy said, gesturing to the scattered items around the area. “The victim’s purse is missing, and there are signs of struggle all around. But, I am not hundred percent certain that it is a robbery incident, just to be clear.”

Ethan nodded in agreement, his eyes scanning the scene for any clues that might lead them to the killer.

“Do we have any leads?” Ethan asked, his voice low and serious.

Jeremy shook his head, “Not yet. We need to talk to witnesses and see if anyone saw anything suspicious.”

Ethan nodded and took out his notebook, ready to start taking down witness statements. As he began to approach a group of onlookers, Jeremy’s eyes fell on a man standing off to the side, watching the investigation with a guarded expression.

“Hey, Ethan,” Jeremy said, nudging his partner with his elbow. “Check out that guy over there. He’s been here since we arrived, and he looks like he’s trying to hide something.”

Ethan followed Jeremy’s gaze and saw the man standing in question. He nodded and made his way over to the man, introducing himself as a police officer and asking if he had seen anything out of the ordinary.

The man hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting around nervously, before finally admitting that he had seen someone suspicious lurking around the area earlier in the night.

“Can you describe the person you saw?” Ethan asked, his pen poised over his notebook.

The man shook his head, “I didn’t get a good look at his face, but I remember he was wearing a dark hoodie and baggy pants. And he looked like someone who was in his early twenties.”

Ethan thanked the man for his cooperation and turned to make his way back to Jeremy when he suddenly heard a commotion coming from the other side of the crime scene.

As he rushed over to investigate, Ethan saw a group of police officers surrounding a woman who was shouting and crying hysterically.

“That’s my daughter! That’s my daughter!” she screamed, pointing toward the victim’s body.