The Death in the Bathroom

The alarm rings, waking up Joe Davidson from a deep slumber. It’s still dark out but with 12 years under his belt, Joe knows anything can happen at this time of the day and has in the past. He just finished a big case, and this was his first morning not being awake before the alarm. He readies himself for the day, then heads out into the misty morning air. Coffee in hand, he parks his vehicle and enters the homicide office section. With no fresh cases at the moment, Joe takes this time to finish up some paperwork that has been on the back burner for some time.

****

“Baby, I’m heading out to the store ok.”

“Ok dear, be careful out there. Some people don’t know how to drive. It feels like someone is out to kill me every time I leave the house.”

“I’ll be okay, hun. I’ll be back soon.”

If only that was true I wouldn’t have to do it myself. Soon, I’ll have everything I’ve ever wanted, once the bitch is dead. This shopping trip will be so much fun. I’ll have all the items that I need to complete my mission.

****

Liam Duncan has been calling his friend Isabella Webb for the past hour without a sign of life. Finally, he drove over to see what was going on. He knew from the past that Isabella’s husband could be very difficult and physically abusive. He’s seen the marks and told Isabella she didn’t deserve the abuse but you can’t change someone’s mind, they have to do it themselves. Lately, she has been talking about it more and there seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Liam arrived at Isabella’s in record time, parked his car and headed for the front door. Knocking hard, he noticed the door moved under the weight of his fist.

“Strange, she always has the door locked! Isabella, are you home? Isabella!”

Nothing. He got the worst feeling that something bad happened and retreated from the front door, shutting it behind him, and called 911.

****

Officer Kent was the first officer that arrived at Isabella’s home that she shared with her husband George Webb.

“Sir, are you the one that called for help?”

“Yes, I’m Liam, Isabella’s best friend. I’ve been trying to call her for the last couple of hours and I have received no answer, so I came over to check on her. I knocked on the door and it opened. She never leaves the door open. I called out, but I heard nothing. I closed the door behind me as I left and called you.”

“Okay, sir, wait right here and I’ll secure the home.”

“Thank you, I hope nothing is wrong with her.”

As he entered the house he could smell someone that he knew but couldn’t place it. Going from one room to another, he finally entered the master bathroom where the smell was the worst.

“Shit!”

Laying on the floor was a woman in a pool of blood. She looked like she’s stabbed repeatedly and had her throat sliced from ear to ear. Her beautiful blonde hair now tinted red by the blood and a major head wound she displayed.

Making his way back to the front door, he put the call into the lead detective of homicide.

****

Suddenly Joe’s cell rings.

“Joe Davidson,” he says.

“Hey Joe, it’s officer Kent. We received a phone call about a possible missing person, but it turns out to be a homicide. Could you come down to 12 Beach avenue and look at the scene?”

“Sure thing, I’ll head out in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Joe, this one is messy.”

Ten minutes later Joe arrives at the scene, parking his car, he notices the number of cars. It didn't look like a missing person for sure. Officer Kent waved to Joe to the front of the house and brought him up to speed.

“So you found her in the bathroom?”

“Yes, I was the first one on the scene. I touched nothing, I just went back the way I came in and secured the scene.”

From what Joe could tell, it was a vicious beating and looked personal. From the main lobby, Sarah the CSI tech said she found a club. Both men made their way to her. She collects a single fingerprint from the main door that could be from the killer. With this information, Joe headed back to homicide with Isabella’s best friend Liam for some questioning.

****

Once back in headquarters I place Liam into one of the interrogation rooms. With a notebook in hand, he starts the interview.

“What is your relationship like with Isabella?”

“We’re best friends, well we were. He lowers his voice as if remembering all over again about the tremendous loss.”

“Who would have done this to her?”

“No one everyone loved Isabella, I know that she and George were having a hard time.”

“Who?”

“Oh, sorry, George is Isabella’s husband. They have been fighting more lately and Isabella was going to leave him because he is physically abusive towards her. I’ve seen the bruise myself.”

“Do you know where he is right now?”

“Probably at work. He works in construction. I can get you the number if you like?”

“Thank you, that would be great.”

A knock at the door during an interview can only mean one thing. There is a lead. Joe excuses himself and leaves the room. Sarah, the tech, is standing on the other side, looking confused.

“I got a hit on the fingerprints and it came back to your boy in the interview room, says Sarah.”

“I’ll ask him how it got there but I have a feeling he has been at that house a few times so anything is possible.”

Also, we found bloody clothes in a garbage can in the garage. In the bag was a receipt. I’ll send you the information. Hopefully, it’s a better clue.

Reentering the room where Liam waits patiently, Joe gives him the bad news.

“I’m sorry to ask, but when was the last time you saw Isabella?”

“It’s been a week or two. George gets jealous if I’m there too long, so I just call or we meet outside the house. Why?”

“We found your fingerprints at the scene. How would they have gotten there?”

"I’ve been in the house before, I could have touched anywhere since I’ve gone and helped Isabella around the house cleaning and packing. That’s probably why. Did you find anyone else's or just my prints?"

“There was only one set, so it points to you.”

“I couldn’t have done it. I was with a friend all morning until I started calling Isabella around an hour before you guys found her.”

“Okay, I must check with that friend to confirm your alibi.”

“No problem, do you have a piece of paper?”

It wasn’t hard to get a hold of Liam’s friend Bobby and confirm his an alibi and it was solid. Now Joe was back to where he started. The only lead was the husband who is missing, and the bloody clothes with the receipt. It was after 5 pm. So where was he?

“Hey, Joe, a man named George is here to speak to you.”

“Bring him over.”

Joe shook George’s hand and gave him his condolences for the death of his wife.

“I can’t believe she’s gone. I saw her this morning before work and she was fine,” tears started falling from his watery eyes.

“Do you know anyone that would want to hurt her?”

Just at that moment, Liam was being escorted by another cop to another room when George spotted him.

"It was him," yelled George, as he lunged towards Liam.

“Get him out of here Joe yells.”

Joe questioned everything he has heard and seen from the beginning.

Am I losing my touch? Am I not able to figure out who did it? I must start all over and start again.

****

Standing at the whiteboard, he goes through the facts. George was web to Isabella for a few years. She had a male best friend named Liam. Liam has a solid alibi for the time frame of the murder. He was with his boyfriend, Bobby. Liam said that George was physically abusive towards Isabella and, after speaking to the coroner, we confirmed that she sustained injuries of being in an abusive relationship. Everything is leading to George. I need to check on the receipt. After calling Square K they could send a picture of the guy checking out of the store at the time it printed the receipt. Not surprised to see it was George.

****

Joe tries to contact George by phone but he is unsuccessful, with nothing left to do he speeds over to the house to question him again.

Just as Joe parks in the driveway George exits the house with a suitcase like he is fleeing.

“Hey George, Can I speak to you for a second?

“Sorry sir, but I have nothing else to say to you. You have all the information you need and if you need more, please contact my lawyer.”

“No, George, we need to talk now.”

With that, George takes a pistol out of his coat pocket.

“No, we don’t! I have the right to walk away without being harassed by the cops. Now please move or I must protect myself.”

“I know that you killed your wife, I just can’t figure out why?”
“You don’t know shit!”

“You’re the one that told me you blamed Liam saying it was him, but he had a solid alibi.” You didn’t. All you said was you went to work. You said nothing about a shopping trip. You left the receipt in a bag with bloody clothes outside in the garbage.

“Fine! Yes, I did it. You’ll never take me alive.”

He put the pistol to his temple and pulled the trigger.

****

Joe was standing at the whiteboard again looking at all the clues to the case. The killer was dead, and we could give no justice for Isabella and those who loved her dearly. Removing all the case notes and placing them in a box labelled “Case Closed”.

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