Maya went to her cabin, rushed to see the status of all her ongoing cases. 4 were in trial, and other 4 were in investigation-in-progress status. She managed a few hours of paperwork and applications in the office and created her To-Do list of the day.
She received coordinates from the office and directions on the new case, then she followed the coordinates to the crime scene. It was a two and a half hours drive to the location.
When she finally arrived, the NYPD Detective Bureau's Forensic Investigations Division, Crime Scene Unit (CSU), was already at the scene. Maya is there to assist the investigation side by side with the investigating supervisor.
Maya stood in the distance, staring at the crime scene from a few feet away. She had been a homicide detective for a few years now, and had seen her fair share of murder scenes, but this one is different. There is something unnatural about it, something that was marking all the red flag boxes in her investigative instincts’ dictionary.
The victim is a young woman; her body was on the ground, her limbs twisted at odd angles in a pool of her own blood. Victim’s eyes were open and dread was the only thing that could be seen in them. Her body looked like it froze in a permanent expression of terror.
Maya took a deep breath and approached the investigation scene. She showed her batch to the on duty officer and stepped under the yellow tape.
The scene is chaotic, with numerous officers investigating, taking notes, and some snapping pictures of the evidence and victim. Maya walks close to take a better look at the body. She could see that the woman had been brutally murdered, her throat slashed, and there were clear signs of physical abuse and blunt trauma. This is not something that just happens without a past footprint. From the way the body was there in the open, rather than a murder of revenge, this looked like a murder of motive to Maya. For some reason, she was thinking it looked like a Contract killing or a Human sacrifice.
Maya went to discuss this with Daniel, the investigating supervisor, who shared some basic details with her. He mentioned, “The murder setting looks like a serial killing. But we have no clues to conclude that. The victim is Martha Jones. She has been an attorney for many infamous serial killing cases, and one of them resembled this kind of murder setting. But this one seems more aggressive and crude. We currently do not have any suspects or witnesses. This seems like a crime of revenge or cult kind of thing.”
Maya responded, “Did we send the fingerprints and other items to the forensics? When can they submit the report?”
Daniel said, “I talked to the person in-charge, and he said forensic DNA testing will be out after 24-72 hours at least. Though the complete FSL report will be the later case. At least one week, and that is the earliest.”
Maya nodded and said, “Got it. Let’s move on to the crime scene examination. There's nothing wrong with being extra careful with the clues here.”
Daniel and Maya, with their team, started scanning the scene for any clues and possible signs that might lead them towards the motive, witness, or suspect in this case. On the other side, the crime unit investigated the case on their part and securely collected all the evidence that they could find.
This crime scene is in the compound or open areas between multiple buildings. It is strange how no one in those buildings saw or heard anything. It is not exactly a place where a crime could stay hidden, and yet somehow… that is exactly what happened in this case.
The motive of the crime is unclear, and not much is found that could be considered evidence as well. Basically, the case is an exemplary cliffhanger of its kind. Maya started asking questions to the people of the society: Who is the victim? Why was she here? Have you seen her here before? What was she like…
After a while of almost empty investigation and crime scene analysis, she looked at her watch, saying, “It is time to visit the office and analyze the evidence and findings. Brainstorming might help with this one. Let’s hope it does.”
As she turned, Maya caught a glimpse of a man in one of the building's corners. Around the corner of the closest building. It is a man, tall and lean. He is watching her, his expression… unreadable. There is something about him that made her uneasy—something that told her that he is suspicious.
Maya felt a relief to see a glimpse of hope that there might actually be a witness of this scene. She might find some clues that they have missed. So, in this hope, she started walking towards the man. But as she took a few steps in that direction, her head became heavy. Her eyes went hazy for a moment, and when the vision came back, the man was gone.
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “Shouldn’t have binged the series last night,’ she said to herself. She mentioned the suspicious man in her case notes for future reference of herself and her colleagues. Just in case.
Maya borrowed a service vehicle on her way back and drove away. Her mind was filled with questions. Who is the killer? Why did they choose her? And several more questions followed the train of her thoughts afterwards. But the most ambiguous thought in her mind was about her safety. Considering all the situations she had been in the past, a service vehicle was practically the safest spot for her.
‘Why did she feel like she was being watched?’ This question is still unanswered in her brain. And who is the person that she saw? She took a note to investigate a bit more on this aspect of the case. Maybe she really just saw a suspect who might be revisiting the crime scene to enjoy the mayhem that he has caused. Well, in her mind and in that case, it is indeed a good sign.
As Maya drove away from the crime scene, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed. It was just an initiation, in this case, more like an aftereffect of her recent suspicion. She checked her rearview mirror but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, but her nerves are still on edge.
She closely monitored her surroundings throughout her journey to the investigation branch. And when she stepped out of the vehicle, she turned around to observe the surroundings one more time. After a quick check, her feet quickly moved towards the building. She rushed towards the office after informing the guard about her suspicion.
She entered the office and inquired Lily, Investigative Assistant, “So, what do we have in the evidence basket?”
Runo, the investigation officer, said, “Not much. As usual, we collected probative evidence. (Documentation, video, sketches, and diagrams.) We did some presumptive tests (at the crime scene) that determined that there are no drugs or harmful materials used in the process of the crime. There is blood present at the crime scene, but every part of it belonged to the victim, none to the criminal or probable suspect. Found no clear motive or lead to the criminal.”
Maya added, “As I saw, we do have some biological evidence (e.g., blood, body fluids, hair, and other tissues), latent print evidence (e.g., fingerprints, palm prints, foot prints), trace evidence (e.g., fibers, soil, vegetation, glass fragments), and digital evidence (e.g., cell phone records, Internet logs, email messages). Things will certainly take a turn, let’s hope it will.”
Daniel entered the room and said, “So, we have some results from the lab, and some of them are pending. These are not very positive ones, so embrace yourself.”
As he got everyone’s attention, he continued, “Photographs and documents of the scene are analyzed, and they aren’t that useful at this point. Further analysis will be done. There is no hope from the collected trace materials, and we did not find any probable points of entry, exit, or the suspect. There is no sign of another person at the crime scene, which is making this procedure even worse.”
After this, he looked at the people, took a deep breath, and quickly ended his conversation with the line, “Seems like the devil punished this one. No human trace could be connected to the crime scene... yet.”
It seems like the procedure will take a lengthy turn. This is no quick task, especially after all the complicated parts of it came into view, one by one. Let’s hope some positive results shine a light on the dark and hidden areas of this crime… let’s hope some signs are left to unfold and be discovered. Let’s hope… Let’s hope.
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