Zavaya
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2021
“Downing! Good work on that witness! You finally got a lead now.”
Charlotte looked up from her desk and thanked her colleague. It was a hollow compliment, she knew that. Nobody was interested in the case as there was nothing to go on. For all they knew, the young woman had just ran away from home. The witness though shed a whole different light on the case. This man had seen a young woman matching the description on the flyers. Although this was initially good news, Charlotte soon realised that it really wasn’t. The witness had described her as being used as a sexslave and hardly responding to anything. He suspected this was due to drugs and the constant abuse. The location where she was kept was in a derelict part of town where industry used to be booming. Today though, most of those warehouses were abandoned and the brick factories and buildings were overgrown with weeds and plants.
Obviously she had immediately sent a team of trained officers to the location to give her back up but when they all arrived at the location the witness had given her, there was nobody and nothing except a few empty beer cans, cigarette buds and the fresh stale taste of urine. Lots of people had been there, not too long ago but they were all gone now. It was another disappointment for Charlotte and her research and back at the office, her failure to again bring in solid evidence that there even was a case was beginning to annoy her chief. The witness could have seen any woman. He was probably drunk and or stoned and wouldn’t recognise his own mother. Charlotte knew that the critics could be right but she refused to give up. If these women were still alive, she was going to find them.
She was halfway through typing out the witness report when the power in the old building went out. Even though it only took a few seconds, her computer had already shut down and all her progress was lost. Cursing at the shitty state of the police office she wanted to start again when her phone beeped, letting her know she had received a text message.
Charly, the window in your house is open?
The number was from a friend of hers who lived nearby and it alarmed her enough to call it for the day and go home. She packed all of her stuff, swiped the notebook with the witness report into her bag and quickly made her way to her car. As the young, tall and rather skinny blonde officer in the black Ford left the parking lot of the police station, a homeless guy quickly shed his blanket, grabbed a phone from his pocket and sent a text message.
Charlotte was oblivious to the eyes watching her as she pulled her car into its space and began walking over to her apartment. She wasn’t totally at ease however, still mindful of the apparent open window. She had spent the whole drive home wracking her memory to try and remember if she may have left it open, but she was drawing a blank. As such, she approached her apartment cautiously. It was probably nothing; and even if someone had got in they were likely long gone by now, but it was better to be careful.
Under her coat, Veronica’s hand rested on the handle of her gun as she unlocked her door and slowly swung it open. She was met with a scene of total normality; within, her modest apartment seemed totally undisturbed. Charlotte realised that she was probably overreacting, but her time on the force had taught her to be alert - not to mention living alone as a young woman in a city with a crime problem.
The apartment appeared untouched. She went to the small bathroom and closed the window. Maybe she really had just forgotten to close it? She peered at the ledge under the window and there was no dirt or dust on it so either no one had crawled in (most likely) or they'd done it expertly (less likely). Who would want to do her arm anyway? She was a nobody cop with a nowhere case. Sure that mobbed up Puta (could an EyeTye mobster even be a Puta or was that just Colombians and Mexicans?) had scared her with the ferocity of her annoyance at being picked up and with the sharpness of her lawyer's suit but still, she'd got out the same afternoon and even mobsters (actually especially mobsters) understood that cops had a job to do as well. No, she was just being paranoid.
She checked the kitchen, the living room, the laundry room (Fargo Season 1, always check the laundry room!) and there was absolutely no evidence of anyone having been in her place or that anything had been taken. She chuckled to herself and took her hand off her pistol. She really was being paranoid. She headed off towards her bedroom.
Now she wasn't the most tidy person on the planet. Having a job that had no respect for working hours and non-working hours meant that she'd often leave clothing laying out (or laying on the floor) for several days before she had enough time to sniff an item to see whether it needed washing. Her bedroom at the moment was in one of those 'presort' periods. Mind you, now she was home while it was still light she could do a sort now and get a jump on the weekend washing. She picked up several items and decided that two could be worn again and one could not. Anything underwear related and on the floor got an immediate 'wash' label attached to it. She was a busy woman, she wasn't a slob.
She picked up a few more things, discarded those that needed washing, and had several items draped over her arm when she opened the closet door to put them back on hangers.
The man in her closet was on her immediately and there was not even time to scream in surprise before he'd injected her with something cold and hot at the same time. She lost consciousness and slumped to the floor.
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