Suddenly his cell phone rang and he found himself digging through his pockets and searching through the garbage and sections of newspaper on the seat of his police cruiser for the resonating device. The Sergeant got the call on his cell phone which was odd as the thing usually never rang during the day.
“Sergeant McGinnis,” Officer Nowlan’s voice said. “We need you at the fishing hole at Jagged River pronto. We have a situation.”
“Why are you calling me on my cell and not the radio?” asked Sergeant McGinnis.
“Didn’t want this getting around like wildfire, Sergeant but it’s Bill and Frank, you better get over here quick,” replied Nowlan before hanging up.
What was that all about, wondered Jake? Not wasting any time as he turned his cruiser around and turned on the lights, speeding through the streets heading out of the city.
What the hell did Bill go and do now? I had asked him to go see the counsellor thought Jake as he weaved through traffic. He couldn’t help but think he should have forced him to go. Ever since Frank was diagnosed with cancer they all had seen the change in Bill. He had become very withdrawn and quiet and most of his fellow officers tried reaching out to him to let him know we would help him get through this. But to all it was obvious that he was devastated.
Arriving at the scene, Jake was greeted by Officer Nowlan.
Nowlan spoke first. “You know Bill’s neighbour Jenny Baker, her sons found the bodies. We took them into the city not long after to talk to a counsellor as they were pretty messed up.”
“Bodies?” replied Jake inquisitively.
“Right down here by the river,” answered Nowlan.
It took a moment for Jake to get over the shock of the scene and he stood dumbfounded for a few moments staring at Bill. He was barely recognisable as he had clearly put the gun in his mouth and blown his brains all over the bark of the tree he was leaning against.
When the Sergeant finally did speak he said to Nowlan and the newly arrived coroner, “I can’t believe it came down to this. I knew Bill was heart broken but I never saw this coming, dammit. What a tragedy for his family and the force,” exclaimed Jake.
“Dammit, I told him we would get him a new dog. Best damn team we ever had on the canine unit.”
Pre-ordering Murder
1
The sun rose gradually in the sky, indicating the oncoming day as it crept in the large windows on a quiet Saturday morning. The beautiful mansion sat on a slight slope in the Hollywood Hills amongst other equally large and impressive landscaped properties. From inside the spacious home, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the kitchen and the office to its left. All was quiet except for the sound of clicking from an old fashioned computer keyboard, echoing in the office and throughout the home. Breaking the silence, an electronic voice suddenly spoke from within the house’s security system.
“Welcome, Douglas,” the unnatural, electronic female voice said.
The clicking of the keyboard ceased and all went quiet.
“Hello?” said Douglas as he swivelled in his office chair to face the kitchen. Puzzled as to why the security system would have greeted his arrival when he was already home working in his office. He turned and faced his computer again; making sure the Autosave program was saving the notes on the script he was reading in his documents. Opening the house monitoring software he was puzzled that it now showed an arrival time of 10:22 AM on the list of activity. Problem was it also showed his arrival with his wife Rebecca at 11:43 PM the previous night and that he had never left. Rebecca was the only one who was noted as leaving (for the spa) at 7:45 AM that morning.
“Damn firmware glitch,” he muttered reaching for his iCom device and getting out of his chair. He walked towards the kitchen, “Call Safehouse Securities,” he said as he lifted the flat, transparent device to his ear. A blue glow formed on the inside left of the otherwise crystal clear device, he heard it ring on the other end just once and then the glow faded.
“What the…” he muttered as he looked at the device inquisitively. That’s when he heard footsteps.
2
Outside the home on the sidewalk a young, spandex-covered woman jogged by with her iBuds firmly inserted in each ear. In perfect sync, each tiny wireless speaker played a new remix of an old Indi song called Slumber originally done by an artist called The Sublime Rocker. With her volume up high she never heard the first two gun shots that echoed loudly inside the home. There was a slight delay while the woman kept jogging on her way and then a third shot could have been heard had someone been there to hear it. Then all was quiet as the jogger turned up a street and vanished from sight.
3
As the short, shapely brunette walked toward her silver Lexus, her high heels made clicking noises on the asphalt. She slid her thin purse straps over her shoulder and glanced back. Her shapely hips swaying, she knew she would catch the two men she had just walked past in the act of gawking at her. Something the ex-model turned actress was very used to. Attention she actually craved, to be honest. She truly loved being the object of their desire even if she would rather not admit to it. Her tight green dress hugging her luscious curves as she strut her stuff, smiling at the men. Being desired was much more exciting than being had for her.
“Door,” she said as she approached her car. The car detected her presence, squawked as the alarm deactivated itself and the door popped open slowly. She slid her shapely legs into the vehicle sitting at the wheel. The car sensors knowing she was now on the inside proceeded to shut the door slowly.
Placing the palm of her right hand onto the dashboard she simply said “Home,” and the engine started up. Once running, the navigation system took but a split second to find its location at the Paris Hilton Hotel and Spa and its destination. A seat belt harness slid from inside the seat forming a semi-circle around the young woman’s slender waist and also at the shoulders. Each semi-circle joined to the other half in the middle. As she opened her purse and started digging inside it, the car’s wheels turned and it pulled out into traffic. Finding her lip gloss applicator she turned toward the mirror whose sensors detected her motions and pivoted towards her so she could apply a fresh coat of soft red cherry glaze that complimented her dark complexion.
Hearing a soft chime she reached into her small purse again to pull her iCom and saw a text message from Tony that read “Delicious as always, I’m already looking forward to next Saturday’s spa appointment”.
This made her smile as she pressed her thumb onto the upper right hand corner of the device. A soft blue glow just around the edge of her thumb appeared instantly. A key pad appeared onto the front of the device where she typed the words.
“My pleasure, literally!!!” is all she wrote. And then with a swipe of her thumb, a menu appeared and she quickly deleted the conversation between her and Tony. Looking up as she felt the car slow down and make the turn onto her street, she put her phone away and fixed her hair. The car pulled into her driveway and slowed to allow the garage door to fully open and then came to a stop next to her husband’s gold Lexus. She gathered her things and went to the front door of the house. Sensors closed the garage door as she walked away from it. Motion sensors detected someone on the path and a sudden aroma of lilac flowers filled the air. Detecting the chip implanted in her right hand the door unlocked and opened before her.
“Douglas?” she said as the door closed behind her.
“Welcome, Rebecca,” the unnatural electronic female voice said. Ignoring it, Rebecca spoke. “I was thinking we should go to dinner later…. Douglas?”
Walking past the kitchen counter she set her purse down, assuming she would find her husband asleep on the couch in his office as usual. The sight of her dead husband lying in a pool of blood was too much for the young woman and she let out a shrill shriek that echoed loudly throughout the entire house. Her voice trailed off as her sight went dark and she coll
apsed to the floor in a state of unconsciousness.
4
The salt and pepper haired Dupres sat alone in the passenger seat of his car typing up a report. His antiquated laptop sat on his lap as he filled out the old style G20 forms from the case he closed two days ago. He checked to make sure the Autosave was saving his document before he closed the laptop and took a sip of his coffee. A blue light began blinking on the dashboard as it made an electronic “bloop” sound.
“Hello,” spoke Dupres activating the on-board iCom system.
“Detective Dupres,” the female voice said as a semitransparent holographic image popped up. The attractive Captain sitting in her office with her awards covering the wall behind her.
“Captain Silverson,” he said with a coy smile appearing on his lips.
“You know that kid you busted in January? Remember him, Derek White who hacked into the mainframe at the University and stole all those kid’s banking information by hacking into their chip information databanks,” said a stern faced Silverson.
“Yeah, what about him?” asked Dupres his smile vanishing as he spoke.
“He walked today and on a technicality of all things.”
“How the heck did that happen?” inquired a frustrated Dupres.
“You know how I keep telling you to stop using that outdated laptop and get a virtual keyboard like everyone else. You know how I keep telling you that if you had the iKey you could use the new G30 forms that half fill themselves out.”
“Yeah… so, where are you going with this, Captain?”
“You put the wrong damn date, you idiot. He HAS an alibi for January of 2028,” said a clearly angry Silverson.
Dupres opened his old laptop, opened the file he was working on and without speaking a word he changed the date from 2028 to 2029.
“It’s not just the date but some of the data is corrupt too. Just thought you should know before the big bosses get the I.T. guys to take away that laptop of yours. And before that punk Arvin calls you to rub it in,” said the Captain before cutting off the call.
“Fuck me!” muttered Dupres as he picked up his coffee. He took a large gulp and spilled some on his shirt and tie. The dashboard’s blue light flashed again and was accompanied by a “bloop” sound.
“You couldn’t wait could you, Arvin,” he said impatiently looking for a napkin to clean off some of the coffee.
“What are you talking about?” replied Arvin as the rectangular flat and semitransparent holographic image popped up yet again. This time it showed the handsome young man sitting in his own car.
“Never mind,” said Dupres. “What’s going on?”
Using his index finger Arvin poked at the bottom left hand corner of the hologram and a side widow appeared showing an aerial view of Arvin’s location. A dot appeared indicating his exact position in front of 6350 Rogerton Drive in Hollywood Hills.
“Get your ass over here, partner. We got ourselves an old-fashioned homicide and we need an old school detective.”
“Bite me!” said Dupres.
“That’s exactly what I mean. Even your expressions are old-fashioned.” Arvin Walls shut down the iCom before Dupres could offer any other witty old-fashioned comebacks.
“Drive, emergency mode. Location 6350 Rogerton Drive in Hollywood Hills,” spoke Dupres as he tucked away his old laptop while the car’s seat belt harness slid from inside the seat forming a semi-circle around his waist and at the shoulders. The roof’s holographic lights activated and the car pulled out on the nearly empty road and sped off.
“Fuck,” said Dupres as more coffee spilled on his lap as the car made a fast, but controlled turn.
5
Having parked on the street Dupres walked towards the yellow holographic “tape” that surrounded the entire property. An electronic voice spoke the words “Noting the arrival of Detective Dupres,” and a small portion of the yellow holographic ribbon changed to green right before the detective. As he walked through it he glanced to his side and saw a reporter get a mild shock from the yellow barrier as he got his arm too close to it. This made him smile slightly but he tried not to show it. Brushing at a newly discovered coffee stain on his pant leg he walked past a few beat cops who whispered amongst themselves.
“Dupres, Get any coffee in you?” asked the reporter bitterly as he put his thumb in his mouth in an attempt to sooth the sting. He had clearly seen Dupres smiling when he got stung from the electronic police line ribbon and hadn’t appreciated it one bit.
“About time you got here,” said Doc Brown. “You do know what day it is right?” added the coroner with a smile. “What year?”
“It’s time for you to go help Marty and the kids,” replied Dupres as he walked past the chuckling coroner.
“It never gets old does it, Dupres?” asked Doctor Roy Brown.
“Never will either,” replies Dupres.
Arvin, who clearly was not a subscriber of the classic movie iNetwork had a puzzled and not an amused look for a brief moment. “You’ll never guess whose house this is? I mean was,” said Arvin as he met Dupres on the steps of the Hollywood mansion.
Without the slightest of pause in his reply Dupres said “Douglas Fairbanks,” as he walked past the young Detective. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look back at Arvin. “Was? Fairbanks is dead?” he asked.
“I forget what a movie buff you are,” replied Arvin.
“How did he die?”
“Shot to death.”
“Really? Hey, did Florence call you?” asked Dupres.
“Captain Silverson? No, why?”
“I was just wondering,” added Dupres, “It’s not important. I assume they’ve already taken a 3D scan of the house?”
“Of course they did.”
“Good.”
As they walked into the kitchen, Dupres picked up the spherical 3D image hologram generator and pushed his right hand palm down onto its side. A small blue light brightened and then a 3D full scale image suddenly appeared and filled the room showing the entire layout down to the smallest details. He could tell from the imaging that the body had not been moved yet. In the kitchen floor the hologram showed a second body of a young woman in a green dress with a paramedic hovering above her, blocking Dupres’ view of her face.
“Who’s that?” asked Dupres gesturing with his head at the hologram image of the second body that was no longer there.
“Fairbanks’ wife, Rebecca. She found the body and must have fainted. It was her implant that dialled 911 and not his.” Arvin walked towards the body and knelt beside it. Dupres released the device and the hologram vanished. He stepped in behind the now kneeling Arvin and looked over the body.
“Don’t touch anything,” shouted Roy Brown, who was more commonly known as Doc Brown, as he hurried in stumbling with his kit.
“You could have gotten here sooner had you come here in the Dolorian,” said Dupres.
Brown ignored him as he knelt making his knees pop. He set his kit down and fumbled it open. “I can’t remember the last time I had to do this. Ever since seven years ago when they tried to blow up the Empire State Building and they passed that law making Facebook tracking mandatory. Well let’s just say with the government’s microchip implants following your every move and logging the data in Facebook, there haven’t been very many murders I tell ya.”
“That’s the problem, Doc. His chip is gone,” said Arvin as he pointed to the late Douglass’s hand, which had been cut open.
“How could that be? It should have alerted 911 as soon as he got shot. Maybe even before if his heart rate increased enough to set it off,” added Doc Brown. He coated his hands with liquid gloves, watching as they dried quickly turning to a silicone coating.
“Assuming the chip was removed after he died are we?” asked Arvin.
“Yeah, well that’s why we’re her
e I guess, right, Watson?” asked Dupres.
“I guess that’s makes you Sherlock then, right?” asked Arvin as he watched Doc Brown pick up the late movie producers hand and examined the rough cuts to the top of the hand. They appeared to have been done to remove the implant. One cut even pierced through and came out on the inside of the hand.
“I’m surprised you knew that one,” said Dupres, obviously referring to the Sherlock comment.
“He didn’t until last year when Douglass here remade it. I was just glad he got to do it and not that Bill Connors with his animation crap,” muttered Brown as he dug through his kit, clearly looking for something specific.
“That’s one thing we agree on, Doc. I would much rather watch real actors any day over that computer animated crap they got these days.”
“One of you put this on,” said Doc as he handed the canister of liquid gloves to Arvin who then handed it to Dupres. Brown pulled another canister out of his kit, shook it a little and began spraying a light mist over the body.
“What’s that?” asked Arvin.
“It’s a type of glue to keep any evidence from falling off the body when we turn him over,” said Roy as he got up to make sure he sprayed all over thoroughly. “I haven’t had to use this in a long time.”
Dupres sighed loudly; making sure everybody heard him before applying the gel gloves. “I hate this stuff,” he added as the liquid hardened.
“Ready? Help me turn him over,” said Doc as he started to grab hold. Dupres leaned in and they turned the late Fairbanks over, the rubbery pool of blood now congealed with the spray also turned over with him.
“Good thing for the ceramic tiles. It will make collecting the blood so much easier,” said Doc Brown as he picked up his spray and misted the body again on the other side.
“Shot three times,” said Dupres, gesturing towards the body.
Sleepless Nights Page 9