by C. L. Brees
“Is this Wendy Burgess?” an abrasive, foreign voice on the other end asked.
“Yes, who is this?”
“This is the man who murdered your daughter. I’m calling to tell you what she said to me just before I shot her dead. She wanted you to know her last words…” the man began to say before he was interrupted.
“Hold on a second, why on earth are you calling me? You murdered my daughter and then you have the nerve to call me while I sit here, waiting to identify her body?” she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.
By now, Wendy Burgess was hollering so loudly that the receptionist rushed back to retrieve Detective Scott. After a minute, he ran back though the door to see what all the commotion was about in the waiting room. He saw Wendy talking on her cell phone, wiping tears from her eyes. He approached slowly, so as to not interrupt her phone conversation.
“Well, are you going to tell me what she said?”
“She told me to tell you that she loved you and your family. She said she was sorry that this happened to her and for you to move on after her death.”
Detective Scott looked at Heather, “Who is that on the phone?”
“I have no idea. But it’s something to do with my sister.”
Now in tears, Mrs. Burgess sat in the chair, tears rolling down her red cheeks. She took her hands and tried desperately to wipe the tears away from her face, but they kept flowing down. Detective Scott snatched the phone from her hand.
“This is Detective Scott with the Ridgewood Hills Police. Who is this?”
“If you’re smart enough, you’ll figure it out,” the voice said as the call disconnected.
Wendy Burgess sat in the chair, crying. She looked at Heather and motioned for her to go. Understanding what her mother wanted, she looked at the detective.
“I’ll go and identify the body. As you can clearly see my mother is obviously not in any condition to do it.”
“Are you sure you can handle this?”
“I’m seventeen; I can handle this.”
The detective looked at Wendy and she nodded at him. He motioned for Heather to follow him through a set of double doors down a long, cold corridor. About halfway down she could see the bright glow of an overhead fluorescent light. They arrived at the room and entered. Heather was a little leery about what she was walking into. The room had a very sterile feel: white on white, everything in the room. Sitting in the middle of the small room was a stainless steel table covered in a white sheet. Heather could make out the distinctive outline of a body underneath it. This was nothing like what she was used to seeing on all of the crime shows that she watched on television. Heather just knew in her heart that underneath that sheet lay her sister.
She closed her eyes for a moment to collect her thoughts. She let out a heavy sigh. Detective Scott touched her on the shoulder. “You ready, Heather?” She nodded her head slowly and opened her eyes just as Detective Scott pulled the top portion of the sheet back just enough to reveal the face of the victim. She stood there for a moment, horrified at the sight in front of her. As tears grew in her eyes, she cleared her throat and spoke.
“Yes, detective, that is my sister lying there.”
“Are you sure, Miss Burgess?” the detective asked as she backed up towards the wall and sank slowly down it.
“Why is this happening? What is going on today?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to take you back to your mother now,” he said. He reached his hand out to her, but she just laid her head down upon her folded arms.
After a few moments of sitting on the floor crying, Heather lifted her head and found the detective kneeling down beside her. He knelt there with one knee on the ground and again extended his hand out to help her get up. She slowly reached her hand out to him, and they both stood up together. Heather gave her face one final swipe and looked at the detective. “Thank you for being so nice and comforting. Truth be told, I always thought cops were assholes.”
The detective just glanced at her and nodded his head in agreement. Heather and Detective Scott walked down the corridor together back towards the waiting room. Heather leaned towards the detective, and he put his arm around her and whispered, “If you need anything, here’s my card. Call me day or night.”
Finally arriving at the double doors at the end of the corridor, Heather walked through the door as her mother stood up. Wendy was still visibly shaken from the telephone call from earlier. Without even hearing a word from her daughter, she knew it was true. Heather ran up to her mother and put her arms around her. They stood there for only a few minutes embracing each other, but it felt like an eternity to each of them. Wendy pulled away and looked at the detective, standing there watching the two.
“What do you know about this?” she asked.
“We don’t know much yet. The state crime lab has been to process the scene already and it will be a little while longer for the report from the medical examiner.”
“Are you thinking she was murdered?” Heather asked.
“Mom, she was definitely murdered. She had a bullet hole in her head. I doubt it was suicide.”
“Mrs. Burgess, it is looking like murder, however, we can’t be certain until the autopsy and evidence is processed,” he said, as Wendy tried very hard to hold back more tears from flowing.
“So, how many detectives do you have on this case?”
“Right now, we have three detectives plus the state crime lab team, which drove up from Denver right after we found the crime scene.”
“That’s good to hear. You’ll keep us posted on any developments, won’t you?” Wendy asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I give you my word that I will keep you up to date as the investigation goes along,” he said as he sat down in the chair next to Wendy. “About that call earlier—was there any caller I.D.?”
“No, it said ‘unknown’ on the screen. Do you think you’ll be able to trace that call?”
“I will look into it. It could be an important clue in the case.”
“Thanks, Detective Scott. We’re going to go home now. Please let us know if anything comes up.”
“I will. If you don’t mind, can you two wait right here? I need to make a phone call to see if I can get a trace on that phone call,” Detective Scott said as he walked away.
“Are you ok, mom?”
“I don’t know sweetie. I just feel numb right now, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I feel numb myself. What is going on in this town?” Heather asked.
“I don’t know, but four murders in one day…” Wendy said as she took a tissue from her purse.
“Wait a minute, how did you know about the other murders?”
“Honey, it’s been all over the news all day today.”
“Oh, yeah, I should have assumed that. A murder spree in a quiet, yuppie suburb does make the top headline, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does.”
Just as they began walking towards the entry, Detective Scott returned.
“I have my partner looking into that call. Can I offer you all a ride home?”
“Actually, do you mind driving home, Heather? I don’t think I’m in any shape to drive right now.”
“Sure thing, mom,” she said as she let the keys fall into her hand.
4
Heather fumbled with the keys in her hands as they approached the car. She felt it might help take her mind off of the horrific sight she just experienced. She glanced over at her mother standing at the passenger side of the car. Her eyes were now bloodshot from all of the tears that had been expelled from them. She clicked the remote to unlock the car and watched as her mother slowly opened her door. Heather didn’t know what to think, say, or feel in that moment. All that she knew was that her sister wasn’t coming home that night, or any night for that matter. Heather thought back to what she had said to Kelli earlier that morning while she was getting ready. She realized at that moment that she was never a great sister or friend to her littl
e kid sister.
Trying hard to hold the tears back, Heather opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat. The emotions finally became too much for her and she broke down into tears. Wendy saw Heather sitting there wiping her tears from her eyes. She reached her hand across the armrest and squeezed her hand.
“I’m just so upset. I was such an ass to her this morning. I can’t believe I told her I hated her because she spent a few extra minutes in the bathroom.”
“You and your sister were always high strung like that. I don’t think she took it personally, Heather. In all honesty, I think that’s what was special about the two of you; you could fight but at the same time know that you loved her and she loved you.”
The words of reassurance helped Heather to dry up. She knew from the sound in her mother’s voice that she really did care about her.
“I’m sorry for being such an ass to you earlier, mom. I’ve just been so stressed out lately with graduation coming up. And let’s face it, today has been no picnic for me either. I witnessed three people be murdered this morning.”
“I understand, Heather. I’m sorry for always being on your ass like I do. I just want what is best for you, you know.”
“I know mom. I know. Are you ready to get home?
“Let’s go.”
The trip home took not even ten minutes and no words were exchanged. Opening the garage door, Heather parked the car perfectly back in its place. Wendy opened her door and staggered towards the door that lead into the kitchen.
Heather knew her mother was taking this hard, but she couldn’t understand why her mother was shutting down so visibly. Heather followed cautiously into the house, not sure if Wendy was going to snap and go ballistic on her once she emerged inside. Suddenly remembering that she left her chemistry book in the car, she turned around and went to retrieve it. It was unclear how the night was going to go once her father returned home from his business trip to Phoenix. She imagined the next few weeks were going to be a very emotional roller coaster in the Burgess home.
Meanwhile, at Alex’s house, the three friends had made it back to the house safely and were camped out in the living room studying with the faint sound of chatter from the television in the distance. It was on the edge of three-thirty in the afternoon and Alex closed his laptop and sprang up from the couch.
“I’m starving. Is anyone else hungry?”
John and Amy looked at him casually.
“Uh, yeah, where do you hide the snacks at Alex?” Amy probed.
“I don’t hide the snacks anywhere. The pantry is open to all. Help yourself to what we have.”
Amy dashed in the direction of the kitchen while John stayed sitting on the couch with his French book opened. It was as if he were pretending to study, but Alex knew he was being modest about accepting some food.
Alex walked away with a grin on his face and ran into Amy in the kitchen.
“So did you find anything in here?”
“Oh, I found these oatmeal raisin cookies in the pantry. And this is my favorite brand. Where’s John at? I figured if anyone was starving it would be him.”
“I knew that you love those and that’s why I picked up several boxes the last time I was at the store. I’m not sure what’s going on with John though. He’s sitting out there pretending to be focused on studying. I can see right through it.”
“Maybe I’ll have a talk with him later. He could still be in shock from this morning or it’s possible he is feeling overwhelmed with the end of school inching closer and closer.”
“I suppose we are all still a bit shaken up from this morning. And you’re right, I’m starting to get antsy about graduation. I still haven’t made up my mind about whether to stay here in Colorado or join you in New York City. It’s such a tough decision to make, you know.”
“I know it is. I want you to decide what’s best for you. Now that you and Mike aren’t together any longer, maybe a change of scenery would do you good, Alex.”
“Yeah, I have to agree with you on that, Amy. While I love it here and being close to family is important, so is getting out and seeing the world. I’ll have my decision by the end of the weekend.”
“Sounds good to me. Whatever you decide to do, we’ll still see each other all the time. I can fly home whenever, and you can come visit me in New York.”
Alex smiled at her and reached out for a hug. He was notorious for being an affectionate person, always giving out hugs instead of handshakes. They embraced, and Amy pulled away and looked Alex dead in the face.
“Promise me that no matter where we end up in life that we’ll always be best-friends.”
“That’s a promise I know that I can keep.”
They both walked towards the living room, side by side. Emerging around the corner, John slowly glanced up at the two. He was now sprawled out on the couch with his legs elevated on the armrest. Amy walked up to the couch and lifted his legs up and pushed them to the side. She quickly fell backwards onto the cushy tweed, releasing a sigh as she did so. John turned to the side and placed his feet on the ground. He was annoyed now that once again Amy had interfered with his comfort. Alex sat down on the opposite side of John.
“So are you studying hard or hardly studying?” Amy asked.
“Ha, ha, you’re so funny. I actually am studying, thank you very much. I have this massive French final coming up next week. If I don’t pass it I’ll end up with a B plus, and then I can kiss my dream of Yale goodbye.”
“I thought they already accepted you at Yale. Why are you so worried about this then?”
“I received a conditional acceptance based on how I end up finishing this semester. I have to remain focused so that I don’t blow this.”
“John, you’re going to crush this exam. Stop stressing about it. It’s only going to make things worse when you worry constantly about it.”
“Alex is right. I know what you’re feeling myself. I have a few finals myself next week. I’m not stressing about it, nor will I cram for them. I recently read in a magazine that cramming for exams does not help you.”
“I suppose you’re right Amy. I have straight A’s; why would I ever think I couldn’t keep the momentum going?”
“Beats the hell out of me why you’re doubting yourself so much. Put the book down and let’s do something besides study.”
The three sat there on the couch in silence for a few moments. They each pondered what their next move would be. John finally chimed in.
“Well, we could always turn the television up and catch some afternoon talk shows while we wait for dinner tonight.”
“Sounds good to me. Sometimes just chilling out is good for the soul. You know what I mean?” she solicited with a subtle laugh behind her voice.
“I know what you mean. Take last night, for example. We had an amazing time with our friends cooking and hanging out, but then there are times like currently, when it’s just us. These are the best times for me,” John declared as he took his French book and sat it on the coffee table.
Alex reached towards the coffee table and clutched the remote control. He changed the channel on the television to Channel 9, just in time to catch the end of Leeza. The show credits began to roll as the grandfather clock in the foyer chimed. It was four o’clock now and it was time for the afternoon news.
“Nope, change the channel. You know the news depresses me,” Amy announced as she adjusted her position.
“Amy, we have to keep up with the news. What kind of Americans would we be if weren’t clued into our surroundings?”
“He’s right. Maybe they’ll have an update on this morning. It’s not going to kill you to watch a little bit of the news,” John said.
“Fine. You guys always win. No fair.”
The television volume was quiet, but the main headline caught Alex’s attention. It read, “Four murders in Ridgewood Hills.” The headline intrigued him enough to turn the volume up. Just as he did, they switched screens to a reporter at the 7-11
parking lot.
“Four murders took place this morning in the quiet suburb of Ridgewood Hills. This rash of violence has residents here on edge. This morning this 7-11 located on the corner of Mountain Pass and Valley View was the scene of the first of three homicides. Police still have no leads at this time. One victim has been identified as twenty-five-year-old Kirk Underwood, a senior at the University of Colorado. He worked here as an assistant manager and was killed during the robbery. The identities of the other two victims have not been released at this time as next of kin are awaiting notification. Several witnesses described the two suspects as tall with Russian accents. Police are asking for the community’s involvement, and anyone with information is urged to contact the Ridgewood Hills Police Department,” the newscaster said.
Then a male newscaster finished the rest of the story.
“Thanks Ryan. Also today in Ridgewood Hills, the body of a fifteen-year-old Ridgewood Hills High School sophomore was found around ten thirty this morning in Centennial Park. Police are still investigating this death as a possible homicide. The police have not released the name of the teenager to the media at this time; we’ll keep you posted on this developing story.”
“Um, ok, I knew about the murders that we witnessed, but another one? And someone from school? I wonder who it could be.” John asked.
“I have no clue, but I’m sure we’ll hear about it either later tonight or tomorrow,” Alex said.
The faint sound of the telephone ringing in the kitchen caught the attention of Amy. She tapped Alex on the shoulder as he turned to look at her.