Black Viper

by Christopher Speight

  “Dammit,” Frank mumbled as he got close to the front door. It was then that he realized that he didn’t have the key. His silent prayers were answered when he turned the knob, and the door slowly opened. Frank bent down and ducked under the yellow police tape that crossed the door.

  As he entered the house, a feeling of sadness overcame him. He recalled the look on his captain’s face when he entered her home after her husband had been murdered. It was a look that he would never forget. Frank had seen that look on the faces of the families of victims hundreds of times, but it affected him differently when it was someone he knew and cared about. Shaking off the emotional attachment, Frank went about the business of trying to find what the other two detectives missed.

  He walked into the living where the murder had been committed and looked around. He then went to the couch and scanned the area where Donald’s body was found. Dried blood rested on the fabric. The smell of death still lingered in the air. When Frank didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, he decided to examine other areas of the room.

  Ten minutes later, Frank still hadn’t found anything. He began to get frustrated. He took a deep breath and messaged his temples. He glanced up at the mantel and got teary eyed when he saw all the pictures sitting there. Photos of Marie, her husband Donald, and their two kids filled every space on the mantel. The more Frank looked at the pictures, however, the more something seemed odd to him. It wasn’t the photos that gave him pause. It was the frames. One frame in particular. It contained a picture of Donald and Marie sitting at a picnic table in the park. The frame stood out to Frank because of a tiny pin-sized hole near the bottom of it. Nine times out of ten, it would probably go unnoticed. But because Frank decided to think outside of the box, he quickly zeroed in on it.

  He walked over to the mantel, picked up the frame, and turned it around. Frank quickly realized that this wasn’t an ordinary frame. This particular frame was fitted with a small camera. Frank examined the frame again and concluded that it was fairly new. He doubted if it was even a month old. Frank thought about calling Marie and asking her if she knew anything about the camera frame, but that would be breaking protocol. Any evidence or suspicious findings had to go through the chain of command or risk being ruled inadmissible. Frank reached into his pocket and pulled out a large baggie. Then he slipped the picture into it and headed for the door. He had just gotten to his car when he heard a high-pitched voice call out to him.

  “Officer! Officer! I need to talk to you!”

  When Frank turned around, he saw a pretty, brown-skinned woman running toward him from across the street. After placing the bag containing the picture inside of his vehicle, Frank closed the door and turned around to face the woman.

  “What can I help you with ma’am?”

  “Officer, I have––”

  “Detective,” Frank corrected her.

  “Oh, sorry. Anyway, Detective, I have something I need you to look at.”

  Frank glanced at the photo lying on the passenger’s seat and then back at the woman. “Ma’am I’m very busy right now.”

  “Detective, there is something you need to see, please.”

  After placing the picture in the glove compartment and locking the vehicle, Frank reluctantly followed the woman as she made her way back across the street. There was an urgency in her voice that caused him to grant her request. Frank had to half jog just to keep up with her. Just before she reached for the doorknob, Frank grabbed her arm.

  “Miss, hold up a second,” he said, pulling out a notepad. “Before I do anything else, I’m going to need to know your name.”

  “My name is Catherine. Catherine Samuels.”

  Frank quickly jotted her name down on the notepad. He was just about to ask her another question, but when he looked up, she had disappeared into her house. When Frank went inside, he could hear her moving around but had no idea where she was. “Miss Samuels?” He called out.

  “In here. I’m in the living room,” she answered.

  Frank followed the voice to his left and found Catherine sitting on her couch, fumbling with the TV remote. After turning the television back on, she picked up her cell phone. Catherine then proceeded to show Frank videos of what had taken place at Marie Snyder’s residence. From the moment the intruder climbed through Marie’s window right up until the mysterious figure dropped what looked like a wallet next to the window, Catherine showed him everything. Her eyes dampened when she came to the part where the coroner’s truck pulled up. Frank had her go back to the part where the intruder dropped the wallet. Five times he asked her to rewind it to see if he could get a good look at the culprit’s face, but it was all for naught. The angle just wasn’t good enough. One thing was for sure though. The figure in the picture was not Timothy Jordan.

  “Dammit,” Frank yelled, slamming his fist into his hand. “Excuse me for being blunt, but why in the hell didn’t you come forward with this information earlier?” he snapped.

  “Because I’ve been out of town for two weeks, that’s why,” Catherine said with an attitude. “I would think that the police would be grateful that I even came forward to share this information, but I guess I should’ve known better.”

  Catherine then folded her arms and gave Frank an incredulous glare. She was beyond pissed off. Here she was, trying to do her civic duty, and the detective was treating her like she’d done something wrong. Frank took a deep breath. The information that Catherine had just given him was extremely helpful. It cleared Timothy Jordan and left no doubt whatsoever that he’d been framed. But by whom? And why him?

  “You’re right Ms. Samuels. I do appreciate your help and I’m sorry that I snapped at you. Marie Snyder is more than my boss. She is also my friend, and I can’t wait to catch the scumbag who did this to her husband.”

  The sad look in Detective Stone’s eyes caused Catherine’s stance to soften.

  “I hope you catch him too, Detective. Marie is a nice lady. I hate to see her going through this.”

  “Thank you. Ms. Samuels. Is there any way you can email that video to me?”

  “Probably, but I’ll have to do it in increments. The file is pretty big.”

  “Okay. That’s probably better anyway.” Frank wrote down his personal email address and handed it to Catherine. “Please get it to me ASAP. A man nearly got arrested today for this crime, and the video can prove his innocence.”

  54

  On his way back to the precinct, Frank called Amber and told her to meet him at Starbucks. He wanted to let her in on what he’d found out. Frank knew how much Amber liked Starbuck’s White Chocolate Mochas and was hoping that he could soothe her hurt feelings by buying her one. There was no doubt in his mind that she would still be upset about him going to Marie’s house without her.

  Frank pulled into the Starbucks parking lot and was surprised to see that Amber was already there. He pulled beside her, looked at her, and smiled. Amber simply glared at him. After doing so for about ten seconds, she got out of her car and walked around to his driver’s side. Frank sighed heavily as he reached for the door handle. He knew what was coming but was powerless to stop it. Amber’s eyes were fixed on Frank the entire time as she waited patiently for him to get out of the car.

  “Hey sunshine,” he said, attempting to lighten the mood.

  It didn’t work.

  “So, did you get your badge?” Amber asked, sarcastically. It was fairly evident that she hadn’t believed that excuse when he’d told it to her earlier.

  “Huh? Oh yeah, I got it.”

  Amber’s mouth opened slightly, as she slowly shook her head.

  “Franklin Stone, this is some bullshit, and you know it.”

  “Calm down, Amber. Come on, let me buy you a White Chocolate Mocha.” Frank placed her hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away from him.

  “I don’t want any damn White Chocolate Mocha! I want you to stop lying to me!”

  Frank held up his hands in surrender mode.

&nbs
p; “Okay, Amber, okay. Look, let’s just get in the car so we can talk about this.”

  With a scowl on her face, Amber stormed around to the passenger’s side. When Frank went to open the door for her, she abruptly stopped him.

  “I can do that myself,” she snapped as she yanked the door open, got in, and slammed it shut.

  Frank held up his hands and backed away. As slowly as he could, he walked back around to the driver’s side and got in. In his eyes, any little time he gave her to calm down would be worth it.

  After getting inside, Frank decided to get right into it. She was going to be pissed no matter how he approached it, so there was no need to waste any time.

  “Okay, Amber, I’m going to tell you the truth.”

  Amber crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

  “I didn’t leave my badge at home.”

  “No shit, Sherlock. I figured that out already. Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “Okay, I will. I went by Marie’s house and checked out the crime scene for myself. I know that Hughes and Phillips are good detectives, but for some reason that I can’t explain, I just got the feeling that they may have missed something.”

  “So, you don’t think Timothy Jordan is guilty?”

  “Do you?”

  “Well, his wallet was found at the crime scene.”

  “That doesn’t make him guilty, Amber. That’s why I didn’t take you with me. You seem to have already made your mind up about him.”

  Hurt flashed in Amber’s eyes. Although his comments may not have been meant as a slight, she certainly took them that way.

  “So, what are you saying Frank? That I’m incapable of being impartial?”

  “What? Amber, I’m not saying that at all.”

  “Well, that’s what it sounds like. And let’s not forget that we’re supposed to be partners. We’re supposed to trust each other and have each other’s backs!”

  A single tear appeared in the corner of Amber’s right eye, but she refused to let it fall. After listening to her side, Frank felt like a world-class jerk. He had hurt Amber. It was something that he hadn’t intended to do, but he’d done it, nonetheless.

  “You’re right, Amber. I’m sorry. I should have trusted you to be the professional that I know you are. Please forgive me.” Frank hung his head and waited for Amber to speak. The longer it took her, the worse he felt. Instead of making him feel like a bigger piece of shit, however, Amber took the high road.

  “Don’t worry about it, Frank. We all make mistakes. I forgive you. Let’s just concentrated on the case. Did you find out anything new?”

  Frank’s spirits lifted. The last thing he wanted was to be at odds with his partner.

  “As a matter of fact, I did,” he said with enthusiasm.

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” she said.

  “Well, the first thing I did was look around Marie’s house to see if I could find anything that either Hughes or Phillips may have missed.”

  “Those guys are going to be just as pissed as I am when they find out you did that.”

  “They’ll get over it.”

  “You think so, huh?”

  “Yep.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  Frank didn’t want to tell Amber what he really thought, which was that men didn’t hold grudges like women did. She would swear he was being sexist, so he went with the next best option, which was also the truth.

  “Because I’m going to let them take the credit for it.”

  “Yeah, that’ll do it,” Amber agreed. “So, what did you find?”

  Frank smiled as he reached over, opened the glove compartment, and took out the picture he’d gotten from Marie’s house.

  “What is this?” Amber asked.

  “Take a look at it. A close look, Frank added.

  Amber looked at the photo of Marie and her husband and then at Frank. A confused expression landed on her face. She had no idea what she was supposed to be looking for. Shrugging her shoulders, she turned the picture over and looked at the back of it. To her, it seemed like a standard picture frame.

  “Turn it back over and look at it closely,” Frank said. Amber did what he suggested. That was when she noticed the small camera lens resting near the bottom. She squinted her eyes to get a closer look.

  “Is this a camera lens?” she asked, although she already knew the answer.

  “That’s what it looks like to me. It was sitting on top of her mantel. Apparently, someone was filming the living room . . . and you know what that means,” Frank said.

  “Oh yes. Depending on how long the video goes back, we may have just cracked this case wide open.”

  “No. Hughes and Phillips may have just cracked this case wide opened.”

  Amber frowned.

  “Yeah . . . about that. Why should they get all the credit?”

  “Amber, they were assigned to the case.”

  “And? We’re the ones who found the crucial evidence.”

  “Oh, we did huh?” Frank asked, emphasizing we.

  “Yes, we! We are partners, aren’t we?”

  “Of course, we are.”

  “Then it’s like I said. We.”

  All Frank could do was laugh and shake his head. Truth be told, Amber had a point. Although Hughes and Phillips were assigned to the case, her partner was the one who’d discovered the camera picture frame. Still, Frank wasn’t comfortable doing what she suggested.

  “Amber, you have a point. But I just wouldn’t feel right doing that. Not only would it show that we stepped on their toes, it would also make them look like idiots.”

  “They are idiots,” Amber said, laughing.

  “Be that as it may, we’re not doing it.”

  “Okay,” Amber said, jokingly crossing her arms and poking out her mouth like a small child.

  “No need to pout, partner. I’ve also got something that should put a smile back on your face.”

  “Oh yeah? What?”

  “It turns out that our fellow law enforcement officer is innocent.”

  Amber raised an eyebrow. Even though she would never admit it to Frank, she did think that Timothy was guilty.

  “Really? And just how did you find that out?”

  Right on cue, Frank’s cell phone went off. It had taken a while for it to reach his cell phone, but Catherine’s email had finally come through.

  “Aha! Here it is,” he said, excitedly.

  “What?”

  “Well, after I left Marie’s house, a woman came running across the street telling me that she had something I needed to see.”

  “Which was?” Amber asked, when Frank hesitated.

  Frank held up his finger, signaling for her to hold up a second. When he came to the part where the hooded figure was crawling through the window, he handed her the phone. Amber watched in silence as the sequence of events unfolded. Like Frank had earlier, Amber tried hard to make out the hooded figure, but the hood partially hid the face.

  “Dammit! The video is grainy as hell. And the face is somewhat hidden. You’re right about one thing, though. This is definitely not Timothy Jordan. Not tall enough or dark enough.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  “Well, hopefully, we won’t even need the techies’ help on this one,” Amber said, holding up the picture frame.

  “I hear you, partner. With any luck, our killer will be caught red-handed.”

  55

  The tension surrounding the table was so thick, a chainsaw would have had trouble cutting through it. Four sets of eyes darted back and forth at one another. Four detectives, unflinching in their ways. Finally, a full twenty seconds later, after hearing what had gone down, Phillips decided to break the silence.

  “Are you fucking kidding me, Frank? You mean to tell me that you went over to Captain Snyder’s house after Hughes and I investigated the scene and went behind us like we were some rank amateurs?”

  Frank looked around the crowded restaurant an
d sighed. One of the reasons he’d chosen this particular restaurant to tell Hughes and Phillips about going behind their back was that it was always busy. He didn’t have to worry about either of them showing their asses. At least that’s what he thought. Frank however, had severely underestimated how they would take the news. When he turned his attention back toward the table, Hughes was staring daggers at him. Unfazed, Frank stared them right back.

  “Something on your mind, Hughes?” he asked.

  “You damn right there’s something on my mind. Who the hell do you think you are, Stone? You think you and your partner are better than me and mine?”

  “Come on, Mike. You know damn well, that’s not it.”

  “Well, it sure as hell looks that way!”

  “Okay, you can just calm the hell down, both of you. What’s done is done. Now, do you want to hear what we have to say or not?”

  “I don’t want to hear shit from you, Stone! You either Davis!”

  “You know what? Fine! Let’s go Frank!”

  With fire in her eyes, Amber stood up from the table. She’d been biting her tongue ever since Hughes and Phillips had started ranting and raving. In her opinion, they weren’t on the same level as she and Frank, but they were on the same side, so she had to subdue her attitude. Frank didn’t budge. Neither did Hughes. Although he was supremely pissed that Frank had gone behind his back, he wanted to find out who had killed Marie’s husband just as much as Frank did. Frank sensed it and motioned for Amber to sit back down. Hughes took a deep breath and leaned back.

  “What do you have?” he asked.

  “Hold up a second, Mike. I don’t like this. This cocksucker went behind our backs to investigate the crime scene and now he wants to rub what he found in our faces? How do we know that he doesn’t just want to take the credit himself?”