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Chapter Three

Joseph woke with a start as he heard his alarm clock sounding. The normal annoying buzzing it made was different today and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. He turned over to turn it off and just layed in bed pondering if he was going to get up and go to work or stay home and sleep. After last night he knew he was justified either way yet here he was at the vital moment unsure of what he was going to do.

He suddenly felt a small object jump on the bed and started walking towards him. He knew it was his kitty Marms and he decided to play with him by pretending he was still asleep to see what Marms was going to do. Marm walked over and Joseph kept his eyes closed then he felt a tiny wet nose briefly touch his cheek. Joseph continued to play possum and then felt a little paw touch his face lightly poking it trying to wake him up.

"Hi Marms," Joseph said and his kitty meowed back at him. Marms was close to being a year old but he seemed very intelligent, at least to Joseph. Marms was a ginger kitty and his dark reddish orange stripes made him look like a little tiger. Marms would stomp around the house as he explored and Joseph was sure Marms must think of the place as his kingdom. He could picture Marms yelling at the birds to get off his lawn in kitty speak.

"Is it time for kitty food? Kitty food!" Joseph said and Marms meowed at him to encourage getting fed. Joseph scooped out the food from a Friskies can and he smiled to himself as Marms was rubbing himself against Joshe's legs.

Marm's meowed with glee as Joseph put his food dish on the floor and Marms began to greedily eat it. Joseph poured himself a cup of coffee and walked into his living room and turned on the television. He then returned to the kitchen and began to make his own breakfast as he listened to the news on the television.

"Breaking News, horror at a local nursing home as a crazed madman guns down in cold blood the security guard." The familiar voice of the newscaster said. Her voice calm and composed yet held a slight hint of alarm, just enough to stress the importance of the story. Joseph could see her face in his mind, a face he knew from watching her numerous times. Her long light brown hair that fell a little below the shoulders. She always had a pearl necklace on but he could never tell if it were real or fake. He guessed real because some news people did make good money in their paychecks. She had been on for years so he guessed she must be popular with the folks, like him, that listened to the morning broadcast.

Marms meowed loudly and as Joseph looked at him Marms began licking his lips telling his hooman slave that the food was satisfactory. Joseph reached down and scooped up the purring little bundle of fur and kissed Marms head as he carried him into the living room. He noticed that the newscaster was wearing a turquoise colored blouse this morning.

"A unidentified gunman entered the Sacred Oak Nursing Home and killed Security Guard Peter Bassetti. The unprovoked attack has left many scared as the gunman is still on the loose..." Joseph laughed that they had omitted the fact the killer had been found in the bathroom killed by what seemed to be the same means as his victim. Of course he would not know for certain until results of the autopsy were completed. That could take days, but as of right now he felt confident that the case was a murder/ suicide. There were some unusual circumstances involving the case but over all he could easily close the case once the results came back.

Joseph's attention returned to the television as Joseph recognized one of the nurses he spoke to last night. She was short and chubby and they had her name listed as Lucy. She was the one saying she heard a woman screaming and something about a shotgun. Joseph did not take her story seriously because the elements she added seemed to be far fetched and made her testimony uncredible.

"So the guy comes inside and starts screaming 'I'm gonna kill you, I'm gonna kiiilll YOOOOUUUUU!!!!!' So I ducked under a table but Peter, if I can call him by his first name. We all do at the home, but I don't want to tarnish his brave sacrifice." Lucy was saying as the camera centered on her.

He yells for everyone to get behind him and he stands forward and points his flashlight at the guy and says 'Not today Mister, you're in my neighborhood now Rogers."

"Oh my God," Joseph said incredulously as he listened to her exaggeration and tried not to roll his eyes. "Some people will make up any story just to get attention, eh Marms?" The kitty was busy rubbing his face against Joseph's as he continued purring. Of course the little guy could care less about the case as long as Joseph kept petting him. A kitty getting pet made the universe seem alright! At least to kitties it did.

"So the guy pulls out a shotgun and says 'Go Ahead make my day, Punk.' and he blows Peter away for no reason." Lucy continued and the stern stoic face of the reporter stood there holding the microphone up to her but even the reporter seemed unconvinced.

"Then what happened?" The reporter politely asked.

"Thinking quickly I took out my phone and yelled at him 'I just called the police they'll be here in a minute buster.' Well, he got so scared he ran off. You know Peter and I were dating. We had a date planned for tomorrow and it would have been our three month anniversary. He loved me soo much he laid down his life to protect mine." Lucy took out a kleenex from her pocket and pretended to cry into it. Pretended because even Joseph saw she was acting and he could not see a single tear.

Odd she never mentioned any of this when he interviewed her last night. If she was not careful she would find herself in serious trouble and he could bring her up on charges but at this point it was not worth it. He did not want to waste his valuable time on her unless he had to. The case was ready to be closed so why drag things out because she was looking for attention. Joseph decided to ignore it for now but if she kept this up he would have to bring her in for questioning and possible charges.

"We'll check in with David for the forecast..." Joseph stopped daydreaming and realized the news had moved on while he had been deciding what to do about Lucy. He glanced at the clock and realized he needed to stop wasting time and get ready for work. He had to push away thoughts about a few other cases he was working on to keep from getting distracted.

Joseph entered the police station and nodded and grunted to his fellow officers as he made his way to his desk. Several messages awaited him and he briefly glanced at them deciding if they were important or ones he could ignore for the moment.

He found one that identified the nursing home murderer and he quickly set that one aside to use for his reports. And set aside three other messages out of the pile for other cases he was working on. He just sat down and his phone rang making him sigh before answering.

"Detective Namer, how can I help you?" He replied trying to sound professional but looking at the extension the call was coming from he knew exactly who it was.

"Hey Joe, can I see you in my office?" The voice of the station's captain and Joseph's best friend George replied calmly. George and himself met when they were in the police academy together. They became quick friends but it was no surprise that George was promoted to captain. He had a deep desire to prove himself and pushed to get promoted every chance he had. Joseph was just happy being a detective it was enough "adventure" as far as he was concerned.

"Oh my way." Joseph said and he rose and prepared himself. They always tried to be as professional as possible while at work so no one could accuse them of favoritism. Joseph knocked on the door then entered.

George sat at his desk with his hands folded as he watched Joseph enter. He had a suspicious smile to his face and Joseph could only guess what he was up to. George was relatively thin although he was sporting a slight beer belly as they called it. His hair was a light brown cut short in almost military fashion. His excuse was he hated having long hair falling into his eyes and making it difficult to see. Of course when he was in high school he wore his hair like he was a rock star, or so Joseph had been told. George was an inch taller sh they always joke about how they could not see things eye to eye.

"What are you grinning about?" Joseph asked playfully hoping George would take a bait and reveal what he was up to.

"Looking over this new case you have."

"Oh?" Joseph said annoyed. Why was George wasting time looking over this case? There was nothing special about it. If George was looking into it then he had a gut feeling it would not be closed right away.

"The body was identified as a man named Shane Krong. He's had several run in with law enforcement in the past. That's not what got my attention though, he was a member of several anarchist groups and environmental ones also. Basically trying to save the world by causing riots and burning down everything in their path.

Some concerns came up that his 'friends' may cause trouble if they can't find someone to blame for his death. I need you to put their tender minds at ease by finding the murderer. I mean the real murderer other than him. " George said sternly.

"Looked like suicide." Joseph said and his gut had a sinking feeling that this case was far from being over. His friends would demand having a scapegoat and no matter how it appeared to be suicide they would not accept it. This may encourage them to riot because they don't believe the truth as the evidence suggests.

"Hmmm.... are you absolutely sure that is the case?"

"I just need the autopsy to confirm but I am pretty confident." Joseph said then noticed the look George was giving him. George looked as if he were seeing through him and could see the slight bit of doubt he had.

"Really? Are you sure it's not something else?" George asked calmly but he squinted his eyes and Joseph felt his resolve slipping. The one thing that had always unnerved him was that because George and himself were so close he seemed to know when Joseph had omitted details. Joseph never lied but he based his conclusions on the evidence presented but there were times when he felt the evidence was wrong. He would never pursue any ideas or theories he had unless he had evidence.

"Well... to be honest I'm not completely convinced it was a suicide. The head of the killer looked as if it had been smashed in by a heavy object. We found the killer's gun hidden so IF he shot himself, how was he able to hide it?! Even if someone else shot him the wounds are not consistent. I think the killer went to the bathroom to hide his gun before he made his escape and someone was either waiting or followed him and killed him by bashing in his head." Joseph said.

"So I take it you have no proof then?"

"Affirmative. Once forensics confirms the cause of death from the autopsy, I'll be able to concede it to be suicide and lay the matter to rest." Joseph said.

"And should the evidence show it was not a suicide?"

"Then we have another killer out there, possibly." Joseph replied. George sighed and stood up from his desk and began pacing. He tended to do this while thinking as he was considering how best to move forward. Joseph knew he would be asking rhetorical questions in a moment because even if Joseph answered, George was focussed on his own thoughts and Joseph's answers would not register with him.

"While we wait for the autopsy the killer's killer may be getting away and if his activist friends start rioting it will provide perfect cover. I can keep this under wraps only for forty eight hours before the press comes looking for answers." George mumbled to himself as he continued pacing. Joseph moved over and sat at the edge of his desk and observed George.

"IF they even care about him." Joseph responded.

"I need you to be on top of this, we need to get that killer, if ruled out it's not a suicide. Mr. Krong's name is flagged because of trouble he and his friends started in the past. We don't want them to have cause to escalate another riot."

"Can I ride a unicorn to work?" Joseph joked as he watched George continue to pace and ignore him.

"OK follow up any leads because his friends are always looking for an excuse to start trouble. I don't want to give them any cause or ammunition." George said finally as he finished pacing and made up his mind how he wanted to proceed. Which of course meant he decided what Joseph was going to do whether he wanted to or not.

"Yes sir." Joseph replied.

"Are you still here?" George replied and Joseph took his que and left. Trying not to allow his annoyance to show as he walked out but truth be told he was not annoyed at George. Deep down he was glad he was being pushed to find the killer but on the other hand he was hoping it would be a fast case to close.

Thinking back over the suspects at the nursing home he could not see any of them being strong enough to do the type of damage that was done to Krong. Whatever smashed his face must have been big and heavy and none of the workers looked as if they could do it. Joseph then realized that the workers there must be used to picking up the elderly they have living there. He might be underestimating them.

The hillbilly janitor could have been there and killed Krong once he saw him kill the security guard. A smart man would not confront a person that just killed a security guard by shooting him. Could he have thought that he could sneak behind the guy and finish him off? Still seems kind of risky for a janitor to try when he could have simply hidden and called the police to deal with him.

The first thing he was going to have to do was run a complete background check on Shane Krong and the security guard to see if there is any connection between them. Then check out their residences to see if any valuable intel can be gathered. Lastly check phone records for any corroborating evidence that might make a connection between the two.

Joseph also considered going back to the nursing home to see if they missed anything. They were pretty thorough in their search but there is always the possibility something could have been missed or overlooked. Provided his other cases got the same amount of effort as this case did. The last thing he wanted was to be accused of not putting enough effort into their investigation. He knew of cases others had worked on were dismissed in court because the lawyers used a loophole to say they were not investigated enough and allowed the defendant to go free.

Joseph returned to his desk and logged into his computer to begin his investigation. He needed up his reports of the investigation he had written last night and his notebook so he could go back over what he had written to refresh his memory. He wanted to make sure nothing had been omitted and perhaps he might uncover another clue to help him proceed forward. He certainly had enough leads to go on, but in case they all led to dead ends he wanted to be ready with several backups.

He looked up the arrest record on Shane and found numerous reports of disorderly conduct involving protests. He was listed as belonging to several groups which were known for their violence during protests. He joined groups ranging from environmental, animal rights, political, and LGBTQ+. His address was listed here in the city but the arrests were in other states where the protests were held. He had been lucky not to have served any time but he had been pushing his luck and was in danger of having business owners pressing some serious charges. He had several fines and tickets that had yet to be paid. His driving license had been suspended and a couple of arrests for driving without a license.

Joseph looked up his address and found directions to his place then groaned as he noticed it was in an unsavory part of town. It was the kind of place the police never drove through unless they absolutely had to. He would need some backup to watch the cruiser to keep the residents away because leaving an unattended car, especially a police vehicle, meant coming back to it being vandalized. Naturally the residents usually see nothing so they cannot help to find the perpetrator.

Joseph took out his cell phone and called an officer he knew would not mind riding along and keep an eye on the cruiser.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mike, it's me Joseph."

"Heeey, what's going on?" Mike said his voice full of the bubbly enthusiasm he was known for. He was the kind of guy that smiled and told a joke but when the job required him to get serious his personality changed. He would go from happy go lucky Mike into a living stone that looked as if he could see right through you.

"I'm on a case in a tough neighborhood, wanna come for a ride along?" Joseph asked

"Sure why not I'm not doing anything at the moment. How long is it gonna take?" He asked with the ethanism slipping from his voice.

"Maybe an hour or two, I gotta check out an apartment for a killer that was found dead on the scene. Just gotta make sure I'm not missing anything." Joseph said hoping Mike would agree.

"Yeah I think I can get Susan to cover my post for that long. I just can't be out all day." Mike said and Joseph was relieved. Mike and him got along well so he was glad he was going to be his back up.

"Great meet me out front in a few."

"You got it." Mike replied and ended the call. Joseph grabbed what he thought he might need and made his way to the parking area.