Cold Case

Cutting Corners

MIDORIYA'S POV

⚠️CHILD MURDER⚠️

"You can pick the second case," I said, smiling, sliding a thick stack of files to Bakugo. "Well, kind of. I grabbed the ones I think we could crack quickly that don't involve many people. "I want to give us some more warmup time before we get tangled in a big case."

"Since I'm still figuring out what the hell I'm doing, I think that's for the best." He admitted. He doesn't tend to acknowledge that he's wrong or struggling, so I'll take that as a win.

"Can I just pick a random one?" He flipped through the files quickly, hardly looking at them. "I don't want to start a case and have a different one in the back of my mind."

"That's fine." I shrugged. He randomly grabbed a file from the middle of the stack. He slid the thick stack across the desk to me.

"I'll keep these set aside to do first." I opened the bottom left drawer and set the files in there. "Want to fill me in on the case you chose?"

"Nine-year-old girl named Leigh." He frowned. Your first child case was always the hardest. Although, it never got any easier. "She lived with her mother and her two brothers, Cline and Rickie. She was murdered at home while the mother took the boys to soccer practice. She came home to find her daughter's insides on the floor." He pulled the photos out of the file. I'd already seen them, and I refused to look again.

"I skimmed through the case, but I didn't know all the details. If I remember correctly, there weren't any suspects. They canvased the area, but nobody saw or heard anything." I frowned. How could a nine-year-old get murdered and there be no evidence? Absolutely nothing that could help pinpoint who was responsible.

"Why was this one in that stack? It seems like it will be harder to solve if we have nothing to go on."

"Because it's a clean slate. It's important to know how to find suspects of your own. We'll disregard everything the previous team investigated and start over. It's only two years old, so we have a higher chance of solving it. Whoever did it is probably still paranoid." I explained.

"When they're paranoid, they make mistakes." He added. "Should we go now?" He asked.

"Let's sign our stuff out, and we can grab a coffee on the way to the residence." I pushed myself from my desk and grabbed my cell phone.

"Good. The coffee here sucks." He scoffed. I would love to fight with him, but I couldn't because our coffee was terrible.

"Well, maybe we'll buy our own coffee as an award after we finish this case." I laughed lightly. He ran a hand through his messy blond hair.

"Do we have to wait until we finish this case?" He groaned. "I won't survive if I have to drink this shitty coffee."

"We'll see what we can do." I rolled my eyes playfully and stuck my hand out to him. He grabbed my hand and let me help pull him to his feet. We're learning to put our differences aside one step at a time.

---------------

"You're re-opening the case?" Leigh's mother, May, nervously smiled. "They told me it was a cold case and would never be solved." She sighed. After we showed up and explained what was happening with her daughter's case, she cried on the floor for ten minutes. I can't blame her, though. If I had a child who got murdered, I don't think I would ever stop crying.

"Yes." Bakugo snapped. I sent him a glare, warning him to calm down. His boss said he needs to work on his patience, and I understand what he means.

"When we looked back at the file, we saw that there wasn't any forced entry. You locked the door when you left to take the boys to soccer practice, correct?" I questioned. Bakugo distracted himself by taking notes on the other end of the couch. He preferred to write things down, claiming it made it easier to connect the dots.

"Yes. I turned the alarm on and left. I didn't realize that she had turned the alarm off with the code until I got home and found her. I didn't look at my phone while dropping the boys off, so it was too late." He explained quietly.

"Can I ask why you left your nine-year-old daughter home alone instead of taking her?" Bakugo asked. For the first time, he asked in a gentle tone, not an accusing one. Leaving young children home alone is a touchy subject, and he didn't want to come off as accusing her about anything.

"I'm a single mother." Tears fell down her face. It was clear she had already been beating herself up for that decision. "She was sick, and I didn't want to drag her out. I was gone for less than fifteen minutes. It only took fifteen minutes for someone to turn our lives upside-down.

"Was there anybody around here willing to hurt her? She might have known her attacker if she turned the alarm off." I suggested. "Was there anybody she trusted enough to let in without a second thought?" I asked.

"Just some of the neighbors, but they were either out with their kids or at work. The only ones that were home were our neighbors to the left. They were deaf and couldn't get around too well. There was no way they could have done this." She explained.

"Were?" Bakugo questioned. I have to give him credit for catching that because I didn't.

"Mrs. Rankin passed away last year, and her husband passed four months later." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep all of the tears inside.

"Was there anything stolen or damaged?" I asked.

"Not that I know of."

"Did Leigh keep a diary or journal?" Bakugo asked. That's something I would never have considered. Just because the mother didn't know the attacker didn't mean Leigh didn't.

"Y-Yes." She stuttered. "She did. I never read it, though. I believe privacy is a right, not a privilege." She explained.

"Where did she keep it?" Bakugo set his notebook on the couch and stood up. "You don't have to read it or know anything in it if you want to continue respecting her privacy."

"If I give you that, will it help you find out who murdered my daughter?" She asked.

"It could." I couldn't tell her yes for sure because it might not. I don't know what nine year old's write about in their diaries.

"It's in her room, under her mattress." She sighed. "I haven't been in there since she died, and I don't want to." Tears fell down her face once more.

"Are you okay if we go grab it?" Bakugo asked.

"It's the second door to the right." She nodded to the hallway. I pushed myself to my feet and followed Bakugo down the hallway. We pushed open the door slowly and turned the light on. Her room destroyed my heart.

"This is how you know Leigh had an amazing mother." I muttered. The light pink walls had hand-painted murals on every side. There were enough toys to supply a family of twelve for Christmas. The room was clean but cluttered with various toys, furniture, and activities.

"She said it was under the mattress?"

"Yeah." I replied. Bakugo walked over to the mattress and lifted it quickly. Surprisingly, it was empty. 

"It's not here." He mumbled. "She said it was always here, right?" He questioned.

"What is whoever killed her took it? They knew she had written about them and didn't want any evidence, so they took it?" I asked.

"Why don't you go ask her mother if she is willing to consent to a search for the diary and further evidence? I don't think evidence was collected in her room because the crime scene was the living room."

"Yeah. Can you call the team and ask them to come out? Try not to touch anything else. We don't want to ruin fingerprints." I turned towards the door, disgusted with the team who initially investigated this case. What was it with cops cutting corners all the time?