A Detective's Guide to the Perfect Crime

III

Roman Daley stepped inside the heated police building. A territory he'd always loved. The bustle of detective life drew him in the second he got a taste. The only thing that deterred him was having to deal people like Margo Anne Stewart-Jameson. Although, he hadn't had to deal with anyone as bad as her yet.

"Ah! Mister Daley!" A woman in a suit clipped across the floor in her heels. In her arms was a clipboard. "Autopsy reports are back on the case you're heading." She shoved the items into his arms.

AUTOPSY REPORT:

Tori Kinsley

Cause of death: Self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head

Roman only lifted the first sheet enough to gain an insight into where the bullet had struck him. The entrance wound was on his left temple. Straight through to his right. Point blank range. But... something stood out to him more than anything.

"Miss Winslow..." Roman took a breath and held it as he examined the records more closely, "I have a question..."

"Shoot." Elizabeth Winslow, the woman who had handed Roman the papers, looked at him.

He could feel her hazel eyes burning two small holes in his cheekbone. "How many people do you know who could shoot the left side of their head with their right hand?"

Liz shrugged. "I mean, I know some pretty flexible people." She used her own hand to gesture with a finger gun to the opposite side of her head to prove her point. "It's not that hard."

"Yeah, but..." Roman flipped through more of the pages, "this man was forty-seven with arthritis."

Elizabeth pulled Roman's arm down so she could see. She stood on her tip toes and craned her neck. "Sorry- could you just..." Roman reluctantly held the clipboard lower within Liz's line of sight. "Thanks." She flipped through the pages herself. "Huh... you're right."

So why on earth would the pathologist mark it as a suicide? Roman couldn't help but wonder. On the diagram, a clear X is drawn on the man's left temple and labeled 'entrance wound'.

"Who was the pathologist?" Roman looked for a signature, but found none.

"Uhm... I think it was Paul Thrasher..." Elizabeth took the papers from Roman's hands and flipped through them. "He usually signs his papers, though." She handed them back with a nonchalant shrug.

"Looks like we have to pay Mister Thrasher a visit." Roman thought aloud.

"All due respect... you're not the head detective on this case." Elizabeth marched after him.

Roman sighed and turned around on one heel to face the short, plump woman. "How long have you been out of the loop, Miss Winslow?"

Anyone else who stumbled across Elizabeth Winslow would call her an absolutely gorgeous woman. With her flowing, curly black hair and her chocolate brown eyes. Not to mention her beautiful personality. Alwayss jovial and energetic. Anyone meeting her would fall in love with her immediately— in a friendly way or not, but not Roman.

She reminded him more of a pear.

Roman hated pears.

"Pardon?" Elizabeth paused.

He showed his teeth in a grin. "I'm the lead detective around here, now. On everything. That's why I'm here."

She made a face. "Yes sir." She said in a breath.

"Remember that, okay?" Roman said. "If you can."

Elizabeth stared blankly. Like she'd been shot. "Y-yes sir..."