Teach Me

Chapter 4

*A few days later*

"I don't like this," you say to Emily.

The two of you were tasked with searching an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods for a missing teenage girl. You would have been ok with it, if it wasn't the middle of the night, or if the two of you weren't alone. It didn't help that it had rained the night before so everything was wet, making the investigation even harder.

"Are you scared?" she asks a hint of amusement in her voice.

"No," you say, but your body betrays you, jumping about a foot into the air at the sound of something rustling in the leaves.

"You totally are," Emily says with a laugh. "Don't worry," she says as she throws an arm over your shoulder. "I'm here to protect you."

"Wow I feel so much better," you say with a roll of your eyes, as you push her arm off of you.

Just then a pair of headlights come up the path catching both of your attention. The headlights belong to a small car and out jumps the detective's son, who had been helping you solve this case. The victim was a friend of his, and he seemed genuinely concerned for her wellbeing.

"Did you find her?" he asks as he walks up to the two of you.

"No, not yet," Emily says to him.

"Did you check everywhere? Are you sure?" He's walking around the cabin in a rushed and panicked manner. You glance at Emily, both of you on edge at his sudden appearance.

"We checked all over this place," you assure him.

"What about out back?" he asks as he turns to you. "Did you check the building out back?"

"We didn't know there was a building out back," Emily says.

"It's right through here." He points toward the trees and pushes through them, into a hidden trail. The two of you follow him and approach a smaller building that is much more run-down than the cabin was.

"I'll check it out," Emily says as she heads into the building.

You get bad a feeling in your gut, and it's not just because you are in the middle of the woods. It feels like the two of you had just walked into a trap.

"So who do you think did it?" James, the detective's son asks.

"Well," you start to say, being careful of the words you choose. "This profiles as disorganized, somebody who doesn't know what they are doing." He nods. You start to grow wary as his frantic behavior from early is suddenly gone.

"Sounds a lot like the guy you have in custody, right?" he asks, as he sticks his hands in his pockets.

"Well, sometimes a disorganized killer only looks disorganized. Sometimes they are really smart. So smart that they arrange their crime scenes to look like they are dumber than they are."

"Really?" he asks as he turns and starts to walk away, his back towards you.

"Yes. Oftentimes these killers like to be in control, sometimes they will even go as far as to insert themselves into the investigation."

"What are you suggesting?" he asks as he turns back around to face you.

"I'm not suggesting anything," you say, your hand slowly drifting up to rest on the gun on your hip. "What do you think I am suggesting James?"

"I didn't do this," he says with a shake of his head. "I didn't...I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"I know James," you say gently, as you take a tentative step towards him.