Heartless Love

Chapter Nine

Bryce sighs heavily as he looks over the investigation board. His attention moves to the office door as the knob turns and the bolt clicks. It opens up fully to reveal Tamara standing with two cups of coffee and a folder griped tightly under her right arm. She walks into the room and shuts the door with her foot. "This investigation starting to frustrate you?", she asks playfully. Bryce looks back at the board as he takes a sip of the coffee Tamara brought. "What's in the folder?", he asks while maintaining his focus on the board. Tamara drops it onto the table and replies, "Photos of Frank Barlowe." Bryce's head snaps to look at Tamara and he asks, "Where did you get them?" "Ms. Barlowe's resident. I went to visit her early this morning," Tamara states. Bryce snickers and looks at Tamara with disbelief. His action causes her to look up from the photos and at him. Her eyebrows furrow at his expression and she asks him what's wrong. "Oh nothing's wrong Lewis," he responds sarcastically, "It's not like we are supposed to be working together on this investigation or anything." "Oh, come on Gates. It's not like I made a major breakthrough in the case without you. I just went and got some photos," she says in a chill tone. Bryce slams his hand down onto the desk and leans over it towards Tamara. His eyes bore into hers as he says firmly, "I don't care if you're just going to talk to the secretary on the first floor. If your conversation has anything to do with our ongoing investigation, then I want to be present. Do you understand me, Lewis?" His words surprise Tamara, and she is only able to nod in response. Satisfied, he stands back up straight again, and redirects his attention to board. Tamar opens up the folder and begins laying out all of the photos of Frank Barlowe. "Clearly he has no tattoo on his neck," she states with a bit of frustration, "And these photos range from age twenty to thirty-five." Bryce turns back towards the table and also begins carefully looking over the photos. "He was thirty-seven when he was murdered," Bryce states. Tamara's face twists as she replies, "He would have gotten the tattoo soon after he joined the gang though. And according to what Ms. Barlowe said, it doesn't seem like he joined only two years ago." "You thinking it's the same case with Sam Thorton?", Bryce asks. Tamara nods and responds, "I think it's the case with all three of the victims. Barlowe, Thorton, and Sutton had to all be involved with this gang for at least the past four years." Bryce's eyebrows furrow and he questions, "Why four?" "Because no matter who joined first, all three had to have time to grow a trust between one another in order to do work on whatever they were planning," Tamara replies, "Furthermore, gangs very rarely allow multiple people to join their circle at a time. Which means that not only do we add time to the three having to grow trust, but also time that has passed between each of the three men joining the group." Bryce sighs heavily as he again looks over the photos of Frank Barlowe. "What if two of the victims had already been in the gang for a significant amount of time, and only one of them was new to the group?", Bryce inquires. Tamara clicks her tongue against her pallet and replies, "That's highly unlikely. New members to a gang are filled with excitement to have been accepted in and try their best to focus on being loyal to the head man and do everything he says." "Exactly. So, what if the other two men, who were his seniors in a way convinced him to be a part of their plan?", Bryce suggests. Tamara twitches an eyebrow and says, "That is a possibility." "Back to the main point though. Do you believe either of the victims had a tattoo in the area that was cut off of their necks?", Bryce asks. "No," Tamara responds directly. "Then let's get some photos of Thorton and Sutton in order to make our hypothesis a thesis," Bryce states. Just then, there is a knock at the door. "Come in," Tamara says. Alyce opens the door and tells her, "There is someone on line three for you." Tamara nods and walks out of the room to her office.

"Detective Lewis," Tamara says over the phone. "Hello Detective," a man says over the other side of the phone. "Who am I speaking with?", Tamara asks. Instead of answering her question, the man tells her, "Thank you for keeping your promise. I owe you." The tension leaves Tamara's body and she replies, "Just doing my job. No debt to pay." "There is one to me," the man replies seriously. Tamara sighs heavily, then asks, "Ok then, tell me what's your name?" The man snicker slightly, before replying, "Devin" "Ok then Devin, your debt is paid," Tamara says. She is about to hang up, when she hears him ask, "How about I treat you to dinner?" "No," Tamara replies rigidly. "I'm a busy man detective and I don't like to leave debts unpaid for long. Please tell me what I can do for you," Devin states with slight frustration. Also frustrated, Tamara answers, "Fine. I want you to get me some chocolate covered strawberries." "I'll make sure they get to you soon," Devin affirms, before hanging up. Tamara scoffs at the act, then also hangs up her phone.

About an hour later, Alyce again walks in on Bryce and Tamara looking over some of the crime scene photos. "A delivery man is here and needs you to sign off on a package...box thing," Alyce says with slight confusion written on her face. Tamara also gets confused, because she knows she didn't order anything. As she walks into the lobby area, the delivery man directs his attention to her. "Good morning, ma'am. Are you Tamara Lewis?," he asks with a smile. She nods and states, "Yes. However, I didn't order anything." "Oh no ma'am. This was sent to you by a Mr. Devin," the delivery man replies as he looks at his order information to make sure he was giving the right information. Tamara's eyes widen slightly as she says, "Oh yes. I forgot." After signing for the package, she walks back to the investigation room. Bryce's eyes meet the package and he inquires, "What did you order?" "Someone sent this to me," Tamara replies, as she sets the box down on a smaller table in the corner of the room. "You're not going to open and see what it is?", Bryce asks. "I already know what it is," Tamara responds in an effort to just get Bryce to stop bothering her about the package. He gets the hint, and they focus back on the board. "Ok then," he says in an exhale, "Let's get back to work."