Today, I got waken up at 6am by my chief deputy informing me that there has been a murder in town. Usually, he handles everything that comes up when I'm not on duty, but murders are not often around here. Crimes here are mostly property related, so this is a big deal.
Rusk is a quiet community where pretty much everyone knows everyone and they are -mostly- civil with each other. You can't go on a walk without meeting someone you know or the whole town finding out the next day. On one hand, this helps us because there are witnesses to almost everything that happens, but other times it feels suffocating. I grew up a few towns over, so I have had this all my life. Luckily, I've learned to navigate it to my advantage; smile, be cheerful, and show people what they want to see.
"Hey, Millie" I greet the owner of the coffee shop with my widest smile as I enter
"Good morning, Sheriff. The usual?" she asks
"Yes. Thank you" I reply and hand her a couple of bills.
Millie is a nice lady, late 50's. She is sweet and caring. She knows everything about everyone in town, and she is the biggest gossip.
"I heard there has been an incident on the other side of the town. Is it true?" she speaks as she prepares my coffee
"News travel fast" I chuckle despite my dislike
"Yeah, what can I say?" she chuckles back
"Well, I don't know the severity of the situation yet, I'm headed there now. But I'll share everything I know later" I lie
"You know best, Sheriff. I'm not stressing" she admits
"Then I must be doing my job right" I smile
"Of course. Here you go..." she sets my coffee on the counter
"Thank you, Millie. Have a good day"
"You too. Good luck with the case"
"Thank you" I reply as I leave out of the store.
I get in my car and drive to the crime scene. As I arrive there, I see more vehicles than I expected. I park disappointed at my chief deputy's lack of confidentiality. I put my hat on, grab my coffee and step out. My boots click against the pavement at every step I take as I walk towards the entrance, making the people in the scene aware of my presence.
"Ladies and gentlemen..." I raise my voice as I approach to get the attention of the civilians, "This is not a show, this is a crime scene. Please, step behind the yellow tape and preferably go back to your jobs so we can do ours properly. I will update you on the situation when we know more. Thank you!" I announce.
People start getting behind the yellow tape but remain close by, hungry for more answers or gossip. I sigh and walk in the house to meet the chief deputy Campbell. I see no signs of forced entry.
"What do we have, Cam?" I ask
"Michael Ruiz, 43 years old. He's a local mechanic, his shop is three blocks down the road. Neighbors say that they saw him working in the garage late last night, apparently he has a couple of vintage cars he's repairing as a hobby" he informs me as I follow him to the garage.
Ruiz's body is on the floor, on his back and there is a pool of blood under it. One of the cars' hood is open and it looks like he was -indeed- working on one of the cars at the time of the murder. I kneel closer to the body as I put a pair of gloves on. I examine the body carefully to locate that the source of bleeding.
"Who reported it?" I wonder
"Mr. Calvin, the next door neighbor, reported that he didn't see Ruiz leave for work this morning so he came in to check on him and found the garage door slightly open..." he explains
"And he didn't see anyone else come or leave last night after noticing Ruiz was working in here?"
"No"
"Alright. Did you call CSI's?" I ask as I stand up again and begin to take my gloves off
"Yes, they are on their way"
"Good. I don't want to move anything before they get here, but my best guess right now is that he was hit at the back of the head. I'll notify the medical examiner to prioritize this and get us his report as soon as possible. In the meantime, can you stay and make sure more people don't contaminate the scene until the CSI's are down?"
"Yes, Sheriff"
"Great. Call me if you need anything".
As soon as I arrive in my office, I start building the case file. I encourage the town's people to contact us with any information regarding Ruiz's life and the night of the murder, and I assign two deputies to handle the tip line. We insert all the useful information in the growing case file along with the fresh crime scene photos.
In the afternoon, I get an email from the medical examiner that contains his notes and official reports. I print them out and sit down to take a better look at them by myself. As I predicted, the cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head. There were no signs of resistance which makes sense. He reports that the murder weapon must have been some kind of heavy tool, most likely a crowbar, so it must have been a weapon of opportunity.
I review the crime scene photos again, but I can't seem to find a crowbar in any photo. It doesn't make much sense for a mechanic's garage to not have a crowbar anywhere. If the unsub took it with them, it would incriminate them immediately if found. I make a mental note to go back to the crime scene tomorrow to look, and also alert the deputies to be aware that the unsub might have gotten rid of it in the immediate area.
I turn my attention back to medical examiner's reports. And when I get to the final notes I come across a drawn symbol. According to the notes, a male symbol -a circle below an arrow pointing diagonally upward to the right- was carved into the wrist of the victim post-mortem. Which brings up the following questions: Why did the killer need to mark the victim? What could it mean to him? And have there been other crimes like this that the killer wanted us to connect to him?
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Cowboy Like Me || Aaron Hotchner
FanfictionA series of unsolved murders in Rusk County, Texas, has Sheriff Jules Knox at her wit's end as the clues seem to point in different, confusing directions. So, despite her dislike of bureaucrats, she contacts the FBI for help. The case file ends up i...
