It Started With A Murder

Part I chapter 1

PART I: OVERCAST

'Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to endless night' --Agatha Christie, Endless Night

01 Girl Nobody 

10:00 AM 

21st Feb 2016

Vega Residence

Sunday mornings were laid back in the Vega household. Mr Vega, a man in his early fifties who had taken premature retirement from his clerical job at the bank, would sit at his regular spot at the head of the table. As per custom he would push back his rectangular glasses, sip his black tea and home on to the page with the most amount of pictures scattered on it and if the headlines on said page contained words that piqued his interest (murder, kidnapping, robbery, etc...) he would give his trademark grimace and say-- 

"This town keeps getting worse everyday. You never know what kind of person you're dealing with these days," 

Then as per custom, he would forward the newspaper to whosoever would be sitting beside him at the table, his wife or his daughter. On that day, it was the latter.

Seventeen year old Arabella Vega had been amusing herself by scrolling through some article regarding one of her favorite celebrities. Unfortunately, she didn't quite share his interest for the macabre, nor was she a party to his cynicism. But when the paper was forwarded  to her that morning, she made sure to put her phone aside and put up the most interested expression she could muster.

"I know right?" She nodded her head. Born and raised in a city that topped violent crime statistics every year, her bar for what could be considered disturbing was set  pretty high. Taking a small bite from her toast, she focused all her attention to the little column of city news he seemed to point at. 

DEAD TEENAGER FOUND ON ABBYVILLE STREET

Abbeyville Street which was somewhat of a more affluent part of the city, wasn't anywhere close to her place. Atleast a twenty minute drive on a no-traffic day. Biting into the toast, her eyes skimmed over the paragraph: 

The body of a dead teenager, aged 18, was found on Abbeyville Street at 3AM in the morning by Mr Richard Manning, the local night guard for the locality. The victim who has been identified as Allison Abernathy was a student of Richmond High and was a resident of the area itself. A missing complaint was lodged by Mr Abernathy on the night of twenty first February, when Allison did not return home after meeting her friends. Her car was found parked outside the local diner, Sky Lounge along with her purse, that contained credit cards, phone and driving license. The dead body is said to have multiple stab wounds, all of varying depth and diameter. It is also said to be missing both the eyeballs. While further autopsy reports are awaited, the Detroit Police has declined to offer any comments on the case. A statement will be issued regarding the case--- 

Arabella shuddered.

It had been true.

It hadn't been a prank. 

She knew her lungs were working to bring in the much needed oxygen, but it felt like she was drowning in the air. Pushing back the chair in a way that was too violent, she shot up, losing whatever appetite she had had.  

Her behavior should've--under natural circumstances-- gotten quite a reaction but Mr Vega but he simply dismissed it as a 'woman's heart'. Besides, Arabella had always--according to him--been a little emotionally weak. Which was part of the reason why he always refrained from yelling at her no matter how angry he were. His focus  was then diverted towards the smell of freshly made pancakes that his wife had just brought into the dining room.