Criminal Case: Grimsborough

Chapter 34: Dead Man Running-Part 1

"Well for one, everyone in the stadium has been evacuated. But regrettably, I have some sad news; Troy Takaguchi is dead," Jones reported.

Shocked and surprised, Scott exclaimed, "That's unbelievable! Someone of Troy's bulk and stamina couldn't have died that easily! There has to be some sort of foul play at work here!"

Jones agreed with the boy and Marie looked at him sadly and said, "Listen Scott, why don't you go home and let me and Jones take care of things here."

Scott shook his head and said, "No way sis, I'm staying to help you guys on this one! You let baby Oliver go with you on that last case! Well this time, I'm coming too!"

Jones then thought about it carefully and said, "Okay kid, you can stay, but don't do anything to slow us down! Understood?" And Scott saluted telling him that he understood and soon the three of them started to search around the football field.

While Marie was searching, Jones and Scott approached Troy's body and Jones said sadly, "This is absolutely terrible. Troy was the hero of Grimsborough University. He was too young to die."

Scott then looked closely at Troy's arm and said, "And look at his arm, it's all swollen like a honey-baked ham! I don't think this was natural at all! I hope your friend Nathan will look at this and hopefully he'll be able to explain everything."

Marie then called out to them that she found a mouth guard and she said, "Whoever dropped this must've witnessed Troy's fall first-hand."

Jones then told Marie that they should also talk to the football team's coach Franklin Caldwell and see if he has any valuable info about their victim. Before Marie could look at the mouth guard, they decided to talk to Franklin Caldwell first and as soon as they were in front of him, Marie asked how he was doing. The coach then replied, "Not good cause this is such a mess! Losing my star quarterback at the height of the season; can thing get any worse?!"

"Coach, I understand that this is bad for the team, but shouldn't the death of a player be more important than the loss of a football season?" Jones asked.

Coach Franklin cleared his throat and said to the officers and teen before him, "You'll have to excuse me, we all have our own way of dealing with grief. I am deeply saddened by Troy's death and no man this young and full of promise should die like that."

Marie looked at the coach curiously and asked, "Was there anything wrong with Troy? Anything that could explain what happened to him?"

Coach Franklin shrugged and said, "I don't think he did much besides training for the games. You see, entering the major league was his dream and he put everything into training. Now if you'll excuse me folks, I've got a team of traumatized players to get back to."

As soon as the coach walked away, Jones Marie and Scott exited the stadium and headed towards the car when Marie said, "That guy sounds pretty harsh!"

"I know Coach Caldwell may seem harsh, but he's actually a great coach. He's always putting his players' best interests at heart and it pays off. Now the victim may have been a football player, but he was also a student at Grimsborough University too. And if I remember correctly, all the football players are housed in the same dorm to enhance team-building," Jones explained and suggested that they check the victim's room out and Marie and Scott agreed.

Before they could check out the victim's room, the three of them went back to the station to examine the mouth guard. Once they got back, Marie took a DNA sample off of it and she sent it to Grace to be analyzed. After Marie sent the sample to Grace, the three of them headed back to the campus to the dorm where their victim stayed in. As soon as they arrived, Jones, Scott and Marie looked around until Marie found an overloaded laundry basket and Jones smirked and thought, if she wants to look through it, she better plug her nose. Marie also found the victim's laptop and she booted it up to see what was on it.