My Condolences

one

I arrived at the office, hands sweaty and mind turning round. My work bag flew from my hands to my desk as I glued my behind to the seat. I closed my eyes for a second, releasing a long sigh. When I opened them again, a bald steady man was leaning against my office door. I knew I was late this morning, and judging by my boss' facial expressions, he must know it too. I bit the inside of my cheek before standing up, shoulders leaned back, feigning confidence.

'Hello sir', I smiled, outstretching my hand towards him. I analyzed his facial expression. He was pissed.

'Don't "hello sir" me. You're late.' His arms were let out of a hug from his chest.

'I am. Indeed...' I whispered the last part of my answer, my hands flying to scratch the back of my neck. God, I despised these types of moments with my boss.

'Indeed, yes. I wanna know why.' My eyes widened.

'Well, you see it's actually a funny story... I woke up, at 6:30 just as usual, and my neighbor was knocking on my door loudly. So, you know, I walked to the door and I opened it. She was there, her baby in hands, looking all rushed and stuff. She asked if I could keep her child with me for just a moment. So you know, being the sweet understanding person I am, I accepted. She said it was for only twenty minutes but she only came back after one hour and a half! I mean, what a rude person, right? And I thought it was good being nice? But don't worry chief, when she came back I slapped the bitch out of-'

'Miss Johnson, I don't work for the FBI for nothing. I have eyes for the bullshit. Now tell me the truth.' He folded his arms again.

'I kinda overslept...'

'Overslept? What, are you seventeen Miss Johnson?'

'I'm sorry, really. It won't happen again Sir.'

'You've said this three times in the past month.' I widened my eyes. What the hell was I supposed to respond to this?

'I will not tolerate tardiness again, especially from you Miss Johnson. This time no repercussion will be taken, but next time, there will be severe consequences. Understand?'

'Understand' I nodded. He nodded back before turning around to walk out.

'Thank you, sir.' He threw me a small smile and headed out. I let out a long sigh. Damn this vodka from yesterday. It's all because of you. I look down at my desk where a close beige folder lays. A new case I see, a new one every day. I throw myself on the chair, hands reaching for the chain of papers. I open it and read.

Malia Lisbon, age 17

Died of suicide, one shot of a gun in her skull,  9 x 19 mm Walther P99

Found dead at 6:53 PM in a local park close to her house, next to a dead man named Bruce Davis. The man was shot by the same gun that Malia used to kill herself with. Bruce was suspected to be Malia's boyfriend.

I walked to Karl's office, the mysterious folder in hands. I knocked on his door before going in. The blue haired fellow looked up from his computer and into my eyes.
'Hello.' I smiled and closed the door behind me.

'Hey, Boss.' He threw me a smile.

'Karl, I was late this morning to work, but I found this on my desk.' I showed him the piece of papers. 'Do you have any idea what this is?' His eyes diverged as he looked to the folder and back to my eyes. He stood up.

'Yes. That's a new case the chief wants our team to work out.'

'But it's already closed. I mean, the murderer was found, even the arm of crime was determined. What is left to do?' Karl took two steps towards me.

'The chief wants us to find out the reason behind the crime. Apparently, the scene was very... vague, let's say. Looks like a planned murder and not a spontaneous one.'

'He was her lover, wasn't he? Couldn't they have had an ardent fight about their relationship and the girl got overwhelmed? I mean, that's what the folder implies.'

'Yes, sure. It could have happened. But the chief wants us to find out for sure.'

'But I mean... why? The case happened a year ago. Why now?'

'Because the guy was the chief's long lost nephew. And he didn't know about it until yesterday.'

Karl's voice was high and pierced through my ears in a loud deafening way. I could not believe what I was hearing. The chief had a nephew, one he spent years searching for just for the sake of his dead sister. And now that he did find him, he discovered that he was dead?

I nodded firmly my head, turned around and hastened to my office. This was a special case. And I have got to be the one to close it. For the chief, I thought. For the chief.