The Case of The Criminal

The Corpse in The Garden

Simmons sighed, "he was a good man, even if he didn't always show it."

"Thank you for your time," Jones handed him a card, "if you think of anything don't hesitate to call, we may also contact you later."

"I understand, thank you."

They left the scene to the rest of the police force and headed back to the station to analyze their clues. They dropped the tooth off at the lab and then Abbie worked to decipher the barcode. It only took her a few seconds to find the right letters and numbers for the product.

"The sale of this kind of fire starter is under strict law, it shouldn't be too hard to track down the seller," Jones typed somethings into the computer, "it's from a mini-market nearby! And I know the owner of this place, his name is Joe Stern, let's go talk to him about this while the others run their tests."

They drove over to the mini-market and entered the store. The man they were looking for was behind the counter scribbling words down into a day planner. He glanced up as he heard the bell above the door jingle.

"Do you sell this type of fire starter in your store, Joe?" Jones asked holding up a picture of the bottle.

"Yes, this bottle comes from my shop," he confirmed, "so what?"

"We need to know who bought it."

"They've committed a murder," Abbie added for encouragement.

"Look buddy, you don't seriously think I keep track of my customers, do you?" Joe raised an eyebrow, "dozens of people come here every day!"

"Is that so?" Jones asked unconvinced, "well then Detective Abbie will have a look at your shop."

"Just in case there are other things you don't keep track of," Abbie said already getting to work.

They split up and each searched one side of the small store. They found nothing of interest but Abbie had a hunch about the bag of trash she found next to the cooler. She picked it up and nodded to Jones.

"You want to take the garbage?" he asked confused.

She shrugged, "people throw all kinds of things in the trash without a second thought, there might be something in here that will lead us a step closer to the killer."

She set it on the floor and pulled on a long pair of gloves from her bag. She untied the knot of the black bag and started digging around. The smell wasn't the worst she had ever dealt with, her old classmates smelled worst than this bag did. She reached the bottom and found something that didn't belong in the trash, a short cash receipt. She pulled it out and skimmed the products that had been purchased.

"I got the bottle of fire starter and our saw on this receipt," Abbie said holding it out for Jones to see.

He squinted at the print, "the person paid in cash but they also bought a pack of bandages, and since the killer wouldn't have gotten them for our victim then we must be looking for someone wearing a bandage!"

"That's the first piece of the puzzle," she bagged the receipt and slipped it into her bag.

Jones's phone buzzed, he checked it, "and we might have more, Grace just texted me, the results on that tooth are done."

"Well let's not keep her waiting."

-Later in the Forensics Lab-

The lab was a clean, and organized environment with equipment around the room and on the various table, next to one wall was a futon couch with a blank across its back. Sitting on it was a red-haired woman in a lab coat waiting for them. She smiled and stood up when she saw them.