Mirrors

Chapter Thirty Three

Later, after the meeting, Niall found himself standing behind the club, staring at the dumpster.  He could hear how loud the music was pulsing from inside.  From what he remembered, a bouncer had come out at the end of the night to throw away some trash and that's when she was found.  Hours after it had happened.  Hours after all evidence got washed away.  He blinked as that horrid image of her body came to his mind.  He then made his way to the front.

He handed the bouncer his ID but before he went inside he quietly asked to talk to him.  The guy turned so no one could hear what was being said.  "Excuse me, I apologize, but I'm investigating an assault that occurred here back in January.  A young woman was found out back by the dumpster."

"I remember." The guy said, "Horrible what happened."

"Yes, it is," Niall said, taking another breath, hoping he appeared to be an officer of some sort; enough to get more information.  "I was wondering if the person who found her was here tonight.  I'd like to speak with him."

"Yeah, he's bartending tonight.  Go in and go to the bar to your left, up the stairs."

"Thanks." Niall turned to go in.

"I hope you guys find the bastard," the bouncer said.

Niall nodded, "We do, too.  Trust me."

He made his way up the stairs to the bar.  It wasn't terribly crowded being a Tuesday night but there were enough people there.  "Excuse me? Could I speak with you a moment about the incident that occurred here in January?" He called out to the bartender.   The guy nodded, gesturing to a back room, that was quieter.  "Sorry to be taking you from your work but I just have a few questions about the night that--"

"About the night I found the girl?"

"Yes."

"I still have nightmares."

"You do?"

"Yeah.  You try finding a girl half alive in the rain and see if that doesn't keep you up at night."

"I can imagine. I, uh, just wanted to know if there was anything new that you may remember from that night?  Perhaps the guy responsible was in here earlier that night.  Do you remember anyone acting suspicious?"

"Not really.  I mean, I threw out a few creeps who were getting a little too touchy with some of the girls, but none gave me the impression they would turn around and do that, especially to someone who hadn't been here that night."

"Do you happen to have any security footage of any of those guys?" Niall asked.

"Yeah, we gave all footage to the police.  So, you should already know that." The guy looked skeptically at him.

"I do, I just haven't finished running through it all.  I've just been assigned this case and prefer to familiarize myself with the timeline and the places."

"Oh, okay.  But, yeah, all that's with the police."

Niall nodded, "Okay, well, I just wanted to see if perhaps you had recalled anything.  I don't want to take up any more of your time."

"It's no problem.  Makes me sick that that bastard is still out there."

"Me too."

As Niall made his way back down the stairs, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.  At first, he dismissed it and kept going but something in his gut told him he needed to turn back around.  He turned and walked back to get a better look.  Once his eyes had adjusted to the pulsing lights on the dance floor, what he saw shocked him.  There, on the dance floor, was Edie.