Wolf in the Big City

Chapter 4 - CSI

After that, they headed downstairs, which left me alone except for the patrol officers and the lab techs. I still had most of the day to work on, so I did what I was going to do originally and lifted up the tape on the door so I could enter. The apartment was pretty much everything I'd figured from what I'd seen in the doorway. Homely, cosy even. Except now it reeked of death and blood. One of the techs, Simmons said his name tag, was at the door and he stood up as I walked in, startled by my footsteps.

"Oh- sorry Detective, didn't see you there. Need anything?"

I responded with a nod as I swept my eyes around the living room.

"Yeah. Got any updates for me? Found anything interesting?"

The technician flipped through the photos on the digital camera he was holding. He took a few moments and then showed me a series of photos. Different little things in the clear ziplock bags I recognised from Evidence.

"So we found some good stuff so far in the living room and kitchen alone. Got a scrap of cloth on the door latch, uh, fingerprints on the interior door handle."

"Those will probably be from whoever answered the door. Anything else?"

"Yeah. The blood on the kitchen floor, although that one's obvious too. When we first got here, there were meals set up on the dining table, half-eaten. Waffles and stuff, probably their breakfast. Oh, there's something you'll want to see for yourself too."

He led me around the kitchen counter and gestured to a trail of footprints on the floor. They were bloody, thick and dried up like the puddle. I could see the scuff marks on the carpet where our killer had, presumably, wiped his shoes dry before moving on. Whoever this guy was, he was clever.

"Huh. Our killer dried his shoes on the carpet."

"Yeah, and we didn't find any trace of tampering on the front door lock either. Whoever it was, they entered because the victims opened the door for them."

I pulled my notepad out of my pocket and scribbled down a note.

"Victims trusted killer...okay that expands our search somewhat. Anywhere that you haven't examined yet?"

The tech pointed at the back of the apartment.

"Yeah, the bathroom, storage closet and the victims' bedroom."

"Alright. Follow me then, let's have a look around."

He nodded and pulled on a fresh pair of gloves. With him by my side, I moved first to the bathroom. The doorknob was bloody and I could piece together the shape of a handprint on it. Without me asking, the tech went forward and snapped a photo of the doorknob. Then he pulled out a roll of clear tape and went about capturing each individual fingerprint that he could find on a strip of tape. The strips he pasted onto a clear glass slide, one slide for each strip, and once done he labelled each with a black marker and stowed the slides in another ziplock bag.

"Nice find detective. Think this one's our killer?"

"Yep. But that means our victims weren't struggling when they were killed though, otherwise this place would've been in more of a mess."

With a glove on, I pulled on the bathroom door and, surprise surprise, it swung open without me having to turn the knob.

"Hm. Not locked, or even closed fully."

I turned on the light and looked around the room for a moment, gathering my thoughts. The bathroom itself wasn't really remarkable; a laundry basket, sink with a mirror above it, toilet bowl and a bathtub with attached shower. What struck me, however, was how spotless the place was. Not a stain anywhere. I figured the Princes were clean freaks, but if our killer had gone in here to clean up...