Read Chapter 1 of The Past Revealed…

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As the hours passed and the area cleared, Silas helped Madison with the scene, as another situation across town had just come in across the radio.

“That’s us,” said Stanton, who was champing at the bit to go. “Everything is clear, and if you don’t need us, Hurl and I are going to lend a hand across town.”

“Did you two make sure to secure the perimeter and put this place on lockdown? It’s an active crime scene, and I don’t want someone coming in here and messing it up.”

“It’s good,” he said. “Right, Hurley?”

Hurley looked over his shoulder. “I made sure it’s all locked up, except for the front door.”

“I’ll get it when we leave,” said Silas as he followed them to the front. “We won’t be much longer.”

“Have fun,” said Hurley, who glanced back over his shoulder. “She’s in a really bad mood.”

“Thanks.” He was surprised Hurley had noticed. But Madison had snapped the head off of anyone who had tried to talk to her since Fletcher left, including him.

He gave one last wave to the others and shut the door, which he locked before going to the master bathroom where Madison was busy pulling hairs from the drain. 

“Any luck?” he asked.

She took a deep breath and let it out, making her chest rise and fall and her shoulders tense.

“Are you still mad at me over Fletcher? I told you, I’m on your side. I did what I had to do to save our jobs. I don’t know about you, but I want to be the one to bring the real killer in.”

“Of course, I want that. Do you think I want one of Fletcher’s pets working these scenes? I’m pretty sure he’s already talked one of them into falsifying evidence. I’m not going to give him a chance to do that again.”

“Good, we’re on the same page. So why are you upset?”

“I’m digging hair out of a drain, hoping to find the man who butchered this poor woman, and you want to know why I’m not smiling at you?”

“So, it’s not personal?”

She rolled her eyes. “Wow, you’re really egotistical. Maybe we should talk about the evidence instead.”

“Are you about to wrap it up? Everyone else is gone.”

She met his eyes. “Did they secure everything? Is there anyone looking out for us down there?”

“There should be an officer on standby out front. But the rest are gone.”

“Should be?” She shook her head.

“Yeah, I’m sure there is. I told them we wouldn’t be much longer. Stanton and Hurley went to check on another call. I told them to go. I didn’t think you needed them hovering. So it’s just us in here.”

She didn’t give a reaction to that, and he was kind of glad, considering what had happened between the two of them. She was willing to put it aside and focus on work.

“The tub was still wet,” she said. “I found the presence of blood near the drain. Let’s hope it’s not hers.”

“No, we’ve got enough of that.” The knife had slung blood around the room to the ceilings and the walls.

“That’s for sure,” she agreed.

“That’s an ugly pile of hair,” he said, looking at the hair that came out of the drain. “There’s no telling what you’ll find in there.”

“Hopefully something from the killer. He’s bound to have been busted for something in the past five years.”

Silas hoped that was true. He was sick of dead ends.

“About how much longer?”

“These things take time. But if you want me to hurry, maybe you could lend me a hand?”

“Okay, fair enough. So, is there anything you haven’t collected that you want me to grab?”

She kept her eyes on her work as she swabbed near the drain. “I haven’t made it to the kitchen trash. I didn’t see anything disturbed there, but you never know. I’d like to go through it and take a few items to test for DNA.”

“I’ll check it out.” He walked over and put on a fresh pair of gloves. “You finish up, and we can get the hell out of here.”

“That sounds good to me. But I don’t want to rush, right?”

“Right.”

“I mean, it’s been a long day, but what I collect now is just as important as what I collected when I came in.”

“Right. And I get it. Your disgust is clear.”

“Why shouldn’t I be disgusted? We shouldn’t even be here. And if Fletcher and Mulhern had done their jobs right the last time, who knows? Maybe we would have.”

“I share in your frustration. Trust me. I felt it then, and I feel it now.” She had no idea how frustrating it had been for him. Days and days of crime scenes and dead bodies piling up had done his head in. And the anticipation knowing he was just going to keep on and on until they stopped him.

Hell, by the time Fletcher focused on Wade, he was so exhausted, he just wanted it to be over. Maybe he didn’t fight it hard enough. Thousands of dollars in therapy bills had proved the guilt from that had haunted him long enough. It was time to put an end to it.

“I’m going to need more hands.” She glanced over her shoulder, and though her eyes didn’t meet his but for a split second, the message was loud and clear in her eyes. “We can’t work every case like this. It’s taking hours.”

“I agree. Who do you trust?” He knew her coworkers left a whole lot to be desired. Most were on leave, and the ones who weren’t probably should be until their court mess was over.

“No one,” she said with a chuckle. “Certainly no one who was in the department at the time of the past murders. I would never know who Mulhern got to. Who Fletcher had gotten to.”

“I hear you. And I understand. Just think about it.”

“I will,” said Madison. “See if you can find any blood. Don’t forget to take some plastic bags.”

“I’ve got it,” said Silas as he grabbed a few from her bag. He went to stand in the doorway. “Holler if you need me.”

“Sure thing.”

He watched her for a moment, wondering if she was going to pull away from him. With another pair of hands, she’d also have someone to act as a go-between if she wanted. And he felt he needed to make it clear that they would be hands only and not her voice.

On second thought, he decided it was best to leave it alone and bring it up when and if she ever picked someone.

He went to the kitchen and looked around just to double-check things. It wasn’t that he felt he had to look after her or that she hadn’t done a good job, but there wasn’t room for any errors.

He walked over to the counter and found a small bottle of fish food. “Uh oh,” he said. “Where’s the fish?”

He hadn’t noticed any upstairs and decided he should look around. Had she just fed the fish before she was killed?

Silas walked around the house, and on the corner table in the living room, he found a small aquarium with two goldfish inside. The tank was clean with blue and pink rocks and a little castle that neither seemed impressed with.

“I’ll just get you a little snack,” he told them, heading right back to the kitchen to fetch the bottle. “Madison!” 

“Yeah?” she called back.

“Did you know she had a fish?” They usually dealt with animals left behind. Big or small ones. Fish, fowl, or fur.

“No, Hurley was supposed to check for that.” She had a hint of disgust in her voice. Hurley wasn’t making a good impression on her. But then again, maybe he hadn’t either?

“I found the food on the counter,” he said. “I guess it’s okay to feed them while we’re here.”

“Print it,” she called out. “Don’t touch the bottle until you print it.” Her voice was a lot closer, as if she were on her way toward him. 

“Why? Do you think this guy actually took the time to feed her fish after he killed her?” He wasn’t a good Samaritan.

“You don’t know. Maybe he did. Maybe he likes pet fish. Maybe decided to give them one last meal. Print it.”

“Alright, alright,” he said, detecting the urgency in her voice. “If you say so. Do you want me to bag it too?”

“Just see if you can lift something.” Her tone proved she was growing tired of him.

He looked up, and she had the fingerprinting kit. “Here, you’ll need this.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Let’s see who’s had their little paws on this.”

“That’s where you found it?” She pointed to it. It was in the middle of the counter, just below one of the upper cabinets. “That doesn’t look like she keeps it there. Is there anything else?”

“Like what? A fish treat? A little hoop for it to swim through?”

“Like drops for the water or extra filters?” She reached up and opened the cabinet without using the handle so she wouldn’t disturb any prints. “Look. Here.” She pointed to an empty spot in the cabinet. “It looks like it goes right here.”

“She probably took it out to feed them and didn’t put it back.”

“It’s right there, though. Most of the time, people won’t take the steps across a room, but to bring it to the counter and not put it back? It just seems like a wasted trip.”

“I always kept my food just beside the bowl. What about you? Did you ever have any fish?”

“I never had a pet,” she said. She thought about the little stuffed bear she kept on a leash.

“What kind of kid never has a pet? No hamster, no fish? Nothing?”

She gave him a hard look. “My mother wouldn’t let me have any pets. We moved a lot. She didn’t want to deal with it.”

He could tell by her expressions it was a sore topic. “Sorry. I’ll just get to dusting this.”

“Good. I’m just about done up there. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll get back to it. I know you want to get the hell out of here.”

He watched her walk away and hoped whatever beef she had with him didn’t last.

He took out the printing powder and went to work. When he was done, he had one half-decent print, and the rest were too smudgy to do anything with.

Not liking the results, he carefully opened the bottle and went over to feed the fish. “Here you go,” he said, letting out a sigh. He left the bottle there with the tank and went back to the kitchen to go through the garbage can. He found it under the kitchen sink and knelt to get a better look.

There were a couple of empty bottles and containers, two straws, and a macaroni box. He took anything someone would have had their mouth on and bagged it. And just for good measure, he checked in the cabinet behind where the can would have been.

He heard some noise behind him and figured Madison was coming into the room. “I’m almost done,” he said. “I found some good stuff. It’s probably not going to give us much.”

“Put your hands up, or I’ll blow your freaking head off!” The voice was not Madison’s, and it was just shaky enough to tell him that the person meant business.

He put his hands up with his head still in the bottom cabinet and turned slowly to see a woman behind him with a gun pointed in his direction.