Ch 1: Barrett
I knew by the address that it was my brother; I didn’t need to confirm he was the thirty-year-old male victim found lying face down with a gunshot wound to the head. My brother got involved in some messed up shit, and I was always bailing him out, trying to keep him safe, but this time I failed.
“You shouldn’t go in there, Detective Calloway.”
“I need to identify the victim; I need to make sure it’s Adam.”
My boss, Captain Cossett, grabbed me by the shoulders, keeping me from walking past him.
“Rett, I need you to stay here. You don’t need to go. I know what Adam looks like. I can identify him for the coroner. Detective Silas will need to ask you questions about any enemies your brother could have had. Once Silas is done, you can meet me back at the station to talk.”
Adam was two years younger than me and the one that got away with a lot. When my mom wasn’t bailing him out, I was. He ran with the wrong crowd and trouble followed him everywhere. I was trying to get him help. I even offered to send him across the country to start fresh, and he called me last night to take up my offer.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Barrett.” Detective Silas said.
Detective Sadie Silas was new to the unit. She has potential, needs to learn to not be timid, but she is a great asset to the team and the person who was probably going to take over this case.
“Are you ready to answer some questions?”
I nodded, staring past her as the forensic team was coming in and out of the house.
“When was the last time you spoke to your bother?”
“Last night, he called me around nine at night, just as I was getting leaving the station.”
“Did he seem distraught, or did anything seem off?”
“No, he was calling to agree to an opportunity that I was giving him. He agreed to leave this town behind.”
“Did you know anyone who would have wanted your brother dead?”
“Adam had a lot of enemies. He pissed people off, and because I was a cop, so yes, he had people who would have wanted him dead.”
“I think that’s all for now. I’ll keep in touch and again, I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks. Am I free to go?”
“Let me know if you need anything,” Silas stated before she left.
My mother took the news hard. It was her baby boy, and it brought back memories of our father’s death. My father was killed on the job, but I followed in his footsteps anyway. He was an undercover detective and things went wrong during a bust and he was killed. I couldn’t sit around and cry like my mother was doing. I need to be doing something. I need to be useful.
“What are you doing here, Calloway? You should take time off, spending it with your mother.”
“I need to be doing something, and I was hoping I could convince you to let me be on the case. I don’t have to lead it; I just want to be a part of it.”
“I can’t. It’s a conflict of interest and you know it, but we can keep you informed on what is going on, and I putting you on leave; you need to take time off and to get your head straight.”
“I don’t need time off.”
“You lost your brother, you need to grieve and I know you won’t take it, so I’m forcing you to take it. Go home and spend time with your mother. She needs you.”
He wasn’t wrong. My mother needs me, but I can’t be her rock right now; I need justice for Adam. If I can’t be on the case, then I’ll do an investigation outside of theirs.
I needed a lead to follow, so my search needed to start at his apartment. I wasn’t allowed in during the first sweep of the place, so I’ll need the reports of what was taken so I miss nothing, but for now, I need to see if they left anything behind. I made sure I had shoe gloves and hand gloves so they wouldn’t know I was snooping around.
The door still had the crime scene tape around the front of the porch and with a seal on the door. I can’t break the seal or they’ll say the evidence was tampered with, so I need to find another way in.
I walked around to the back door to find it unsealed, so I quickly picked the lock to let myself in. I was careful where I was stepping, so I would contaminate the crime scene too much. Mostly, his apartment was the same way it had always been. He kept his place clean. He never did like a messy house. Even when mom fell into a depression after dad died, Adam kept the house clean.
His living room where he died was disheveled, and it looked like there could have been a small fight, and over by the couch laid a puddle of blood. There didn’t seem to be any forced entry, which told me he let the murderer in, that he either knew them or he didn’t feel threatened.
I had a closer look around the area he was killed. I slowly scanned the area to make sure nothing seemed out of place and the first thing that I noticed that was missing was his cigar box he kept on the coffee table. He didn’t keep cigars in it; it was a place where he put random items in. At one point, he used it as a place to put his keys because he kept losing them.
Part of me thought maybe it could have been moved or fallen off the table during the encounter. I got down and looked under the couch and, of course, found nothing. I then started looking around the couch, and in the cushions, and in between one cushion was a ring, not any ring, a ring that had a family seal on it, the seal that belonged to one of the most notorious groups in the area, the Crows. The Crows are known to deal drugs and to kill anyone who got in their way. As far as I know, Adam didn’t have connections to that group, but I could be wrong. If he was part of the group, he would have more personal items here.
I spent the next hour going through his room, which was a waste. I found nothing of importance and another dead end. The ring was the only important item that I found, and my next step was to talk to Silas to see what they found during the first sweep of the home.
