BLOODY ICE

The morning hours were marked by a cold wind rattling the window slightly, filling the locker room with an unusual silence. Normally, the space would echo with laughter and chatter before practice, but today, a heavy sorrow lingered in the air. Everyone had arrived early, as usual, yet no one had expected the tension from the previous day to take on such a tangible form so quickly.

Liam Bennett, the team’s leader, was the first to step inside and immediately sensed the tension. His eyes reflected the weight of last night’s fight and the lingering unease of the early morning. The locker room door was wide open, and his teammates were entering one by one, preparing for practice. They exchanged glances, but no one dared to speak first.

Max, one of the biggest and toughest players on the team, took his usual heavy steps inside, causing the floor to tremble slightly. Usually, the team would anticipate one of his cheerful remarks, but instead, a hushed whisper escaped his lips.

"What... what is this?"

Max muttered, his eyes widening.

Liam, sensing something was wrong, rushed in behind him. The room was warm as expected, yet eerily empty. As Max stepped toward the shower area, he suddenly froze, turning his head slowly.

The moment the rest of the team followed his gaze, their eyes landed on a lifeless body slumped on the floor behind the shower stalls.

"Max, what’s going on?"

Liam asked immediately, but Max could only lift his hands, unable to form words.

Finally, Max’s voice broke through the silence, a fearful, trembling cry:

"Tyler... Tyler is here... dead!"

The words struck every teammate like a physical blow. For a moment, time itself seemed to stop.

Tyler Knox—their star player. A powerhouse on the field and an influential figure in the locker room. And yet, here he was. Lifeless. Gone. No one had ever imagined such an ending for him.

Max’s words still echoed in everyone’s minds:

"Tyler is here... dead!"

The locker room was consumed by a deafening silence. No one dared to move. Shock paralyzed them, while their minds raced to make sense of the horror before them.

Liam swiftly moved to Max’s side and turned to the rest of the team.

"Everyone, get out," he commanded firmly.

"No one stays here."

Max, still shaken, silently obeyed and stepped out. One by one, the others followed. Liam, now alone with the body, took a deep breath. Just hours ago, everything had been fine. And now—there was a murder.

His hands trembled slightly as he pulled out his phone and dialed the police. His voice, however, remained steady.

"911, what’s your emergency?" came the dispatcher’s calm voice.

"We found our teammate dead in the locker room. Send a team immediately,"

Liam stated, inhaling sharply.

"This is Liam Bennett, team captain. The victim is Tyler Knox."

A brief pause. Then the dispatcher’s voice returned, slightly more alert.

"Understood. A team is on the way. Stay put."

Liam ended the call and turned to face his teammates, who stood outside in stunned silence. No one spoke. No one moved. Just as they struggled to process the situation, the sound of an approaching car broke the tense stillness. The police had arrived quickly.

Within seconds, the first officers stepped in, led by Detective Sienna Rush. With her short brown hair and sharp, no-nonsense gaze, she immediately commanded attention. The expressions of shock on every face in the room told her everything she needed to know.

She scanned the room quickly before turning to Liam.

"Tell me what we have," she said, her voice firm yet measured.

Liam’s gaze flickered back to Tyler’s body.

"We found him here. Tyler Knox, one of our players. Someone murdered him."

He hesitated before adding,

"There was tension last night. We need to investigate before the media finds out. The team is in shock. We have no idea who could have done this, but... there was an argument yesterday."

Sienna narrowed her eyes slightly.

"An argument?"

Liam nodded.

"Yes. Ryan, Julia, and Tyler had a fight. The atmosphere was tense. But I can’t recall exactly what the fight was about. Last night, everyone eventually went their separate ways. But no one expected this."

Sienna processed the information, then nodded.

"Understood. Make sure no one leaves. We’ll be questioning everyone."

Liam turned to his teammates, silently directing them to stay outside as the investigation began. Soon, only Sienna and the forensic team remained in the locker room.

She knelt beside the body, her trained eyes scanning for clues. No obvious injuries, no struggle marks. Whoever had done this had been precise, careful. Too careful.

Outside, Liam stood with the team, each of them caught in their own storm of fear, guilt, and suspicion.

Everything had changed in an instant.

Now, it was up to Sienna and her team to uncover the truth.

---

Sienna carefully walked around the locker room, determined to examine the crime scene without missing a single detail. Tyler Knox’s body lay on its back inside the shower stall. He was still wearing his training shorts and t-shirt. There was very little blood, which provided some clues about the cause of death. Sienna took out her gloves from her pocket, put them on, and carefully examined the body.

"A close-range blow,"

she murmured to herself.

"But there's no weapon around."

She bent down to check the neck area. There were no signs of struggle. The body had already started to stiffen, indicating that he had died approximately 6 to 8 hours earlier. This meant the murder had taken place around midnight or in the early hours of the morning.

She heard footsteps behind her. One of the assisting detectives handed her an item found near the body.

"This was on the floor. It might belong to the victim," the officer said.

Sienna examined the object in her hand. It was an entry card for the ice hockey rink. The name on it read: Ryan Carter.

---

First Suspect: Ryan Carter

Sienna noted down Ryan’s name. Given the argument from the previous night, he was the first person who needed to be questioned.

At that moment, Liam appeared at the door. His face was tense.

"What did you find?" he asked.

Sienna held up Ryan’s card.

"This seems to belong to Ryan. You need to tell me the details of last night's argument."

Liam frowned and crossed his arms.

"Ryan and Tyler always had their differences, but last night, their fight escalated. I don’t know exactly what happened, but Ryan stormed out of the locker room, clearly furious."

Sienna nodded.

"Where is Ryan now?"

"In the hallway, with the others,"

Liam replied.

"Should I bring him in?"

Sienna narrowed her eyes in thought.

"No, let's fully examine the scene first."

---

First Clue: Missing Equipment

Sienna continued her careful observation of the locker room. She had Liam open Tyler’s locker and checked his equipment. Everything seemed to be in place, except for one thing—his hockey stick was missing.

"Where’s his hockey stick?"

Sienna asked, turning to Liam.

Liam looked at the locker in confusion.

"It should be here… It’s always here."

Sienna nodded thoughtfully.

"Then someone either stole it or used it as the murder weapon."

This idea suggested that the incident was not an accident but a planned murder. Someone had specifically targeted Tyler. And right now, the prime suspect was Ryan.

Sienna took a deep breath. The investigation had just begun. And within the cold walls of the ice rink, many secrets were still waiting to be uncovered.

---

Sienna exited the locker room after completing her crime scene investigation. She scanned the team members waiting in the corridor. They all looked tense and uneasy. Some had their heads down, while others paced back and forth anxiously. But one person stood out to her: Liam Bennett.

Liam stood with his arms crossed, his face set in a mixture of impatience and mild anger. Sienna immediately pegged him as someone prone to aggressive behavior. He was clearly unsettled by the situation, but he also didn’t seem too fond of being questioned.

“What exactly do you plan to do, Detective?”

Liam asked, his tone laced with sarcasm.

Sienna narrowed her eyes.

“Our job. Just because you were near the body doesn’t make you an expert, so leave the investigation to me.”

Liam let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

“I’ve been playing here for years. I share every moment with my team. Tyler was my teammate—maybe even a friend. I have a right to know what happened to him.”

Sienna crossed her arms.

“Really? Or are you trying to steer the investigation?”

Liam’s expression darkened.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean this, Mr. Bennett,”

Sienna said, emphasizing his name.

“You’re the team captain. You know everyone who comes and goes from this locker room. You saw the fight last night. That makes you a suspect, too.”

A heavy silence fell over the corridor. The rest of the team stared at Sienna in shock, while Liam’s eyes grew colder.

“You think I killed him?”

Liam took a step forward.

“I’m not accusing anyone yet,”

Sienna said coolly.

“I’m just considering all possibilities.”

Liam exhaled sharply, rolling his eyes. “This is ridiculous.”

“Maybe to you,”

Sienna said with a shrug.

“But this is my job. And your obnoxious attitude only makes me more suspicious.”

Liam let out a short, bitter laugh.

“You’re unbelievable, Detective.”

Sienna sighed internally. This guy was insufferable. Having to work around him was already a headache. But unfortunately, she knew their paths would cross often.

And something in her gut told her Liam was hiding more than he let on.

---

Sienna stared at the computer screen, reviewing the security footage. She could see the hockey facility’s hallways and entry points, but the most crucial area—the locker room floor—had no footage.

“When did the cameras go down?”

she asked Mark, the security officer beside her.

Mark scratched his head.

“Around 11:40 PM last night. There was a system glitch, a brief power surge. The cameras haven’t been fixed since. Honestly, we didn’t think much of it. On practice and game days, we focus more on the entrance and exit cameras.”

Sienna frowned.

“So we have no way of knowing who entered or exited the locker room after 11:40 PM?”

“Looks that way,”

Mark admitted, looking embarrassed.

Sienna cursed internally. That time frame aligned perfectly with Tyler Knox’s estimated time of death. If the footage had been intact, she could’ve seen exactly who had been there before and after the murder. But now, all she had were witness statements and crime scene evidence.

She suddenly sensed someone behind her. Turning, she found Liam Bennett watching her.

“Are you following me?”

she asked, folding her arms.

Liam rolled his eyes.

“Funny. But no. I just wanted to see how badly you’re handling this investigation.”

Sienna clenched her jaw.

“Badly?”

“Yeah,”

Liam said, leaning against the desk.

“What have you got so far? Oh, right—nothing. Because the cameras are down, aren’t they?”

Sienna took a deep breath

. “Don’t underestimate me, Bennett. I’ll solve this with or without the footage.”

Liam smirked.

“We’ll see.”

He was getting under her skin, and she hated it. But annoyingly, he wasn’t wrong. So far, she had no concrete evidence.

But that didn’t mean she had nothing. Because she had just learned who had been on that floor when the cameras went down.

People seen near the locker room that night:

Ryan Carter:

The one who fought with Tyler.

Julia Bennett:

Liam’s sister. Witnessed the fight but refused to talk much.

Noah Greene:

The team’s goalie. Did he have past issues with Tyler?

Ethan Wells:

A facility worker who stayed late for cleaning.

One of these people was lying.

And Sienna knew the right questions would expose the truth.