Chapter Seven: Investigation:

Cause of death was the cut to his throat. There was a number of other things as well. Mr. Garrison had some old breaks in his bones. A small amount of fluid was in his lungs. There were also ulcers in his stomach. Other than that, everything looked fine. The police already had their prime suspect. The problem was, where was she?

Laine’s last known address was 5010 Pine Street. The police tracked it down by evening. Initially, they were doing a death notification. They tried to call her but Laine didn’t have a phone number. Not one that could be traced easily at least. Laine only seemed to have a prison record on her. Drug possession, theft, armed robbery, assault, fraud, elder abuse, attempted rape, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, attempted murder, and some DUI’s. Everyone around town knew about her. But they didn’t know where she went. Still, the police had a job to do.

They headed down to the apartment complex on 5010 Pine Street. The police looked at the building with a confused look on their faces. Lanie didn’t have a job. How could she afford to live in a semi-decent place like this? Sure, the apartment complex looked like it had seen better days but that was because of the history before it. The outside looked so worn with time and weather. The police walked up to the landlady’s front door and knocked.

“Who is it?” a tired croak of a voice asked.

“It’s the police,” Detective Paige said. “We have a couple of questions about one of your tenants. Could you open up?” He backed up as the door opened a crack. A tired-looking brown eye peeked out.

“What do you want?” a woman asked.

“Hello, I am Detective Paige,” Daniel said. “This is my partner Officer Edwin. We just have to ask about one of your tenants. Does Laine Cape still live here?”

“No,” the land lady said. “I kicked her out six months ago.

“May I ask why?” Daniel asked.

“Didn’t pay rent,” she said. “I came around to collect but she never had the money. I got fed up and kicked her and her man out.”

“Do you know where they went now?” he asked.

“No. Why? What did she do now?” the land lady asked. The police hesitated for a moment. Daniel leaned forward.

“Her grandfather, Mr. Garrison is dead,” he said. There was a pause.

“Did she kill him? She did, didn’t she?” the landlady asked.

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Edwin said.

“Try Tanglewood,” the landlady said. “She’s usually hanging around there.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Daniel said.

“Throw the book at her!” she said.

“Thank you for that,” he said. The officers walked back to their car. Daniel turned to his partner.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“You haven’t seen nothing yet,” Edwin said.

“Huh?” he asked. Both men got into the car and drove off.

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They pulled up at the entrance of Tanglewood. This place… Only shady people lived her. Rumors of drug deals went down on the daily. Police were called out there at least once a day. Lanie was said to have frequented this area. Not surprising give her records. Daniel turned to Edwin.

“Ready to do this?” he asked.

“Not really,” his partner said. Daniel unlocked his car door.

“Hey! Wait!” Edwin yelled. “You can’t go out there unarmed! Are you crazy?” His partner turned his head. The other cop handed him his gun.

“Take this,” he said. “Just take it.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Daniel said. He and Edwin climbed out of the car. This wasn’t going to be easy. Not only did they not have an address to start with but nobody in Tanglewood would ever snitch. “Snitches get stitches” as the saying went. That might not be the case for Laine though…

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Meanwhile, I found myself coming back from that panic attack I had moment earlier. Mom sat across the table from me.

“Are you okay now?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“Are you okay to eat?” mom asked. I slowly nodded. She gave me a sad smile as she slid a small plate of carrot beef rolls towards me.

“Please eat something,” she pleaded. “You aren’t looking so good.” I said nothing as I picked up the beef roll and took a bite.

“There you go,” she said. “I will make sure that you are fed this weekend.” I forced myself to smile as I chewed. At least the carrot beef rolls were good. Sadly, I doubted they would be enough to get me through the weekend.