Autopsy of a Mind

Chapter 111: Really Nasty Bunch

I had to walk over to Nash quickly. "I found a suspect," I whispered. Nash turned to me with shock. 

"How did you do that?" he asked. I shrugged. 

"I have keen senses. I was talking to Sebastian yesterday about how frustrated the whole thing made me and the conversation put things in perspective. I am almost positive I know who did this." I stared at him. He was not going to believe me. I just knew it. 

"Okay, tell me. Who is it?" He looked around the perimeter to see all the faces. "I can't figure it out. Quickly tell me."

"Your four o'clock. Blonde shoulder length hair and mauve flowy dress." He inconspicuously glanced towards the direction and shook his head. "Listen to me," I said firmly. Nash closed his mouth, his lips forming a line. "She was there when we found Patrick, too. I noticed her staring at me but didn't think much of it then. When I came out now, I saw her smile." 

"Smile?" Nash asked, confused. 

"Like... like she was excited to see her project to everyone." I gulped. "I know that look, Nash. And her name is Carol Myers. CM." His eyes widened slightly. 

"She's what? Nine or ten years old and a female," he whispered. "Young female killers are not..."

"Improbable? She fits the bill. The angelic face that doesn't make anyone suspect her, the curiosity of the crime scenes, and her keen eyes on the parents. She is lacking in control because she is a child and she can't put enough force for strangulation marks to appear." I laid the speculation out for him. "A child will follow an older child very easily. They look up to older children, especially girls because they think they are harmless."

"This is all speculation," Nash commented. "I know you have a strong gut feeling but we can't be rash about this." I nodded. 

"I am not going to be rash. She has been staring at me since the first scene. She is trying to figure out how to approach me. I don't know why, but I think she wants to know what is happening inside and I am the one that looks easy to fool." 

Nash scoffed. "Well, if that is her intent, good luck to her." I gave him a small smile. "But no overt questioning."

I shook my head. "No. I'll question some of the children this boy plays with and others. She'll feel like we have no clue and then we can ask her questions... gently and without erring her suspicion."

He mulled over it. "Good idea. But be sure not to let other possible clues go amiss. We can't be sure it is her. This community looks very family-oriented, it would be very odd if the neighbors didn't intervene when a child was hurt." 

I smiled a bitter smile. "Most often, neighbors, no matter how much they pretend, don't want to intervene in a family's business."

"Okay, I'll go talk to the parents. You talk to the kids." He pointed towards the younger kids and some older boys who were looking from the sideline. 

I approached the boys in question. Children rarely gave enough information and in groups, their stories changed according to what the others said. Very hard to ask questions to. 

"Hey, would you mind answering some questions?" I asked. I put on my best smile and made sure to look approachable. The boys were apprehensive at first, but my harmless demeanor won them over. 

"Do you know who found the little boy?" I asked. 

"Yeah, an infamous couple of our neighborhood," one said, pointing towards the general direction. "It's a popular makeout spot for kids here." I smiled. 

"I see. Where you guys there when they were found? In the vicinity?" I asked. Most of them shook their head. One of them looked bothered. "You can tell me!" I coaxed.

"My house is nearby," he said. He pointed towards a cozy-looking home. "I heard the screaming and came out."

"Screaming?" I asked, confused. 

"Yeah, the kids who found Tyler came out and hyperventilated. They didn't know what to do. There was screaming, especially with all the people who surrounded the spot and tried to figure out what to do."

I remained silent. "Who were the first people to come?" I asked. 

"A group of younger girls. Really nasty bunch." He shook his head. 

My ears perked up in interest. 

"Nasty?" I wasn't going off-topic. I said it in a manner that sounded uninterested. 

"Yeah, you know thirteen to sixteen-year-old mean girls who think they are all that. They bully the other kids." I nodded, pretending not to know much. The more I remained quiet, the more information they would reveal. I was expecting them to start a conversation and taking names soon. "The worst one is not even their age. I don't know why she hangs out with them," one of them said. 

"Carol!" someone hissed. I kept my excitement down under control. 

"Are they nasty?" I asked. 

"Oh, yeah. They get physical and take money from kids. They try with us, too. But we are big so they go away quickly." They shrugged. Some more small talk and they thought they didn't know much.

"Thank you so much for your time. If you think you know anything else, just reach out to me. I'll be here for another couple of hours or you could call our station and tell whatever you remember." 

The boys nodded. "Did someone hurt Tyler?"

I nodded. "So, I earnestly ask you to inform me if you remember anything." I was about to leave when one boy jogged up to me. 

"Ma'am," he called. I stopped and turned to him. 

"Do you remember anything?" I asked. He shook his head. 

"No, no. I have a question. Do you mind?" I motioned for him to continue. "Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked. I chuckled. Unfortunately, I had been asked this question enough times by people to not take the words to heart. But for such a young boy to ask. 

I nodded. "I am spoken for." I waved goodbye and I heard 'aws' from behind me. 

Nash walked up to me. "Any news?" he asked. 

"The first people to come over was a team of teenagers. Bullies and our little suspect is the leader." Nash raised his brow. 

"Well, it does seem odd." He became eerily silent. "Patrick's parents came up to me while you were talking to the boys... Carol and that group of girls did come up to them during the funeral." 

I blinked. Ah, I remembered. "Continue."

"Carol asked Patrick's parents if she could see him." He paused. "They thought she didn't understand he was dead and told him she couldn't see the boy. She smiled and told them that she wanted to see him in the casket."

I winced. "Oh yeah. I saw their faces fall when a bunch of kids went up. It makes sense now. Still think it's impossible?" 

Nash shook his head. "Should have trusted your gut. What a machine." He smiled. "Okay, now we need to talk to the girls. They were the first ones to arrive at the scene after the couple, so we can call them in and ask them questions in that pretext."

"But we need to be very careful. We need to talk to them simultaneously and not let them contaminate each other's stories," I said. 

"Right. Children. Do you have training in conversing with kids?" he asked. I shook my head. 

"I just know the particulars. I have never interrogated underaged kids. Especially a nine-year-old? We can't ask leading questions." I shrugged. 

"She is interested in you. Do you want to take a try? I feel like she will ask you a lot of questions and that will help you out."

It was freaking me out a little, but I had grown confident in interrogations and interviews since I started working with Nash. Indeed, practice made perfect.

I nodded. "We'll have to bring in the parents, too..." Nash nodded. 

"It will be a long day." I looked at the sky. 

"We need the story today but it is also getting late. It won't be proper to ask them questions until late. We need to call in a couple more detectives and wrap up the questioning," I told him. 

"Look at you being imposing," Nash complimented. 

"Well, I need to be when I look like an angel. Don't want all those people hitting on me," I chuckled. 

"Man, I still can't believe all the people who actually hit on the police." He shook his head. "There is a lack of female detectives and profilers in our country, so people are inappropriate. I didn't know how much until I started working with you. I'd have punched someone if they spoke to me like that." 

"That really warms my heart," I replied. The people at the station had been so nice to accommodate me and teach me everything. "I am okay with it," I shrugged. 

"You have really opened up since I first met you. You aren't that jumpy and you definitely don't look guilty all the time." He patted my back. Indeed, it had gotten mildly easier to be around people. Even their touches weren't as horrifying as before. I found that teamwork and communal trust had done me some good. And Dr. Knight. 

He called me his miracle patient. Something about my will doing most of the work. I had to give him credit for everything, though.

"Which reminds me. You keep telling people you are taken. What is with that?" I glared at him. "Avoidance tactic?" he teased. 

"Well. What if I wasn't lying?" I retorted. Nash raised an eyebrow. 

"Does Sebastian know?" he asked. He was trying his best not to burst out into laughter. 

"Not yet." I sighed. The light in the sky was dwindling. "Let's go back to work."