Detective Theodore Carter sat down at his desk and went through the evidence again to see if maybe he missed something from last night, He read over Ken’s notes, a woman had committed these crimes and she was quite angry by the aftermath of the gashes on this guy’s body, he had over thirty wounds to the face and upper torso. The only thought was she just kept using an icicle until it had melted, that is why the punctures are of different sizes. She had sexual intercourse with him before she killed him, but yet, not a trace of DNA anywhere on his body, Ken had said that his body was wiped down with an antiseptic, this woman knew how to cover up evidence that had detective Carter concerned, because without any evidence, she is going to be hard to catch and he’s hopes no more individuals end up murdered.

Kelley Herrick

The River’s Edge

@ 2015

Hope, New York

Nicole was walking alongside the river’s edge on a quiet warm spring evening when she had observed a man’s body floating nearby in the shallow area of the cold mucky river. Near the enormous rocks and pine trees. She shrieked so loud that it hurt her throat. She called for help, but nobody heard her. She called 911 to report what she had found, dispatch said “stay on the phone with me ma’am until help arrives”. He asked if the body was moving at all and Lexi said, no sir, its face down in the water, do you see anyone in the area of the body, again, Nicole said no, it’s just me, I was out taking a stroll. She had told him, I’ve never seen a motionless body before in my life and this had her stomach in knots. While standing there trembling from the cold, talking to the dispatch, she could finally hear the sirens wailing in the distance,

She couldn’t wait for the arrival of the police officers. This was an unbearable scene and if he was murdered, or if there is a sociopath out there and he/she needed to be found before anyone else ended up here along the river’s edge.

She told the dispatcher that the officers have arrived and if asked if she could hang up now, the dispatch said yes, you may hang up the phone now and thank you for reporting this crime. Nicole said you’re welcome and hung up the phone and waited to talk to the policemen who were just arriving.

The cop cars came rapidly down the street one by one to a screeching halt, they had also brought an ambulance, as miserable as it may sound they won’t be needing it for this unfortunate young man. The first officer to step out of his car and approach her seemed arrogant.

He introduced himself as Detective Theodore Carter. She shook his hand and pointed to where she noticed the body and the rest of the officers came down to the area and the paramedics pulled the body from the water and checked for any life in him and they looked up and said, sorry, he’s gone. He was covered in blood and his hair was all matted from the blood and mud that was starting to come out, due to the melting of the snow and the bit of rain we’ve had last night. He was severely beaten. They put him into a body bag and carried him to the waiting ambulance to transport his body to the morgue and start examining him for DNA to determine who the man was and what evidence may have been left behind.

Detective Carter asked, could you come down to the station and give a statement ma’am?

I’ll be more than willing to come down sir, It's just I don’t have much information for you, as I was just out taking a stroll and spotted the guy lying face down in the river water. I quickly called the police. I didn’t touch the body or go anywhere near him. It was a freighting sight sir, I’ve never observed anything this horrific before.

The Detective responded, that’s okay ma’am, you may have seen someone or something before you arrived at this point. You’ll be stunned with what your mind remembers after the initial shock wears off. He opened the front door for her and Nicole thanked him and got in.

He shut the door and got into the driver’s side and they proceeded to the station. The few additional officer’s remained behind to investigate the scene and collect evidence. The area still had snow, ice twisted around rocks and a few areas of mud. It may be difficult for them to collect anything from there, she had thought to herself.

I imagine the water would destroy whatever evidence was on his body. Nicole indicated to the officer. It appeared to be a brutal attack, extraordinarily personal if you ask me. I do have confidence in you to find out what had happened to this guy.

He replied back and said, we will not give up until we find out what had happened and if this was a crime committed, it’s an unspeakable act for such a small town, if someone committed this brutal attack they will not get away with it, I promise you that ma’am. We take any crime quite seriously. It may just be safer for you to do your walking in daylight hours until we solve this.

She agreed and said that she just may refrain from walking along the river until then. I do appreciate your concern sir. I will hang onto that thought seriously.

They arrived at the station and Detective Carter escorted Nicole to a private room so she could write down anything she might have seen or heard before arriving at the crime scene. She took the piece of paper and began to write a report of a black SUV driving through the area a few minutes before she got there, she had not been able to see the occupants due to the fact that the windows were tainted. She wrote down that the SUV had a dent on the right driver’s side door and bluish tinted headlights. The license plate number started with a 675 and ended with an S. She signed the document and handed it to the detective and apologized that she hadn’t seen or heard anything else within the time frame.

He thanked her for the information and said that this was something to go on and that the information given was quite the help. He radioed the information to the officers on duty to keep their eye out for this SUV. He stood up and said I’ll take you home now ma’am, I’ll feel reassured knowing you’re not walking alone tonight and that you make home safely.

She stood up and shook his hand and said you’re quite welcome and I’d appreciate the ride home, I‘ll feel much better knowing I’m safe with you sir. She retrieved her jacket and walked out of the room ahead of him and they headed to the patrol car together.

Theodore asked what her address was and headed out of the station. Within ten minutes they arrived at her place. He got out, went to her and opened the door, He then and walked her up the walkway. He again thanked her for the help, and said, if I have any more questions could I stop in and talk to you? I will certainly call first ma’am.

She replied, you’re welcome and of course you may stop in if needed. If you’d like I can write down my phone number and you can call if something comes up. She wrote down her name and phone number in his notebook and said goodnight, thank you for the ride home sir.

He said you’re welcome and good night to you also Nicole and walked back to his car and drove away.

When he returned to the station, officer Nick Stinson came up and said that no black SUV was spotted anywhere in the town and that the medical examiner had some information for him concerning the murder weapon.

Theodore walked back to his patrol car and headed to the medical examiner’s office to see what he had found. I truly hope it gives them some clues to who did this crime so they can get them off the street before anything else happened.

Nicole had gone inside and removed the trash from its bin and brought it down to the dumpster, she had left over food in there and it was beginning to stench up her apartment. She hurled it into the dumpster and sighed a sign of relief. She returned to her apartment and got a few things together to take a hot shower, make a cup of tea and get ready to lie down to read a book before bed.

An hour later, she was crawled into bed with her book and began to read the mystery she had picked out the other day at the bookstore, the book was about a woman who planned murders and found a way not to get caught, she was pure evil, and the gruesome murders she had committed would make your skin crawl. She was looking for ideas on her new book she was writing. She was a writer and her first book was a romance, but she wanted to start writing suspense/murder novels. She decided to read some books to get an idea of how to begin.

She began to doze off after reading for about thirty minutes, so she laid the book on the bedside table, turned her music on and a song from her past came. “Lying eyes” was playing and she chuckled. Nicole had finally turned over and finally drifted off to sleep.

Detective Carter walked into the medical examiner’s office and Ken said, have a seat, the news isn’t good, He didn’t like the sound of this, that meant he was going to have a challenging time solving this crime and began to spectacle how safe are the people in the city if indeed they had a murderer running free, he began to panic and grasped at the thought of that, he was genuinely alarmed.

Ken walked over and took a seat next to him and told him that this man was murdered and there was no way to determine what the murder weapon was yet, just that it was a pointy object, but different sizes, and there was no DNA on him or fingerprints. The only thing he could say positive is that the person who committed this crime wasn’t a strong person but had a enough control over the victim to seduce him and then brutally stab him to death, we found evidence of sexual intercourse, but again, no DNA was found on his body, the one thing I can tell you is that your killer is a female and she is smart and knew how to not leave any evidence behind.

We’re waiting for classification on who he was, and where he may be from. I should have that information soon sir. It may help determine who was in his life before the killing and it may lead you to a suspect. He thanked Ken for the update and said to let him know when he had the identity of this guy. He was going back to the station and goes over the evidence they did have and tries to figure out what the weapon of choice was used and why he was murdered.

It was going to be a long night he thought to himself. These types of crimes don’t happen is this town, never in his five years of working with this police department had he witness anything so violent. He had transferred here from Summer County in New Hampshire.

He decided it was time for heaps of coffee due to he had a lot of work ahead of him and had to wait for confirmation from Ken on who the victim was and who could have done this to him. He got into his patrol car and drove to the local coffee shop and ordered a large cup of hot coffee and headed back to the station and wait for Ken’s call. While waiting, he decided to read over Nicole’s report, something just didn’t fit with how the description of the truck, it was nagging at him all night. There is no SUV’s registered with those numbers in the system. She must have got the numbers wrong, that is going to make locating this vehicle much more difficult.

He was frustrated without a doubt with this case and he came to the conclusion he was going to lose relatively a bit of sleep. He had gone through the reports and evidence and wondered, what the reasoning behind this person’s mental state and why did they commit such a brutal deed.

He realized he had a murderer out there and she needed to be caught, and soon. He didn’t need any more bodies showing up in his town.

Theodore was sitting in his office a few days later when the call came in from Ken, he said, I have a name for you. Your victims name is Donald Miller and he was forty-four years old and from Asper, New York. I faxed all his personal information over to you so you can contact the next of kin of his death. Ted asked, do you know what was used to murder him? Ken said, all he could come up with that was used was what was nearby and the only things shaped the way the wounds were, are icicles that had formed on the rocks.

Ted said thanks and its going tough getting DNA from liquid, and we have to hope this person screws up soon, so we can catch them. Ken said, yes we do, because they didn’t leave anything behind on the body or nearby.

Okay, Ted replied, I’ll contact the Asper PD, maybe his family knew someone who would want to do harm their son. It was their only chance right now, without any DNA or evidence, this is going to be a tough case to solve.

Ken picked up the phone to contact the authorizes in Asper, so they could go let Don’s family know that he had been murdered and to see what information they could obtain on any enemies of his and why he was in Hope or if he knew anyone in the area?

Asper PD said they would go make the notification and do what they can about getting information from his family and thanked him and hung up.

Ted knew he had done all he could tonight and decided to go home and get some sleep. This case was going to be a rough one and he knew all the rest he could get was vital to him and solving this case.

He decided to drive by Nicole’s on his way home, he just had an odd feeling about her and had to figure out what it was that was eating at him concerning her.

Her lights were all out when he drove by, I guess she must have finally gotten to sleep after the night she had, it must be hard for a young woman to see that scene she had earlier tonight, and us cops never get used to it either. It eats at us endlessly and we lose tons of sleep.

He drove off towards his house which was twenty miles away, he didn’t like living in the same town he worked, too many people get to know you and see you more than you desired, so he chose a small town with a small population in Aspen. A quiet town that has lots of qualities. He was content there.

Ted had arrived home and went inside to greeting of his dog who was waiting and wagging his tail when he had arrived home, Tank was happy to see his owner and knew he was getting fed, going for a walk and enjoying the time he has with him.

Ted grabbed Tanks leash and off they went for their nightly walk around town and he loved it. He jumped and chased his shadow. Ted knew it was time to head back and feed Tank and then get ready to get some much needed sleep. It was going to be a long day tomorrow and his body was already exhausted.

They arrived back at home, he filled the food and water bowl and went to jump in a hot shower to relax his muscles, and try and get the scene from tonight from his mind, and it was like nothing he had ever seen except in movies.

Tonight’s crime was a brutal and quite personal if you asked him. He finished his shower and went down to the dimly lit living room and found Tank sprawled out on the floor and sleeping, so he turned around and headed back upstairs to go to bed, It didn’t take him long once his head hit the pillow.

Nicole woke up feeling freshened and more alive this morning. She got a great night’s sleep and needed coffee, she went off to the kitchen and started the coffee maker and she took a seat at her desk to look over her new book she was writing. She had written twelve chapters already and was pleased with how well it was coming along. She loved writing romance but mysteries were intriguing, it’s like it was in her blood to write these this books on this topics. She started on chapter 13 when her cell phone began ringing, she didn’t recognize the number, she answered and said hello, Nicole St. James here, a male’s voice said hello ma’am this is Detective Carter, I had a few more questions for you and I was wondering if I could stop over and have you answer them? She agreed and said, I’ll be around all day sir, you can stop over at any time it’s convenient for you. Ted said he could be there within fifteen minutes, and asked if that would work for her, Nicole said yes and I’ll see you soon and hung up.

Nicole was questioning his actions after she hung up and why did he have more questions for her, it’s not like she saw anything, “oh well” I’ll just answer whatever he ask the best I can.

She threw some clothes on and pulled her hair into a pigtail and sipped on her coffee while waiting for him to arrive. He arrived about twenty minutes later and rang the doorbell, she went to let him in. Ted reached out his hand and shook hers and said thank you for seeing me.

She said you’re welcome and if you wouldn’t mind me asking, what questions could you perhaps have for me?

Well, first of all, the license plate number you thought you saw wasn’t right and I was wondering if maybe you read it wrong or just couldn’t see it all that well?

She replied, I’m so sorry, I believe that was what I had seen. I don’t recall anything else sir. I see, said Ted. It’s just there are no SUV’s with that number or any car at that.

I really wish I could help you, she replied, but that’s what I had seen on the vehicle.

Another thing, Ted asked, how long were you in the area before you discovered the body?

Not long sir, maybe ten minutes at the most, like I said, I was out walking and that’s when I found the guy floating there in the river.

Alright ma’am, I thought maybe you’d might remember something else from that night. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

She walked him to the door and he thanked her again and said, have a nice day, you too Detective and I’m sorry I couldn’t be anymore of assistance to you.

He nodded and said, that’s quite alright ma’am. He had left and Nicole decided she needed to get showered and go out and run some errands before she met with her publisher Adam, later this evening, he wanted to go over what she had written already in her new book and he was quite astounded when she mentioned it was a suspense/ murder book instead of romance and he was pleased with her changing genre’s.

Nicole picked out a comfortable outfit and off to the shower she went, she was kind of attracted to this detective and wondered what kind of person he actually was, I guess that will be another project she’ll add on to her daily duties. She smiled and said to herself, it may be an interesting task.

She should have no issues getting his attention, not at all she whispered. The hot shower felt great on her body this morning, with the working out she’s been doing lately. She needs to get into better shape.

She finally finished, got out and dried off and threw on her clothes and headed downstairs to finish getting ready. She threw on a coat and her hiking boots. She pulled her long blonde hair into a pigtail and put on a ball cap, grabbed her keys, cell phone and headed out the door.

The drive to town was a relaxing one and she had her music blaring and bobbing her head to the beat. Nicole felt exhilarated and knew she was going to have a good day.

Her first stop was the hardware store, she needed a few items to fix up her porch at home. She also needed some paint, she wants to do her bedroom in a dark green. She found a shade called Casco Bay green and it was a dark shade of green and it reminded her of the ocean, dark and deep.

She arrived at the hardware store and headed to the paint department first, the order she had put in was ready, she grabbed the gallon of paint and headed to the wood section, she needed some 2x4's for her porch and some 12x6 pieces of wood to redo the steps. She got those supplies and now the nails and screws is what she needed next. The last department was the tape, she was going to grab paint tape so she doesn't have to work so hard at being perfect with the painting. She had finally got everything she needed and headed to check out and head to the next stop.

The employee help Nicole load her stuff into her truck and she thanked him and then drove off.

Her next stop was the bookstore, she needed to grab a couple of more murder/mystery books for help with her writing. She parked along the road and went into the store and started browsing the suspense section, she found a couple good books and went and bought them.

Nicole headed to the grocery store and got what she needed for dinner tonight and some wine. She decided on roasted chicken, rice, plus some veggies. She found a bottle of red wine and a cheesecake for dessert.

She finished up in the store and headed to the post office and grabbed her mail and then headed home.

She changed out of her good clothes and put on a white t-shirt and overalls and headed out to start on the porch, it was really starting to crumble due to being so old. She inherited this house ten years ago, from her grandmother, but didn’t move in till two years ago. She knew it needed quite a bit of repairs but it was an exquisite place and it had some fascinating stories to go with it.

She was told her grandmother became a murderess and killed eight men before being committed.

She was a young girl when she stopped coming to visit and for years never knew why, until her foster mother explained what had happened. Nicole didn’t want to believe her grandmother could have done such horrible things, she was so sweet and kind and always laughed. The only things Nicole saw that was odd is that her grandmother would have conversations at night with someone, but Nicole never saw anybody come over and she always wondered why but never asked.

Rumor has it that the house is haunted and that it turned her into a serial killer. Nicole laughed when she was told the story because she didn’t believe that a house could possess someone to slaughter individuals. She’ll admit that strange things have taken place here and she can sense a presence once and awhile, it just doesn’t frighten her. People say her grandmother was a successful writer who had lost her mind from living in the house and she started to murders in a couple of towns over. It’s said that she lured them with sex and then she would poison them and leave their bodies wherever they were at time. There just stories that have gone around for many, many years and no one knows the truth except for one person, her grandmother and no one ever really talked to her about them after she was committed to an asylum up state . She holds the answers and the truth, it had been over forty years ago. When she go and visit her, they never talked about it, her grandmother would just sit and listen to Nicole talk about her life.

Well it was time to stop concentrating on the past history and get some work done before the sun went down, it was a warm winter day today so it was a good day to start. She didn’t want the steps of the porch to let go and injure herself or anyone else.

She grabbed her tools and headed out to the porch and started to rip up the old stairs and install new ones, she didn’t realize just how bad they really were until she ripped up the first one and saw all the rot in the wood. She worked for a few hours and had finally ripped up all the old ones and now it was time to put in the new ones.

She heard a car pull in the drive way and when she turn to see who it was, Detective Carter stepped out of his vehicle and walked over and said hello Nicole. It looks like you’ve been busy today, do you need any help? I don’t have to be to work for a couple of hours and I decided to come down to see how you were holding up since last night.

I’ve been okay, I’m trying to not let it get to my head what I saw and keeping myself busy is a good way to forget about it for a while.

I would love some help if you have time, it’s a difficult job for just one.

Theodore chuckled and said, you’re right and I’d love to help. What do you want me to do first?

Nicole pointed to the stack of wood and said, could you grab some of them and bring them over here so we can start putting the porch stairs back together. He went over and picked up a bunch of pieces and brought them over and sat them down next to her and he then picked up a hammer and helped her with the bottom step first and they worked their way up to the top, within an hour the steps were completed and Nicole had new stairs and it looked really good.

She turned to Theodore and said thank you so much, you were a life saver today, and I probably never would have finished them before nightfall.

Can I offer you something cold to drink and maybe a dinner sometime to repay you?

Ted said he’d like that and told her he had the Friday coming up off and would she like to go out with him then? Nicole said that would be perfect.

He walked inside with her and got the cold drink she offered and they sat at the table and talked for a bit before he had to go on shift.

He asked her if she was from this area, and she said, well yes, when I was little I would spend my summers with my grandmother, but I actually grew up a few towns over. I always loved Hope and its name. My middle name is actually Hope, My mother gave me that name for this town. Are you from around here Detective?

Ted said no, I grew up about twenty miles away and loved the small town charm Hope had to offer, that’s why I took the job here.

Nicole agreed that the town did have lots of charm and she was content here. The house needs a lot of repairs but it’s going to be worth it when I’m finished, she said.

He said that it looks great in here and that he loved the color yellow she had done to the kitchen, it brightened up the room and made you feel welcomed.

She said, thank you, I love it too. I’m doing my bedroom in a Casco Bay green, she showed him a sample and he was like,” wow, that is dark. “Nicole said, yes it is, but I love it. It reminds me of the ocean. He said, you’re correct, it does look like the ocean color.

Ted had finished his ice tea and said that he must be going but he looked forward to Friday night and that he’ll pick her up at six and he knew a great place outside of town that served the best Italian food around, Nicole said that sounded great and that she loved Italian food.

Ted had said his goodbyes and remarked that maybe he’ll see her while he was on shift tonight, he was actually looking forward to seeing her again, it seems, Ted was falling for Nicole.

He knew it could raise a lot of questions with his superiors, so he’ll just keep quiet about how he feels and that they have a dinner date this Friday. He loved his job and didn’t want to risk getting reprimanded for his actions or how he was feeling about her.

Nicole said she had some things to do tonight and she hoped to see him too, but she had to go out of town for a meeting with her publisher and didn’t know when she would return.

Ted said, okay, good luck tonight and hope to run into you at some point again before Friday, She smiled and said, that would be nice, and you are a very handsome man detective. Thank you again for all your help, I truly appreciate it.

He said, you’re very welcome, I’ll see you around. Have a great evening.

Ted had left with a smile and drove off to the station where he knew he had a lot of work solving the recent murder. He had worried about Nicole being out tonight by herself, he didn’t want anything to happen to her.

Detective Carter sat down at his desk and went through the evidence again to see if maybe he missed something from last night, He read over Ken’s notes, A woman had committed these crimes and she was quite angry by the aftermath of the gashes on this guy’s body, he had over thirty wounds to the face and upper torso. The only thought was she just kept using an icicle until it had melted, that is why the punctures are of different sizes, and by the looks of it she just kept stabbing him until it had melted completely.

She had sexual intercourse with him before she killed him, but yet, not a trace of DNA anywhere on his body, Ken had said that his body was wiped down with an antiseptic, this woman knew how to cover up evidence. That had the detective concerned, because without any evidence, she is going to be hard to catch and he’s hopes no more individuals end up murdered. Ted had to solve this murder and soon, before a panic arises in this town. He called down to Officer Nick Stenson and asked if he could have a word with him. Nick said, he be right there.

Nick arrived to Ted’s office and said, what’s up sir?

Ted said, have a seat, I wanted to talk about this evidence with you and get your point of view, two sets of eyes are always better than one.

Nick said no problem sir and I agree, where do you want me to start? Ted handed him the case files and the evidence and ask him what he thought about the weapon, do you agree that it could be an icicle? It’s the only thing that would change shape as she was stabbing him.

Nick looked at the pictures of the body and the said, I believe your right sir, just looking at the stab wounds and how they start out small and get bigger as they hit the torso. I do believe that is what this woman used on him, it’s going to be hard to get any evidence from that murder weapon.

Ted agreed and said, we need extra patrol around the area of the river and hopefully if she comes back, we can catch her in the act.

Nick said he would get on it and assign a couple of officers to drive through the area every hour.

Thank you said Ted, this is one tough case. Nick said, yes it is but we can have hope that she screws up and we catch her. Ted agreed and said, thank you for your help, no problem, Nick said