Three

CHAPTER 3

Golden High School.

A male corpse was found with his body on his back, eyes widened, tongue sticking out and stomach area full of blackish-red fluid. The condition was so bad that some students who couldn't stand it immediately moved away and left the scene. The elites at Golden High School were already trying to block the horrible scene, they set up a blockade.

Mr. Wilson arrived at the scene and held his breath in shock. He looked around and tried to shoo away the students, although that old man's words were just taken for granted by them. They were very curious, it was the first time they had found a dead body in school. This was an interesting crime to follow.

"What are you guys doing here? You guys should leave, stop filming!" The elites were asked to bring the kids back, but there were too many of them for Mr. Wilson to do anything else there.

Shortly after, NYPD (New York Police Department) chief Paul Scoots, arrived with two other policemen and a young detective named Nicholas. A sweep of the crime scene and the installation of police lines were immediately carried out. Two police officers tried hard to push back students who were trying to cross the line just to take pictures or videos they wanted to post on social media. Mr. Wilson and the officials also tried to help, but the students' curiosity was too big. They were very stubborn.

And just as Paul Scoots had said, the two policemen pulled out a large black cloth, each end of which they held up to block the students. In the end, though, they were unsuccessful.

"Forget it, let's focus on the investigation," Nicholas whispered. He was a little disturbed by Paul's angry expression, he didn't want Paul to get angry with the students and make his image look bad.

"How did it go?"

"After checking the blood with luminol, I found a lot of blood on the floor," Nicholas said. "Most likely, the blood on the floor is the victim's blood. Some of the blood has already started to dry, and the body is also starting to show corpse bruises in some parts of the body."

The chief, Paul then tapped Nicholas on the shoulder confidently. "I will hand over this case to you now. I believe you are capable of handling this."

Nicholas did not even hesitate to nod in agreement. "Sure, Chief."

Paul Scoots was busy helping two other policemen to clear the crowd, while Nicholas focused on the investigation. Nicholas then squatted down, observing the victim's corpse and recording the conditions of the crime scene in his personal journal. Several times Nicholas was forced to touch the victim's body using latex gloves to check for bruises on the lifeless body.

The bruises that appear on a corpse are usually clues. And clues are one of the things that Nicholas, as a detective, won't miss.

Brittany tried to break through the crowd because she was curious. Some of the women were screaming hysterically, which Brittany thought was a bad thing. She pushed her way through the gaps of people who raised their cell phones in the air to take pictures. Brittany wanted to give up, but she was already halfway there. From her current position, her tanned eyes could see Paul Scoots, her father. Well, this must be really bad. She pushed harder, finally making it to the front of the line. Her eyes looked around. The black cloth that two police officers were trying to lift made it difficult. But Brittany already realized there was someone down there, lying on the floor. And there was blood all around.

As she waited, Brittany moved herself forward again, trying to get through the Golden High School elites standing in front of her until she could approach the police line. And at the same time, the black cloth held by the two policemen fell because of the many people who were forced to see.

The view in front of her immediately surprised Brittany. Her eyes widened in shock when she found a familiar face there. A face that Brittany knew all too well. Her mouth opened, but two hands quickly closed it. Brittany moved, she hurriedly lifted the police officer's yellow line that crossed in front of her and her body immediately fell to her knees, right in front of the corpse as she managed to confirm everything.

She had confirmed that the body she had found in the dorm hallway was that of her boyfriend, James Portman.

"James...," Brittany said in a sad tone. She held her breath for a few moments, her head spinning so badly, she felt like she was going to throw up. But her hands immediately held her mouth shut and she stared deeply at James' cold body. "You... why were you there, James?"

Nicholas, who had just finished taking notes on the condition of the corpse, looked at Brittany. He knew Brittany. So Nicholas immediately approached and quickly stopped Brittany's hand from touching the victim's face. Nicholas thought that Brittany was just being reflexive, so he wasn't angry at Brittany. He then guided Brittany to pull over carefully. "Be careful, Britt. I'll help you. Let's get up," Nicholas said, helping Brittany to her feet. "Don't get your fingerprints on James' body. That would be a big problem for you, and me."

"But it's James, Nich. He's..." Without waiting for Brittany to finish her sentence, Nicholas hugged the girl who was like a younger sibling and led her away.

Brittany's sobs broke out as her father, along with two other policemen, transferred her lover's body into an ambulance to undergo an autopsy at the hospital.

"That's enough, Brittany. They're taking James' body to the hospital, we're going to examine it."

Brittany wiped her wet cheeks, she tried to hold back her tears but couldn't. Nicholas was okay with that, he cared enough about Brittany's feelings. But Nicholas would keep it professional for now.

"You're okay, right?" Nicholas asked reassuringly.

And Brittany nodded her head, although she wasn't sure if she was okay or not.