I'm a local rookie cop in a small town currently stuck working the night shift. I work the normal patrol shift, driving around, pulling traffic, responding to your normal domestic disputes and whatever other wonderful calls dispatch sends my way.
But ever since this past weekend, every single night I keep getting called to the same house. At first I thought it was my coworkers playing pranks on the rookie.
"Dispatch to 1034"
"1034, go ahead." I replied
"We just got an emergency hang up from a landline that's coming back to XXX Patch Lane. Can you go check it out?"
"10-4 en route."
So I immediately start driving to the address which was about 10 Km away, but it's a pretty rural area so I get there in less than 10 minutes. I turn right on to the gravel lane and after about 7 seconds I see the house up ahead on the right, no lights on inside.
I park my cruiser on the gravel lane, lights off, so as not to announce myself in case there is an actual emergency going on inside.
We are trained not to just roll up to a house, lights on, in case the subject decides to ambush the officers arriving with gunfire. Anyway, I quietly approach the old farmhouse and check the perimeter. No signs of anything, no lights, no sound, not even a car parked anywhere. I begin to think maybe dispatch got the address wrong.
At this point I knock on the front door and announce myself, "Officer Emily, XXX Police Department." No answer. All the windows were closed, and I gently try the front door- locked.
At this point it's about 0230 hours and I need a cup of coffee since I have another 3 and a half hours left on shift.
I head over to the local 24 hour Gas station and find two of my ever so busy co workers standing there fueling up on caffeine as well. They grin and ask me if I had fun responding to the old doc's house.
Clearly, I must have had a dumb look on my face showing the confusion I was feeling because then he goes, "you don't know, do ya?" He continues, "That old farmhouse belonged to Dr. Wentz. He was the guy that I'm sure you've heard about who used to do botched abortions and all sorts of inhumane procedures back in the 1800's. He's the guy all the rich went to when they had young daughters getting knocked up or when they had a special needs child they didn't want to keep. He built that house himself and even named the road Patch Lane as a joke to all of the 'patching' he did for people."
I finished my coffee, laughing about the old tale the guys were trying to pull over on me. I wasn't going to let these guys spook me, especially being that I was one of the only females in the department. I have to have skin twice as thick.
I finish up my shift, get some Z's, and back in I go on Saturday night.
Around the same time, maybe a little later around 0230 hours, I get the call. "Dispatch to 1034."
"1034, go ahead." I replied
"We got another emergency hangup from the same number as last night. This time they stayed on the line and we could hear someone talking but can't make it out. Can you go check it out again?"
"Can you confirm the address again?" i inquired
"It comes back to XXX patch lane."
Now, I'm pretty sure the guys are getting dispatch in on some type of joke but whatever. I still have to respond, better safe than sorry.
So I drive down the road, turn on to the gravel road, park my cruiser away from the house, check the perimeter, and go up to the front door. Still no sign of life inside. I knock on the door and announce myself, "Officer Emily with the XXX police department."
I'm about to leave, and I go to check the door handle out of pure habit and sure as shit, the door opens. I was so startled by the fact that the door opened, my right hand immediately went to my gun on my right side.
I announce myself again. "Officer Emily, XXX police department! Come to the front door or else I will enter!"
Before entering a house, for officer safety reasons, we always get on the radio, "1034 dispatch"
"Dispatch, go ahead"
"No one appears at home but the front door was unlocked. I'm going to make an entry and check the house, it appears abandoned though. Do we have any back up available?"
"1034, all units are still on the fatal DUI accident. Do you need one to break?"
"Negative. I will advise."
I figured I didn't need to back up from a potential homicide scene for this abandoned house search. I make entry, gun drawn. I proceed through the first floor, dodging cobwebs and stepping over dead insects and critters.
I continue upstairs, through the bedrooms, closets, everywhere a person could be I checked. I work my way back downstairs and check the basement. It's a pretty small basement, but it's broken into several tiny rooms.
One "room" has a metal door with a padlock on it. The padlock needs a key to open it and is completely rusted shut, covered in cobwebs, and even one big old black spider was guarding that lock, having made it its home.
Clearly this lock has been there for years, maybe decades. I didn't worry much about it since there's no way anyone was in there due to how rusted this old lock was. Even the keyhole looked corroded and filled with rust/dirt. I eventually left and advised dispatch no report.
I grab a cup of hot coffee around 0400 hours and catch up with one of the guys from the DUI crash and ask him what that mess of a scene looked like. He told me I'm lucky I wasn't stuck on that scene.
He asked me about the Patch Lane house and I told him it was pretty fucking creepy but I checked it out and it has to be crossed wires somewhere. I felt comfortable telling him it was creepy since I knew this guy from when my dad was still on the force and he treats me like a daughter.
He said he used to get dropped calls all the time from there back in the 90s but there was actually a family living there back then. Each time he got dispatched they were surprised to see him and they let him search the whole house, never any problems. Just a single mom with her two kids minding their own business.
I asked him what happened to that family and he said nothing suspicious, they moved away after maybe 10 months or so, definitely less than a year, and a few families moved in and out renting the house but ever since about the late 90s nobody moved in.
I asked him if he remembered there being a locked room in the basement, honestly not really knowing what I was expecting as a response, and his eyebrows raised and he said, "You know what. I actually didn't remember until you just asked now. Yeah, wow. Yeah the only reason I remember is because the nice girl that lived there with her kids didn't have a key and couldn't get into the room and was asking me if I knew a local locksmith but I told her I didn't really know anyone since anytime the cops need in somewhere we just smash the lock open. She giggled and I remember she was a very attractive looking girl."
So we both shrugged it off, finding it odd but moved on with our shift into the early hours with another DUI stop and a domestic violence call from a guy who's wife drank too much and decided it was a good time to confront him for cheating on her 3 years ago.
Fast forward to Sunday night. Back at work, and this time the call comes out right at 0300 hours.
"Dispatch to 1034"
"1034 go ahead" I answered
"Hey we have another emergency hang up from XXX patch lane. Are you able to go?"
"Yeah dispatch, I cleared that house last night and I didn't even see a landline telephone in that house. Stand by- 1034 to Sergeant Oak"
"Oak go ahead"
"Hey sarge, did you hear this call? Do you need me to go or can we clear it?"
"1034 just drive by, no need to go in if you don't see anything but at least drive by."
"Received. Show me en route."
I was pissed since I didn't get to finish eating but I did my job and drove down the gravel road.
This time, the front door was wide open. And I KNOW I shut it closed the night before. At this point I begin to think a homeless person is inside, which is still trespassing. So I call out to dispatch. I have an open door and I'm gonna check it out.
I make an entry and this time I see someone run around the corner. My gun is drawn since I have no idea what to expect here and I announce myself and run after them. When I turn the corner it's just the kitchen and door to the basement. No way out.
I run into the basement, and nobody is fucking down there. Nobody. I get on my radio and ask for back up, but get no response. I make my way back up, and still nothing on the radio. I finish clearing the house, and still can't find the person. I make my way out to my cruiser and use the cruiser radio and am out of breath at this point.
"1034 to dispatch"
"Go ahead"
"Did you hear any of my calls for backup?"
"Negative, 1034 you need to unite?"
"No you can disregard... I had one subject on the premises but they're gone. I'm heading back to the station."
Monday night shift... left me speechless. At roll Call everyone jokes about when I am planning to go back to Patch Lane. I tell them they can get the call and I'm done
"Dispatch to 1045."
"1045 go."
"We got an emergency hang up for XXX patch lane. Sarge gave the ok to just drive by and make sure no one is there."
"1045 ok show me en route."
Since 1045 is my father's friend and also someone who recommended me to this job i accompanied him by obligation
Awesome. We both clear the first floor, then the top floor, and make our way into the basement together. Nothing.Then we turn the corner and I see there's no lock on the metal door anymore. We look at each other, and he said "I thought you said this was locked?"
I say, "uh. It was."
So he slowly opens the door and we are hit in the face with the most horrid smell... a smell I know well. The smell of death.
We find a corpse of a young female, bloated, fresh. The body naturally bloats about 2-4 days after death and traps gasses, that's where the odor comes from. We call for backup, and Medical Examiners show up on scene.
They process the scene and begin to take the body away. I asked them how long the body had been there, and the guys said between 3-4 days based on rigor Mortis, livor mortis, and a few other medical terms I probably can't even spell. I said there's no way that's possible because I was there a day ago and there's no way that was freshly locked. The lock was so corroded, rusted, covered in cobwebs, nobody touched it in years.
They said "Officer Emily, that isn't our job to explain. We are just telling you that this body has been laying in that exact position, in that room, for between 3 to 4 days."
Not soon after i get a call from Sergeant Oak
"Ugh, Sergeant Oakley is not the voice I wanted to hear at 0800 hours right now."
I walked into the station, in uniform, and headed towards Chief Fox's office. I knocked on his open door and poked my head around the corner. Chief said, "Emily, come in and shut the door."
I shut the door and took a seat.
"Well Emily, you shouldn't be surprised why you're here. You get dispatched to the same goddamn house four nights in a row and discover a dead body on the fourth night. Ha, and this body had been there for at least two of the previous nights! You really fucked up, Emily. Now I have paperwork out the ass and you need to answer some questions."
What the hell. How is he turning this thing on me? I did my job, I followed protocol, I followed my training, and I cleared the house as I was taught. "Okay Chief, what questions do you have?"
"Walk me through the first night. Did you check the windows? The doors?"
"Yes, I checked the windows which were all secured and the front door was locked. There are no other doors except the front door, it's a very old and small farm house."
"Alright. What about the second night? Windows? Door?"
"Chief, I checked the windows and as my report said, the second night the door was unlocked. I followed protocol and made an entry."
"And tell me about why you didn't check the room in the basement."
"Well, according to law, I conducted a 'person sweep' of the home to check for any persons on the premises since the property appeared abandoned. I looked in all areas that a person could potentially hide. When I got to that room, I saw the lock was rusted, corroded, and covered in cobwebs. There was no way anyone could have hidden in that room and locked themselves inside. I was not searching for a crime or illegal substances, I was only legally allowed to search for persons in that residence."
"I know the fucking law, Emily, thanks. Did you try the lock?"
"Well, no. I could see that it would not have opened."
"Did you think to try to call one of your male officers to try to open the lock?"
"Chief, the reason I didn't try to open it wasn't because I thought I was too weak. I didn't try to open it because I could tell it had not been touched in decades."
"Well thanks to your expertise in locks and corrosion, this entire case is fucked up thanks to you. I'm gonna be keeping a close eye on you."
"Chief, I followed all of our departmental procedures and stayed within the law. If you feel I handled these calls improperly then please provide me with the additional training and procedures that would guide me to how I should have handled it."
"Nobody likes a smartass, Emily. Go start your shift. You have a lot of follow ups to do now for this case and can't be doing that shit at night."
What an asshole. I knew from the day city counsel hired me that he hated me. Yeah, as I said, it's a small town so the Chief tends to do what city counsel tells him to do. Lucky for me, the city council was eager to hire another female officer, but I don't think the Chief was on board with their idea.
i'm used to the sexism in these small towns, but I tolerate it since my fellow patrol officers for the most part don't share the Chief's criticism. I decided to follow up with the Medical Examiner's office to see what information they had from the autopsy and the crime scene since we didn't seem to have a copy of their report at our station.
I called the Chief Medical Examiner, "Hey, it's Officer Emily from the Patch Lane case. Did you guys finish up the autopsy report?"
"Yeah."
"Oh okay, I didn't see a copy here at the station. Can you send it over?"
"I'm pretty busy right now and plus, that's my assistant's job."
"Alright, how about I just swing by and pick it up."
"You can do whatever your little heart desires."
The Chief Medical Examiner wasn't exactly eager to help, but I grabbed my cruiser's keys and headed on over to the lab.
The assistant was a young girl, looked fresh out of college, and greeted me with a smile, "Hello Officer! How can I help you?"
I asked her for a copy of the ME's report from Patch Lane and she proceeded to enter some letters into her computer, then hit 'print'. She handed me a three page document, and so I asked, "Aren't there more pages?"
She responded, "Nope. That's it."
I found this very odd considering most medical autopsy reports for a homicide case are well over 20 or 30 pages. I took a seat to look over the report and I guess my confusion and anger showed on my face since the receptionist asked if there was a problem. As I reviewed the autopsy report I saw that for the hair color, which was clearly long and blonde, they listed 'brunette', and for eye color they listed 'undetermined'.
I wish this was the end of the shit show, but the entire report seemed to be either wrong or just incomplete.
The manner of death was listed as 'homicide' but the cause of death was listed as 'undetermined'. What the hell? Isn't that their job to determine the cause of death?
I marched over to the Chief Medical Examiner's office and knocked twice before walking in.
"Chief, is this just a skeleton report from the Patch lane incident?" I held up the three page document in my hands to show him.
A skeleton report is just a basic report cops will fill out prior to the end of shift and then the next day with fresh eyes they fill in the gaps. However, with a homicide case and being that this was now over 48 hours later I didn't understand why they would only have a skeleton report.
"Nope. That's the finished report, sweetheart." I hate when old creepy men call me sweetheart.
"Well why is there no cause of death listed?"
"Because thanks to you, the body sat in a locked room for three days and left us barely any evidence to work with." Why the hell is everyone blaming ME for this!?
"Then can you explain why the hair color was wrong and about half of these items are listed as 'undetermined'?"
"If you think you can do better, go right ahead."
"Well then let me see the body!" i said
"Sorry love, against the services" He shrugged saying that
What the hell is going on here, he won't even let me analyze the body after being all smug seconds ago
I walk out of the institute in anger…well naturally and justified rage
"I don't know if these guys are just being sexist or awfully lethargic relating to their own duties!"
I stood at the edge of the bridge, staring out at the water below. The murky river flowed steadily, the surface disturbed only by the occasional ripple. I had always found solace in this spot, surrounded by the gentle hum of nature and the distant sounds of the city.
A breeze picked up, blowing through my hair and making me shiver. I pulled my coat tighter around me and looked up at the sky. The clouds were dark and foreboding, like they were just waiting to unleash a downpour.
I let out a bitter laugh. Of course the weather matches my mood. It was like the universe was taunting me, reminding me of how insignificant my problems were in the grand scheme of things. But that was just it, wasn't it? The grand scheme of things. What did it matter in the end? We were all just tiny specks in the vastness of the universe, doomed to a life of insignificance and meaninglessness.
I mean I am a cop and can't even get to the bottom of things because everyone else is so uncooperating!
I closed my eyes and took another deep breath, trying to find some sort of peace. But it was elusive, slipping through my fingers like sand. In the end, all I could do was stand there, staring out at the river and feeling the weight of the world pressing down on my shoulders.
Wait…why does the metaphorical weight of the world feel so real?
"Ah…a jumper. You gonna kill yourself?" A sudden voice asked me from behind, making me screech
"None of your business." i answered
"If you are going to die anyways, wanna have sex before you jump?"
The audacity of this guy! I said "hell no, can't you see I am an officer?!"
"Well, I guess I will just have to wait for your body to wash ashore then…"
"The actual fuck!?" i elbow him in the stomach as i back off from the railing which makes him fall to the ground
"That was a joke calm down you crazy woman" He says as he grovels in pain
"You are not funny.."
"Jokes aren't my forte actually. I am just an above average human who is obsessed with mysteries."
"I don't care, go on your way"
"Lying doesn't seem to be your forte, considering your eye movement, and the fall in your vocal tone. Not to mention the way you are still fidgeting your fingers on the railing. It tells me you are extremely agitated, angry and nervous about something. I further deduce it's work related since you have a uniform on. Now to the final boss of all mysteries it must be something related to sexism, since in total I have seen 60 cops in this entire town while I have been here for a total of 12 hours. I happen to remember all their faces, but something that stuck out the most was that you are the only female in the entire crew. Meaning you are a victim of not being taken seriously because of your gender. Am i right or right"
"W..wow- cough. What the hell. Are you a stalker?"
"No, I am the greatest detective to ever exist."
Why do I come across all the nutjobs on this planet?
"oh yeah sure"
"Why the sarcasm, i am not making that up"
What the hell is this guy
"What do you want?" i ask the man
"Okay so, my previous assistant left me because i was too good for him..so now i am in search of a perfect assistant that can help me go around solve cases"
"Ok? What makes you think I would be of any help?"
"I do not expect you to be my assistant you don't seem that intellectually gifted"
Punching him in the stomach i say "alright then, you are getting arrested"
Seriously, today has been the worst for some reason. First a girl's dead body appears out of nowhere, then i get shit upon by the chief and now this thing..
For some reason he is too unfazed even after being arrested…
"Oh boy what's that Officer Emily?" one of my co workers asks from behind his bench
"Just some random guy trying to one up the system for some reason, he was behaving rather unusual so i brought him here to check for any substance abuse check up"
"I am a private detective. hi"
"Shut it"
"Emily, are you running around taking in random guys, instead of doing your damn job" The chief followed
"No, he wa-"
"Stop justifying your uselessness officer emily, you have been contributing absolutely nothing ever since you have joined and now here you are with a fucking good of nothing hobo looking guy who seems to have a couple of loose screws!"
Oh god here we go again
The man looks at Chief instantly and starts sizing him up, while looking everywhere in the station
"My apologies but i am not a good for nothing, i am pretty much the human embodiment of rationality and deduction, but those might as well be understatement in my opinion"
"I have no time to waste on hobos, Emily back to yo-"
"You want me to prove it, yes?" The man interrupts Chief
"What?"
"So where do we start hmm?" Looking around, the man stops his gaze at the table where the Chief had set his lunch behind the glass panels in his office. He seemed to have brought his mother with him this time
"The sentimental widow and you, her son. She's got a west highland terrier called whisky, not what we're looking for. Looking at your jumpers, I can tell they are hardly worn. Clearly you are uncomfortable in those. Maybe because of the material or likely the hideous pattern suggests it's probably a christmas present gifted by your mother. So you want to be in your mother's good books. Why? Almost certainly money. You seem to have ordered her a meal but your own portion is considerably small. Which means you want to impress her, but you are trying to economize on your own food. If you are going to defend yourself by saying, you are not hungry don't even get me started. It's a small plate, starter, you have practically licked it clean. Your mother has nearly finished her pavlova. If she'd treated you on the other hand, you'd have had as much as you wanted. You are hungry and not well-off, I can tell by the cuffs and shoes. Now if you ask me how I know she is widowed. It's quite obvious, she's got a man's wedding ring on a chain around her neck, clearly her late husband's. And too big for her finger, she is well dressed but her jewelry is cheap. She could afford better, but she's kept it, sentimental. Now the dog. There are tiny hairs all over her leg, making her too friendly, but none above her knees, suggesting it's a small dog, probably a terrier. It is a West Highland Terrier called whisky. However if you don't want me to go on further detail spree, i'd advise you to let me tag along with this officer who just arrested me so i can shut up about the spillage that i have caused" the man finally takes a deep breath in after absolutely obliterating the Chief with extreme perceptiveness
Everyone at the station is now solely focusing their eyes and ears on the man and Chief
"Who the fuck is this guy Emily?" The Chief asks
"Sterling Lockwood, the best detective in the world" He says as he is still gasping for air