DAY 46: Get to the Point

Novick and Bend lifted the yellow tape and entered the crime scene.  An officer tipped his hat in greeting; Bend began to say, "Hey.  So-"
Novick interrupted him with a tap on the arm.  Returning the officer's nod, the senior officer pulled Bend onward.
Having the corridor to themselves, Novick slowed down.  "What were you going to say?  You were about to ask him what's going on, weren't you?  Chances are, he'd oblige, tell you what he heard or saw, what other people told him or said they saw, maybe even offer a theory or two... We're not forensic theorists, we're forensic scientists.  I need to see what you see in there, not anybody else."

The body was still in the middle of the room.  Bend could see a massive head trauma, a clean ventilation through the right eye socket.  "I think I have a reasonable theory, sir..."
But Novick's attention was on the trenchcoat with over-produced hair.  Det Kuyper's grooming upgrade was for the tag-a-longs he had this week.  He was lecturing his entourage on how to process a crime scene, amending and selectively undoing 150 years of academy instruction.  Novick handed Bend the camera and a pair of earplugs.  "Do not listen to anything he says here.  Do your job."
Dutifuly, Bend began photographing the body.  Kuyper turned his attention to the novice.  "Hey, make sure to get some good head shots, okay?"
"He'll get the photos he needs to get," Novick clipped at the detective.
"Oh, yeah?  I got a confession sitting out in the car, plus a material witness.  I don't need you slowing me down.  This case is clean, so you guys keep it that way."
"What is your suspect saying?  Self-defense?"
"Yeah!  That's corroborated, too."
"By the cat?"
"By the- what?"
Novick picked up a laser pointer, moving the light across the floor toward a closet door.  Opening the door, he found himself face to face with a mottled grey Turkish Angora, wide-eyed and in a haze of its own tufts. Kneeling to the cat's level, Novick murmured comforting tones as he gingerly lifted her, reading her collar between pettings.  "Kuyper, would you like to process Agatha here?  She's a material witness, too."
The technicians moving the body chuckled audibly.  Sullen, Kuyper began directing his followers out of the room.

Novick whispered sweet nothings into Agatha's ear and searched for a toy or creature comfort within the closet.  But he paused when he saw a coat sleeve with a curiously frayed cuff.  He pointed the laser at it, stepping away from the closet.  He swept a foot gently against the door, closing it until it was in the laser's path.  Peering closer, Novick found what he was looking for in the joints of the door.
"Bend, take a picture here; I believe this is the bullet's trajectory."


inspired by Discover Magazine article, "Psychology's Credibility Crisis"