xp_logs | Bishop and Laura: Crime Scene Investigation

Bishop is tipped off about a crime scene, Laura accompanies to look in a way others can't

The sun wouldn't be up for nearly another two hours, but an area near West 14th and 6th Avenues was already bustling with NYPD crime scene techs, patrol cops and detectives. According to the ID found in the victim's wallet the vic was DeShawn James, a forty-year-old black male who lived nearby. The scene was familiar to the twenty others on the murder boards across the city, victim surrounded by a pool of his own blood with his throat sliced. The cut to his thigh that severed his femoral artery couldn't be seen through the blood-soaked jeans he wore but everyone was sure it was there regardless. Thanks to a tip from a friend of Bishop’s X-Factor was also on the scene. The detective figured if letting the PI on the scene turned up information to help him with James’ murder then it was work breaking a few rules.

Giving the place a preemptive sniff, Laura looked around; it wasn't the body that bothered her, or the blood that was all around it. It was the fact they kept on happening; that was starting to bother her. Still, there was little they could do unless they got a solid clue on the murderer. "Hmmm", hummed under her breath as she took a couple of steps around the body. "Mind if I crouch? I promise not to touch anything...at least without asking."

"We can't touch things even if we do ask." Bishop said in a half aware, distant way. "It would destroy chain of custody because we're not NYPD." He slowly stepped down the far perimeter, following the police tape. Anything obvious would be seen by the evidence technicians. He wanted obscure. "He doesn't wear Brut, does he? I don't think anyone wears that any more. It would make him easy to find."

Laura nodded slowly, eyes fixed on the body. "Not touching anything then." She didn't think she would find anything useful that way, anyway. Crouching, she started to take in the different scents coming off the dead man. "Nope, not Brut. I think I would have a sneeze fit if he had anyway." The smell of the blood was dampening everything else, but still, there had to be something. "Uh, the blood is messing with everything."

"Want to check where the victim came on to the scene?" Bishop ran a light from the bottom of the victim's shoes across the prints it had made. "Still looking for the killer's in and out."

Laura stood and followed the prints as close as she could without actually stepping on them, nose ready as she tried to get rid of the bothersome scent of the blood. Once she had gotten far enough from the blood though, something else appeared. It was...lemon? Sniffing harder, Laura wrinkled her nose as she looked around in confusion. "Smells like...lemon. Like those things you use to wipe stuff clean or something..."

"Hand sanitizer? Baby wipes? Towelettes?" Bishop rattled off quickly as options as he continued to circle, looking for the killer's path. "No reason to wipe the weapon clean then take it with you..."

"I know right?" She sniffed some more, slowly walking away from the body. "And yet, the trail says otherwise. Our killer cleaned the weapon and left with it. Apparently someone is overly proud of their skills or something." It was puzzling, since any other feral could have had found this trail before her...but giving it more thought, Laura supposed that she was the first feral actively investigating the whole thing. "What's that supposed to mean anyway? To have someone that keeps their killing tool?"

"It could be a lot of things, or nothing." Bishop shrugged, running the flashlight's beam up the nearby walls. "Usually they're really attached to what they're using or they don't know how to ditch one the right way."

Giving a couple of steps forward, Laura frowned. "Well, the track dissolves as it goes into the streets, obviously; I can't track this person based on this." Turning around, she let a little irritated sigh escape her. "Sorry, besides that I don't think I can do much else."

Bishop offered a reassuring smile, his voice polite but distant as his mind continued to work. "I appreciate you coming out." His eyes darted to her to give her a moment of individual attention and appreciation before returning to the scene as he paced the outskirts.

"Don't sweat it, this is the least I could do." She wanted the killer behind bars -or worse- as much as everyone else, so she felt like she had failed, seeing as how there was pretty much nothing to work with. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me again." Turning to the same direction Bishop was facing, she let the silence fill the gaps.