The Mysterious Case of X

By Zara Chapman

A scream. A single scream. That was the only sound emitting from Meghan’s apartment that sunny Wednesday afternoon...

Ever wondered what would happen if you walked in on your husband, dead? Ever wondered what would happen if you were an alleged suspect?

Meghan Howell knows exactly what happens. Walking in on her husband that fateful day... That changed her life for the worse!

It's just a point of innocent until proven guilty...

Or in this case... Guilty, until proven innocent!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9780244847838

Book preview

The Mysterious Case of X

The Mysterious Case of X

Zara Chapman

Copyright

First Edition

Copyright © Zara Chapman, 2019

All Rights Reserved

This book is full of fiction. Names, characters, incidents and places are completely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, persons; living or dead, is coincidental, and is beyond the intent of the author.

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stores in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form whether electronic or mechanical, without permission from the known author

ISBN 13: 978-0-244-84783-8

ISBN 10: 0244847838

Other Books by Zara Chapman:

-          Dreams Really Do Come True

-          Two Worlds Collide

Sticks and Stones Trilogy:

-          Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones

-          Here We Go Again

-          What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter One

A scream. A single scream. That was the only sound that emitted from the apartment that sunny Wednesday afternoon. It wasn’t a normal scream, though; it was a blood-curdling scream, that echoed through the small, cream-colored apartment. What Meghan Howell walked in was not the greatest of sights. She had just walked in on her husband, lying on the floor. It wasn’t like he had collapsed - oh no. It was much more than that. Blood was disseminated around him, as he lie there, dead; a .22 caliber sat perfectly in his left hand. Meghan looked around to see blood spatter across the floor, two feet away from him. This could not be happening!

Meghan picked the gun up, wondering where he had got it from, shocked. Thinking back to when she walked in, she dropped the gun in utter shock, just a few seconds after picking it up, as the realization hit that her husband was dead. The gun hit the wooden floor with a loud thud, as blood landed underneath it. Everything was fine this morning, and somehow, this had happened in the nine hours that husband and wife were apart. He should have been at work all day. How long had he been lying there? The blood looked partially dry. Meghan’s scream had got some attention from the neighbors around, which had caused more of a scene than intended. A few people from the close apartments wondered over to the door; one neighbor getting their phone out to ring the paramedics. Another, the police. Unfortunately, one of the neighbors; an elderly man, didn’t take the scene too kindly. A person standing over a dead body, with a gun on the floor next to them. The police had to investigate this.

‘So, tell me again, Meghan. What happened?’ Officer Emmett Parker asked Meghan a few hours later, in the local police station.

‘I keep telling you what happened.’ She said, quietly. ‘I walked in from work, and just saw him lying on the ground, dead. Look, could you please tell me what I’m doing here, or why the police are even involved here? This was clearly a suicide, so why do you need to be involved?’

‘Unfortunately, this is serious police business, and I cannot discuss it with you, so –’

‘He was my husband! I have the right to know what’s going on!’ Meghan screamed.

‘Then why were there reports of a gun on the ground next to you then?’ Emmett asked, calmly.

‘I…’ Meghan took a deep breath. ‘I panicked, okay? I picked the gun up, shocked that he even had one. Please, you can’t seriously think that I murdered him?’ Meghan cried.

‘Well, there is a person standing over their dead husband. Gun lying on the floor next to them; looks fishy if you ask me.’

‘Well, then explain this.’ Meghan sniffed. ‘Why would I scream? Why is it, that the only attention that gets to the apartment is when I scream? If my husband had shot himself, as I am sure he did, surely there would be some attention then, but there wasn’t right? No calls were reported earlier, right? So, clearly, he used something to silence the gun. Why would I even shoot him with the door open? You think I’m that stupid? I mean, better yet, why do I have a reason to shoot my own husband at all?’

‘Well, the scream could’ve easily been an act, and to make it look like you didn’t kill him, and to look shocked. You also dropped the gun in a way that looked like shock, too. Then you screamed, so it would look like you had just walked in on him, and you’ll then make yourself look more innocent. As for the silence of the gun, a suppressor could’ve been used. Although a noise would’ve been made, it would’ve been quieter, and sound less like a gunshot, but more like something outside the building falling over, crashing, or a car backfiring.’ Emmett stated. ‘As for the door being open, again like the scream, an act. As for the reason for shooting him, well, I’m going to find the motive as to why you shot him.’

‘But there wasn’t anything extra on the gun, though. It was… just a gun. He can’t take a silencer off when he’s dead. I just cannot believe you think I would shoot my husband. Anyway, as for the silencer, isn’t the purpose of it to make the gun silent?’

‘This is why it’s classed as a homicide. If it’s a suicide, the suppressor would still be on the gun. Also, it is impossible to fully silence a gun. But, of course, you would know that.’ Emmett said, crossing his arms.

‘You really believe that I shot him, don’t you?’

‘The scene did look suspicious. I’m only doing my job, Meghan. I’m sorry, but this is a murder investigation.’

‘You’re officially stating this as murder? Really? He shot himself, how else did the gun get there? I promise you I had only just come home from work, when I saw him lying on the ground with a gun lying in his hand. This was a suicide, end of –’

‘Okay, then what did you see? How was he lying on the floor? What hand was the gun in? Why was there no blood on the wall? Why was there a gunshot wound on his forehead, rather than the side of his head?’

‘I… I don’t know.’ Meghan broke down. ‘I just saw blood around him, and about two feet from where he was. The gun was in his left hand. I promise I didn’t do it.’

‘Well, I will have to ask the paramedic crew where the gun was when they arrived, as a witness report. Because, when the team got there, and when I got there, the gun was not sitting in his left hand. So, either you did it, or you disturbed a crime scene. I’m going to investigate this and find out the truth. In the meantime, I would hope you don’t leave down. Have you got somewhere to stay?’

‘Yeah. I should be able to stay with a friend.’

‘I’ll need to get their address, okay?’

‘Sure.’ Meghan then said, quietly, shutting down.

‘I will need to search your whole apartment, and ask witnesses, as well as people linked with your husband, and you.’ Officer Parker continued. ‘This is a serious murder investigation, and as a suspect, you will either be acquitted, or you will be arrested. Make sure you get your story straight, so we know the right procedure.’ Emmett then said, with an intimidating wink, before standing up, and opening the door. Meghan stayed sitting, as the tears fell down her face.

‘She isn’t taking it very well in there.’ Officer Parker then said, after walking down to his chief, Harriet.

‘I figured not. What have you decided to do?’

‘Right now, there’s not much I can do, so I decided that she will be under a RUI (Released Under Investigation), and she said she will stay with a friend. She won’t be leaving town. But, before she goes, I need to see if she has gunshot residue on her hands at all.’

‘Good. Get that done now. If she did murder the victim, then you need the examination results in as soon as. That way, we need to keep her in if there is residue. If there is no residue, you need to get an address where she’ll be staying, because then if evidence against her comes up, you need to know where she is. I advise that she stay off work while she’s under investigation, as this could really stress her out. If we find that she’s innocent, then that’s fine. We can acquit her as a suspect and look for another one.’

‘Indeed. As we don’t know the full story yet, I don’t think she’s too worried; that is, if she is the killer. I just think she’s more upset right now, but I would guess that the more we investigate, we can keep monitoring her, and see if she eventually starts to crack.’

‘Well, you have just become a detective, Emmett. I trust you to make the right decisions, okay?’

‘Yes, Harriet.’ Emmett commented. He then turned away, before walking back to where Meghan was. Walking in, Emmett saw that Meghan was in the exact same spot that he left her in. ‘I need to quickly do a test to see if there is gunshot residue on your hands. This will only take half an hour, okay?’

‘Sure.’ Meghan said, before standing up. Emmett lead her to another room, where he got a set of adhesive stubs, and labeled them ‘right palm’, ‘left palm’, ‘right back’, and ‘left back’. Emmett carried out the tests, while Meghan calmly stood there. After the test was done, Emmett put Meghan back into the interview room, and locked the door, before walking to another room, where equipment was to get results for the examination, as he knew it wouldn’t take too long.

After 40 minutes, the results were in, and Emmett sighed in defeat. The results came back negative, which means there was no gunshot residue on her hands. Emmett knew there was no way he could keep Meghan in on suspicion, as there was nothing on her hands. There are some cases, where the residue doesn’t appear on the hands, but this didn’t necessarily mean that she was innocent. Leaving the room, Emmett walked to the interview room, where Meghan was sat calmly.

‘Well, good news is, you don’t have any residue on your hands.’

‘That was quick.’

‘That is the good thing with these tests. I just need you to write your friends address on this piece of paper, so we can occasionally check up on you, and we know where you’re staying. That way, you can’t go off the grid, or leave town. I will be releasing you under suspicion though, so don’t be too upset about the occasional visits from me.’

‘Okay.’ Meghan depressingly said, before writing down the address. She handed it back with a simple thanks from Emmett.

Emmett and Meghan then walked out of the interrogation room, and headed down to the front desk, where Meghan would phone her friend to pick her up.

As Emmett noticed Harriet behind the front desk, he walked towards her, while keeping an eye on Meghan. ‘Right, the results were negative, so I am going to release her, but I warned her that we will be checking up on her occasionally. Once her friend has picked her up, I will head to the hospital, and speak to the paramedics that were on scene, so I can get a witness report off them.’

‘Well, if you’re sure. You are in charge of this investigation, remember that. You do what you feel is right, Emmett.’ Harriet replied.

‘I do remember that I’m in charge. I’ll also make sure Meghan stays in town and that she’s okay. I’ve explained the situation and she seemed to be okay with it. But she will stay with this friend, and I’ll speak to her workplace to keep her off, until she has been acquitted as a suspect.’

‘Good job.’ Harriet smiled.

Emmett then went towards Meghan, and explained the situation with her job, and Meghan just nodded, not really paying attention.

About 15 minutes passed, before a tall, muscular man walked in. Meghan instantly ran over and hugged him. ‘Levi, I am so happy to see you!’

‘Hey, Meg. I am so, so sorry to hear about what’s happened.’ Levi looked down at her. Emmett took extra attention with the way they looked at each other, as Levi may come into the investigation later.

‘Meghan, remember what I said.’ Emmett then said, before letting her leave. Turning around to face Harriet, Emmett said goodbye for the day, and left, heading towards the hospital, where the paramedics that were on scene should be.

Chapter Two

About 15 minutes later, Emmett arrived outside the hospital, and gathered his notes, before getting out of his car, and walked up to the reception. ‘Good afternoon. I am here to speak with Toby Watkins and Raymond Stokes?’

‘Raymond is currently out, dealing with a call. And Toby has gone home for the evening. Is this important?’

‘Very. Is there any way I could find out where Toby lives, and go to his house? Just I do need to speak to him.’

‘Well, that is staff confidentiality. I -’

‘And this is important police business. For