Ghost Peppers - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next morning, Detective Penelope Peppers arrived at the station early, feeling the tension simmering just beneath her usual calm exterior. She’d barely settled in when her partner, Tony Clifford, motioned her over to a designated space now transformed into their crime scene analysis room.

"Welcome to headquarters," Tony announced, gesturing to the walls, now covered with photos and notes from the Carter crime scene. Each photo was pinned with meticulous attention, creating a visual map of the investigation. Evidence bags, reports, and scattered post its marked the tables, while a whiteboard displayed key information they’d gathered so far. Penny’s eyes swept over it all, trying to absorb each detail.

“Feels… a little surreal,” she murmured, mostly to herself.

Tony gave her a reassuring nod. “Yeah, that’s how it always feels at the start. Don’t worry—it’ll fall into place. First thing, let’s comb through what we’ve got and make a plan.”

Penny nodded, looking over a photo of Alice Carter’s body, her face pale but determined to process it as objectively as she could. “Okay, so… walk me through the standard routine.”

“Start broad, then narrow,” Tony said, pointing at each piece of evidence in turn. “We examine each photo, jot down anything that catches our attention, even if it seems trivial. Then, we start checking alibis, witnesses, and neighbors. The key is to notice patterns. You see anything already?”

Penny studied the images intently, her eyes catching the corner of the bed where Alice’s body had been arranged, the red lingerie carefully noted in her file. “This placement,” she said slowly, “it feels… staged. That’s not typical, right?”

“Exactly,” Tony replied. “Staging a scene is a deliberate choice. Makes me wonder about the psychology behind it.”

Penny nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe whoever did this wanted to send a message, or… maybe they had something against Alice personally?”

“Could be,” Tony said. “But we’re not ruling out the husband yet. From what the neighbors said, the Carters were known to fight—sometimes loud enough to get a visit from the cops.”

Just then, Penny’s phone vibrated, and she picked it up. “It’s Amazon headquarters,” she said, reading the caller ID. She pressed it to her ear. “Detective Peppers, Ogunquit PD. Yes, I’m calling to check on any scheduled deliveries on Heritage Lane yesterday morning.”

A brief pause, then she jotted down the response on her notepad. “No scheduled deliveries? Alright, thank you for confirming.” She ended the call and turned back to Tony. “No deliveries for any packages on Heritage Lane yesterday.”

Tony’s shook his head as he considered this new piece of information. “Odd. Then we can guess whoever was in that truck wasn’t delivering packages.”

Penny scribbled a note beside her earlier thoughts. “Could be they were using the truck as cover? I mean, it’s easy enough to slip under the radar in an Amazon uniform these days.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Tony replied, tapping the photo of Alice again. “It’s the perfect disguise, especially if you’re targeting a residential area where nobody’s going to question an Amazon truck parked outside for a few hours.”

Penny looked up, realizing that even after just a few days, she was beginning to see how the pieces could start connecting. “So… what’s our next step?”

Tony smiled, appreciating her determination. “We’ll follow up with neighbors, anyone who might’ve noticed someone in the area. And since you’ve got Amazon on record, we’ll check if any of their trucks or uniforms have been reported stolen. Meanwhile, let’s look into family dynamics—their backgrounds, finances, connections. Any loose thread could lead us to a motive.”

Penny took a deep breath, feeling the weight of her new role but also a quiet thrill of purpose. Together, they had a lead to chase, however thin it might be. And with every new step, she felt herself inch closer to unraveling the chilling mystery waiting in the shadows.

A short while later, Tony and Penny were called to the Medical Examiner’s lab to review initial findings on the bodies of Adam and Alice Carter. The cool, sterile room was quiet, the fluorescent lights casting a clinical, almost surreal air over the scene. The two stainless steel tables held the remains of Adam and Alice, each draped under a crisp white sheet.

Dr. Lynn Martens, the medical examiner, glanced up as they entered, giving them a quick nod. “Detectives,” she greeted, her voice calm but focused. She adjusted her gloves and gestured toward the two bodies.

Penny braced herself, stepping closer to the tables with Tony beside her. Dr. Martens lifted the sheet back from Adam’s form first, revealing his pale, lifeless face. She pointed to his neck, indicating faint bruising that was stark against his skin. “Adam Carter’s cause of death was strangulation. Manual, by the look of it. I’d estimate a strong grip based on the pressure points and bruising around the larynx.” She paused, studying Penny’s reaction. “It was a sustained force. He likely couldn’t struggle, his attacker was in full control.”

Penny nodded, her stomach tightening as she processed the information. “So, no sign of defensive wounds?”

“None,” Dr. Martens confirmed. “Which leads me to suspect he was taken by surprise. Perhaps incapacitated before the strangulation. But,” she added, “there’s something else.”

She moved closer, pulling over a magnifier as she tilted Adam’s head gently to the side, revealing a tiny mark on his neck, almost invisible to the untrained eye. “Here,” she said, tapping the faint dot. “This is a pinprick, consistent with an injection site. Not large, so it’s likely from a very fine needle. I’ll be rushing the blood tests to see if any substances show up.”

Tony leaned in, frowning as he examined the mark. “So he could have been drugged first?”

Dr. Martens nodded. “It’s likely. The preliminary exam suggests he may have been subdued chemically, then strangled.” She covered Adam’s face and moved to the next table, where Alice Carter lay under the same sterile white sheet. This time, her expression softened slightly, a hint of sympathy in her eyes as she removed the covering from Alice’s head and torso.

“Alice Carter’s cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the left temple,” Dr. Martens explained, pointing to the small, clean wound on Alice’s temple. “It appears to have been inflicted at close range, likely with a silenced handgun. Based on the smooth entry and lack of defensive wounds, she was likely unaware until the moment it happened.”

Penny swallowed, her gaze lingering on Alice’s delicate features. It was one thing to review crime scene photos, but standing over the bodies made the brutal reality sink in deeper. “Were there any other signs of trauma?” she asked, trying to focus on the details.

“Only this,” Dr. Martens replied, tilting Alice’s head gently to the side. There, on her neck, was a matching pinprick, identical to the one found on Adam. “Another injection site. Whatever the substance was, the same type of needle was likely used on both victims.”

Penny shared a look with Tony, the implications swirling in her mind. This wasn’t the work of a random intruder; there was planning, precision—even a calculated cruelty—in the way these two had been killed. “Can you expedite those tests on the blood?” she asked, her voice steady.

Dr. Martens nodded. “I’ve already requested priority on the samples. We should know within twenty-four hours if anything unusual turns up.”

Tony exhaled, his gaze darkening as he stared down at the two bodies. “If someone injected them first, they wanted to ensure they were defenseless. They didn’t leave anything to chance.”

Dr. Martens nodded. “Precisely. Whoever did this knew what they were doing.”

Penny made a note in her pad, her mind already racing with questions. Someone had gone to great lengths to make sure neither Adam nor Alice had a fighting chance. And if it was a message, it was a chilling one.