AcademyMurders: Cascade

Collars seemed to be fit for shiny stuff. She missed tagging her collars and shoulders with captain insignia. The gleam for the “choo choo” tracks always spurred Kim to be the best Leader of Marines that she could be.

When a family member died, her door was always open and she offered support. When a young Marine wanted to buy a new sports car and marry his girlfriend from Tijuana, she always pointed out the potential repercussions of such a decision. She looked each Marine in their eye and did whatever she could to remedy their situation.

In one case, a Marine female wanted to transition into being a male Marine. This particular Devil Dog actually had a perfect PFT score and shot as an expert at the rifle range.

Kim considered all of this. She calmly said, “You’re going to catch all kinds of hell, but if you want to go about this change, I can only aid you in your journey.”

She saw two Marines fighting at the smoke pit. One of them lunged at her and she quiickly shifted her weight and leveled him.

Charges of assaulting a commissioned officer were brought against the young Marine. He faced ten years in the brig. Kim recommended that the Leatherneck only get counseling and no military jail time.

Now, as Kim looked in the mirror at her freshly pressed pantsuit of navy and burgundy blouse, she inhaled. She then opened the door and exited.

Brenda met her in the lobby. A gaggle of gadflies already congregated outside the hotel. Flashbulbs were like sunbursts. Uniformed police escorted the two women out of the establishment.

In the courtroom Kim looked on as the DA read back the details of the case. He included the fact that Kim was already accused of murder and mentioned nothing about her acquittal.

Charts and graphs appeared. There seemed to be a burning scent in the room but Kim couldn’t pin down the actual smell. She shifted in her chair and determined that she would say that the smell was a figment of her imagination.

Her thoughts swirled. The feel of the wooden and leather chair was the only thing that kept her from running away from the half-truth and flat out lies.

Her short nails dug into the arms of the chair. What she wished now was to drink a glass of water. She signaled Brenda.

She poured her a glass. The translucent liquid was cool and satisfied her thirst.

It was like a cascade replenishing her mind, her soul.

“They even dug up the victim. The purpose of which I am still trying to determine. So they thought it was logical to exhume when the fact that the woman who was brutally murdered should have stayed at rest. But that’s beside the point. We should focus on the fact that former detective Kim Jergensen committed this crime. I want the jury to know that there is a direct correlation between Jergensen’s actions and the death of Susan. Jergensen was envious of Susan because she wanted what she couldn’t claim. Susan was about to graduate at the top of her class and the defendant couldn’t cope with that. She couldn’t understand how to achieve in a world where people were smarter, stronger, and better fit for being an agent of the FBI. It’s not hard to comprehend that she is a selfish and despicable person based on the truths of this case. She used a metal bar and concrete to choke to death Susan and try to get away with it. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, don’t let that happen.”