Blood fingerprints

"I'm sure there's a reason we're doing this at this particular time... Jonathan remarked angrily, "in the dead of winter with the lake totally frozen over," as he stared out over the lake, which was one solid sheet of ice three inches thick.

The police lieutenant remarked sternly, "You don't seem to grasp it." "We suspect the assailant murdered Ms. Fielding and buried her corpse beneath the water's surface."

"And there's no murder if there's no body."

"Oh, no," the lieutenant said, waving his half-lit cigar in Jonathan's face. "We know it was a murder, and the man who claims to have committed it is in jail; he even acknowledged it." However, without the evidence, we won't be able to make the murder allegations stick.

Jonathan responded, "Same thing."

"Oh no, there's a difference, a big difference, we have a confession, one that I don't think rings true," the lieutenant sucked on his cigar as he gazed out over the iced-over water, he didn't want to reveal too much too soon, "listen, the lake is on your property, all we need to do as far as you're concerned is get your permission to bring some equipment in and drill a hole big enough for the divers to go

"As if you knew exactly where the killer hid the body in that lake," Jonathan joked, "it's a vast lake, it might take many tries before your divers find the body."

The lieutenant's face was scrunched up. "Oh no!" said the speaker. "Down to the last foot, we know EXACTLY where the corpse is."

“HOW? ”

The lieutenant smiled, but it was merely a snarl, like a bulldog attempting to fake a grin. "That would be telling, my friend."

"All right, you have my permission to bring in whatever equipment you need to collect the corpse," Jonathan responded. But why don't you guys just wait for the lake to thaw for a few days? The corpse will still be there, and I'm confident that the frigid water will preserve it for that long."

"It will," the lieutenant admitted, "on both counts." But, you know, my superiors are tyrants, and they demand that at the very least my portion of the inquiry be completed by the end of the day. "Besides," the lieutenant said, looking down from the pier, "I don't think you'll get a good night's sleep knowing there's a dead corpse just 10 feet below where we're standing."

“Wait—.” "You mean to tell me the body is here, just under this dock?" Jonathan shuddered.

"That's the issue that perplexes me." Why would the killer bring the body over here when there is a couple of miles of water for them to dump her body in?" Ms. Fielding's house is clear on the other side of the lake.

"However, why are you here?"

"You tell me!" says the speaker. "In the meantime," the lieutenant remarked as he began walking back to his car, a 1955 Peugeot with all original parts, "I'll inform the workers they may start drilling the hole that will collect the corpse from beneath your dock."

Jonathan stepped inside after waiting for the lieutenant to deliver instructions to the soldiers accompanying him. The scene was spotless, and the blood was gone, but he was never able to find the knife he used to murder her. He was certain he left the knife where he killed Ms. Fielding by the patio door when he killed her. It had been kicked beneath the sofa when he discovered it. Before reaching for it, he saw a shadow on the floor and looked up.

"Just one more thing," the police lieutenant stated in a slurred voice.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" He reached down to pick up a TV remote that had fallen to the floor next the butcher knife, and as he did so, he shoved the butcher knife farther beneath the sofa. Then he made it clear he was holding the remote by turning on the television with it.

"They say they might have to remove a portion of your dock in order to rescue the body."

"Can you tell me why?"

"I'm not sure why, maybe it's because of the images showing the body partly submerged beneath the dock or something."

"Whatever it takes, lieutenant," Jonathan said, "to collect the corpse and get the hell off my property!"

"OK," the lieutenant said as he went out, his hands in the air, although he spotted the knife beneath the sofa to make sure, "I'll leave you alone."

"You have your murderer, you're," Jonathan said as he led the lieutenant out the door to the deck outside the patio door.

Regardless of how long it takes those men to bore the hole and retrieve the body. Why, oh why, do you feel the need to bother me?"