Frank

Being a police detective in Newport, Montero is hard. Dealing with violent crimes and ruthless deceit on a daily basis can wear out even the toughest of officers. But today was an especially hard day for Detective Frank Cartwright.

On his way to the scene of the crime, still a bit groggy from a late night out, Frank stopped by a pharmacist to get eyedrops to stay alert and remove the redness from his eyes. He was in a panicky state throughout the morning, still trying to process the call he got from Officer Gavin just before leaving for the station. Getting out of the city and into the hilly areas of Newport, he still wasn’t mentally prepared to face what was to come.

Frank finally parked behind multiple other police cars, after what felt like the tensest hour-long drive of his life. He jogged towards the crowd of officers and forensic specialists, lifting the yellow tape and showing his ID, to find Gavin talking to a witness at the crime scene.

“I swear I saw someone running through the bushes, felt like a masculine figure but it was too dark to tell.”

The witness’s voice began to trail off, as Frank walked with trepidation towards a familiar face, lying on the ground with her eyes closed. His ears started ringing as the voices around him simmered down. All Frank could zone in on was the light shadow on her ring finger. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his right shoulder, as a voice brought him back from the void.

“I’m sorry for your loss, you and Viola don’t deserve this.” Frank turned his head around to see Police Sergeant Gabriel Espinoza coming in for an embrace. “Thank you Sarge, it means a lot for you to be here.” Frank said, as he gave a weak smile and turned to walk towards Gavin.

Officer Gavin was finishing up some paperwork with the witness as the detective approached and hovered over him. Gavin quickly wrapped up and called for all the officers at the scene. While they all gathered around Frank, Gavin got him up to speed about the case.

Frank waited for a moment of silence among the crowd, and spoke.

“Since the victim here is my wife, I don’t want to personally be involved in the case.” He paused for a second and continued, “But, I want to be looped in and help pick the best team possible to find out who would dare to do something like this!” He pointed at Gavin, “Officer, you are to personally look after the evidence to ensure it isn’t tampered in any way.”

The crowd seemed a bit confused by Frank’s orders but quickly stopped murmuring as he cleared his throat, “I hope to find the killer as soon as possible. Thank you, for all your hard work.” Frank then turned around and made a quick exit towards his car.

It felt like a shorter drive back home, Frank thought, as he scurried up to his apartment and quickly shut the door behind him. Frank let out an immense sigh of relief. After a minute of standing by the door, his walk towards the bathroom was immediately interrupted by a phone call.

Gavin spoke in a neutral tone, “It’s done.”

“Thank you. I won’t forget this.” Frank said, as he ended the call and opened the bathroom door.

Frank bent down and picked a brown file from under the bathroom wastebasket. While lifting it up to the counter, a photo of a couple slipped from its sleeve. Frank swiftly picked it up and glanced at the woman on it, who looked very similar to the corpse he saw earlier this morning. But with her was another guy, whose face, by now, was seared into Frank’s mind.

Frank flicked a match from his pocket and lit the photo. When it was halfway burnt, he threw it in the basket along with the file titled “Andrew Davis”.

Frank left the bathroom, teary eyed from the smoke, but with a smile on his face, as flames roared behind him.