Get Off Or Else

I can still hear the loud bang of the door that just closed in my face when I look at Detective Woodward and say;

"Was it something I said?"

"Maybe you shouldn't interrogate the witnesses the first time you see them?"

"I think she knows more than she is telling us. They are best friends and she knows nothing of her life. Maybe we can get something on the buildings the CCTV camera footage for that night. The roommate did say that she left that night. Let's try asking security if we can have a look."

We walk up to the security and introduce ourselves to him.

"Hi, we're Detectives with the LAPD. Did you know the young lady that lived on the second floor with her roommate?"

The security stand up and look at our badges and then asks;

"I'm not sure who you are talking about, do you have a photo?"

I look at him sadly and say;

"The photo that I have of her, you don't want to see. Her name was Miss Sarah Twaist"

"Yes, I know that name. One time she gave me some pizza that was leftover from a party they had. She was nice to me, always friendly. Why what happened to her?"

"She was found murdered this morning on the other side of town. We came to get some information on her from her roommate. Maybe you know her as well? Mia Frieds? She wasn't very helpful, actually not helpful at all"

"Yeah, Mia is a different story altogether. Sarah said, I mean...used to say that Mia isn't always firing on all cylinders if you know what I mean? Things around her got a little crazy."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because of the drugs and alcohol, that normally brings out the worst in people. So, when there was a party, these weird guys used to come to the party as well. That created problems with the other tenants. The loud music and screaming in the unit."

"Thank you for your cooperation in this matter so far, you are really helping us. Miss Mia Frieds said, that on the night that Sarah disappeared, she went out with a guy that waited outside for her. Would it be possible if we can have a look at the CCTV footage, to see who she went out with and at what time? Any type of information can help us find out what happened the night of her disappearance."

"With all that Sarah did for me, I would gladly help out"

The security walks us over to the control room and says;

"Here you go, let me know if I can help you with anything else, please"

We walk into the room and sit down in front of the monitors. We go four days back to see if we can find out some more information. On the fourth day early morning, Sarah left and returned at six in the evening. She leaves again on the third day early morning.

Sarah is seen entering the building again just after six in the evening. She then reappears later at eight in the evening, meeting a guy outside of the building, so Mia was right. I spot something and say;

"Let us not stop yet, just let it continue because Sarah hasn't left with the guy yet. She is still in the frame talking to him. Let's see when they leave."

A few more minutes go by and Mia walks out of the building. The three talk for a while standing in front of the building. Then everyone gets into a car and drives off together.

"Okay, this proves that Mia isn't telling us everything. I think it's time to go back up and have another chat with her"

"But wait, this guy seems familiar. We saw him on the morning on the fourth day after Sarah has left the building"

We roll back the footage and check it again. As we rewind, Detective says;

"Hold up, there. Play it from there"

We play and start checking then he says;

"See, there...Sarah leaves...but check now...wait for it, wait for it...THERE! I'm certain that's the guy. What time is that...9:21 am. Let's see when he leaves again"

We see that just before Sarah returns home, he left without Mia. I look at Detective Woodwards and say;

"Now if we can get a make, model, and the plate, on any of these days, we have another solid lead to follow...Well done partner! We make a good team. But I do think we need to hold off talking to Mia. Let's get this guy's information first and then see if we can find out something more in the meantime."

"Yeah, I agree"

I stand up and walk back to the Dereck and say to him;

"Hey man, I need a favor from you again. Please, come to the control room...I want to show you something."

Dereck walks with me to the room. I show him the guy on the monitor and say;

"Does this guy look familiar to you?"

Dereck looks closer and says;

"Yeah, that's one of the guys that like to party with the girls. He is one of the weird ones"

"Did you perhaps see what type of car he drives?"

"Yes, it's an old Chevrolet pick up truck, I think"

I look at him with surprise written on my face and say;

"Here is our card with our numbers. If this guy comes here again, please call us the moment you see this guy. It seems that he likes to visit Mia. This could be something significant, can you do that for us?"

"Sure, no problem"

We walk out to our car and get in. I look at Detective Woodwards and I say;

"You know what bugs be Woodi, is that..."

Detective Woodwards interrupts me and say;

"That was my nickname in college, nobody has called me that for a long time"

"Well, I'm going to call you that from now on, you can call me Tom. Seeing that we're going to be partners and all..."

"So, what is bugging you, Tom?"

"Criminals always think they will get away with stuff like this, but in the end...they will get caught."

We stop at the station. I'm still in unbelief that it's my first day on the job here in L.A. Then Woodi asks,

"I'm heading to the gym, are you going to join me?"

"Yeah, why not, let me get my go-bag from my car."

I get my bag from the car and walk back in. I see Detective Woodwards and Madison talking. I walk up to them and say;

"Hey, Madison. How was the rest of your day?"

"Not too bad at all. Detective Woodwards told me what you guys found at the victim's place, well done so far. But now that I have you here, we got the warrant for the camera footage you need at the scene. I hope we see something on the CCTV that can help us with the case"

"I hope so too, we need some information on the crime scene to help us track the killer. But for now...Woodi and I will be blowing off some steam in the gym quickly. It helps to clear the mind"

"Well, let me not keep you. Enjoy, Detectives"

I follow Woodi to the gym. It's not such a big gym, but it has all the essential equipment needed to get a good workout. I head for the weights. I add some weights to the bar and do a few reps of bench presses. All of a sudden, Officer Pierce walk straight up to me and says;

"Hey, criminal, get off it's my turn"

"I'm busy. Wait your turn. Go to the bicycle, your legs look a bit on the thin side..."

He grabs the bar, and starts to push it down towards my chest, and says;

"Get off or else..."