How To Commit The Perfect Crime: Murder

Heya Everyone, so the blog post I was working on for this week has turned out to be a bigger project than originally anticipated. So instead here is the start of a book I was working on about two years ago. I had great plans for it and did a lot of research into logistics and things, but never actually wrote more than about three chapters... oops.

Just a tiny heads up, this does contain graphic detail of a murder and crime scene, so if that isn't your sort of thing please don't read any further.

Dr. Alan Roberts was by no means a normal man. At age ten he'd been the near eye witness to a murder committed at his boarding school. The subsequent police investigation intrigued him, catching the bully responsible was a thrill like none other.

Age 28 saw Alan Roberts graduating at the top of his class, with a PhD in Criminology, a job with one of the top FBI crime labs already lined up thanks to years of summer jobs and internships.

It took four years, four glorious, wonderful successful years, for Alan Roberts to lose that thrill, the adrenaline rush that came with understanding the evidence and sending a killer away. It had gotten too easy, and he was getting bored.

Chapter 1:

The letterbox shook with each heart-stopping 'boom'. Lights flashing every nameable colour illuminating the front lawn, glass fragments from broken beer bottles reflecting the light onto what one could only assume was a white house. The lack of decent lighting making it hard to tell.

Music shook the window panes, damaging eardrums from just the sheer volume alone. Police, detectives and Forensic personnel alike were forced to talk in hand movements, or loud yells directly into another's ear.

More bottles of alcohol littered every available space down the corridor towards the lounge hall. Some half drunk and abandoned, others seemingly untouched, strobe lights suddenly seemed to get themselves stuck on flashing red, illuminating a man directly ahead of them. He stood in front of a curved television so large it could have been confused with the wall behind him.

"Damn rich kids." He could be heard to mutter as he attempted to turn off the music and return the lighting to normal. Curse words passing his lips as it consistently went wrong, making the problem worse as he accidentally turned the bass up to full, bottles and paper cups smashed as the furniture and walls shook, vibrating things onto the floor, risking contaminating the crime scene further.

A middle-aged man rushed through the door, narrowly avoiding the glass, skidding to a halt before the television, with a simplistic flick of his wrist everything stopped. Lights switching off fully before slowly rebooting to the normal soft white that was deemed to be standard. The music ceased altogether, replaced by loud yells and flinches as people found they could once again talk normally. Several more could be caught removing makeshift headphones that had been cleverly manipulated to cancel out most of the noise.

"Thank you, sir." The lab assistant spoke softly, making a hasty exit before he could be reprimanded for not knowing how to work a television set when he was trusted with laboratory equipment worth millions of dollars.

"Doctor Alan Roberts, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation crime lab. My team and I were sent to assist with the case." The middle age man calmly turned around and spoke to the lead detective, acting as if nothing had been out of place before his arrival. His badge held out for her viewing pleasure as he heard someone walk up behind him.

"Steph and Ryan have gone to get witness statements, but I doubt they'll be much help." A soft female voice spoke as a young woman stopped at his side. The petite blonde only glanced at the detective for a moment, before turning her attention back to Alan. Hands fidgeting awkwardly in her black FBI issued jacket, uniform for when the team were at a crime scene. Amy flicked her eyes to the detective once more, before speaking once more.

"I'm going to go see if anyone accidentally recorded anything, have fun with your body." The female skipped away towards the television set, ignoring the eyes that followed her, she seemed to be bouncing on her heels as she manipulated the television set without hassle, barely there movements making the biggest on scene changes. Her green eyes scanned the data that flashed before her, searching for patterns no one else would dream to look for.

"Doctor Amy Poole, my colleague." Alan half introduced, watching as the detective eyed his hyperactive friend.

"White shoes at a crime scene?" The detective muttered to herself, before nodding at the man before her. "Deceased is this way."  The female detective motioned with her head, refusing to introduce herself despite his patience in waiting for her to do so.

The body itself was slumped against the furthest wall from them. Blood pooling around the body, soaked into the dark blue carpet below them.The kid seemed almost normal from the neck down, no sign of defensive wounds. The now deceased college student seemed fit enough to attempt to take on any attacker, or at least outrun them. It was from the shoulders upward that everything became exciting. The head itself was missing, seemingly torn from its shoulders, leaving behind a mutilated mess. Strips of flesh dangled over the collarbones, veins no longer seeping blood down over the victim and his clothing. Blood spatter covered the wall behind him and the surrounding furniture, indicating this had been the location of his death. Large gaping holes were missing between patches of blood spatter.

"I need all this sent to my lab immediately, including the clothing of the students who were standing here." The detective nodded, turning and walking away quickly, leaving Alan alone with the John Doe and a man who appeared to be of mixed descent. A white lab coat a stark contrast to his mocha coloured skin and short black hair.

"Nikoli." Alan placed a soft hand on the medical examiner's broad shoulder. The man glanced up at him, tears in his chocolate brown eyes.

"Alan, you got here quick." Nikoli swiped at his eyes, standing up and hugging his old friend. Alan reluctantly returned the hug, he had forgotten how affectionate his half Russian schoolmate could get.

"Always do, what can you tell me?" Alan pulled away, both men turning serious in a heartbeat.

"No defensive wounds, untouched from the shoulders down. Just like the others. From what I can tell the head exploded upwards, we could only find brain matter on the roof, and on top of the heads of those standing nearby. The blood spatter seems to be from the force of the aftermath. Skull fragments and teeth have been located practically everywhere. We're hoping to get a hit off fingerprints because the skull reconstruction could take months." Nikoli knelt back down, lifting the victim's left arm and turning it over. Blue gloves adorning his hands to prevent risking infection or disease.

"What is odd is this puncture mark-" Nikoli pointed to an angry red spot just above his elbow, the vein it lead to stood out more against the skin. "-victim's girlfriend claims he never would have touched drugs, straight A student, on the football team, he wanted to be a lawyer, drugs would have him out on his arse and his dreams dashed. I'll get his medical records sent to me, maybe he just had a routine vaccination. " Nikoli released the arm, resting it over the John Doe's own lap once more

"Without my tools, I can only estimate that time of death was within the last few hours. Body was still warm when I arrived, these footprints are mine. I've already given Darla my imprints so she can add them to the evidence files and have me ruled out of the suspect pool." Alan nodded, kneeling down and slipping on blue gloves of his own.

"May I?" He asked, waiting for Nikoli's approval before he touched anything. Most medical examiners he had worked with were displeased with the way most FBI agents demanded control of a crime scene or body, Alan was overly cautious to ask each time, unwilling to offend anyone that could impede the speed of catching a serial killer.

"Of course my friend." Nikoli motioned for him to go ahead. Alan smiled once, before beginning his own quick examination. Unlike Nikoli, he ignored the obvious lack of physical evidence, nor was he looking for what could have caused his sudden demise. Long slender fingers instead followed the angry red vein that Nikoli had pointed out earlier. Fingers pressing down against the cold skin, golden-hazel eyes closing as he felt instead of saw what he was hunting for. Alan continued his search of the body in much the same way.

"Hmm, thanks, Nikoli." Alan Sat back on his heels, peeling off his gloves and pushing his rectangular glasses back up on his nose.

"Anytime Alan, find anything?" Nikoli offered a hand to his friend to help him upwards once more.

"No, I'll get back to you if I discover something in the blood work." Alan shook his head sadly.

"We have nothing either, music was too loud, they were too drunk." A third male voice chimed into the conversation as two people walked towards them. The male's six foot four stature easily towered over everyone else in the room, slouched slightly as he walked in an effort to appear less intimidating. He was more muscle than anything else, hours spent at the gym as his 'stress-relief' after a harsh day at the office. The female interns around the laboratory often swooned over his muscular frame, much to his pleasure. His short cut black hair was spiked up in all directions, only made worse as he ran his hand through it once more. Icy blue eyes flickering nervously between the female lead detective and his so-called partner Stephanie.

Doctor Stephanie Jones was holding her head aloof, shoulder length red bangs no longer shoved behind her ear instead falling freely down under her chin. Brown eyes that seemed to be almost orange were locked on Alan as the olive toned woman made her way closer. At six foot she stood taller than both Nikoli and Alan, looking over them to see the body slumped behind them.

"Detective Darla was just saying she had a spare room back at the station that we could set up in. You ready to go?" Stephanie asked words said softly despite the strong undercurrent of rage in her tone. It was a familiar voice to Alan, the same one he had heard the behavioural analyst use when she was speaking with a suspect they wanted to trick into believing everything was alright, calming down a possible suicidal serial killer so they could restrain and interview them. Steph was enraged, and if Spark's shifty, nervous gaze was anything to go by, it was the detective who elected such a strong reaction.
 
"I'm done. Nikoli?" Alan answered,

"I'm waiting for one of my assistants to return, and then I will be on my way, pleasure to see you again old friend." Nikoli clasped Alan on the back before he wandered away once more, muttering about brain mush and skull reconstruction.

"Alan, Detective Darla, we used to work together before I went FBI. Darla this is our Criminology expert, Doctor Alan Roberts. Behind him is our computer genius extraordinaire, Doctor Amy Poole." Ryan introduced, ignoring the glare she directed at him.

"Pleasure Ma'am." Alan was diplomatic in his response, confused as to how he should act around the other woman.

"Ah!" All eyes flicked to Amy as she shouted triumphantly, with a flick of her hand the lights turned off, and three-dimensional holograms filled the room, acting out the final moments of the young man's life. Alan walked through the holograms, barely flinching as he passed through life like human beings. Colours flashed, music blasting from the speakers. Just like it had been a few hours earlier.

"Mute." Amy's voice rang out, silencing the music as everyone made to block their ears once more. Quiet followed as everyone watched astounded at what happened before them, following the victim as he stormed through the door, eyes frantically scanning the crowd before he seemed to spot what he was looking for. John Doe strode towards a couple furiously making out on the dancefloor. He pulled the female off the male, shoving her behind his back, and punching the man. A fist fight began, the woman trying to pull them apart, her yells and screams silenced with the music gone. Eventually, the other man allowed himself to be tugged away, spitting blood out of his mouth. He turned instead to yell at the woman, unable to speak any other way, she looked resentful, guilty as they argued. A scream passed her lips unable to do anything as her boyfriends head exploded, screams that echoed from others as they realised the horror that was happening before them.

"Amy, rewind, start this again," Alan ordered, motioning for Nikoli to come closer, together they watched as the body imploded once more. Over and over they watched the gruesome scene, looking for anything that could indicate what had caused the man to quite literally blow his top. Neither man flinched as bits of holographic brain matter rained down upon them. Easily ignoring the commotion behind them as police officers and crime scene investigators alike snapped photos and gathered new evidence that had previously been missed. Stephanie and Ryan had more questions for those who had been in attendance, able to locate who had the best view for the murder and preceding fights.

"Amy, could you pause the holograms and take us frame by frame from the start of the explosion," Alan called, yelling over everyone else in the room to be heard. They fell silent after that to allow for the FBI agents to communicate with each other.

"And is it possible to bring the sound back in, without the music?" Nikoli added, wondering if the music had drowned out an important clue, perhaps the sound of the explosion could have been confused with one of the bass notes of the song.

"It's possible, just give me a minute or two. I'll play it frame by frame then bring it back to normal speed with sound added." Amy replied, frowning as she turned back to the huge television before her. Alan watched as the scene rewinded before beginning again, slower, making him better equipped to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Nik-" He murmured, reaching forward towards the holograph as a thin red line appeared in the victim's neck, travelling so quick that it was only in one of the frames gone by the next. It took a few more minutes for the head to explode once more.

"Amy." Alan didn't have to say what he wanted, the computer genius already taking it back and freezing the entire scene on that one moment.

"Camera," Nikoli called, one of his assistants racing forward to take several still images of the discovery.

"What do you think it is?" Alan asked, Nikoli could only shrug in response, he had never seen anything like it before.

"Perhaps a chemical compound? It could react to a chemical release in the brain?" He offered his best guess,

"Metal implant, triggering a self-destruct sequence in the brain?" A lab assistant called out, Nikoli and Alan shared a glance.

"Well then, you best get hunting for a small metal object that could travel through blood veins and pack enough of a punch to explode a man's head." Dectective Ryan Spark spoke, glaring at the person who made the suggestion.

"No, it could be possible. Insert a small amount of an explosive compound into the brain, when the neural pathways fired up, they could have triggered the explosion. Granted the device would have to be microscopic, and there would be little to no physical evidence left behind, at least, not that's visible to the naked eye." Alan stopped him, almost sounding excited about the possibility.

"That would definitely make a noise, though, or at least a lot of smoke. I didn't see any evidence of a bomb." Ryan pointed out, moving closer to the two medical doctors, his tall stature offering a different vantage point that neither of the other two men had.

"I'll test the cavity for explosive residue. Detective, that television has important evidence, can you have it taken back to my lab to be analysed once we're finished here." Nikoli spoke, Darla was quick to agree, she had been unaware of the television holographic capabilities, it was rare to see it in a student's residence. The new technology could cost up to tens of thousands of dollars.

"Go again please Amy, last time." Alan requested, paying extra attention to the area he had noticed earlier. The sound was back as she played it once more. Voices raised as their victim and his girlfriend argued over what had just occurred.

"Of all the people to make out with, you pick him!? I get that you're mad, that you want me to be jealous, but I have had it up to here with you and your cheating ways. It's over, I don't ever want to see you again." John Doe shouted, trying to make his betrayal and anger obvious despite the music that ruined all hopes of a civilised conversation.

"My cheating ways!? That's rich coming from you. Mr all-star-rather-stay-home-and-'study'. I'm not that stupid, who was she, the girl you'd rather spend time with than me?!" The girlfriend retaliated, slurring her words slightly as she yelled, swaying on her feet from the amount of alcohol she had clearly consumed.

"I was studying! Unlike you I actually care about my gra-" A loud boom shook the room, all eyes on Amy wondering if she had accidentally turned the bass back on, a shake of the blonde's head was the only answer they needed.

"An explosion, explains why our killer always strikes at parties, the base would muffle this easily." Darla scowled, upset that her own people had missed it.

"No big deal Darla. My guys are just better." Ryan called, ruffling Alan's hair affectionately.

"Well done Doctor." Alan batted the detective's hand away with a tired sigh. running a hand through his hair in an attempt to sooth the shaggy brown locks back down into place.

"Yeah, good spotting Alan." Amy half grumbled, ending the hologram projection and allowing the television to be packed away, scrutinising every movement so as to be sure nothing was damaged in the transfer, protecting what had seemed to be one of their most valuable pieces of evidence. Amy started yelling furiously when she watched one of police officers roughly tear cables out from the back of the television, dismayed with his lack of care for such finely crafted and expensive technology.

"My lab, please. The FBI will be conducting their investigation from there. That's no problem right Darla?" Nikoli turned to the scowling detective, the woman clearly having no choice but to agree.

"Thank god, you are a lifesaver." Ryan breathed, resting an arm around the medical examiner's shoulders, relieved he wouldn't have to deal with a woman who clearly made him feel uncomfortable.

"I'm done. Nikoli, give me a lift?" Alan rescued his friend, Ryan laughed, holding his hands up in mock surrender, taking a few steps backwards as if he was frightened of the other man.

"Sorry. We'll be along once Steph's done." Alan knew Ryan was mocking him, there was no way the detective was even remotely afraid of him. His own 5'11 stature, while considered tall, had nothing on the other man. Alan, with his glasses, shaggy hair, and favourite white lab coat looked every bit the nerd that, if in high school, guys like Ryan would have picked on without a moment's hesitation. Nikoli, half Russian and a much bulkier man was a much less obvious target, yet had still been a target nevertheless, the man with a sensitive side like none Alan had ever encountered since their high school days. His overprotectiveness of the man he had called his best friend for over five years of his life had kicked back in so naturally that it startled both friends.

"We shall see you there." Nikoli agreed, resting a hand on Alan's shoulder and leading him away.

"Still looking out for the little guys I see." Nikoli murmured softly, as they watched their John Doe get loaded onto a medical stretcher and into the truck.

"After José, can you blame me?" Alan responded just as gently, words not meant for anyone else to overhear. Nikoli had no answers, the loss of their other friend had haunted them both since middle school. The trio had been the best of friends, they had thought nothing could tear them apart. Not the bullies that made their every moment hell, nor the teachers who separated them during classes, not even the fact that they came from three entirely separate religions, countries and walks of life. Their abnormal maturity bonded them together, and they always had said that their differences had joined them in ways their similarities never would.

They found out all too soon that there was a force that could separate them, something that would shake their unbreakable bond and break the boys to their core. Nikoli was eleven when it happened, and Alan twelve, José was mere days off his twelfth birthday, it was all he could talk about, he had permission to invite the whole school to his celebrations, a traditional Spanish fiesta. He was determined to invite everyone, even those who had opposed the small boy, those who teased and taunted him since he had arrived at campus. Both Alan and Nikoli had warned him against it, the boy was more fragile than most, but also more stubborn and headstrong. He had ignored his friend's warnings and paid for his mistake with his life.

The event had changed Nikoli and Alan beyond recognition, both boys refused to talk to anyone but each other, trusted in only each other. They had no care for their families or those they had graciously called friends. The boys became loners except for each other. Their therapist had claimed it 'normal considering the circumstances' and the boys were left alone, to grow out of it, allow time to heal all wounds. The only thing the duo found comfort in was bringing the culprits to justice, police officers and crime scene investigators all too happy to allow the boys to observe what they did, each child had a unique view and opinion of the data they were given, analysing it near perfectly time and time again, eagerly learning from the mistakes they did make. It left the investigators wondering what the world had been robbed off with the murder of the third boy.

Eventually, the two boys opened up a bit more as they grew into men, allowing others into their lives, although never trusting them as they did each other. It became harder as the years passed, Alan studying criminology, and Nikoli to become a medical examiner, the strain on their friendship was tough, but their bond prevailed in the end.

"They seem like good people Alan. I am glad you have them to care for you." Nikoli squeezed his friend's shoulder before walking around the medical van to get in the driver's side. Alan hesitated for a moment, knowing the conversation had ended on the topic, but he took the passengers seat with little thought.