SHORT VERSION

Case Closed

Her name was Jenny but, she much preferred being known as “The-Wolf”, it was a childhood name that grew on her. Jenny was more on the gothic side. She constantly had her earphones in, she wore a black hoodie and, unlike the swagfags she knew in the school that she went to, she really didn’t care about what people thought of her. Jenny was a lesbian and, much to her surprise, so was another friend of hers. Said friend isn’t around anymore, she moved to Manchester looking for a career in Art and Graphic Communication. Jenny was different; she was into Forensics and police work, which brings us to her current occupation.

Within the past few weeks, Jenny had been working alongside the Northumbria Police in Newcastle and parts of Sunderland. Voluntary of course, she was only 16; it counted as some sort of emotional works experience.

Lani was her name; she preferred to be called that rather than her full name, Alanah. She went by other names such as Lana and more eccentric nicknames not relevant. Jenny tended to call her Alanah for the formal approach. Lani was one of Jenny’s best friends and… she was currently missing. The police work came in handy for her, she had connections but… nothing could prepare her for the events to come.

 

It was the first Saturday of August, Jenny had been finished school for around 2 weeks now and had nothing better to do than head to the Northumbria Police HQ. It wasn’t her day in but, she was allowed to do extra work more experience equals a better report in at the end of the year. That’s what she was told anyway.
The only regret she has about joining the NPD was that she couldn’t move to Manchester with her best friend; the only contact she had with her now was the occasional phone call and constant texting during Jenny’s shift and her lectures.
“Miss. Wayne, we have a new one.” Jenny’s superior handed her the file with the details, she only did the slightly lower down cases rather than mass-murders and homicides. When Jenny saw the file… Her heart sank… She knew the person.
“Oh my god… We only have another 62 hours. You know the facts, 72 hours for a missing or kidnapped person before they’ll most likely be dead.” Jenny stood up.
“Excuse me.” She stepped out of the conference room and ran to the bathroom, with the file in hand.
“Oh god no… Not Alanah…” Repeated in her mind. She looked up to one of the mirrors, noticing her eyes turning bloodshot from the sudden news. She sat down in the corner of the rom and cautiously reopened the file. The first things she saw was the females photo, then the name ‘Alanah Holmes’ to the immediate right of it.

Name: Alanah Holmes
Original name: Alanah Philips
Age: 16
Nationality: English
Last seen: The person of interest was last seen with her boyfriend; Matthew Holmes. Before being seen with the male, she was with the in practice detective, Jenny Wayne.

 

Jenny had to close the file, the tears were streaming down her boiling cheeks. She knew that Matthew wasn’t good for Alanah but, she couldn’t pin her hopes on him being the perpetrator. A suspect more like.

Matthew Holmes. Just turned 17, Australian and boyfriend of Alanah’s for just under 2 years now.
“Hey Jenny…” Alex slowly walked in. Alex was another female doing the same as her, she was also a friend of Jenny’s but only a work friend; they lived too far away from each other to meet outside of the work space.

“I’m not sure how to do this case… I don’t know if I’ll be able to…” Jenny slid the file over to her feet, burying her head into her knees. Alex was stunned; she’d never heard her say those words before. She picked the file up and quickly flicked through it.

“It seems pretty simple. Person of interest was last seen with boyfriend, there’s no blood, no victim, no other person inv�"“ Alex has seen the line involving Jenny.

“Oh… You know her… And you’re involved… Does this mean you may be a suspect?” Alex knelt down next to Jenny, placing her hand on her shoulder.

“Quite possibly… You see that person? She’s one of my best friends…” Jenny quickly hugged Alex, feeling slightly weak.

“This could be a lot simpler than you think… We just need to go and interview the boyfriend. He may know where she is. After all, it was her father that reported her missing. She may have just not been answering her phone to him and not have been home at the time that he visited.” Alex shyly wrapped her arms around Jenny’s waist, a bit taken back from her actions.

“Or she really could be missing. This is Alanah… She can look after herself, she’s my best friend, and she’s had to put up with me in a drunken state. That’s not pretty.” Jenny giggled lightly at the thought and buried her head into Alex’s shoulder.

“Do you remember what you told me when I was in this state?” Alex whispered into Jenny’s ear, planting a soft kiss onto her forehead.

“What I told you?” Jenny questioned.
“’Never forget what you did to get here’ You finished school, got a job and are now doing one of the hardest emotional cases that you think your mind can take. In reality, you’ve done a lot worse. You can do this one just as fast as you did that first case. Do you remember? The one with the little girl and her protective best friend?” Alex leaned back, regaining eye contact with Jenny.

“How could I forget…? That was the first case that me and you were both on the frontline. You got inj�"“

“You got injured, I got scratched.” Alex stood up, pulling Jenny with her.

“You have a job to do ‘Detective’” Alex winked, dragging Jenny out of the room. Jenny had always had a bit of a thing for Alex; it was only recently that Alex had embraced it. Alex was straight; Jenny was a bit of an exception for her, with her being a best friend and all.

 

“I’m in school, I can’t talk right now. I have to get my final piece done before the end of this week. No, I’m okay. Stop worrying, everything is going fine. Alright, you should get going, you most likely have a case to solve if you’re in work right now. Alright, alright, you too, I love you too.” Demi ended the call, sighing. Her phone started ringing again, it read ‘Jenny’.

“Oh my god… Again?” She answered the phone, shaking her head.

“Do you really love me?” Jenny asked.

“I... I have to go! I have a class in a few minutes. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” 

“I�"Alright... Remember, no pass means no date.” Jenny giggled, hanging up.

 

“Miss. Wayne...?” Jenny’s superior looked worried, she wasn’t the person to just walk off without giving a reason beforehand.

“Yes sir?” Jenny turned around, standing straight.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just a bit taken back... You know.” Jenny put on a fake smile, most can’t tell the difference.

“Well, don’t dally! Like you said; 62 hours!” He walked off, keeping his masculine posture for respectful eyes.

“We should probably get going…” Alex mumbled, biting her bottom lip.

 

The first place she and Alex had to go was to the boyfriend’s house, which Jenny knew all too well. 

“Matt…” Jenny whispered to herself, she was driving, Alex was in the passenger seat with the usual equipment.

“I know he’s done something… I just know it!” Jenny could feel herself growing angry, reaching a rage point. 

“Calm down. If he has done something, both you and I have had the psychological training to be able to determine as much.” Alex leaned back against the car seat, knowing exactly what Jenny was thinking. 

“Stop tensing, I know for a fact that you aren’t scared of him, there’s only one person you’re scared of and he’s thousands of miles away from here.”  Alex kept her sights on the road ahead, she knew there was no way of calming Jenny down if she found out even a little of the truth. Jenny took a deep breath and parked the car around the street corner. 

“What are you doing? The address given is just along there!” Alex questioned, confused. 

“We’re walking there, hide your weapon and keep an informal posture.” Jenny explained, stepping out of the car. 

“Nothing at all, I just don’t want to alert the neighbourhood.” Jenny began walking, slowly for her partner to catch up.

 

They eventually reached Matt’s house. It wasn’t big nor small but it wasn’t the best looking place on that street.

“Here we are…” Jenny mumbled, standing a few steps away from the house. She stopped there, just watching the house for anything out of the ordinary. Soon enough, somebody did approach the door, a shady character, no more than 5”7 in height. They could vaguely hear the convocation between the man and the suspect. 

“Are you buying today, brov?” The man asked.

“Not today. I have some business to do and some clearing up to take care of.” Matt explained. Jenny could feel her blood boiling. She kept herself hidden with Alex, listening. 

“Can you hear it?” Alex whispered. 

“Yes. I’m not sure what they mean though.”

Jenny and Alex waited until the man left; it was too much of a risk to go in while he was there. Once left, they took effect, walking over to the door and knocking loudly. 

“I told you I don’t want to buy anything!” Matt shouted before opening the door, and in shock, he gasped rather loudly. 

“JennyBear! What are yo�"“ He was interrupted by a cold glare fired from Jenny. 

“It’s Jenny to you.” 

“What are you doing here? If you’re after Alanah, she isn’t here; I haven’t seen her in a few days.” He backed himself up, creating the ground works for an alibi.

“It’s not as simple as that.” Alex said, noticing the distinct smell of rotting flesh. “May we come in?” Alex continued, staring directly at him.

“Do I have a choice?” He questioned, being as cocky as ever. 

“Actually, no, no you don’t. Because you see, I’m not leaving without fully examining this place and if that means getting a full force of 100 officers here, I’ll do it. It’s the law.” Jenny contained her anger enough to give a decent discreet demand. 

“Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?”

“Oh? Do you have something to hide?” Jenny stepped inside, showing her seriousness.

“Right this way…” Matt moved aside, allowing both officers through. 

The smell of decomposed flesh had set the scene for a crime, not just suspicious behaviour. It was unusual but, almost too much of a coincidence to be real. 

“So, first questions are simple. When did you last see Alanah?” Alex asked; sitting down on the sofa, Jenny remained standing, as she always did.

“Hasn’t this been taken care of?” Matt responded. 

“Yes but, hearing it from you in person shouldn’t be too difficult for you if it’s already been said once before.” Jenny added.

“I see. The last time I saw Alanah was the night before, she was worked up over some family thing that she wouldn’t tell me.” 

“And? Did she leave? Was her behaviour different or unusual?” Alex stared at the male, analysing his posture and facial expressions.

“No. I went to sleep before her so I could wake up early and catch the shop before all the students get there.” Matt stood up and gazed over to Jenny.

“Tea?” He offered.

“Water will do.” Jenny had a job to do, tea would cause numerous distractions. 

Just then, the shady man from before walked in, interrupting the mild interrogation.

“Hey boss, what did you do with--!” He was silenced by a cold glare from his ‘boss’, otherwise known as Matt. 

“With what? Have you been running a business without telling your partner?” Jenny shot the question at him, feeling a lot more confident now. 

“Hm… It’s nothing really. Just something for more money.” Matt defended himself, standing still.

“Oh but I think it is. You see, a random man walking in directing such a question to you is suspicious enough but, said man is calling you boss. That would make even the most dim person suspect that this job is more than some quest for a little more money, but something that is now too deep to stop without causing harm. We also have to take in that this is a missing person case. So Matthew, what is this ‘job’ that you run?” Jenny kept her ground, remaining strong postured and still.

“It’s just a cleaning business.” He said, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“Just a cleaning job? You must think of me as dumb headed. Haven’t you taken in the smell? That isn’t the smell of every day meat from an animal rotting, nor is it mould from fruit or vegetables. Tell me, are you hiding something, Matthew?” Jenny’s almost emotionless expression turned to a faint grin.

“I… I’m not hiding anything! I do not wish of you to stay here any longer!” Matt demanded, pointing to the door. 

“I’ve waited so long to say this to you… Matthew, I’m arresting you on suspicion of kidnap and possible murder. You do not have to say anything but anything you do say will be held against you in court.” Jenny took out her handcuffs from the belt equipped and walked behind Matt, pulling his hands behind his back.

 

 

“Alanah…!” Jenny had made her way into Alanah’s house. It had been 2 weeks since the ordeal and, out of concern; she had spent every night since sleeping over. 

Jenny had taken a short leaf of absence to take care of her and tend to her injuries, which made things easier for her mental health. 

“Are you home already?” Alanah shouted, making her way out of the kitchen with two cups of Yorkshire tea.

“I have a riddle for you.” Jenny took off her police jacket and hat and placed them down on the top of her sofa. 

“Ooo! What’s it this time?” Alanah asked, placing both cups down on the table and sitting down. 

“Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?” Jenny looked deadly serious, resisting the urge to laugh. 

“No. I give up.” Alanah looked down to her cup then back to Jenny. “Do you know?”

“I haven’t the slightest.” She giggled to herself and sat down, smiling widely.