Tag: app

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | FINAL

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with the LAST INSTALMENT of “The Murder App” – Chapter 10!

Detective Steven Evans laughed aloud. A cruel, cold sounding laugh as Ella pushed against the restraints. Now that the blur from her head had cleared, she realised that she was tied to a metal chair, in the middle of a basement room. The Murder App killer that she and Steve had been chasing the last few weeks, the one that had killed several woman – including someone she had known in university – was standing in front of her. Her partner was a killer.

‘Steve, what are you doing? Let me go and let’s talk about taking you in.’

Steve laughed again, this time stopping suddenly and returning his face to a deadpan expression. ‘You know that’s not how this ends.’

‘Why then? Why do this Steve?’ She manoeuvred her hands and felt the restraints loosen a little. Obviously, Steve had tied them in a hurry.

‘Because, you found my blood at Jessica’s crime scene.’

Recognition must have crossed her face, because Steve nodded and leaned in closer. ‘There really was only two options for me. Run, or kill you – the only other person in that house who noticed, or mentioned the blood splatter.’

‘Someone else will find it, it’s still over Steve.’ She felt the restraints shift again, and she wriggled discretely until one of her hands was free.

‘Ah, but I’ve already taken care of it when you left. As you said, you could smell the bleach in the house, so one more touch didn’t do any difference.’

‘So now, you’re going to kill me?’ she asked, releasing her second hand and keeping them in place. She wanted to take Steve by surprise.

>>>Get a copy of my ebook KIDNAPPED Entanglement >>>here

Before he could reply, Ella lunged forward and the gun Steve had been holding slammed to the floor. They rolled and fought for control, but Steve was stronger. He pinned her down and she reached up towards him, landing an open handed hit to his cheek. As he recoiled and pulled back his hand for a response, Ella spotted the gun just within reach.

Without thinking, she reached for it just as the impact of his fist landed on her face. The pain sliced through her, but she ignored it as she raised the gun and fired into Steve’s side. Once, twice, three times. The man jolted and fell off of her, and she gritted her teeth as she raised up onto her knees. Blood trickled from his mouth as he tried to crawl away from her. She didn’t let up, shooting him again – this time in his chest twice.

The man who had been her partner fell to the ground – his eyes open just like Jessica’s. Rage and fear was his last expression. The one that her partner, who was supposed to be catching the killers, would have forever. She dropped the gun and looked around the sparse room. Steve had left her phone on a metal table at the other end of the room, and Ella crawled towards it. Still in pain, she dialled for backup and sat alone in the room while they traced the phone.

Steve lay across from her, dead. She’d killed her partner. She’d gotten justice for those women, but she’d had to kill a man to get it. If only he’d turned himself in when the blood had been found – or chosen to run. But he hadn’t. He’d forced her to take things into her own hands.

When backup finally arrived, she’d answered several questions, and had gotten the all clear from the paramedics. Ella let an officer driver her home. The blur of thanks, and walking to her front door melted away at the sight of Ted in the doorway. When he noticed her, the bag of rubbish in his hand dropped and he sprinted into her arms. Picking her up, Ella didn’t complain as he carried her into the house, and onto the couch. Making sure she was okay, he moved into the other room and left her alone.

She would tell him everything that had happened, of course. She would go over all the details, and release the pain in tears, but right now, she was silent. The events of the night washed over her as Samson cautiously approached, licking her hand that hung over the side. She smiled and patted his head as tears started to fall. Sounds of Ted making food in the other room started, with scents of her favourite soup filling the house.

It was over. She had found the Murder App killer, lost her partner, and experienced the trauma of abduction and killing all in one night. Now, it was time to be with her family. Her dog; her husband; her home. She would have time to process it all later. The Murder App case was closed, and she could finally put it to rest.

I hope you enjoyed the final instalment of the Murder App!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | NINE

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with The Murder App – Chapter 9!

The coffee shop wasn’t too crowded, but not empty either. A few couples were hunched over and quietly talking with each other at a few tables around her. Ella could hear the communication of her team in the inner ear device, but didn’t dare respond. If anyone overheard her talking to herself, she might scare away the potential killer.

What were the odds that the first person she met up with was really the Murder App killer? It would probably be a false alarm, and she’d have to do this over and over again a few times before they really stumbled upon him. Hopefully before he killed another innocent woman. In any case, she waited with a cup of coffee already ordered, and half drunk. He was late.

This guy was either a flake – and not the guy they were after – or he was making her wait. Why would he do that? A test to see if she would react a certain way when he finally showed up? Did he take one look at her and decide she was too much of a challenge?

She needed this one to be the one. The sooner he was off the street – or internet as it were – the better. As she was contemplating calling it quits, a car slammed into another right outside. Both driver’s got out and started yelling to each other, but before she or her team could react, a sound behind her startled her. Before she could turn around, Ella felt a sharp pain slam into the back of her head. The edges of her vision started to darken and blur. The outline of a figure came into her view, but before she could focus on who it was, the world went black.

>>>Get a copy of my ebook KIDNAPPED Entanglement >>>here

Ella felt her head throb before she opened her eyes. Slowly the memory of the car accident, the coffee shop, and the hit on her head came back to her. She flew her eyes open and groaned at the pain. The room was dimly lit, but the blow to her had been hard, and she was feeling the pain.

‘Ah, you’re awake.’ The voice was somewhat familiar, but Ella was still too blurry to recognise it. The shadow of a man slipped into her view from the side, back lit by the strange lighting. The room she was in started to come into focus, and Ella took in what she could. A basement. She was pretty sure this was some kind of basement room, with a swinging light above her, and standing light in the corner. The one in the corner was the only light on in the room.

The man moved towards her slowly, twirling what looked like her gun in his hand. ‘You know, I didn’t want things to end up this way Detective.’ He knew who she was. The whole encounter had probably been a trap. Ella wished she could recall the voice, but things were still fuzzy. She wasn’t even sure words would form yet if she tried.

‘You know, the women in this town are far too picky,’ the man continued, moving closer. ‘They never seem to want the good guys. They never want the ones who will genuinely care about them. A Tom Hanks to their Meg Ryan. They’d rather have a Captain Sparrow.’ The man stopped walking and Ella felt the final fuzz in her head clear as he cautiously stepped into view. The twisted smile on his face was not what she’d grown accustomed to seeing on her partners face.

‘Steve?’

I hope you enjoyed this instalment of the Murder App.
Come back next time for the LAST chapter!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | EIGHT

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with The Murder App – Chapter 8!

Ella walked through the open door of another house. Another crime scene, another body, another life robbed of potential. As she moved into the kitchen, the struggle for this killing was evident. Jessica Town had put up a fight.

‘I see you made it,’ Steve said as he stood upright from his crouching position beside the body. They hadn’t cleared it away yet, and Jessica lay with the classic red tie around her neck. Bruising was already forming, and her face was forever halted in a position of rage and fear. She had fought to come out on top, but ultimately the man who killed her was stronger.

‘Yes. What do we have? Leave any evidence this time?’

Steve shrugged with a small shake of his head, ‘Nope. This guy is still leaving no forensic evidence behind. And we checked the dating app for Jessica Town, but he’s already removed any and all communications and profiles for himself. Again.’

Ella dropped down to look closer at the woman. The woman who thought she was just meeting up with someone for a date. Someone who could have potentially been the one for her. The one that would complete her – if that was even possible. She struggled to find her breath, but a small splash of red caught her attention just underneath the sink cupboard doors.

‘What’s that?’ she asked quietly. Most of the other officers had already moved out of the room to inspect other aspects of the property and log their finds. Behind her, Steve had heard her question and joined her. ‘What’s what?’

‘It looks like…’ she pushed her face closer to the spoltch, then nodded as she decided it was what she thought. ‘It’s blood.’

‘Probably the victims I suppose,’ Steve said with a sigh as he stood.

Ella shook her head, ‘I don’t think so. She has markings under her fingers from a fight with the killer, but the hands look clean. Almost as if someone bleached them right before he left, plus I could smell it halfway down the block.’ She stood and pulled out her phone. ‘He drenched the place.’ As she was dialling, Steven put a hand over hers and smiled with sad eyes.

‘Ella, go home. I’ll call this in.’ He shrugged and motioned to the woman on the ground between them. ‘I know how hard you’re taking this one, so let me handle it from here and get some rest.’ She was about to argue when he held up a hand. ‘I promise, if you want to you can go back to the office, or go home, or do whatever you want. I will keep you fully updated, and make sure you’re in the loop if anything urgent comes up.’

Reluctantly, Ella thanked her partner and left. Driving to the office, she wasn’t quite ready to go home yet. Ted had been amazing to arrange everything, but the murder had put a damper on her mood. She may as well try to get some work done while she could. Pulling up her dating profile on the office computer, Ella checked her messages. Most were from obvious hook up attempts, a few genuine seeming contacts, but the final one caught her attention.

A new profile, looked like he hadn’t been on the site for very long. His answers made him look perfect, his pictures made him look perfect, but something was off. Something about the look in his eye looked staged. Something about the answers felt forced. Ella clicked onto the message again and read through it carefully.

He’d seen her profile and thought they’d hit it off. He wanted to meet for coffee, as he preferred face to face contact over silly online dating. Would she meet him tonight?

Carefully considering the options, Ella finally sent him a message and agreed. As she was emailing her boss, she got a response. He would be there in an hour, and was excited to meet her. Ella sent the email and let a few officers around her know about the meet up, and that she was going home to get ready. Now she just had to tell Ted.

>>>Get a copy of my ebook KIDNAPPED Entanglement >>>here

As she walked into their house, Samson slammed into her in an excited greeting. Ted was hanging back until the dog had been given enough attention, then kissed her and smiled. ‘Nice to see you home again so soon. I thought with another body you’d be holed up in the office for the night.’

She hesitated, but decided ultimately she needed to just blurt out the truth as soon as possible. Noting her pause, Ted raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. ‘What is it?’

‘I’m going on a date tonight.’

He raised both brows at the statement and she smiled softly. ‘It’s not a real date. It’s a sting for the Murder App killer. I think this is the guy. I think we can end it all tonight.’

‘You’re meeting up with a serial killer for a coffee date? That seems safe,’ Ted said, moving away from her. His back facing her, Ella felt a familiar guilt settle over her. Ted would never outright ask her not to put herself in danger – he respected her and her job too much – but she knew he was concerned. Any rational husband would be.

‘I know. But the team has been notified, and they’ll be running surveillance. It’s all perfectly safe.’

‘I suppose Steve will be in the surveillance van outside too,’ Ted said with a soft chuckle.

‘Actually, he’s seeing some evidence to the forensic lab, so he might be a little late. But we have a good team besides my partner, Ted.’

With a small shrug, Ted leant over and kissed her again. This time, it was lingering and mixed with emotions. The one he gave her when he was truly worried if he’d see his wife again. She exhaled deeply and moved towards the bedroom. ‘I have to get changed.’ Turning, she waited until her husband was looking into her eyes before she added, ‘I promise I’ll be safe.’

I hope you enjoyed this instalment of the Murder App.
Come back next time for another chapter!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

Murder App | SIX

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with The Murder App – Chapter 6! 

Ella tapped her sleek black boot on the floor of her and Steve’s office. As she stared at the unmoving screen before her, she vaguely heard the door open and close. A coffee mug clinked down beside her, but her eyes remained on the screen.

“You’re welcome,” Steve said with mild irritation. Ella would have apologised for being rude. She would have apologised for not looking up. She would even have apologised for not speaking for the past two hours. But this was more important.

When they’d returned to the station, they had coordinated with Cyber and done a full search of the man who had sent her the message. His name was Devon Smith. It sounded fake, but there was a large digital footprint that went back decades.

He was thirty-three, and had several social media pages, each with many “friends” and obvious connections. But there was still something about him, and the message he had left her, which felt off.

“Any movement?” Steve asked from his own desk across from hers. Their shared office was somewhat reminiscent of the one in Scrubs, when Elliot and JD had to share a tiny closet as an office as Co-Cheif Residents. The comparison brought a small smile to Ella’s mouth, and she quickly flicked a look up at Steve.

“Not yet. What about the research on Devon Smith?” Before the answer, Ella’s eyes were back on her screen. As Steve went over the lack of new information, she continued studying the mans profile. She had sent a reply email, encouraging the interaction, but he hadn’t replied yet. So, it had been up to Ella to check out his dating profile.

>>>Get a copy of my ebook KIDNAPPED Entanglement >>>here

“Ella?” Steve’s prompt sounded like the third or fourth time, and she looked up. Having clearly missed a question, Steve’s cup was halfway to his lips and he was shaking his head, brows furrowed. “Did you hear me?”
She shook her head and rolled her shoulders, finally peeling her eyes away from her computer. “Sorry, no. I think I’ve been looking at this profile for too long. Do we have anything else interesting to follow up on?”

Steve sighed and put the mug down, leaning forward. “Are you doing okay on this case? I know it started out personal, and I just-“
“Steve, you don’t have to finish the sentence.” Ella cut him off and stood up, stretching out her stiff muscles. She looked down at her watch and caught the time of 6.00pm, frowning.

She grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and quickly logged out of her work account. “Because it’s personal, is why I’ll be more thorough than any other Detective. You know that,” she smiled as she pushed her arms into the sleeves, picking up her phone. “I have to go. Date night with Ted.” She made her way to the door, then paused as she remembered the coffee cup that Steve had just brought in for her.

Almost reading her mind, Steve shook his head and chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll drink a cup for each of us. Enjoy your date night, and I’ll call if there’s anything new.” She smiled at her partner and kept her hand on her mobile phone in the jacket pocket. “Okay, thanks.”

As she signed out, and left the building, Ella went over what they knew in her mind already. They were almost due for another victim in a day or so if the killer kept to his normal schedule. She had hoped they’d already hooked him, but it was feeling less likely. The last thing she wanted, was to get a call about another body.

They felt so close, but so far.

As Ella opened her car door in the police parking lot, she got a tingling sensation roll through her body. Somebody was watching her. She could feel it. Quickly pulling her attention up and over the window of the car, she tried to scan the area around her. It was deserted.

Shaking off the feeling, Ella got into her car and put it in gear. Maybe she had just imagined it. Maybe the case was getting to her.
Maybe she’d take a different, more complicated route to get home tonight anyway. Just in case.

I hope you enjoyed chapter 6 of The Murder App.
Come back next month for the next part of the story!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | FIVE

murder app 5

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with The Murder App – Chapter 5! 

Ella let the sounds of the store around her fade as she stood, watching the attendant go through her account.

She had been there a few months ago.

She thought she remembered the man she sold it to.

It was an unusual purchase, and he had a charming quality about him.

Ella needed this to be the guy. This case was already weighing heavily on her – physically and emotionally.

The ties that their killer was using had definitely come from the stock numbers in this store. They had confirmed it. Ella had a strong feeling of disgust that such a purchase could have gone through unchecked. That nobody thought it odd to have a man buying a bulk order of 50 red ties. But she understood the sales clerk’s position. She had believed his story about being a private designer wanting additional stock.

It wasn’t her fault. Not really. Still, the pain behind the consequences ate at Ella’s heart like a flesh eating virus.

“I can sit down with a sketch artist if you want,” the sales clerk’s voice brought Ella back into the present. She was lightly dusting her hand against Steve’s, while he quickly scribbled her comments. The swift strokes of his pen – mimicking the vein that now pounded in the side of his neck – made the words unintelligible.

Ella rolled her eyes as he casually glanced up, leaning his elbow on the counter and returning her gaze. “Well, thanks for your time. We’ll be sure to send someone by.”

Trying not to gag, Ella cleared her throat instead at his emphasis on the word ‘someone’.

It was typical of Steven to flirt with a cute witness. Ella had always considered it more than a little unprofessional, but Steven had a way about him. It negated the traditional creepy of a guy that hit on everyone, and replaced it with an impish charm.

They hadn’t got anything particularly helpful about the man who had made the purchase. They’d still get the sketch done, then compare it to suspects they got during the investigation. For today though, it was unhelpful. They had to start again. To go back to the dating app, and hope their honey trap caught a fly.

Ella needed something now. She had to get this guy.

Peeling herself away from the flirting fest, she opened her phone and pulled up the Love Connection app.

Over the last two days, she’d received several winks and messages from potential suspects. But one by one, Cyber had dug into their personal information and weeded them out. No red flags. 

>>>Grab the eBook version of my book – “KIDNAPPED Entanglement” HERE

Another message bobbed up and down with a notification, waiting for her. Ella pulled it up and scanned the man’s profile.

He was cute, in an off beat kind of way. He had short blonde hair, and wore narrow glasses without subtle black frames. They suited his face well, and gave him a disarming appearance.

Opening his message, Ella caught her breath as she read over the words.

“I hope you don’t consider me presumptuous, but you are beautiful. Would you consider meeting at the Bright Sun shopping centre in South Melbourne on Monday?”

She was currently standing in the Myer department store of the Bright Sun centre. She quickly looked up and subtly scanned the crowd around her. Surely he wasn’t here – watching her already. Keeping tabs on the women he reached out to.

Right? It had to be a coincidence.

She looked back at the message and noted that it had come through in the past half hour. She moved quickly back to Steve and the shop attendant, politely pulling him away.

“Hey, watcha do that for? We were vibing, you know.”

She ignored the comment and thrust the phone at him instead. “I just got this message on Love Connection.”

Steve was struggling to keep up with her brisk pace as she headed back to the parking lot where they’d parked their unmarked car. They had to get back to the office and dig into this guy more thoroughly. Even if it was just a gut feeling, Ella wanted to go through this guys life with a fine tooth comb.

“Okay,” Steven said, handing back the phone. “But this could be just a coincidence.”

Ella gave a half-hearted nod. “It could. But I don’t believe in coincidences. Especially not on a murder case.”

I hope you enjoyed chapter 5 of The Murder App.
Come back next month for the next part of the story! 

See You in The Adventures!
Christy Grace

 

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | FOUR

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with The Murder App – Chapter four! 

Ella Strong stared at the scrolling men as she flicked through her options. This dating app was like all the others. The only difference was that a killer stalked this one for his victims. Or her victims. That had been a consideration early on; that women could murder women. They’d quickly moved past it with the discovery of the ties at the crime scenes.

Her profile donned an actual image of herself, but the rest was fictional. They’d looked at the other profiles, and tried to include things that the killer would want in his next victim. Her likes and dislikes contained things like hiking in the outdoors – something she hated – and adventure sports, but also things like baking and dancing in her living room. That last one, she had to admit, was something she liked to do on occasion.

The keys jingled in the door, and Ted called out for her. She told him she was in her home office, and a few moments later, he popped his head through the door.

“Hey, hon. How was your day?” He moved the rest of his body into the doorway.

Ella sighed. “It was okay. How was yours?”

Ted frowned and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “My day was okay. It didn’t sound like yours was.”

She rolled her eyes and went back to her screen. “It’s just this murder case. It’s taking a toll.”

He moved into the room behind her and kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arms around her and leaning his chin on her shoulder.

“Oh, come on, I can’t be so annoying that you’re looking for another husband already.” The false whine made her giggle and she shrugged, bouncing his chin off balance as she did.

“I’m just checking my options, in case.”

 Ted scoffed and stood straighter. She turned and smiled wide as he put his hand over his heart like he had been struck by an arrow. “Ugh! That got me, right here.”

She chuckled then shook her head. “I’ve set up a catfish profile for my killer. We’re hoping he’ll take the bait and we can catch him when he goes after me, instead of another innocent woman.”

Ted dropped his hand, and his smile and frowned. “Is that safe?” The humour was gone from his tone, but his voice was still soft and caring. One of the things she loved about him.

“As safe as any other sting I go on. We’ve got things in place to make sure of it. We need to catch this guy, and this could be the best way.”

Ted stood for a moment, staring at her, then finally nodded slowly. “You know what you’re doing.” He moved over to her and kissed her gently, then pulled back and smiled. “I trust you. Want some dinner?” he asked over his shoulder as he left the office.

“Love some,” she said, the smile still on her face. As he moved out to say hello to Samson and start on dinner. He was a better cook than she was anyway.

>>>Get all the info about my Book/Writing with my NEWSLETTER

 She turned back to the screen, just as her phone buzzed with her partner, Steve Evan’s number.

“Strong,” she answered.

“Hey Ella, we got a hit on those ties.”

Her eyes shot up. “Really?”

“Yeah. You were right about bulk orders. There were only a few in recent months leading up to the first killing. Two were from clothing houses, and another was a personal buyer. We’re heading to the store where he purchased the order tomorrow. We can question the staff and get a clue as to who it was.”

“Maybe they’ll still have security footage,” Ella said as she processed the information.

Steve scoffed, “From months ago? I doubt it. At the least, we as for a description.”

She nodded and was about to request a lift to the store when a notification on her dating profile dinged through the computer.

“Hang on Steve, that’s my profile notifications.”

Steve was silent on the other end, waiting as she clicked onto the icon and sifted through to the right section of the program.

Clicking onto the notification carefully, Ella sucked in a breath.

“What?” Steve asked.

“Someone just sent me a wink.”

“Is it him?”

She rolled her eyes. There would be at least a few normal people to sift through before they found the killer, but this would be a start. “Maybe. I guess I’ll have to wink back.”

Come back next month for chapter five, in The Murder App! 

See You in The Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | THREE

“Detective Strong, nice to meet you.” The detective from cyber crimes shook Ella’s hand with a sweaty pump. She smiled through the grimace and subtly wiped her hand down her pants when he’d turned to her partner Steve.
“You too, Detective Smith,” she replied as they sat across the conference room table. Now that the Murder App case was getting more traction, her boss had wanted to shift it completely over to cyber crimes. Ella had successfully petitioned the case to remain with homicide, so long as they worked with cyber. The rumblings had confirmed they guys over there hadn’t been too happy with that decision. She had to tread carefully.

“Well, we’re still sifting through the dating app the killer used. We’re also broadening the net and checking on other ones, just in case he decides to shake things up.” Smith pulled a thick file from his briefcase, spreading out the contents on the table.
“We’ve already confirmed that the profiles used to hook in the first three victims have been deleted. Hopefully, if we can use trends and a few good catfish profiles, we can hook him ourselves. Before another girl gets hurt.”
The sentence felt like a dig, but Ella wasn’t sure if she was reading into it too much. She felt wiped after the last day, and the fitful sleep she’d managed to get at home, hadn’t done much to suppress the exhaustion.

“Thanks, Paul, we appreciate the work, and the data,” Steve said with a taught smile. Smith nodded then started rambling through the particulars of the cyber evidence they’d rounded up so far. Ella let her mind wander. She wanted to consider the puzzle. The clues that the killer left behind at every scene.

There was always a tie. Red. The women lived alone, and he seemed to bring it himself. Why would a killer do that? Bring a particular tie, a particular colour.

There had to be a reason. They’d done tests and found that the first three ties were the same. The same brand, colour die – even the same batch of ties. Which meant the killer not only brought them to the scenes himself, he bought them in bulk.

When Detective Smith had left them alone with all the data, Ella turned to Steve. “I think we need to do a search for sales of the brand of ties found at the scene.”
Steve frowned. “We did that already. They sell too many of those ties to get a good-“
“No. I mean bulk orders.” She stood and started pacing the room. “If these are all the same brand, same batch, they could have been bought in bulk, at the same time. Right?”
Steven shrugged. “I guess. Plus, a guy buying four or five ties that are exactly the same could seem unusual.”

She nodded and looked down at the information on that dating app. “I have another idea too.”
Steve looked up the page that he had been reading. “What?”
Ella drew in a deep breath and leaned her hand on the table, the other on her hip. “I think I should be one of those catfish profiles. I want to make a profile and draw the killer in.”

I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter of The Murder App. I’ll be posting another chapter next month. So if you want to know what happens next, check back again in October! 

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | ONE

the murder app serial blogging series cgsp crime murder writer author

Chapter 1

Ella Strong stood from her crouch beside the victim’s body. The smell was getting stronger, but she stopped breathing with her nose and turned towards the medical examiner. “It looks like the others,” she said.

Sandra Ellis – The Medical Examiner – gave a short nod. Deep crease lines etched in her forehead. “Yes. Same as the other women. All strangled with a red tie, which was brought with the killer.”

Ella sighed, scanning the living room for the victim’s phone. She was hoping the same evidence that was on the other victims’ phone, wouldn’t be there. If it was the same as the others, she had failed another woman.
“Do we have an ID from her purse yet?” Ella asked aloud. Her partner, Steve Evans, was still searching through the victims’ handbag. He looked up from her wallet and nodded. “Yup. Her name is Lisa Renner, 27 years old.” Steve stood with the wallet in hand, joining Ella and Sandra. “Have we found the phone yet?”

Ella began to shake her head when her eyes glimpsed the floor beside the couch. A black phone casing lay just underneath it. She sighed, tucking her notepad into her pants pocket, and heading towards it. The gloves on her hands were necessary, but they made a squelching noise when she moved her hands and fingers.

She leaned down and picked up the phone, pushing the home button. The display lit up and as the screen sprung to life, a picture of a smiling Lisa at Disneyland appeared. The phone was locked, but her latest notifications weren’t hidden. Ella scrolled past the social media notices until she reached the one that she was hoping not to find.
“Mark up Lisa Renner as another victim of the Murder App,” Ella said softly. Steve appeared at her side and looked at the phone over her shoulder and sighed.
Lisa had a notification that her latest ‘love connection’ was on his way.

The ‘Murder App’ name wasn’t from the police. Somehow, the information about the app had been leaked, and the media had dreamed up that little classification; Murder App Killings. The victims had joined on the app and were all awaiting their ‘Prince Charming’ when they were killed. The accounts of the suitors were deleted without a trace within an hour of the deaths.
“Is it too macabre to say, ‘at least we have new leads’?” Steve asked. Ella frowned and shook her head, turning away from him and ignoring the comment. She knew he was right, but the death of another woman wasn’t a good thing – no matter what leads they now had. She was going to catch this guy and make sure he was put away where he belonged. “Let CSI know they can do their final sweep. We need to check out Lisa’s ‘Love Connection’ profile to see if her Prince Charming has deleted his account like the others.”

Ella drove back to the station in silence. She was grateful that the call to Lisa’s house had been late. It meant she could drive by herself, instead of sharing the ride with Steve. Her partner was a great guy, but this case was personal for her. She needed time to think.
The first victim had been her roommate from uni. They hadn’t seen each other in 17 years, and it was too late to reconnect now. Four victims in with this lunatic, and still no solid leads as to who he was.

As she pulled into a parking space out front of the station, she closed her eyes and pulled in a deep, lingering breath. A pounding on the hood of her car flicked them open again, and she frowned at Steve. He grinned at her like a 12-year-old. She shook her head and tried to hide a small smile as she opened the door and followed him inside.

Night shift meant the building wasn’t as lively, but the officers on night shift were still buzzing around with work. The atmosphere always seemed darker on the night shift, and Ella didn’t like to stick around too long. Her husband Ted was probably putting the leftovers in the fridge by now. He used to her late-night working, but she felt guilty when she had to rush away. Ted had been amazing when she’d announced her switch from paralegal to cop ten years ago. She’d gotten through training and reached detective, but the job was already taking its toll on her empathetic heart.

After briefing their boss, Ella and Steve returned to the large office that they shared, and went over the facts again.
“We need to get this guy,” Ella said once they were done recapping. She was already feeling the weight of the latest murder as she read over the preliminary information.
Steve exhaled and gave his classic impish grin. “I know we do.”

 

I hope you enjoyed the first Chapter of my newest ongoing CGSP series – The Murder App. I’m letting this story take me where it takes me each month – just like how HCC started.
Keep checking back every month for another part to the story!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace