Your POV
Levi and I had visited my brother for quite a while, just hanging out and not doing much of anything. He was really hurt about what happened to mom, and I honestly don't blame him, but he was holding it all together. His protective detail was keeping him safe and taking good care of him in the mean time, which made me feel a little better about him. I was just ready for this case to be over. Once it is, I am going to take the break of my life... at least until my vacation days run out.
After visiting my brother for a while, Levi and I drove out to check on Sarah Lupul's alibi. Since the first murder did happen several years ago, it would be a little harder to confirm her story, especially since Exosin was a growing company. I doubt that they held onto many records at the time, and if they did I don't think that they have them now. As we were driving over, my phone began to ring. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that it was the precinct calling, more than likely with the truth on Sarah's story.
"Hello?" I said as I answered the call. "Do you have Lupul's alibi confirmed?"
"We can't." The voice said on the other end of the line. "The company does have records showing that she worked there several years ago, however her records specifically are missing."
"So she never checked into work?" I asked. If she never checked into work, then we can prove that she was somewhere else.
"No, there were some records before the first murder of her coming to work," the officer explained, "but around that time, Exosin said that their files on Lupul were wiped out entirely."
"Wait, they're missing?" I remarked with a slightly flabbergasted tone. I was genuinely shocked. What happened to all of those records then? Who removed them?
"Yeah, they're missing entirely. Basically we can't prove if she was there or if she wasn't."
"Okay, thank you." I said as I hung up the phone, looking over at my partner. He was equally as confused as I was.
"They're missing?" He asked as he pulled into the parking lot at the police station.
"Yeah, they're gone. Someone wiped the drive at around the time the murder happened." I answered with a distracted voice. I was trying to put all of the pieces together, trying to figure out who could have removed the files. It could have been Lupul at the time. From what Levi and I gathered, she worked at a desk that was connected to the attendance files, so she could have removed herself from it. As much as I think we could use this against her, we can't prove if she was actually at work or if she was killing my father. All we had was her word, and I didn't trust a word that came out of her mouth.
We left the truck and entered into the precinct, hoping to hear back soon from the judge to get a warrant for her gun. I wouldn't be surprised if it took longer than what we were hoping for. She could be cleaning her gun right now for all we know. We still would be able to match if so, and the cleaning would make her look even guiltier... come to think of it I'm kind of hoping that she's cleaning it. It would just make it that much easier to arrest her for everything she's done. Knowing our luck, the warrant was going to take forever. I learned my lesson last time we ordered one, it took forever. Well, at least it felt like it lasted forever.
As we entered the building, a detective that was assisting us with looking into certain aspects of the case saw us enter.
"There you are! I was just about to call you guys again." He said with a bright voice, almost like he was excited to be investigating with us. He had only been working with us recently, probably a few days at the max. Captain Erwin assigned him to us to help out, mostly because he was new.
"Do you have news on the warrant?" Levi asked, skipping past any potential conversation that wasn't about the case. He was really into solving this murder, I could tell that he was ready to arrest her or seize her weapon. I couldn't blame his eagerness, I was excited too.
"Uh, yes! I do, here it is. They faxed it over to use just now." He said as he went over to his desk, opening a beige folder labeled 'IMPORTANT!', and handing us the warrant.
"That fast?" I asked curiously, rather surprised at how quickly they were able to get one for us.
"Yeah, they didn't have a lot of warrants going through when you submitted it. I was kinda shocked too." The detective commented as he sat down back at his desk. "I'm going to try and get your ballistics appointment set up early, so hopefully when you guys when you come back they'll be ready for you." He began working on his desktop as Levi and I wasted no time leaving to collect her weapon. I was almost certain that there would be an immediate match to all of the previous murders.
Not long after we left, we arrived at Lupul's residence. I felt like I was walking up to a murderer's lair, probably because I was. Levi rang the doorbell, keeping his guard up in case she became hostile while we were gone. I kept mine up as well; there was no telling what she was going to be like once we took her weapon, let alone how many she actually had registered or not.
"Who is it?" The familiar voice called from far behind the door.
"NYPD." I replied. A few seconds later, Sarah had opened the door, looking timid yet irritated.
"Let me guess, you have a warrant for my gun?" She inquired with a flat voice, clearly not impressed or wanting to deal with us at the moment.
"Yes we do." Levi told her as he presented the parchment. Sarah stood aside and let us in, her arms crossed and a frown on her face.
"I don't see why you need to look at my weapon. I have never fired it a day in my life. I just keep it because my friend gave it to me." She was rather persistent that it wasn't her, but I couldn't bring myself to trust her. If she was innocent, I would honestly be surprised and probably feel guilty about how I was thinking about her.
"We're just checking your gun to make sure that you aren't." Levi expertly replied, attempting to gain her trust. Despite his effort, it was obvious that she had lost all faith with us. She gestured us to follow her to a display case, her Zastava M76. After unlocking it, she handed the weapon to us with an expressionless face.
"Happy now? Just bring it back." She mumbled; her personality was completely different compared to our interrogation. It made me feel more suspicious of her than I already was. I nodded in response and left the house with Levi, putting the gun in the backseat on the floor.
"What do you think the results will show?" I inquired, wanting to hear his opinion.
"I can't be sure, and I'd rather not get our hopes up to be left down. Especially yours." He said with a slightly sweeter tone than his normal voice. He seemed to be referencing me; he didn't want me to think that Lupul was definitely the Grim Reaper, but I couldn't help it. I already had my heart set on putting her behind bars.
I let out a faint sigh as I returned my attention to the road, despite being in the passenger seat. We sat in silence, both of us wanting to talk but unsure of what to say. I tried to think of something that would take my mind off of the case, even if just for a little bit, however it felt impossible to do so. Since that didn't work, I tried thinking of conversations we could have, but just as before, my mind was still thinking about what was going to happen with the results.
I was almost anxious, ready yet not ready to see what ballistics would say. I wanted to convict her, I felt in my heart that she was the one who was behind all of this, but without her alibi, the weapon was the only thing to tie her back to these murders. If it did come back as not a match, we would have to start back at the very beginning.
