As a cop, I seen many forms of death; the violent ones, the messy ones, the missing limbs ones, and sometimes the unknown form of death. I would had them signed off on the report and continued on with my works. Not this time. This time I found the death disturbing. Some killer removed five old persons of their last years in the home they all shared. The five bodies were found all laid in rows and well dressed in their Sunday's best. The killer or killers even laid bouquet of flowers at their feet for them.
I was on the way to the Precinct when the 187 ( Homicide ) call came in. That was my up my alley of need to handle list, so I banged on the siren and drove here. It was a two level wooden home in the suburbs just outside the boundary of Brighton; an older folks retreat I was told by the Uniformed Officer who was at the scene earlier. I did not get the full detail so I walked into the house and was greeted by the sight in the living area.
"Decent way to go, huh?" Frank was there to supervise the uniformed. "No wounds or bruises. Probably poison. I am waiting for Dan to confer."
I was checking the bodies when Dan walked in with his overcoat and doctor's bag. He once told me, everyone give way to the man who carries a doctor's bag, even though it may just contain medical samples or bottles of scotchs. Its was the way you carried it, my dear sir; he told me.
"Make way for the coroner." Dan spoke up as he muscled past the officers there and then he paused to looked at the victims.
"Did someone moved them or what?" He assumed that all dead forms should be in a more prescribed forms but never in this lineup unless they are at his Morgue.
"No, Dan. They were pristine. This was how we found them." I replied to the Coroner. Dan did not reply and went on his work. It was another half an hour, when got his initial prognosis.
"They were dead for over six hours; making it at about three am this morning, and they do looked serene in their passing. I won't ruled our suicide, but then again it could be murder; in the form of assisted suicide kind. Then again could be the Grim Reaper just decided to take five victims in one grab. Lazy b*****d at his works now. Doing it the mass grab."
Dan then looked at me and smiled before adding on.
"I could do with a better diagnosis in my Morgue. So haste up and move them out." Dan being reading too many westerns novels lately. He found a pile in one of his neighbors garage sales, and was immersed into those yellowed pages for days now. As for myself, I was past those genre as now in my real life, I was the sheriff of the town. The so called mass suicide rumor drove the networks to the scene and then the probe began. As the Investigating Officer, I was obliged to make a statement. And mine was "No comments at this moment. We are investigating."
Just as the networks was on the roll, the pervs started calling in with confessions and fictitious witnessing of the crime. I knew it was all a fake as the scene was only discovered by the morning nurse who came reported for duty. The only disturbing evidence I had was the night nurse was drugged in her drink; a strong dose of some sedatives. She slept like a dead person; pardon the pun for over eight hours from midnight. The Medical Examiner confirmed her cup of coffee was laced with benzodiazepine. Heck, Jenny took valium for years now since her removal of the cancer from her breast; the doctor removed both and caused her to get all depressed. I got more depressed when she stopped me from grabbing at her there. There on came the valium addiction and she told me, "do ye worst, I am dead by then." I never did since then but she still took those tablets.
But there was one caller who caught my attention. It was an old man of seventy five years of age. He claimed he was left out of the group because he had to be admitted in the Medical High for a mild stroke. I met him there to know more.
"We all agreed to go together as a group. There was Martha, Jane, Jake," The old man paused to think and then continued. "Peter, Jenny and .... Miranda."
"And myself, but I was hospitalized that morning. The nurse told me I had some signs of a stroke and sent me over. I did not want to come over but they still did. I told Peter.....or was it Jake. Wait for me. I would be back."
"But I saw the news. They went on ahead without me. That's your best of friends for you." The old man went grumpy after that. I left him to his mumblings and walked over to the Duty Nurse. I checked his personal particulars.
Martin Nelson, aged 78, occupation Chemist, and infirmed for possible strokes. He was also diagnosed with Parkinson Disease and recently cancer of the blood.
I asked the nurse to confirmed his age; as he told the Precinct he was 75. He called earlier by borrowing another patient's portable.
"The man getting senile. He really wants to die but he have not been yet. This was probably his third admission here for some possible near death causes but somehow he would pulled through." Nurse Glading was very helpful and too cooperative. She had been Duty Nurse her for over ten years and seen all the cases including that of Martin Nelson. She added in an interesting line.
"I won't be surprised that Nelson fears dying alone. All those previous times he was here, he asked me if there was anyone dying like him. When I told him no, he would fight hard to recover back. He once told me, I ain't going up there alone. I needed friends with me."
I left Medical High and stopped at Di Angelo Dog Pound; we called his Hot Dog stand as we found ourselves like the strays always gets dragged there for the meals and then let off to run at the neighborhood. It was Frank's dry joke that morning and somehow the name got stuck on the place. I sat there and ordered my usual; all meat and no green with coffee dark as the night and bitter like life. Dan plodded down next to me on the seat. He ordered his usual; all rare minced meat mashed between the slice of bun.
"The five were murdered. I found arsenic trioxide in their blood stream. That was an experimental drug was used to treat leukemia, but it could cause heart palpitations or shortness of breath. The five had excessive levels in them. They could had taken it in the oral form or injected. I can't confirmed as these people have enough daily injections from insulin to pain killers."
I asked Dan for the personal particulars of the victim. I excused myself and walked to my car. I called the Precinct for Miranda Daly address. Then I told the Precinct, I needed a Code 2 ( no siren ) and 11-22 ( meet there ) at the address. The address given was only ten minute away.
It was a single level wooden house with a wooden porch and nice well trimmed garden. Miranda Daly was standing there with the hose watering the flowers when I reached there. The patrol car had also arrived and stopped opposite to her house. I had stopped in front of her house and now stepping out to see her.
"Hello, Officer." She greeted me while watering the flowers. She was a tall woman and build like an amazon warrior. She had changed from her nurse uniform to a pokka dot dress with an apron on her front. "I missed you at the home, as they had taken me to the Medical High for a check up."
"Miranda, I knew what happened." I slowly walked up to her. "We could talk in your house."
"No, that won't be necessary. I am just going to complete my watering and then go get my bag there." Miranda pointed to the bag by the porch. "We can talk in your office."
I would had agreed but the years of being a cop told me otherwise. Most times, it never ended as planned. Miranda had discarded the water hose without turning it off. She walked to the porch. I knew then it was a needed action.
I rushed at her with the intent to tackle her down but the lady was faster. She side stepped and gave me the chop on my neck with her right hand. I should had read her file carefully; she was an exponent of the arts. She reckon if she can't get a man to wrestle with her, she might as well learned how to wrestle them instead.
I fell on the garden lawn while she had retrieved the bag. She pulled out the revolver from inside it and pointed it at me. It was then uniformed officers accompanying me drew their guns but held their fire.
"Officer, we all agreed that it was better this way. I knew them all and seen them suffered daily. It was worse at the nights when they could not sleep. They begged me to do it. I did not know how. I bought this, but it won't be nice to do it." Miranda had the gun now pointed to the uniformed officers. "All of you shoot me, and there would be blood all over this porch."
"The same if I did for them, so it was Martin who told me an alternative. They were all cancer patients; they needed drugs, new drugs. Experimental drugs. I got it for them. Who wouldn't want to have volunteers?"
"Martin planned it all. He gave me the drug to sleep too. So I won't be blamed. I was the victim too. He never knew. I am the victim too. I have the pains too. And its eating at me."
"But I can't do it to myself." Miranda point her gun at me again. "God helped me, please."
I shouted out but she pulled the trigger. The shot was never meant for me. Its trajectory changed at the last moment. She shot at the lawn in the garden but the uniformed did not know that. They shot her at twenty feet on her chest. She went down with two fatal shots.
Death was not instant but it came fast. She felt the pain but she was used to it. It was the relief she never felt before.
Two hours later, I was filing in my report. It was a short one. We all die at the end. It just how we die. Martin died that night from heart failure but I knew he died knowing he was no more alone.
Jenny 'died' too in her dreams when she took the valium. She would never feel the sensation when I used to cuddle her breasts. All she felt was the death feeling.
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