Morbid

The next week passed in almost the same manner as the last one, with one exception. When Arnold asked to borrow the van, he also took along a bag with a few things in it. Dalla didn't ask what he was doing and she didn't care, because it let her stay next to her mistress. She could be there for her at night and first thing in the morning, so it was a win-win situation for everyone.

Arnold drove back home and went to the first address that he had visited the week before. Once there, he went into the back of the van and changed out of his normal clothes and put on the police uniform that he had taken from Officer Hallman's house. He added the hat, the badge, the equipment belt and radio, disconnected of course, and the police ID with his picture on it that he hung on his front pocket with the attached clip. The two handguns were next and then he put on the jacket. With his costume complete, he sat there and waited for the car's arrival.

When Arnold saw the car's lights, he didn't immediately jump out to go over. No, he was smarter than that. He waited half an hour and snuck out of the van, made his way as discretely as possible to the house in question, then knocked on the front door.

“Just a minute.” A voice said from inside and the door opened. “Oh! What can I do for you, officer?” The redheaded woman asked. She wore a conservative skirt and a thick sweater that hid her chest completely.

“It's nothing serious, ma'am.” Officer Arnold said with a hint of amusement in his voice and in a deeper tone than normal. “I'm just following up on a report of a 10-33 from this residence.”

“A 10-33?” The woman asked, completely confused.

“A security alarm was tripped recently?” Officer Arnold asked.

The woman's face went a little red. “Oh, damn. I knew I didn't enter the code quickly enough the other day.”

Officer Arnold let out a little chuckle. “Ma'am, it's perfectly fine.” He said and gave her a big smile. “I get the clean-up calls all the time. If it had been serious, there would have been a much quicker response than this.”

The woman's face went redder at the smile and the pleasant tone of his voice. “I suppose you want to come in and have a look around?” She asked and couldn't keep the hope out of her voice.

“As long as I'm not intruding.” Officer Arnold said. “I don't want to bother such a beautiful woman over something so trivial.”

The woman blushed to a deeper red. “It's no bother.” She said and stepped back. “Would you like some tea?”

“Ma'am, I would like nothing more.” Officer Arnold said and stepped by her.

“My... husband...” The woman said, almost like a curse. “...just came home and he's enjoying a drink in his study.”

“I don't think I'll need to disturb him over something like this.” Officer Arnold said. “May I see your... security panel?” He said suggestively.

“It's...” The woman gave him a longing look. “...right over here.” She said and led him through the small porch and motioned to the panel. “I tried to get to it in time and fumbled one of my packages.” She said as an explanation. “The buttons are small and are a little worn out.”

“I can see that.” Officer Arnold said as he opened the little plastic flap that covered the keypad. “Some of the numbers are almost worn off.”

The woman nodded. “The back door panel is in much better shape.”

“I'd say one of the buttons might not have registered quickly enough.” Officer Arnold pointed to the number 5 button that was very worn, then he took out a small notepad and wrote a couple of sentences. “I suggest getting it replaced as soon as possible.” He put his notebook away. “I'm quite relieved that it's only a mechanical issue and no one actually managed to come onto the premises.”

The woman sighed. “Considering the work my husband does, that is a constant worry.”

Officer Arnold gave her an inquisitive look. “What does your husband do?”

“He's the District Attorney for the city.” The woman said and she almost laughed at the officer's raised eyebrows. “I can tell you all about it while we have tea.”

Officer Arnold gave her an angelic smile. “Thank you, ma'am.”

“Please, call me Charlotte.” The woman said, her face red again.

“You can call me Charlie.” Officer Arnold said and followed the woman to the kitchen.

What followed was the best game of flirt tag that Charlotte had ever played. She was a married woman and had been for several years; but, she knew the game well, being the DA's wife and attending so many public functions. This time was different, however. For some reason, she was quite turned on by the handsome young man that sat next to her.

“Ma'am... Charlotte.” Officer Arnold said and leaned close.

Charlotte's eyes went wide and she thought he was going to kiss her. She didn't move to stop him.

“Bathroom.” Officer Arnold whispered.

Charlotte blushed and let out a soft laugh. “Second door down the hallway. The first door is the den.”

“Thank you.” Officer Arnold whispered and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Charlotte stared at his retreating figure and she couldn't believe that he really did kiss her. She was a little miffed that he hadn't used her lips when he took the liberty, though. He came back into the room a few minutes later and walked over to her.

“I think I need a tour of the house, just to make sure everything is fine.” Officer Arnold said and held a hand out to her.

Charlotte took the hand and stood up as she looked into his eyes. “Where would you like to start?”

“The bedroom.” Officer Arnold said in a deep voice.

Charlotte saw that look in his eyes and she knew that this man was going to make love to her. “My husband...”

“...is much too busy right now to bother us.” Officer Arnold said.

“He's always busy.” Charlotte said and held onto the handsome officer's hand as she led him from the kitchen and took him up the stairs. She just hoped that he could measure up to the last man that she had taken to her bed. To her delight, he kept the police hat and uniform on.

After the first couple of minutes, her expectations were completely blown away.

After half an hour, she pledged undying love to Charlie and cursed her husband and every other man that had touched her.

After another half an hour, she was deep asleep from physical exhaustion.

Officer Arnold left her in the bed and went back to the den. Inside was the dead district attorney, a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead and Officer Hallman's backup revolver in his hand with a homemade silencer attached. Officer Arnold used the man's computer, brought up the security footage of his visit, and checked to make sure that his face was never seen on any of the footage.

He brought up the video file of him having sex with the DA's wife, set it to loop and play continuously, then went back to the upstairs hallway and unholstered the normal handgun. He added a homemade silencer and stepped into the room, using the police standard crab walk, and shot the sleeping woman in the head.

Officer Arnold cleaned up anything he had touched and removed all traces of his fingerprints, then used alcohol wipes to muddle and destroy any DNA he may have left. He kept the used condom and would dispose of that later. He went back to the den and checked the little safe that wasn't even disguised. The combination had been on the computer, along with the security code for the house alarm and computer passwords for his work.

The safe had about six thousand dollars in cash, a small stack of bonds worth another ten thousand, and several jewellery items. A pair of earrings, a necklace, and a diamond ring were there in nice cases. It also had certificates of insurance and the serial numbers for the jewellery, their value, and where they were registered. Arnold took it all, since he wasn't sure what he could use.

Also, leaving anything during a robbery was just plain stupid.

Officer Arnold quickly went through the man's wallet and found another thousand dollars and three credit cards. He took the wallet and the man's personal security ID for the courthouse, just in case his Officer Hallman ID didn't work, and then he went through the house. He searched all the basic places where valuables would be stashed and pocketed them, then did the same with the woman's purse. She had a few hundred dollars and he took that and her credit cards.

His task done, Officer Arnold locked everything up as he turned off the lights in the house. He cranked up the heat to thirty-four degrees Celsius, or ninety degrees Fahrenheit, which was as high as the temperature gauge would go. He went to the back door after locking everything up, typed in the security code to set the alarm, then pulled the locked door closed.

Officer Arnold snuck off to the side of the house and into the bushes. He made his way back to the van and slipped inside, quickly changed into his normal clothes, then drove away in the other direction. He was tempted to drive over to the other address that he knew, then decided that two incidents on the same night would be too suspicious. He drove the two hours back to the college and parked in his space and went inside the dorm.

It was late, so he went up the stairs and no one else was awake. When he quietly entered his dorm room and climbed into bed, he wasn't surprised that Dalla was wide awake and waiting for him.

“Thank you.” Arnold whispered and kissed her, then made slow and passionate love to her, just like she wanted him to.

*

It took three days for someone to wonder why the district attorney hadn't been to work.

His secretary had noticed the first day and she had called several times, both him and his wife, and neither of them answered. On the second day, she went to the house herself and saw the DA's car was still in the driveway. The door was locked and she was sure that the alarm was on, too. That meant he was either sick or had sequestered himself. She went back to work and started to go through official channels to report the incident.

She was ignored until the next day when the judge of an important case didn't see the district attorney and only saw the aide. When asked, the aide let the judge know that he hadn't been seen for three days and everyone assumed that he was sick.

The judge wasn't stupid enough to accept that flimsy excuse and issued an order to have the police find the DA and to ask what was going on. “I'll give you a warrant for entry.” He said and did so. Two police officers were given the warrant and proceeded to the DA's home and parked right out front. They both got out and one went to the car and touched the hood.

“Cold.” The officer said and went to the front door with the other officer. “Police! Open up!” He said and pounded on the door.

“Try the doorbell.” The other officer said and he pushed it. Nothing happened, so he pushed it again. “Hold it in.”

The officer held it for thirty seconds and nothing happened. “Crowbar?”

“Crowbar.” The other officer said and went to the trunk of the car and took out a two foot long pry bar. There were no nearby windows to break and get in, so they had to rely on brute force. It took them almost ten minutes to pry out the deadbolt lock on the door and they pulled the door open and went inside.

“Jesus!” One of them exclaimed when they hit what felt like a solid barrier of heat and started to sweat instantly. “It's like an oven in here!” He said, then caught a whiff of something that almost choked him. “Ugh!” He covered his mouth and nose at the prevalent stink.

The house alarm went off and neither of them did anything about it. After a moment, it went off by itself, because they had called the security company and they reset it remotely for them.

“I know that smell.” The other officer said and didn't bother covering his nose. “Call it in.”

“Why do I...” The first stopped and gagged. He nodded and stepped back outside and pulled the door almost all the way closed, then clicked the button on his shoulder radio. “Dispatch, this is Officer 6432. We have a 10-54 and a possible 187. I repeat, ten-five-four and one-eight-seven.”

“Roger that.” The female voice said. “Notifying the chief and the coroner.”

“Judging by the smell, there's no real rush.” The officer said. “I suggest medical masks all around.”

“I'll pass that along.” The dispatcher said. “ETA of first responders, thirteen minutes.”

“Thanks. Officer 6432 out.”

“Dispatch out.” The female voice said and clicked off.

The door opened and the officer's partner came out. “Shit, shit, shit.” He said and pulled the door closed. “I knew I should have called in sick today.”

“I don't want to know, do I?” The other officer asked.

“No.” His partner said. “In fact, I don't want to know, either.” He sighed. “You don't happen to have a mental scrubbing brush, do you? My brain needs a good scouring.”

The other officer shook his head. “I think I'll just stay out here and guard the door.”

“Me, too.” His partner said and zipped up his jacket.

Five minutes later, the other officer couldn't contain his curiosity. “What's got you so rattled?”

“The DA's wife is upstairs.” His partner said. “It's not pretty.”

“Well, fuck.”

“Yeah.” His partner said and they stood there in silence as they waited for someone with more seniority to show up, so they could take this mess off of their hands.