SWNOVELS Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Karla steadied her swirling thoughts and stepped out of her car with long, determined
strides.
Upon entering the police station, she caught sight of Captain waving her over. “Karla, about. that photo?” he said. “I heard from the evidence guys. Bring it over, let everyone have a look.” All eyes turned curiously toward Karla, but she remained silent. Instead, with a serious expression, she handed the received license plate information to Una, who was responsible for checking the information. “Una, can you do me a solid and look up who owns this car?”
Una, mid–sip of her soy latte, set it down quickly and asked, “What’s up with the car?”
Karla’s face darkened as she noticed everyone’s gaze fixed on her. She then proceeded to tell them about the incident earlier in the morning when she was almost attacked. However, she chose not to mention the car accident or encountering Rowan.
Once the team learned she’d been followed that moming and the assailant likely had a gun, Captain Lampman took immediate notice. After all, this was no trifling matter. As a police officer, there were indeed risks of being targeted by criminals, and they couldn’t afford to
overlook it.
Captain Lampman asked, “Karla, any hunches?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Five years on the force, never crossed anyone, let alone gun–toting gangs. No leads yet, just got to dive into the investigation.”
“Alright, got it. Keep your eyes peeled these next few days, try not to go it alone. We’re a team. here. Surely we can find someone to watch your back. Tell you what, I’ll have Henry stick with you. Puts my mind at ease. Captain Lampman cast a glance at Henry, whose face had turned grim upon hearing of Karla’s ordeal..
Caught off–guard by his name being called, Henry quickly agreed, “Sure thing.”
“That’s fine by me,” Karla said with no objections.
Henry sidled up to her, puffing out his chest, “Karla, you can count on me. I’ll keep you safe.”
She glanced at him and said, “You can’t even take me in a fight, and you’re boasting?”
Henry’s grin faltered as he scrambled for an excuse, “I was being a gentleman. You’re a lady. I couldn’t possibly go all out. Besides, I… His words trailed off, unable to voice the ‘I like you‘ that hung in the air.
“And besides what?” Karla arched an eyebrow, watching him cough awkwardly before muttering, “Never mind.”
Karla didn’t pay any more attention to his inner thoughts. As Captain Lampman and the others had already shifted their focus to the attack on her, Karla then mentioned the loss of the photo. Karla told a little white lle, saying that the photo wasn’t properly secured and flew
out of the car window accidentally while she was driving, and she didn’t know where it went.
Captain Lampman, currently unconcerned with such details, dismissed the issue and decided to put her fully in charge of the case, with Henry and Una providing backup.
On one hand, the case only required identifying the deceased and waiting for the family to claim the body, so the workload was not significant. This arrangement also helped prevent her from wandering around and potentially putting herself in danger.
Little did Captain Lampman know, this case would require Karla to do more than just run around. It would even take her back in time to investigate.
And Karla was waiting for exactly that. She had a bunch of confusion that she needed to clear up.
Henry approached her, “Karla, did you get a look at that picture? Does it prove the victim’s identity?”
Upon hearing his words, Karla paused for a moment. She had almost forgotten that, but then again, was that skeleton really Rowan?
Unable to confirm, she didn’t answer. Instead, she pulled up a chair next to Una and asked for help in looking up someone named Johnson.
Henry stood behind her, his curiosity piqued. “Who’s this Johnson?”
“An actor, the guy in the picture,” Karla replied absently, fixed on the screen.
“Johnson?” Henry stroked his chin, mulling it over before shaking his head. “Never heard of
him.”
Karla had hoped the police station’s resources would uncover some leads, but even after Una’s thorough search, she came up empty.
Tapping her fingers lightly on the desk, Karla bit her lip in thought, then scribbled another name on a piece of paper. Una glanced at it. “Rowan? Who’s this now?”
“I’m trying to figure that out myself. Just look him up, will ya?” Karla urged, with a sense of urgency in her voice. Una didn’t waste any time and started searching for this Rowan.
A flood of information popped up, but after filtering through the irrelevant data, Karla found nothing pertinent about this Rowan character.