On the Clock by Owen Chris

Author:Owen, Chris [Owen, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Torquere Press, Inc.
Published: 2013-07-16T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Cort cut the tape that sealed the door of Dinsmore's apartment and went in. He stood in the narrow hall for a moment, listening to the quiet as he pulled on a pair of gloves, and thought about how being in a crime scene by himself was always a little creepy. That no one in Dinsmore's life was clamoring to be let in was just sad.

After a moment he went through to the living room and took a look at the stereo, still covered with dust from the techs. Turned off, its LED display showed nothing at all, not even the time, which was odd. Cort tried to turn it on, but nothing happened; he wanted to slap his forehead when he remembered the techs had unplugged it to shut it off.

Once it was plugged back in, the time started flashing and the display cycled through its settings for a minute before finally settling on CD. Cort could only assume that's where it had been when it had been used last, although it was entirely likely that it was the system default. He pushed the eject button and the tray slid out, showing only one disc in the five disc caddy. "That makes it easier," he said out loud.

Carefully, he lifted out the disc by the very edge and the center, hoping there would be prints on it. The disc didn't have a label; Dinsmore or someone else had burned it themselves. He put it back in, after making sure there were no markings on the other side, and pressed play.

"Jesus!" he yelled as the music crashed through the speakers. He turned the volume down from fifteen to six and tried to get his heartbeat under control. No wonder that had gotten Gallagher's attention. It was basic generic club music, heavy on the bass line and with no discernable melody, but the volume alone was worth noting. He let it play for a few more minutes, hoping there would be some hint why Dinsmore had put it on, or why the killer had.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered to himself after the song ended, replaced with silence. "Probably had it on repeat. But why?" He took the disc back out and slipped it into an evidence bag, neatly labeling it for the lab. He'd have them dust it for prints and pray that if there were any they'd match one of unknowns. Other than maybe placing someone at the scene at the right time, the music angle was feeling pretty useless to Cort.

Frustrated, he looked around the room and absently took a few books off the shelves, trying to get a feel for Dinsmore and why someone hated him enough to wrap a cord around his neck. He walked through to the kitchen and poked around in the cupboards, then to the bathroom, which was mostly empty, everything being at the lab. The bedroom was the same, most of the personal items cleared away in case they had any bearing.

There wasn't even a photograph left in there, if there ever had been.

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