"You wanted to see me?" Chris asked as he entered the darkened office of Oren Travis.
"Chris someone put a file on my desk and I have been debating how to handle this for the last few days." Oren said as he showed his back to Chris, stared out the window and sipped on his whiskey.
A glass was already in front of Chris as he fingered the file lightly with two fingers. He had no desire for the drink in front of him. He was intrigued by the file.
"What is so different with this one as to the others we've had?" he asked as he opened the file in the dim light.
"Read it and if you think you can solve it, take it. If not it stays here and will be buried in the dead files where it belongs" Oren said as he looked into the dregs at the bottom of his glass.
"I'm sure we can handle it. We have had tough cases before."
"Not like this...Never like this" he said.
"You are full of cliches this evening aren't you" Chris said full of the confidence that came with solving the needles in haystacks they had done before.
"We all fall at one time or another, just watch it as you go down," Orin said as he rubbed at his eyes.
Chris hit the side of the desk with the file and proceeded to his office.
He turned on the desk lamp, poured a cup of coffee and settled behind the desk. He looked at the file more closely. He saw names that were more familiar and began to realize exactly why Oren was hesitant to show him what was written in black and white. He pushed away from the desk and wiped his hand over his mouth. He sighed and stared at the picture that had slipped out from between the neatly typed pieces of paper.
He did a double take at the old Polaroid that was on the desk. He sighed and started pressing buttons on his phone.
He turned off the light and looked at the sun setting from the window. He waited for the footsteps. He was just about to nod off when he felt a change in the air. He turned around and smiled grimly.
"What is it you wanted me to see?"
"How do we handle this?" he asked as he handed over the picture.
To be continued