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Description
I wake up to another day in the city. The mist is heavy as I look out the window and all I want to do is stay at home and read a book. I started reading a new one a few days ago. It was called ‘Insert book title here’ and I’m really hooked. It is about a girl detective who gets kidnapped on the field. I got it for my birthday and I don’t know the ending yet but I can’t wait to finish it and get on to the second book!

I think part of the reason why I like this book so much is because I, like the main character, Lucy Williams, I am a female detective. I work on homicides, kidnappings and cold cases all around Las Angeles, though I mainly supervise cold cases and work on the front line with the other two.
As a forensic scientist, psychologist and lead detective, I pretty much have to be interested in the subject. This has been my dream job since I was 13, when I first started watching crime shows on television. I love watching shows like that. It makes me see how lucky I am to have such an important job.

I get out bed, deciding to stop ‘insert word here’ and go to work. I toss off the covers and jump up. Smiling, I grab by suit and put in on. I love the way it looks on me; it’s black and gives so much contrast to my pale skin and blond hair. I look so professional with my long sleave jacket, tie and black leggings.

Walking over to the bathroom, I grab out my hair brush. As I start brushing out all the curls, I change my mind and put the brush down. I start to walk out but stop in the doorway. I sigh, walk back over to the sink and put my hair up in a high bun.
I grab my lipstick and apply a small coat of it. Next comes the foundation; I don’t put too much on. I think it distracts me from my work if I put too much makeup on. I don’t have any pimples or scars so there really is no reason to.

Looking over to the clock, I see that it is only 6:45am. “Now, let’s organise the new case files” I say to myself as I walk over to my desk. I have a very small apartment. It is in a complex called ‘Angel’s Apartments; cheap and affordable’. I always have to laugh at the way it says ‘cheap and affordable’ because it is basically like saying the same thing twice.

My case files always seem to be getting smaller. That isn’t a good thing. Every time we get a case file that is small, it means we don’t have much evidence. Yet. I take out twelve magazine holders; one for each person in the team that I supervise and work in. I look at each case file, highlight the parts that each person needs to take care of, place them in the correct folder, and photocopy one file for myself if there isn’t enough.

On the team, there are ten people apart from me. We have two other forensic psychologists apart from me; Maddison Hall and Samuel Grace, two field officers; Jake Willis and Harrold Fisher and six forensic scientists; Ron Motte, Carl Nelson and Isabel Lark just kind of help out wherever it is needed, Holly Scott does the autopsies, Samuel Grace is Holly’s assistant as well as his other job and me, who analyses DNA and other things like that.

We also have a series of experts on the team. There is George Copper; the blood expert, Milo Grey; who has a major in law and order and me. I major in forensic psychology. I love out team. Everyone helps each other out and supports each other.

We are all friends outside of work too. I even grew up with a few of them. I look over to my fridge, smiling, where photos of me, Holly, Carl and Maddison as kids still hang with magnets. I loved it, back in middle school.

Holly always used to brag about how she would one day become lead investigator. Carl? Don’t even get me started on him. He used to buy books on the basics of crime and the police force and all kind of things like that. At least he didn’t go around all day asking us questions we didn’t know the answers to all day. Oh, wait a sec. That’s all he ever did!

Maddison, however, never wanted to work for the police department. She always just wanted to be a psychologist. I think if it were up to her, she’d be in some office getting money from talking to people about their problems right now. I have to laugh.

I was always the humble one though; I never actually expected to take both Holly and Maddison’s dreams and combine them in my own future career. I still hate the thought that I was actually offered the role as lead detective when I had literally stepped aside to let Holly have the job. She was so upset when they told her that I had got the job because I was a silent achiever. I felt really bad for her, so every time I go on holidays or take leave, I always let her take over as acting lead detective.

The alarm on my phone goes off. I jump up, knocking half the files onto the floor. “UUURRRGH!!” I sit back down as the alarm continues to ring. I rest my head on my hand and say “Sometimes I WISH Holly had got the job. Save me all the hassle. Sighing, I decide to pack up the files once more. Half way through the messy pile, I realise my alarm is still ringing.

“Shoot!” I exclaim as I realise it’s only 7am. “I really hope that didn’t wake anyone up” I clench my teeth as I switch it off. No one yells at me and I’m surprised I’m not in trouble by the man in the next apartment to my left. Whenever someone makes a loud noise, he yells his guts out when they stop.
I groggily dawdle back over to my desk. Sighing, I sit down and sort the files once again. Once each file is back in its correct folder, I stack the folders into my satchel, place them by the door and head into the kitchen for breakfast. It’s now 7:30. Reaching into the fridge, I see some eggs. “Scrambled or poached?” I ask myself. “Poached.”

Once the eggs are cooked, I find myself standing over the kitchen bench eating them. I sigh once more and say to myself, “I really need to get to work” and with that, I shove my empty plate in the dishwasher, grab my satchel and water bottle, put my headphones in and slam the door behind me. Grinning, I play my favourite song and march down the hall to the elevator.

As I reach the elevator doors, I bow my head in defeat and spin on my heal. “Back the apartment” I say. I wipe my eyes as I walk and say “Every single day…” I’d forgotten my key card for the elevator. Again. I go back in and grab the card. “Gotcha!” I say, the song still pounding in my ears.
I walk back down the hallway, which is abnormally empty. I push the button on the elevator and the door open. Inside though, is a familiar face. “Hey Bum-face!” he exclaims as I walk into the elevator with him. “Hi Carl” I reply, laughing, “Hey, why are you off to work so early? You never go this early.”

He raises one eyebrow at me, “So there isn’t a body found in some nursing home’s backyard pool?” he asks. “How do you know about that, Carl?” Shrugging he says “Holly. She told me. Jane Doe right?” I nod, “No apparent C.O.D. yet either. I guess that’s up to Holly and Sam to find.” That stops the conversation and a few seconds later, we arrive on the ground floor. “Want the new case file?” I ask. “Sure. See ya soon.”

Handing him the file, we part ways. “Carl,” I say “I don’t want to see you at work before 9. Okay?” he nods and we walk to our separate car parks. I walk up the stairs. I hate this. There are two levels of car parks and not a single elevator stops at it on the way down. You have to go to the lobby to get up to the second floor. It’s completely useless. Sighing, I click the unlock button on my car. The lights flash and I instantly know where my car is. It is a black Kia. I love my car. I had it upgraded a bit a few years ago. Black leather seats, chrome plating; it really is quite stylish. The boys love it, of course.

I open the door and hop into the driver’s seat. The leather is so comforting. I shove the keys in, pull my headphones out of my phone and use the car’s Bluetooth to fill the small space with my favourite song. I step on the gas. It is a truly beautiful car.
Once I get to the office, I look at the clock. It’s 7:50. Wow that’s early. Walking over to my desk, I see that Isabel is here. “Izzy,” I sigh “Where is my forensics kit? Can’t you ever just leave it on my desk when I ask you to?”

“Izzy?” I call her, angrily. Walking into her office, I see her looking down at some pictures. “Izzy?” I say softly this time. Getting closer, I see that she is crying. “Izzy. What’s wrong?” She sobs and says, “The Jane Doe? From the new case?” I nod “Yeah, what about her?” I’m confused as she replies “Well, she isn’t a Jane Doe anymore. Amy Gaud. We went to high school together”
‘Izzy,” I whisper soothingly “We’ll catch whoever did this, okay?” She nods. “You go home. Take the day off. If there’s anything you want to tell me, just call. You have my number” With that, she gets up and leaves.

“Where is my stupid forensic kit?!” I struggle to contain my anger. And after a whole hour of searching, I finally find it. It was hidden in the autopsy room. Under Holly’s Lab coat of course. “Bum-face? You here?” exclaims Carl as he walks into my office. I lay my head on my hand. “Carl, it’s Jaqueline. If you HAVE to call me something else, please call me Jaqui. Got it?” I say harshly.

“Someone’s had a bad morning” I hear Ron’s voice as he comes into the office “Tell me about it” I reply, “First, I sorted all the case files then had to start again because I knocked them all over, then I left my key card in the room,” I sigh, “then Izzy took my forensic kit again and left because she knows our Jane Doe, and I just spent an hour of my life trying to find the damn thing!” My voice rises to a wail and drop my head on the desk, breathing deeply.

“Come on guys, just leave her be,” says Maddison. She obviously walked in after Ron. “she’s had a rough morning. We’ve all had those” she continues as she walks over to me and rubs my back. I shrug her off and say, “Here’s the new case files. Someone print out a page with her ID. It’s someone named Amy Gaud. I dunno anything else. Call Izzy. Her number is on that notepad just there” I point to the notepad and hear Carl say “K. I’ll go do that now. Be back soon guys”

I sit at my desk for the next ten minutes until I hear a new voice. One I’ve never heard before. “Uh… Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to know where um…” I look up and he is fumbling around with a newspaper, “Um… Oh! There it is! Sorry, but um, would happen to know where a…” he stares down at the newspaper, “a um… Jaqueline Vennis is? Please… Sorry… Um… Yeah… I’ll um, I’ll go ask someone else…” he mumbles, blushing. “Jaqueline Vennis? That’s me” I say politely.

He looks really embarrassed and says “Oh um… Sorry Miss Vennis” I roll my eyes. “Take a seat. Also, please call me Jaqui” He nods enthusiastically. “So, with this murder… Am I a suspect?” he asks and raise my eyebrows and say “You are now,” I say “Mr…?” He looks a bit taken aback as he says “Mr Thomas Fae”

“Ok Mr Fae, why did you come in here asking if you were a suspect in the murder of Amy Gaud?” I ask, still confused, “Oh so you have a name now! One step closer to cracking it I guess?!” This guy is weird. I nod “Uh, yeah… But, you still didn’t answer my question. Shall I repeat it?” I ask, my forensic psychologist instinct kicking in. He’s definitely hiding something.

He shakes his head and says “I own the nursing home where… who was it, you say? Amy Gaud?” I nod as he continues “Yeah, Amy Gaud. I own the nursing home where she was found. Well, her body anyway. Her soul is most likely is heaven. With God now” Something is definitely up with guy. I’m getting uncomfortable. “One moment, please” I say as I grab my phone and call Harrold and Jake. “Hey um, can you guys come in. Like as in, right now. I believe we have a valuable witness on our hands” They both agree to come and I tell Mr Fae to stay where he is while I go wait for them.

“Yeah, this guy. He is definitely hiding something” I say to the two field officers once they arrive. “If he made you uncomfortable Jaqui, then there sure is something he is hiding. I haven’t heard you use the code in years. I still remembered it though” says Harrold. ‘One out hands’ is the code we use when we feel genuinely uncomfortable but we don’t want others to know.

The last time I used the code was when I was at a shopping centre and some guy in all black started following me. It turned out he was the murder we had all be searching for. It was really creepy, finding out that a serial killer was following me at a shopping centre so he could rape and kill me like he did to seven other girls my age. A shiver runs down my spine as I think about it.

Description
I wake up to another day in the city. The mist is heavy as I look out the window and all I want to do is stay at home and read a book. I started reading a new one a few days ago. It was called ‘Insert book title here’ and I’m really hooked. It is about a girl detective who gets kidnapped on the field. I got it for my birthday and I don’t know the ending yet but I can’t wait to finish it and get on to the second book!

I think part of the reason why I like this book so much is because I, like the main character, Lucy Williams, I am a female detective. I work on homicides, kidnappings and cold cases all around Las Angeles, though I mainly supervise cold cases and work on the front line with the other two.
As a forensic scientist, psychologist and lead detective, I pretty much have to be interested in the subject. This has been my dream job since I was 13, when I first started watching crime shows on television. I love watching shows like that. It makes me see how lucky I am to have such an important job.

I get out bed, deciding to stop ‘insert word here’ and go to work. I toss off the covers and jump up. Smiling, I grab by suit and put in on. I love the way it looks on me; it’s black and gives so much contrast to my pale skin and blond hair. I look so professional with my long sleave jacket, tie and black leggings.

Walking over to the bathroom, I grab out my hair brush. As I start brushing out all the curls, I change my mind and put the brush down. I start to walk out but stop in the doorway. I sigh, walk back over to the sink and put my hair up in a high bun.
I grab my lipstick and apply a small coat of it. Next comes the foundation; I don’t put too much on. I think it distracts me from my work if I put too much makeup on. I don’t have any pimples or scars so there really is no reason to.

Looking over to the clock, I see that it is only 6:45am. “Now, let’s organise the new case files” I say to myself as I walk over to my desk. I have a very small apartment. It is in a complex called ‘Angel’s Apartments; cheap and affordable’. I always have to laugh at the way it says ‘cheap and affordable’ because it is basically like saying the same thing twice.

My case files always seem to be getting smaller. That isn’t a good thing. Every time we get a case file that is small, it means we don’t have much evidence. Yet. I take out twelve magazine holders; one for each person in the team that I supervise and work in. I look at each case file, highlight the parts that each person needs to take care of, place them in the correct folder, and photocopy one file for myself if there isn’t enough.

On the team, there are ten people apart from me. We have two other forensic psychologists apart from me; Maddison Hall and Samuel Grace, two field officers; Jake Willis and Harrold Fisher and six forensic scientists; Ron Motte, Carl Nelson and Isabel Lark just kind of help out wherever it is needed, Holly Scott does the autopsies, Samuel Grace is Holly’s assistant as well as his other job and me, who analyses DNA and other things like that.

We also have a series of experts on the team. There is George Copper; the blood expert, Milo Grey; who has a major in law and order and me. I major in forensic psychology. I love out team. Everyone helps each other out and supports each other.

We are all friends outside of work too. I even grew up with a few of them. I look over to my fridge, smiling, where photos of me, Holly, Carl and Maddison as kids still hang with magnets. I loved it, back in middle school.

Holly always used to brag about how she would one day become lead investigator. Carl? Don’t even get me started on him. He used to buy books on the basics of crime and the police force and all kind of things like that. At least he didn’t go around all day asking us questions we didn’t know the answers to all day. Oh, wait a sec. That’s all he ever did!

Maddison, however, never wanted to work for the police department. She always just wanted to be a psychologist. I think if it were up to her, she’d be in some office getting money from talking to people about their problems right now. I have to laugh.

I was always the humble one though; I never actually expected to take both Holly and Maddison’s dreams and combine them in my own future career. I still hate the thought that I was actually offered the role as lead detective when I had literally stepped aside to let Holly have the job. She was so upset when they told her that I had got the job because I was a silent achiever. I felt really bad for her, so every time I go on holidays or take leave, I always let her take over as acting lead detective.

The alarm on my phone goes off. I jump up, knocking half the files onto the floor. “UUURRRGH!!” I sit back down as the alarm continues to ring. I rest my head on my hand and say “Sometimes I WISH Holly had got the job. Save me all the hassle. Sighing, I decide to pack up the files once more. Half way through the messy pile, I realise my alarm is still ringing.

“Shoot!” I exclaim as I realise it’s only 7am. “I really hope that didn’t wake anyone up” I clench my teeth as I switch it off. No one yells at me and I’m surprised I’m not in trouble by the man in the next apartment to my left. Whenever someone makes a loud noise, he yells his guts out when they stop.
I groggily dawdle back over to my desk. Sighing, I sit down and sort the files once again. Once each file is back in its correct folder, I stack the folders into my satchel, place them by the door and head into the kitchen for breakfast. It’s now 7:30. Reaching into the fridge, I see some eggs. “Scrambled or poached?” I ask myself. “Poached.”

Once the eggs are cooked, I find myself standing over the kitchen bench eating them. I sigh once more and say to myself, “I really need to get to work” and with that, I shove my empty plate in the dishwasher, grab my satchel and water bottle, put my headphones in and slam the door behind me. Grinning, I play my favourite song and march down the hall to the elevator.

As I reach the elevator doors, I bow my head in defeat and spin on my heal. “Back the apartment” I say. I wipe my eyes as I walk and say “Every single day…” I’d forgotten my key card for the elevator. Again. I go back in and grab the card. “Gotcha!” I say, the song still pounding in my ears.
I walk back down the hallway, which is abnormally empty. I push the button on the elevator and the door open. Inside though, is a familiar face. “Hey Bum-face!” he exclaims as I walk into the elevator with him. “Hi Carl” I reply, laughing, “Hey, why are you off to work so early? You never go this early.”

He raises one eyebrow at me, “So there isn’t a body found in some nursing home’s backyard pool?” he asks. “How do you know about that, Carl?” Shrugging he says “Holly. She told me. Jane Doe right?” I nod, “No apparent C.O.D. yet either. I guess that’s up to Holly and Sam to find.” That stops the conversation and a few seconds later, we arrive on the ground floor. “Want the new case file?” I ask. “Sure. See ya soon.”

Handing him the file, we part ways. “Carl,” I say “I don’t want to see you at work before 9. Okay?” he nods and we walk to our separate car parks. I walk up the stairs. I hate this. There are two levels of car parks and not a single elevator stops at it on the way down. You have to go to the lobby to get up to the second floor. It’s completely useless. Sighing, I click the unlock button on my car. The lights flash and I instantly know where my car is. It is a black Kia. I love my car. I had it upgraded a bit a few years ago. Black leather seats, chrome plating; it really is quite stylish. The boys love it, of course.

I open the door and hop into the driver’s seat. The leather is so comforting. I shove the keys in, pull my headphones out of my phone and use the car’s Bluetooth to fill the small space with my favourite song. I step on the gas. It is a truly beautiful car.
Once I get to the office, I look at the clock. It’s 7:50. Wow that’s early. Walking over to my desk, I see that Isabel is here. “Izzy,” I sigh “Where is my forensics kit? Can’t you ever just leave it on my desk when I ask you to?”

“Izzy?” I call her, angrily. Walking into her office, I see her looking down at some pictures. “Izzy?” I say softly this time. Getting closer, I see that she is crying. “Izzy. What’s wrong?” She sobs and says, “The Jane Doe? From the new case?” I nod “Yeah, what about her?” I’m confused as she replies “Well, she isn’t a Jane Doe anymore. Amy Gaud. We went to high school together”
‘Izzy,” I whisper soothingly “We’ll catch whoever did this, okay?” She nods. “You go home. Take the day off. If there’s anything you want to tell me, just call. You have my number” With that, she gets up and leaves.

“Where is my stupid forensic kit?!” I struggle to contain my anger. And after a whole hour of searching, I finally find it. It was hidden in the autopsy room. Under Holly’s Lab coat of course. “Bum-face? You here?” exclaims Carl as he walks into my office. I lay my head on my hand. “Carl, it’s Jaqueline. If you HAVE to call me something else, please call me Jaqui. Got it?” I say harshly.

“Someone’s had a bad morning” I hear Ron’s voice as he comes into the office “Tell me about it” I reply, “First, I sorted all the case files then had to start again because I knocked them all over, then I left my key card in the room,” I sigh, “then Izzy took my forensic kit again and left because she knows our Jane Doe, and I just spent an hour of my life trying to find the damn thing!” My voice rises to a wail and drop my head on the desk, breathing deeply.

“Come on guys, just leave her be,” says Maddison. She obviously walked in after Ron. “she’s had a rough morning. We’ve all had those” she continues as she walks over to me and rubs my back. I shrug her off and say, “Here’s the new case files. Someone print out a page with her ID. It’s someone named Amy Gaud. I dunno anything else. Call Izzy. Her number is on that notepad just there” I point to the notepad and hear Carl say “K. I’ll go do that now. Be back soon guys”

I sit at my desk for the next ten minutes until I hear a new voice. One I’ve never heard before. “Uh… Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to know where um…” I look up and he is fumbling around with a newspaper, “Um… Oh! There it is! Sorry, but um, would happen to know where a…” he stares down at the newspaper, “a um… Jaqueline Vennis is? Please… Sorry… Um… Yeah… I’ll um, I’ll go ask someone else…” he mumbles, blushing. “Jaqueline Vennis? That’s me” I say politely.

He looks really embarrassed and says “Oh um… Sorry Miss Vennis” I roll my eyes. “Take a seat. Also, please call me Jaqui” He nods enthusiastically. “So, with this murder… Am I a suspect?” he asks and raise my eyebrows and say “You are now,” I say “Mr…?” He looks a bit taken aback as he says “Mr Thomas Fae”

“Ok Mr Fae, why did you come in here asking if you were a suspect in the murder of Amy Gaud?” I ask, still confused, “Oh so you have a name now! One step closer to cracking it I guess?!” This guy is weird. I nod “Uh, yeah… But, you still didn’t answer my question. Shall I repeat it?” I ask, my forensic psychologist instinct kicking in. He’s definitely hiding something.

He shakes his head and says “I own the nursing home where… who was it, you say? Amy Gaud?” I nod as he continues “Yeah, Amy Gaud. I own the nursing home where she was found. Well, her body anyway. Her soul is most likely is heaven. With God now” Something is definitely up with guy. I’m getting uncomfortable. “One moment, please” I say as I grab my phone and call Harrold and Jake. “Hey um, can you guys come in. Like as in, right now. I believe we have a valuable witness on our hands” They both agree to come and I tell Mr Fae to stay where he is while I go wait for them.

“Yeah, this guy. He is definitely hiding something” I say to the two field officers once they arrive. “If he made you uncomfortable Jaqui, then there sure is something he is hiding. I haven’t heard you use the code in years. I still remembered it though” says Harrold. ‘One out hands’ is the code we use when we feel genuinely uncomfortable but we don’t want others to know.

The last time I used the code was when I was at a shopping centre and some guy in all black started following me. It turned out he was the murder we had all be searching for. It was really creepy, finding out that a serial killer was following me at a shopping centre so he could rape and kill me like he did to seven other girls my age. A shiver runs down my spine as I think about it.