Should Have Looked Away by Philip Cox Read Free Book Online Page B

non-uniformed officers in the lounge, both on all fours checking the floor. Will headed straight for the kitchen, but as he went past the lounge door he could see the place had been ransacked, books pulled down from their shelves, contents of drawers spilled everywhere.
    ‘Will! Thank God!’ cried Chrissy when she saw him. They embraced.
    Will looked around. ‘Where are the kids?’
    ‘Jake’s at an after school club. I called him on his cell and told him to go round to see Clyde. I called 911 after I rang you, then Mary. Louise is at hers.’
    ‘So what happened?’ Will asked.
    ‘We got home from the park around four. We came indoors, and I noticed, well – all the mess in there.’
    ‘Is it just in there?’
    ‘No. Some drawers and have been turned out in here, and they went through our bedroom.’
    ‘What about the kids’ room?’
    Chrissy shook her head. ‘No, they don’t appear to have been touched.’
    ‘That’s weird. I wonder why not.’
    The female officer spoke. ‘The most likely explanation is that they ran out of time, or they got disturbed. Maybe one of them acted as a lookout: you know, watching for somebody to return.’
    ‘How did they get in?’ asked Will.
    ‘Through the back door,’ the officer replied. ‘It had been forced.’
    ‘What’s been taken?’ asked Will.
    ‘I can’t really tell right now.’ Chrissy ran one hand through her hair. ‘Everything’s in such a mess. But they haven’t touched stuff like the TV, BluRay player, even my laptop. And none of Jake’s stuff’s been touched.’ She pointed to a shelf. ‘I did leave some money there this morning - about fifty dollars - and that’s been taken.’
    Will turned to the officer. ‘This is new ground for me. What happens now?’
    The officer said, ‘Well, you need to let the crime scene officers do their job. They’re going to be checking for – well, for anything, really; anything the perpetrators might have left behind. Fingerprints, DNA traces. They’ll also get samples of yours and your family’s.’
    ‘You already have my DNA,’ Will muttered.
    ‘Excuse me?’
    Will explained the events of the last twenty-four hours.
    ‘Oh, I see. We didn’t know. Different precinct. Different type of crime.’
    ‘What then?’ Chrissy asked.
    ‘I take it you have insurance?’ the officer asked.
    Will and Chrissy both answered at the same time. ‘Sure.’
    ‘Once our guys are done, you need to carry out an inventory. Check for anything that might be missing. We’ll give you a crime reference number, for you to give to your insurance company. And of course you’ll need to get that door fixed. Make sure the back yard’s secure as well. They probably climbed over one of your fences. You don’t have an intruder alarm, I see?’
    Will shook his head.
    ‘You might want to think about getting one installed. It might help you save on insurance costs, as well.’
    ‘Yeah,’ Will sighed, looking at the messy kitchen.
    ‘Do you have to get all that stuff from the children?’ Chrissy asked. ‘Fingerprints, DNA? They’re only thirteen and five: won’t any prints they’ve left be smaller than adult prints?’
    ‘At this stage we don’t know if the intruders were adults. It’s your decision, Mrs Carter, but the more elimination evidence we have, the more likely it is we can catch up with whoever it was.’
    ‘What is the clear-up rate?’ asked Will.
    ‘Will!’ chided Chrissy.
    ‘Reasonably high,’ the officer told Will.
    Chrissy said, ‘Our son’s over at a friend’s, but he’ll be back later, and I’ve arranged for my daughter to go to one of hers. Do they need to come back here?’
    ‘The crime scene officers will talk to you about that. They can take yours while they’re here, then arrange something with you about your children.’ She looked over to her colleague, who had just come back into the house. ‘What is it?’
    ‘We have to go,’ the male officer said.
    She addressed Chrissy. ‘Sorry.