The Freedom Murders

DETECTIVE NICK Haig was sitting in his comfortable desk chair and staring at the office clock while wondering if and when his girlfriend secretary was ever going to arrive for her share of today’s work. Admittedly, her duty involved mostly filing and waging war with the dust balls but, that is important work that has to be done by someone. There was no way that he was going to stoop that low. Since she was his only other full-time employee, it fell upon her shoulders to do the dastardly deed of cleaning, organizing the office and fixing him several cups of Keurig coffee. Yes, he was capable of fixing his own coffee but, like any other man, he enjoyed being pampered by his lovely red-headed partner, Denise Slapovich. Suddenly, the cell phone rang and it was Denise apologizing for her tardiness. She said, “I’m sorry for being so late but, it’s your fault. If you hadn’t raped me for four gorgeous times last night, then I could have slept a whole lot more and I would have been able to be at work on time. I’m at the Jamaica Beach Wal-Mart, do you want or need anything while I am here?” He said, “I need more of my favorite coffee blend, ‘Tully’s Italian Roast’. Please buy me a box or two, okay? And, for last night’s fine services, be sure to get yourself some of that chocolate candy that you like so well. And, while you are there, pick up some of your favorite flowers also. Then, the phone went dead after we had exchanged our goodbye messages. God, how he appreciated that woman. She made everything run ever so smoothly. When two people who care for each other, end their telephone conversations, there is a dismal void that occurs when they realize that they are all by themselves again. It’s almost like a miniaturized version losing a loved one to the grim reaper. In any case, the offices of ‘HAIG & SLAPOVICH’ went completely quiet once again. He had grown to hate her shopping chores because he was miserable without her current chatter. He made some Keurig coffee because he was tired of waiting on Denise and since, he needed some Java after that long night of exercise with his lovely sex mate, Denise. Nick sipped his coffee and tried to think of something other than his red-haired goddess. He knew that his business was in trouble so he thought about that instead of her but, that didn’t last for very long. After he got past the thoughts of how badly he needed another case, his thoughts returned to her lovely body and all of the fantastic parts thereof. After his third cup of black Java had been consumed, his telephone rang once again. This time, it was Carlos Espinosa, Sheriff of Galveston County. Basically, there had been an unusual murder event on or near Morgan’s Point just East of La Porte, Texas. Carlos said, “Senior Haig, I have never seen anything like this. If you are available, I would like to have your participation on this case. It’s weird, man. I will try and keep the body site ‘as-is’ until you can get here. You have to see this because it is so unbelievable.” Nick left a note for Denise as he hurriedly left for the murder location. His office was on the Strand but Morgan’s Point was not that far away, especially if he took his high speed motorboat, which he did. He motored past Pelican Island which was on the starboard side of his boat and he went due North toward where Carlos was anxiously awaiting his arrival. He made terrific time by not having to deal with the tourists and all of those damned traffic lights.