Dead Presidents (An Aria Raymond Thriller Book 3), Thomas Ransom [best thriller books to read txt] 📗

Hanging from a belt, electrical cord, or rope leaves a bruising around the neck in the shape of an inverted V. It is one of the easiest ways to distinguish suicide from ligature strangulation (murder), which leaves a bruise in the shape of a straight line.

When a person dies from hanging, it leaves small bleeding injuries on the eyelids, in the mouth, and on the lips since the pressure from the rope compresses the veins, which were not found in our victim. However, the victim's neck and face were congested with blood and turned a darker shade of red, which is the case with strangulation.

This type of strangulation is a homicide in almost all cases as murderers often use too much force to kill their victim. This excessive force results in abrasions and bruises on the neck. Since the strangulation victims always put up a struggle, unless they are drugged, there is damage to both the exterior and interior structures of the throat and neck. No drugs were found in our victim, and there were signs of exterior and interior structure damages.

From the evidence gathered, it is clear that this was not a suicide but murder by strangulation staged as a suicide.”

There were pictures of the crime scene, as well as close-ups of Whitney’s neck and bruises, along with x-rays. Sanjay wasn’t surprised. He knew the moment he had heard the news that Whitney was dead that she was murdered. Those people knew that the trial might shine a light on her, and she might spill the beans if there was sufficient evidence. Her murder proved that Whitney knew too much, or maybe she was also just a pawn like Coons. Sanjay thought. This was proving to be bigger than he had anticipated. He thought this case was messy when he was investigating Coons’ murder, but now he realized it was a chaotic mess. He wouldn’t be surprised if this was just the tip of the iceberg. It was a miracle that David survived. He thought again. Maybe he wasn’t that important in the game. Sanjay scoffed. No. They knew that their David problem would go away on its own as they were clever enough to make him murder Coons. There wasn’t sufficient evidence for him to prove that he was under orders. They only thing linking him to them was Whitney, and they took care of that too.

If only David had a little bit more info, just one more person he could give information about that Sanjay could investigate. Unfortunately, David only got orders from Whitney. Sanjay sighed. This was going to be an even crazier investigation than the last one.

He gathered all the pictures and papers in front of him and placed them neatly in the file again. He placed the file back on Jake’s desk, who had already gone home after passing some more snide remarks at anyone who came before him. Sanjay rolled his eyes. Jake really needs to pull it together before he makes another mistake. People were getting tired of his behavior. Even though they respected him as a senior commanding officer, Sanjay wouldn’t be surprised if a formal complaint was soon lodged against him. The captain will certainly not like that. Jake was truly a brilliant detective, partner, and boss, but Sanjay could not help but wish that he was assigned a different partner for this case. There was already so much on his plate, he needed to put his full concentration on this case, but Jake was proving to be an annoyance and that too for everyone on their floor.

Sanjay rubbed his eyes and decided it was time to leave. His headache was getting worse, and there was no use trying to solve a case when he was this tired. His phone buzzed. It was Aria’s reply. He smiled. Sanjay was glad she replied as he was getting worried. Tanya had told him earlier that the two of them were going off to check out an apartment. He asked her how apartment hunting was. Her reply was instant. “Is it okay if I call? Are you free to talk right now?” Concerned, he immediately called her.

“Hey! Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I am fine. I just had a full day with Tanya, who refused to let me go until I had a fancy dinner with her, then she dragged me to the mall.”

Sanjay chuckled, “How was the apartment? Tanya was convinced that you would love it.”

“Actually, she was right! I honestly was in no mood to go out and check out houses or apartments, but Tanya really did find the perfect place. I am actually kind of excited now after seeing that place.”

Sanjay could feel her excitement. He smiled. “I am really happy to hear that, Aria. I am sure you will be much happier there and can start your life again. You deserve so much more. I would be happy to help you move when the time comes.”

“Thank you so much! It might take a while, but I am hoping I will get it.”

“That’s great!”

There was silence after that. Sanjay could sense her hesitation. He knew she wanted to say something. He waited.

“I … I actually …”

“It’s okay. You know you can share anything.”

“Of course. Well… I was thinking… I know it may sound weird to you … the three of you might not even agree to this… but I was thinking … I want to go and see Clark… I mean, David.”

Sanjay was surprised. He didn’t know what to say. He honestly thought Aria would want nothing to do with David anymore. However, he also knew people processed and healed in their own ways. He was no one to judge.

“Are you sure about this, Aria?”

“Yes. At first, I thought that was a stupid idea, but the more I think about it, the