Division 6: Trojan Horse

9:00 P.M.:

The auditorium bustled with a large crowd tonight at the high school, ranging from young college students to retired citizens talking with friends and even with complete strangers about the event going on today. Tonight was the first governor debate after the primaries, between Ryan Barker and Danny Haines, and everyone was debating, agreeing or just trying to catch a glimpse of the two candidates, as if they were celebrities.

The crowd suddenly roared with applause, the M.C. to the event had came out onto the stage. He walked in between two podiums to a microphone on a stand centerstage with the spotlight illuminating the M.C. as he spoke, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first Utah governor debate!" Applause rang throughout the auditorium as the M.C.'s projected voice echoed through it. With a large smile on his face, he continued, "It is my pleasure to introduce for you tonight, Ryan Barker..." He paused as he gestured to his left and a handsome blonde man came out, waved and then stood up by the podium as the M.C. finished, "... and Danny Haines!" Another handsome man, however slightly taller and with brown hair walked out from the M.C.'s right, waving and taking the other podium like his compeititor.  

As the applause died down, the M.C. started talking again, "Now, before we begin-" ,suddenly the M.C.'s head jerked back, blood splattering the closed curtains and the podiums. Screams echoed through the audience, everyone was confused and asking questions. "What happened?" "Is he dead?" "I didn't hear a shot!" Men in suits and with walkie-talkies in their ears grabbed each of the candidates and hurriedly shoved them backstage to the doors as a security guard got on the microphone and barked out to everyone to stay in their seats, "EVERYONE, GET BACK TO YOUR SEATS OR YOU'LL BE ARRESTED! No one is leaving until the police come and everyone gets checked out! Any attempts to leave, and you'll be under immediate arrest!" The guard then turned to two others that were standing behind him and examining the body, blood starting to pool and drip from the open wound on his skull. "You," shouted the guard pointing to the man on his left, "call SLCPD and have them come down here now! MOVE!" The guard with the assignment took a quick look at the body again, with it's bloody forehead and confused yet lifeless eyes, then he got up, and made the call.

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4 HOURS LATER, 1:00 A.M.:

Audience members were being filed out of the auditorium, being checked out and searched by police and private security. The crowd and searches is what took most of the time because there were so many people there and some were led away for a couple of questions. Fortunately, now, most of the audience members were gone and the detectives could focus better on their next headache, the dead body. Blood had pooled all around the M.C.'s head and the curtain was still stained by the blood as the detectives took notes, pictures and evidence. Detective White was examining an evidence bag while wearing plastic gloves when he saw near the doors to the auditorium that there was some sort of commotion. Craning his neck to see what was happening better, he saw the commotion die down quickly and then a man in a suit was being led to him by a uniformed police officer.

White himself was wearing a suit, being the lead investigator he needed to look the part, especially being one of the youngest detectives on the force so far. He jumped down off the stage and briskly walked towards the police officer and the suited man behind him. Meeting them halfway down the rows of chairs, White said, "I'll take it from here". The policeman nodded, "Yes Detective White", and walked back to the doors and past the man in the suit. "Who are you?" White asked rather coldly, "I'm Richard Larx, F.B.I." he said, flashing his badge with I.D.. Surprised, White asked, "Well I don't know what to tell you except that I don't think the federal authorities need to get involved." Mumbling something that sounded like, "Mmhm", Richard walked right past the detective and through the entrance on stage right. Silently scoffing, White walked fast behind Richard, trying to talk to Richard and tell him about the dead body, but Richard just kept on walking and stayed silent.

Onstage, as Richard looked at the body, he suddenly said, "So he just fell down dead?" White replied, "No, he was shot, most likely from where the spotlights are located up there," pointing to the back of the auditorium and up where the lights and sound were located. It wasn't a typical light and sound box, it was more of a balcony then box, with lights resting against the railing and sound board in the center of the balcony. "I overheard someone say that they didn't hear a shot," Richard said not looking at the detective while circling around the body. "No," the detective replied, "we found the gun used, an expensive rifle with a silencer. And it looks like the bullet was also custom-made." There was a pause, and then Richard looked up and asked, "Well, so what?" Looking at him impatiently, White explained, "Meaning that someone is putting a lot of money into this murder."

"But why him? He's not a politician, so why shoot him and not the candidates?" Richard asked as he walked up to the detective after making a complete circle of the dead body. "I don't know, whoever it is must've been confused and rushed to kill him." Richard nodded, but knew in his mind this can't be just a killer messing up if they put all of that money into this murder. "What pieces of evidence have you gathered besides things from the body?" Richard asked. White replied, while searching his coat pockets, "Well, besides the gun and shell casing, we also got this" he held out an evidence baggie with a small scrap of paper inside it and he continued to explain as Richard took it and examined it. "Don't know what that's supposed to represent, but we found it on top of therifle." The scrap of paper had a clearly marked dark green "T" covering the one side of the scrap and the other side was blank.

Detective White kept on talking, but Richard zoned out, remembering what this means. He's seen this before, and it is something he wished he would never see again. "Excuse me, Agent Larx?" Detective White asked as Richard looked up, coming back to reality. "Sorry, what did you say?" White impatiently repeated, "I said that we're gonna finish up here by morning and I asked if there is anything we can do for you?"

"Yes, actually there is," Richard answered, "how fast can your boys be cleaned up and done?" That's an odd question the detective thought, but he answered, "We should be done by 9:00-10:00 this morning, why?" Richard took out his phone and took a picture of the scrap of paper while he talked, "Because I want to call in a team of specialists for this job, people with considerable experience in the unexplainable." Handing the evidence baggie back to Detective White, White said back, "SIr, we're not totally inept ourselves, we can solve this just give us time." Richard shook his head and said, "If you misunderstood me by thinking I said you're inept then I'm sorry that's not what I meant, I'm calling them in because they are the best, end of discussion, you'll see them when everyone has left this crime scene." Confused, White asked, "But won't your team want to see the body and the evidence?" Smiling, Richard just walked away and said, "I'll give you 'till 9:00 A.M. on the dot, then my team will come in and inspect this place, just give us a copy of the crime scene photos and we'll be fine."

Jumping off the stage, Richard quickly walked down the rows of chairs and through the exit of the auditorium, leaving the detective alone with two other officers staring at him. "I really don't like him" Detective White eventually said to the two officers who gave a small smile to White. After a pause, White gestured for them to get back to the body and continue working, wondering who this team of investigators are.