Deadly obsession-3
The next morning,Greg woke with a hangover.He turned over in the bed fully expecting to find Amanda there.When Greg felt around with his hand and found no one,he opened his eyes to check if he was actaully alone in the bed.Puzzled,Greg rolled back over and climbed out of bed. He walked into the other rooms on the apartment.Perhaps Amanda had come home later than she expected and was afraid she would wake him.But no,the other rooms were enpty also.Greg found his cell and dialed Amanda’s number.It went to voice mail.The was odd.Amanda has never been away all night and not called to make Greg aware so he wouldn’t worry.Greg called again.Again voice mail.
Greg put some clothes on and checked the parking lot.There in it’s ususal place was Amanda’s car.Why no Amanda if her car was here? Getting more puzzled by the minute,Greg called her number a thrid time.Again,voice mail.This time Greg left a message not sure what kind of a result it would bring.
Greg-“Hey babe.I was just calling to see how your night was.I’m in the parking lot and see your car.Please call me when you get this.Thanks.”
Greg went back inside their home and showered then got dressed.When he checked his phone in case Amanda had called while he was bathing,he found no missed calls,no voice mails.He decided he needed to call the police to see what they would advise him.
P.D.-“Hello,police.How can we help you?”
Greg-“Uh,yeah,how do I report a missing person?”
P.D.-“How long has the person in question been missing?”
Greg-“Since yesterday evening.”
P.D.-“We prefer to give people who are busy and may have simply forgotten to inform family members about things they need to do the benefit of the doubt. Usually we ask that you not file any type of report until they have been out of contact for 24 hours after you expected to hear from them.People are busy these days.People forget to tell others routinely of things they planned.And often is the case that oen person reports another missing,then as we start trying to find them,they show all apologetic that they forgot to mention their plans.
Greg-“So are you telling me I have to wait until this evening?”
P.D.-“We’re saying that you might give them the benefit of the doubt but we can take your report if you insist.”
Greg-“So this evening,you say.”
P.D.-“If the person was last seen last night,yes,that is what we suggest.But it’s your call.”
Greg-“Very well,I’ll wait a bit longer.”
P.D.-“Yes sir,give us a call if you find it’s needed.”
They broke the connection and Greg hit the end call button on his phone.Greg decided to check the mail.Maybe Amanda was chatting with some one at the mailboxes.But then,if she was,why wouldn’t she answer her phone? At the mailboxes,Greg inserted his key and pulled their mail from the box.Prissy walked up to get hers.
Greg-“Say,you park near my girlfriend’s car don’t you?”
Prissy-“I think so,I think she’s about four spaces away.Why?”
Greg-You haven’t seen her today,have you.I mean while you were going about your day,you haven’t seen Amanda have you? That’s her name,Amanda.”
Prissy-No,I haven’t.Is anything wrong?”
Greg-“Well,she left last night to spend the evenings with friends.She hasn’t come back but her car is parked in her spot.”Prissy’s eyes got big when Greg mentioned Amanda’s car being parked in its usual place.
Prissy-“Wow,that’s wierd.He car but no her?”
Greg-“Yeah,right. Her car but no her.So you haven’t seen her around,maybe getting into someone else’s car?”
Prissy-“No,I haven’t.Gee,that’s kind of scary.I now how bad it is to worry about someone and not know anything.But if I do see her,do you want me to call you,nock on your door?”
Greg-(trying to digest the events)”No,I don’t expect that would do all that much.If you saw her,she would probably ge within a minute or two of coming home anyway.But hey,if you DO see her and she’s with someone,see if you can ask her to call me.”
Prissy-“Will do.I hope she gets home soon so you won’t worry.”
Greg-“Thanks,see you later.”Greg returned to his home,mystified that he hadn’t heard from Amanda yet.The evening came and then turned into night with no Amanda.Greg redialed the police.
P.D.-“Hello,police.How can I help you?”
Greg-“I called earlier about a missing person.I was advised to wait a while in case my girlfriend showed up and so far she hasn’t.”
P.D.-“How long has she been missing?”
Greg-“Five o-clock yesterday.”
P.D.-“Very Well.We’ll send some one to get your information.”Greg gave the address and names to the police and waited for the kock on the door.In the meantime.he called Amanda’s phone twice more.And got the same voice mail each time.Now Greg was starting to get frantic.Where could Amanda possibly be?The police arrived and took all of Greg’s information.Greg showed the police Amanda’s car and watched as they looked around the car.
They announced they would ‘dust’ the car for prints.Greg didn’t understand why the car should be checked for prints until they pointed out that he was concerned by not having heard anything from his girlfriend for 24 hours.What if something happened to her near her car and whoever did anything had touched the car.Perhaps opening the door and pulling Amanda out.Satisfied for the time being,Greg thanked them for their time and went back home.What could have happened? Greg saw Prissy out on the sidewalk as he walked back to his home.
Prissy-‘Have you heard anything?”
Greg-(His thoughts all shuffling)”Uh,no. Still no Amanda.I’m really being to worry now.”
Prissy-“I’m so sorry.Is there anything I can do for you? I mean if I can maybe make a meal or something,you’d be able to keep you energy up while you try and figure out what to do.”
Greg-“It’s very nice of you to offer,but no.I’ll be fine.”
Prissy-“OK,let me know if you change your mind. I’m willing to help any way I can.”
Greg-“Thank You.”Greg went back to work the next day but his mind was on his missing girlfriend.He couldn’t wait for his day to be complete so he could return home and ask for some update.Sure enough,soon after he got home,Greg received a call.
P.D.-“Hello Mr.Mantell,we have some news for you but we need for you to come down to the precinct so we can give it to you.”
Greg-“OK,I’ll be right down.”
At the precinct,Greg was met by the same officers who had come to his home when he filed the missing person report.
P.D.-“We need for you to come with us Mr Mantell.”
Greg-“All right,so you found Amanda? Is she all right? Where are we going?”
The officers led Greg down a hall and stopped by a door labeled ‘morgue’.When Greg read the sign,all hope he might have had disappeared.His smile left and he started to mumble.
Greg-“Wh,wh,what are we doing here?”
P.D.-“We’re sorry to tell you this.But we believe we found Miss Proctor.”Greg saw a figure under a sheet on a shiny table and got VERY nervous.This was NOT looking good.
P.D.-“We need you to identify her.”The sheet was lifted and Greg saw Amanda’s pale lifeless face.His tears started immediately and he nodded his head.
The officer pulled the sheet back over Amanda’s head.Greg struggled with the words.
Greg-“What happened?”
P.D.-“We don’t have all the answers yet but we found her behind some shrubbery farther in the complex.She was hidden pretty well but a thorough search discovered her.”
Greg-“OK,that’s where,but what happened?”
P.D.-“At present,we’re still trying to figure out the details.But we do know that Miss Proctor was strangled.There was a terry cloth belt wrapped around her neck.We expect it was from a bath robe.We’re very sorry.We assume you’ll arrange for her body to be picked up for burial once the processing is finished?”
Greg was still struggling to digest all the information.
P.D.-“Sir?”
Greg-“yes,yes. When it she be ready?”
P.D.-“It won’t be much longer.We just want to make sure we do all we can to learn all details needed to catch whoever did this.We’ll call you when she’s ready.”
Greg-“Thank you.I’ll be waiting for your call.”Greg looked a bit lost as he searched for the way back out of the precinct.
P.D.-“We’ll walk you out.” Greg nodded as he walked partly numb out of the building.
When he returned home,Greg saw Prissy on the sidewalk like she had stepped out for a smoke.As Greg approached Prissy spoke.
Prissy-“Did you hear anything about your girlfriend?”
Greg-(Still somewhat numb)”Yeah,she’s dead.”Prissy pretended to be SCHOCKED by the news.
Prissy-“WHAT?? How?”
Greg-“Strangled. Police found her in the bushes back further in the complex.”
