Crime Scene Investigations: Albuquerque

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas. I hope everyone has had a good 2020 despite the pandemic. Here is a new story called Crime Scene Investigations: Albuquerque. I will be deleting my other story called CSI: Albuquerque meets CSI: Miami but the characters of CSI: Miami will make an appearance later in this story. As always, read & review! – Dominic.

Any Normal Day

It was a beautiful Monday morning in early May 2030 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Albuquerque Police Department opened a new department called the Crime Lab and the officers there are not only sworn APD officers, but they are also Criminalists or CSI's.

Lieutenant Dominic Olsen just parked his 2029 Honda Tucson Hybrid which was the new car for all of the CSI's.

Lt. Dominic's POV:

It was Monday May 5th, 2030 here in Albuquerque, NM. I was recently made the Lieutenant of the Albuquerque Police Department and the newly opened Crime Lab. We moved from downtown Albuquerque into our new facility built off of 98th street and I-40. Five floors, as big as a football field with an included 3 level parking garage with a catwalk attaching the garage to the main building.

The lay out of the building is as follows;

Floor B = Basement and boiler room

Floor A = Lockers and Showers, Cafeteria

Ground Level = Reception, Public Library, Public Restrooms, Public Café, Courthouse, Ticket Center and other Financial Services.

Floors 1 and 2 = Albuquerque Police Department and Coroner's Office

Floors 3 and 4 = Crime Lab

Floor 5 = Executive Offices and Conference rooms

"Good morning Lieutenant" said Gerome Williams one of my DNA analysts.

"Good morning, Mr. Williams. How are you doing today?"

"I am well thank you. Did you have a good birthday yesterday?"

"I sure did Gerome. Andy & I celebrated with family and friends".

During our conversation, Detective Andrew Drobrik walked up smiling at us. He reached out and pat me on the back.

"Good morning, Lt." He said. "Nice to see you back this morning. How's life?"

I grasped his hand and replied with, "Good morning Andrew. I'll always come back; you know that by now. Life is going well so far, how about yourself?"

Andrew smiled and laughed "Life is the same for the Drobrik's haha. Sally and I took the kids to the zoo and lunch on Saturday then we spent the day as a family on Sunday with Sally's parents."

"Very nice. Well gentleman, if you will please excuse me, I need to sign in and go to my office to get the day started." With that we all went in different directions, with me taking the back stairwell to the 5th floor to my office. On my way there, I poked my head into the Director of the Internal Affairs Bureau Dr. Frank Garcia.

"Good morning Dr. Garcia. How are you doing today?"

Dr. Garcia looked up from his book he was reading and smiled. He stood up and swiftly strolled over to me at the door and shook my hand. "Good morning Lieutenant. I am doing well this Monday morning, thank you. Did you happen to watch the Broncos game yesterday?"

Yes, I am a huge Denver Broncos fan. So is Dr. Garcia.

"Yes Dr. I did. It was a close call, but at least we won. Tell Kimberly I am sorry that the Cowboys lost…again." We both laughed at that.

"Honestly Lt., I think she's used to it by now. Besides she was at her mother's house yesterday and she didn't actually see the game. She found out on Instagram that they lost."

"Well they have had a good season as well. Let's see if they can win against the Patriots next Sunday. The Patriots haven't been doing well this year so maybe the Cowboys might actually win over them." Dr. Garcia just laughed and leaned against the door.

"Don't tell Kim I said this, but that would be a miracle. Haha. Anyways, I better let you get to work. Let me know if you need anything."

I smiled and nodded my head. "Thanks Dr. Say, Andy is coming to have lunch with me at noon. Do you want to join in?" He stepped back a few steps to look at his calendar on his desk.

"I have a meeting at 11:30 so I might not be able to. I will let you know."

"Sounds good Frank. Have a good morning." With that, I turned and continued down the hallway to my office. Frank was a good man. Unlike our previous three IAB Directors, he wasn't out to get anyone. We were actually good friends before he got the job as IAB Director.

Unlocking my door, I turned on the light and walked over to my desk. I turned on the computer, checked and saw I didn't have any cases to sign off on and no emails to read and respond to. I took off my suit jacket and put it in the closet before walking over to the window and looking out towards the east. I could see traffic beginning to back up on I-40 going eastbound.

9:50am

It was almost 10am. I have been at work for almost three hours already. I shut down my computer, put on my suit jacket, turned out the light, closed and locked the door before making my way down the hall. I passed by Dr. Garcia's office and waved at him since he was on the phone. I took the stairs back down to the Crime Lab and went over to the Firearms Range to check on my best Firearms expert Mrs. Ericka Sandoval.

"Good mornings CSI Sandoval. How are you doing today?" She turned and smiled at me.

"Good morning Lieutenant. I am doing well. Just processing a case file that Detective Martinez is working on. How was your birthday weekend?"

"It was good and lots of fun. Thank you for asking. I'll talk to you later."

She said bye and I walked over to the Trace Lab where my good friend Dillon Saavedra was on the computer.

"Good morning. Thanks again for that delicious birthday cake Dillon" He looked up and smiled

"No problem Lt. I had fun baking it and Emily had fun decorating it with Amanda and Kateyln."

"That's good. Well I was just checking in on you. Let me know if you need anything." With that I went back to my office.

1pm

I had just finished eating lunch with my husband Andy and Dr. Garcia. Dr. Garcia went home early to take his father to an appointment. I was sitting at my desk responding to a few emails when I got a text message from the Police that read:

Attention CSI: Possible homicide at 1515 Juan Tabo Avenue Northeast. A female who is 25 years old, blonde hair, green eyes. Possible GSW to the temple.

With that, I shut everything down, closed my blinds, turn off the lights and shut and locked the door before walking over to the elevator and going down to the ground level. I walked over to the parking garage, got in my car and took off to the scene of the crime.

Upon arriving at the crime scene, I notice Detective Drobrik already there talking to a witness. He sees me getting out of my car and begins walking over to me.

"Dominic" He says. "We have Arkady Barnes. She is 25 years old, a student at the University of New Mexico. No family other than a sister. That's her over there. Her name is Destiny Barnes – Hobbs. She said she came over to see Arkady like she does every Monday afternoon. After ringing the doorbell and finding the door unlocked, she walked in and called out to Arkady. After getting no response, she set down her keys and her purse on the table by the front door and continued forward into the house. She found her sister on the floor, and after checking for a pulse determined she was deceased. Destiny then called 9-1-1 and waited outside so she wouldn't disturb anything." I thank Andrew and walked towards the house. Dillon was standing by the front door with Ericka and Samantha my AV/Tech expert.

"Good afternoon everyone. What do we have so far?"

Ericka spoke up first. "Looks like Arkady was shot in the left tempo. Dr. Jones said he will pull out the bullet at the post. He's in the house with the body now. I found a casing and looks to be a 9mm." I nod and she walks away.

Next was Dillon "there doesn't seem to be any signs of break in or forced entrance. There are no security cameras that Sam and I could find but the neighbor across the street there in that white house says he has a ring doorbell camera and Sam will look into it in a moment."

"Alright, thank you both." With that, I walk into the house where our Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Jones is kneeling next to the body.

"Good afternoon Dr." He looks up at me, smiles then looks back down

"Good afternoon Dominic. Fatal shot to the left temporal lobe. She was likely dead before she hit the ground. No stripling. No defining characteristics. I will retrieve the bullet back at the post and get it to Ericka in firearms."

"Thank you, Thomas." I leave to survey the rest of the house while he packs up the body and leaves.

"Dominic." I turn around and see Detective Drobrik to the entrance of the kitchen which is where I was. Next to him is the sister of the deceased.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Hobbs. I am so very sorry for your loss. My condolences go out to you and your family. How are you holding up?"

Destiny smiles faintly and nods her head. "I'm doing alright, thank you Lieutenant."

"Destiny… Did your sister have any mental health issues that may have caused her to possibly commit suicide? I'm sorry to ask such a question."

She shakes her head and smiles. "I understand. No, Arkady didn't have any mental issues. However, she did just have a nasty breakup with her boyfriend of four years Brady Johnston. He didn't take to it very well."

"Very interesting. Thank you, Destiny. If you shall need anything, here's my card. Don't ever hesitate to call me." I hand her my card and she puts it into her wallet and places the wallet back into her purse.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. I won't. Have a good day." With that she shakes my hand and leaves. I tell Andrew to track down this ex-boyfriend that Arkady was seeing. He nods his head and leaves.

I'm in the bedroom when I hear an APD officer Roman Malouf call out from the front of the house. I pack up my kit and head out to the living room,

"Yes, officer Malouf?" He walks over to me and hands me a sticky note.

"Destiny Hobbs, the victim's sister gave this to me. It's the address of Arkady's ex-boyfriend Brady Johnston." I take the sticky note from him and look at it.

"Thank you, officer. Please stay here with my team. I'm going back to the lab." He nods and steps to the side to let me pass.

I pass by Dillon, Ericka and Sam and tell them to keep my updated. Sam says she's going back to the lab with Ericka and she's going to look at the footage from the neighbor's security camera and Ericka says she's going to back to the lab as well to talk with Dr. Jones. Dillon is going to stay at the scene to look for anymore clues to the suspect. If I find anything, I'll take it to Gerome who is currently working with Detective Elizabeth Martinez on a different case.

"Thank you Dillon." With that, I walk over to my car, get in and drive back to the crime lab.

3pm

It is currently 3:45pm and so far, Dr. Jones found that the gun shot wound to the head is the primary cause of death to Arkady and that the time of death was somewhere between 7am and 9am this morning. Ericka ran the bullet and found out that the gun did belong to the ex-boyfriend Brady and Dillon found some biological fluid on the bed in the bedroom. Gerome ran it and found that the biological fluid was indeed semen and it was a perfect match to Brady Johnston.

I walk over to the Police Department to talk to Detective Drobrik. I find him at his desk on the computer.

"Dominic." He says when I walk up to his desk. "PD is bringing in Brady Johnston, the ex-boyfriend to Arkady Barnes. Should be here soon.

I nod my head and walk over to one of the interrogation rooms.

A few minutes later, officer Malouf walks in with Brady and has him sit down.

"What am I here for?" He asks. I ask Officer Malouf to leave the room just as Detective Drobrik walks in. Andrew sits down next to me across from Brady.

"Mr. Johnston. We understand that you and Arkady Barnes used to be in a relationship?"

He laughs and says, "Yes sir. That stupid punta broke up with me last night."

"Was that before or after you had sexual intercourse with her?" Detective Drobrik asks.

"After." Brady replies.

"Brady." I begin. "Did you know that Arkady was shot and killed in her den this morning?"

"Really? I had no clue."

I smile. "I find that interesting. We matched the bullet and casing that killed her to the gun that just so happens to be registered under your name., Brady."

He smirks "Am I a suspect" he asks.

"Yes. And until we can find out the truth, I suggest you don't stray far." He shakes his head.

Detective Drobrik motions for Officer Malouf to take the suspect. "You're free to do Mr. Johnston." The suspect leaves with Officer Malouf.

I turn to Andrew and say, "Get a PC on him and let's follow him." He agrees and walks out. I walk over to DNA where Gerome is.

"Okay, Gerome. What do we have?" He looks up from his microscope and hands me a file.

"We also found some spit near where Arkady was killed. We ran it and it came up to match Brady Johnston. Dillon also found a fingerprint on the back doorknob and matched it to Brady as well." I nod while I look at the findings. I close the file and hand it back to Gerome who places it on the desk.

"Very well. Thank you, Gerome." With that, I turn and head to the AV lab where Samantha is looking at the many screens in front of her.

"Sam" I say walking into the room. She quickly looks over her right shoulder at me before turning back to the screens.

"Dominic. Great timing. This is the security camera we obtained from the ring doorbell camera from the neighbor across the street from where Arkady lived. As you can see, Brady walks in the front door at 8:30 last night then leaves around 10pm."

"Yes, enough time for the two to have intercourse and for Brady to find out he's getting dumped."

"Exactly. Now, this morning you see Brady but he's in a different car. He drives a Black BMW and here he's getting out of a silver Kia Sorento. He walks towards the left side of the house and we see him come back out at 8:32 am."

"Samantha. Dr. Jones concluded that Arkady was killed sometime between 7 and 9am this morning."

"It looks more and more like Brady did it."

I agree with her. At that moment, my phone rings. I take it out of my pocket and see that it's Detective Drobrik calling me. "Excuse me" I say to Sam before walking out of the room. I answer the phone.

"Yes, Andrew?"

"Dominic. We just had a neighbor call and say that her and her teenage daughter could hear Arkady and Brady arguing this morning before hearing a gunshot. They actually have their living room window facing the window to the den and they say they could see Brady shoot Arkady before leaving the house. What's more is, we found out that they have a security camera on that side of the house facing the den where Arkady was found."

"Very well Andrew." I hang up and poke my head into the AV Lab. "Sam, get the footage from the camera that the next-door neighbor has and let me know your findings." She nods and I go back to my office.

4:30pm

I am currently in an interrogation room with Detective Andrew Drobrik, officer Roman Malouf and Brady Johnston.

"Brady. You are under arrest for the murder of Arkady Barnes. We have security footage from Arkady's next-door neighbor showing you arguing with Arkady, pulling out a gun and shooting her."

"She deserved it for breaking up with me" he snarls.

"I wonder why she broke up with you" I say sarcastically. Officer Malouf takes him to booking and Andrew follows them.

I go back to my office, grab my stuff and head home.

Author's Note; Hey everyone. Sorry if this was long. Join me after Christmas to read more of this story. Let me know what you think of it. Love you guys! Merry Xmas!