Written By: Sophie M. Muñoz
Age: 15

Deadly

Deceptions

Written by:

Sophie Marion Muñoz

PROLOGUE

        “No! Jason, I’m serious. I don’t like this,” Adrianna said, struggling to escape his grasp.

      “C’mon Dri, no one will find out. Let’s just make out.”

      “Jason if you don’t get your hands off of me right now, I’m going to the police. This is harassment. Leave me alone.” Adrianna stood up and walked toward the door. “It’s over Jason. You’re too pushy. I’m sorry”

      “Adrianna, please don’t do this. I love you. I won’t let anyone else have you. You’ll regret this.”

      “No, you’ll regret this. Good-bye Jason.” The door closed behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “Mom, I’m home,” Adrianna called from the door. “I finally broke up with Jason. He tried to make a move and I told him it was over.”

       “Good for you, honey. I’m glad you finally told him to get lost. Oh, Charles called for you. I think he likes you,” her mom said, looking up from the dishes, smiling.

      “Okay, I’ll call him back. And, by the way, I like him too. He’s not like Jason,” Adrianna said, smiling.

      Adrianna went up to her bedroom and called Charles. They had been friends for years, but Jason had got in the way of things going any farther than that. A half an hour later, Marlena, her mom, heard her daughter walking down the stairs.  

      “So, what did he want? Good news I hope.”

      Adrianna was nothing but smiles. “We’re going out!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “Thomas, what are we going to do? Our children, they’ll be heartbroken,” Marlena was on the phone with Jason’s dad.

      “I don’t know. Maybe they’ll understand. I’ll come over and we can talk about it then, okay? I love you Marlena, just remember that.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Knock, knock.

      “I’ll get it Adrianna,” Marlena called from downstairs. She nervously fumbled with the lock and doorknob. “Hello, Thomas. Come in”

      “You look beautiful Marlena,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. She was wearing a black silk dress that emphasized her curves and made her blonde hair shimmer in the sunlight. “You didn’t have to get dressed up for me. I’ll love you no matter what.”

      “Stop flattering me, Thomas. What are we going to do? Adrianna and Charles have finally hooked up. We can’t do this to them.” Marlena was crying. Thomas reached out to comfort her. “Don’t. We have to stop. We have to be supportive of our children. No one must ever know. I’m sorry.” She reached out to him.

      “It’ll be okay. Just one more kiss . . . ”

      “Marlena! What are you doing?” Edward, Adrianna’s father said. “I come home from a hard day at the hospital and you’re at home with Thomas. I can’t believe this.” He dropped his briefcase in the doorway and stood, exhausted.

      “I needed someone, Eddy. You weren’t ever home. I...I’m sorry.” Marlena was at a loss for words.

      “Mom! What are you doing? He’s my boyfriend’s father!” Adrianna was on the stairs. She had seen the whole thing.

      After about an hour of discussing, they all arrived at the decision that it would be best for everyone if Edward and Marlena got a divorce. Adrianna would see her father on weekends and live with her mother the rest of the time. They all promised to make it as easy as they could on the children.

      As Edward and Thomas shook hands, it was evident that Edward was very jealous of Thomas. Everyone looked around the room, knowing that things would never be the same.

Part 1 - The Crime: 2 Years Later. . . .

    “Mom, I’m going to school. Don’t forget I’m walking to Dad’s after school today,” Adrianna called from the top of the stairs.

      “I thought he had to work tonight, honey? Will you be able to get in the house?” Marlena was worried. She didn’t like Adrianna walking the two miles to her dad’s house. “Just be careful. Jason’s been calling. I don’t want to upset you, but he says he won’t let anyone else have you. I don’t like him threatening you.”

      “It’s just talk. He’s jealous, like Dad. You know dad hates only seeing me on the weekends.” Adrianna wanted to change the subject. Jason had been bothering her at school as well.

      “Don’t get me started on your father. Be careful after school though, please? Love you sweety.”

      “Love you too, mom.” Adrianna kissed her mom as she closed the door behind her.

      The walk to school was calming for Adrianna. Adrianna loved autumn. She left early, giving herself plenty of time to think. She knew her dad was jealous, but she loved both her dads. As she walked, she compared her dad to Thomas. “Maybe,” she thought, “this will help me understand why mom cheated and dad is jealous.”

      Edward, her dad, was tall and lean. He had graduated from medical school in the top 5 percent of his class. He had brown hair and eyes, along with a smile that could put get him any women he wanted. He was very dedicated to his job at the Children’s Health Hospital in Oakville.

      She knew he wasn’t home as much as he used to be before he got promoted to head surgeon, but it was a position he had worked twenty years to get. He was well respected in the community and would never hurt a soul.

      Now, Thomas on the other hand was a police officer turned lawyer. He was strong and muscular. She remembered asking him what made him change careers. He had answered a call when he was a police officer and when he responded, there was a child lying on a pool of blood. The parents were abusive and he wanted to prosecute them.

      In college, he had majored in laws, just never found a good reason to practice it. Seeing the pleading look in the child’s eyes made him change his mind. He won the case and became a local hero. He loved the attention and continued to be a prosecutor.

      Adrianna never thought her mother would be in love with anyone except her father. They looked great together. Her mother was tall and relatively thin. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her parents were a perfect match, at least that’s what she thought.

      “Adrianna! Come on, we’re going to be late!” Elizabeth Larer, her best friend called. Elizabeth was seventeen, a year older than Adrianna. “Adrianna, are you all right?”

      “What? Oh, I’m fine. Just thinking again.” Adrianna sighed. “I guess I’m still trying to figure out why mom chose Thomas over dad. They are complete opposites.”

      “So are we, and we’ve been friends forever,” Elizabeth said, feeling very sad for Adrianna. She knew that it had not been an easy two years for her.

      Elizabeth did have a point. They were opposites. Elizabeth was into boys, parties and other normal teenage things. She was very pretty and of average size. Adrianna on the other hand, was very conservative. She wasn’t into boys or parties and would rather be alone than with a group. Though not exceptionally pretty, she was very thin like her mom.

      “Yeah, we’re as different as night and day. But, Thomas was so sudden.” Adrianna was exhausted. She sighed and walked into class just as the tardy bell rang.

      The school day was relatively normal, with the exception of Jason. Her locker was filled with threats if she didn’t go back out with him. She’d only ran into him twice today and, luckily, Elizabeth was with her.

      “Don’t worry Adrianna. He’s still mad. Give him a little while longer. He’ll get over it. Cheer up!” Elizabeth said, trying to cheer Adrianna up.

      “I hope you’re right.”

      The last bell rings and the kids pile out of the school. Adrianna stops her locker and finds a note: “I warned you. You will pay.” She dismissed it. Jason was just jealous, that was it.

      “Adrianna!” She jumped. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Elizabeth looks at the note. “Still not giving up, is he? Well, don’t let it get to you.” She smiles. “Riding with me today?”

      “No, I think I’ll walk home. I’m going to dad’s.” Adrianna managed to fake a smile. “I’m all right Liz, honest.”

      “Just be careful.”

      Little did either of them know that it would be the last time they talked. Someone was waiting for Adrianna and this time she would pay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      The day had turned out to be better than expected. The leaves were falling from the trees like snowflakes from the sky. The sun shone brightly and everything seemed to sparkle. Adrianna’s hair glimmered in the sunlight.

      As she walked, she noticed natures’ little gifts more than normal. In the past two years, she had learned that things can change suddenly and without warning.

      About halfway to her dad’s house, she heard footsteps. She looked behind her and didn’t see anyone so she continued on her way. The footsteps were following her. She picked up the pace. The footsteps sped up as well.

      “It’s probably Jason,” she thought. “He’s been acting weird lately.” She slowed down and started to relax. The footsteps were momentarily blocked out of her mind. She could feel hot air on the back of her neck. The next sensation was a growing pain in her back as she felt herself falling.

      As she lies on the sidewalk, a million thoughts ran through her head. She tried to focus on them instead of the excruciating pain in her back. Her eyes grew heavy and she slipped into a forever slumber.

      Jason drove the long way home after school. He wanted to see Adrianna. As he turned a corner, he saw a man running away and a girl laying on the sidewalk. “Adrianna!” he said aloud, not wanting to believe it.

      As he drove closer, he saw the pool of blood she was surrounded by and stopped. He took off his shirt and held it over the stab wound. He had taken classes and he knew if he didn’t get her to a doctor she would die.

      He rushed her to the hospital and they immediately began surgery. Two hours later, the surgeon can out and shook his head. “I’m sorry. We did all we could. She had lost two much blood. She was in a coma when she arrived. Whoever did this knew what they were doing.”

      Jason was in shock. His Adrianna was dead and it was his fault. He should have been with her, like old times. He put his head in his hands and cried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “Are you Jason Faye?” asked Detective Lujer.

      “Yes, I am. Is there something I can help you with?” Jason asked, wiping the tears from his eyes.

      “You’ll need to come down to the station and answer a few questions.”

      “Anything for Adrianna.”

Part 2 - interrogations . . .

    The police station was on Main Street, a relatively bad part of the town. The talk in the town was that it was the area where a lot of shootings took place. The city was building a police station and strategically placed it in the center of all the commotion.

      Jason arrived at the police station and looked around. By this time, the media had caught wind of the murder and had stationed themselves on the police station’s steps. They saw Jason being lead in and began taking notes and shouting questions.

      “Are you the ex - boyfriend of the victim?”

      “Is it true, did you threaten her?”

      “Were you the first person at the scene?”

      Detective Lujer hated the media. “Jason will not answer any questions until we’re done questioning him. I would appreciate it if you would leave the front steps.”

      Jason was lead to the bad room for questioning. The room was white with a huge mirror covering the width of one wall. Jason had seen rooms like this in movies but this was his first time being in one.

      “Jason, I am going to try to make this as easy as possible. I just need to ask you a few questions, okay?” Detective Lujer looked at Jason. “Poor boy,” he thought. Then he read Jason his rights.

      “I’ll answer anything you need to know if it’ll help you out, Detective,” Jason said, interrupting the Detectives train of thought.  

      “Okay then. I’m going to record your responses. Now, where did you go today after school? Please state today’s date with your response.”

      “Today is Friday, September 21, 1995. After school I went cruising around town. It’s lonely without Adrianna.” Jason looked tired. He hadn’t slept well the night before.

      “Jason, why were you at the side of town where Adrianna’s father lives?”

      Jason looked down and fiddled with his fingers. “Well, I wanted to see Adrianna. I missed her.”

      “How did you know she was going to her father’s house and she wasn’t going home?”

      “That’s easy. She goes to her fathers’ every weekend. She usually walks there after school on Friday.”

      “Jason, do you have an alibi?”

      Jason looked up at Detective Lujer and said, “No, Detective, I don’t.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Detective Lujer had a hard case in front of him. He had talked to everyone who had known where Adrianna was going. Elizabeth, her best friend, was in shock. She was the last person to see Adrianna alive. Marlena and Thomas were tearful. Their only daughter had been murdered.

      His phone rang. “Hello?”

      “Detective, Dr. Sand is here to see you. He said that you wanted to question him.”

      “Send him in.” Detective Lujer hung the phone up. “Poor guy,” he thought. In two years, his wife had left him and, now, his only daughter had been murdered.

      Dr. Sand walked in. He was not dressed as one would expect for a police interrogation. He looked as though he had just come from the operating room. He was still in his scrubs and was covered in blood.

      “Have a seat, Dr. Sand. We are all sorry to hear about your loss. We are doing everything we can to catch the person who did this.” He stopped and looked at Dr. Sand. He looked very sad. “Where were you around 2:45 this afternoon when school let out?”

      “I was in surgery. I got here as soon as I could. I didn’t even stop at home to change. You’ll have to excuse my appearance, but I want to help in any way I can.”

      “Well, we’re putting together a list of suspects. We hope to narrow it down when we check everyone’s alibi tomorrow. We should know more then. I’ll give you a call tomorrow afternoon around 6:00 p.m.” Detective Lujer stood and shook hands with Dr. Sand.

      “I’m afraid I won’t be home at that time. I always work the night shift. I’m free until about 5:00 p.m. I’ll give you a call before I leave for work.”

      Dr. Sand turned and left. There were bits of blood on the chair where he was sitting. Detective Lujer called forensics and asked them to come and get the blood to have it analyzed. He wasn’t taking any chances until he checked out alibis tomorrow.

      The forensics team came and said that they could try and have the results by tomorrow afternoon. Detective Lujer went to work reviewing the tapes he had recorded during the interrogations.

      After reviewing the tapes, Detective Lujer reached a conclusion: He needed to talk to Elizabeth again. He looked through the records for her address and phone number. He picked up his phone and dialed her number.

      Elizabeth answered the phone. “Yes, hello Detective. Is there something I can do for you?” Elizabeth was still crying and her voice sounded distant.

      “Yes, there is. I need to talk to you again. First thing tomorrow morning if you can. I need to ask you a few questions about Jason.”

      “Okay, I’ll be there.” Elizabeth hung up the phone and looked out the window. She sees a dark figure running away from her house. She tried to figure out who it is, but it’s too dark to make out anything. She goes to bed and hopes this nightmare ends soon. She falls asleep almost instantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “Detective, we need you over here and quick. We have another homicide on our hands.” Sheriff Rundle was standing at Elizabeth’s feet.

      “Who is it, Sheriff?” Detective Lujer was now awake. The phone call had startled him, but his instincts took over. He had a feeling he knew who it was.

      “Elizabeth.”

      “I’ll be right there.” Detective Lujer got out of bed and got dressed. This case was getting more complex by the day.

      When he arrived at the scene and showed his badge, he couldn’t believe the similarities in the way Elizabeth and Adrianna had been killed.

      “It’s the same killer. Too many similarities to be a copycat. Same stab wound in the same position. Any idea who would have a motive, Detective?” The Sheriff looked down at Elizabeth’s lifeless body. “It’s a shame. They were both so pretty.”

      “I think I have a suspect. He must have known Elizabeth told us about the threats.”

      “By the way, Elizabeth’s mom told us Elizabeth saw someone running away from her house yesterday.”

      “I”ll get on it. The first thing I need to do is call in my suspect. I”ll talk to you this afternoon.”

      Detective Lujer went to his office and picked up the phone. Jason picked up after two rings. “Jason, we need to have another talk. I need you down here as soon as possible.”

Part 3 - the results

      “Jason, where were you this morning?” Detective Lujer asked. He looked down at Jason. He was wearing holey pants and an old t - shirt. There were no traces of blood that he could see.

      “ I was out cruising. It’s Saturday. Didn’t have anything better to do. Not with my Adrianna gone.” Jason was almost in tears. “Have you caught who killed her?”

      “Jason, did you know that someone killed Elizabeth just like the person who killed Adrianna?” Detective Lujer glanced at Jason just in time to see the shock on his face. He continued, “We had called her down to question her again. She said you were threatening Adrianna. Because of her statements, you were becoming our lead suspect. Did you kill her?”

      “No! Of course not. I haven’t killed anyone. You have no proof.” Jason stood and slammed his fist into the table. “It wasn’t me!”

      “We have enough evidence to arrest you until we can review it some more. I’m sorry Jason.” Detective Lujer lead Jason to an isolated cell and locked the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “Dr. Sand, what a surprise. What can we do for you?” Detective Lujer was sitting at his desk when Dr. Sand came in.

      “Find my daughter’s killer yet?”

      “No, but we have Jason in custody. He doesn’t have an alibi for either of the killings. We have to let him go this afternoon. We only have circumstantial evidence against him.” Detective Lujer noted his appearance. He was wearing blood-covered scrubs like the day of his daughter’s murder.

      “Let me know if you find anything out.” Dr. Sand got up, shook hands, and left.

      “Get me forensics in here. Tell them I want the results of both blood tests by tomorrow morning.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      It was late Saturday night when Jason was released from custody. “Now, don’t forget that we’re going to be keeping our eyes on you, Jason.” Detective Lujer was mad. They had the killer right there but not enough evidence to keep him.

      Without saying anything, Jason turned and left. He wanted to go home to his own bed and bathroom. He still couldn’t believe he had been arrested for the murder of his ex - girlfriend. When he arrived home, he went straight to bed.

      Detective Lujer took a short nap and woke up around ten Sunday morning. He started called around checking alibis. His lead suspect didn’t have an alibi, but he wanted to make sure everyone else was in the clear.

      By noon, all of his alibis had checked out, except one. Dr. Sand’s secretary informed him that the doctor only worked nights and he did not have an operation on the day of Adrianna’s murder.

      This didn’t make any sense to Detective Lujer. What was the doctor hiding? Before he could think about it, the phone rang. Sheriff Rundle reported that Jason had been found dead, stabbed, like Adrianna and Elizabeth.

      Detective Lujer no sooner hung up the receiver when the phone rang again. This time it was the head of the forensics team. The results were in.

       “The first sample of blood we took is Adrianna’s without a doubt.” The head of forensics paused.

      “Well, whose blood did the second sample belong to?” Detective Lujer was growing more suspicious of Dr. Sand by the second. All he needed were the results of the second sample for his theory to be conclusive.

      The other end of the line was silent. “Elizabeth Larer.” The line went dead.

Part 4 - the confession

      “Dr. Sand, we need to talk.” Detective Lujer was pacing. He had never been so mad. He had been in this room with Dr. Sand many times and here they were again. Only, this time, Dr. Sand was a killer.

      “I was wondering when you’d catch on. I tried to leave as many clues as possible. I wanted to be caught.” Dr. Sand looked old and tired.

      “So, tell me about why you did it. We both know you did. I’m going to tape record you, okay?” Detective Lujer turned the tape recorder on and leaned back in his chair, waiting for Dr. Sand to start.

      “Well, there’s not much to say. I was tired of not having time with my daughter.         She never calls and is seemed as though she blames me for the divorce. I just couldn’t take it anymore.

      “On Friday, I put on my scrubs and went for a walk. I knew Adrianna would be on h er way to my house. When I saw her, I started to follow her. I finally found my opportunity and stabbed her from behind.” The doctor said all this without emotion. He had become numb.

      “Okay, I know why you killed Adrianna, but why Elizabeth and Jason? They weren’t a threat to you.” Detective Lujer sat up attentively, waiting for an answer.

      “I wanted to frame Jason. I didn’t know how much he saw. I knew he saw me running that day. I knew about the threats he made to my daughter and figured he’d be your lead suspect.

      “I was at Elizabeth’s house when you called. I knew it had to be about the threats. So, when she left the next day, I followed her and killed her. I knew you’d think it was Jason.” The doctor was talking smugly now. He knew he had out - witted them for a while.

      “Now, what about Jason? I mean, we would have known it was you when we got the forensic report. But, why kill him? Je didn’t do anything wrong.” Detective Lujer couldn’t believe how cooperative the doctor had been. This was going to be a cinch to win in court.

      “I told you. I wanted to be caught. I know how wrong it was. With your lead suspect murdered, you’d have to look elsewhere. I tired to give you slues that first day, but you didn’t catch on.”

      “What clues, Dr.? I don’t remember any clues.” Detective Lujer racked his memory for clues, but couldn’t remember any.

      “The murder took place during the day. I was in my scrubs covered in blood. When you said you’d call me the following afternoon, I told you I only worked nights. That was a big clue.” Dr. Sand smiled. He had really fooled the Detective.

      Detective Lujer leaned back in his chair. He just couldn’t believe it. He was staring into the face of a cold-blooded killer. He was glad he had called the forensics team that first day or he still would have three homicides on his hands.

Epilogue - 1 year later

      Marlena and Thomas were present at the execution. There were Sheriff Rundle, Detective Lujer, and the parents of Elizabeth and Jason as well. The mothers were crying in their husbands arms.

      The lights came on and they saw Dr. Sand being led into the execution room. A few minutes later, all was dark except the lights in the execution room. Dr. Sand, known to everyone in the witness room as Edward, still looked tired and smug. He knew he almost got away with it.

      A few minutes later, they saw him start to try to wiggle his way out. The lethal injection was working and justice was finally being served.