#52 Deadly Evidence

by Kimberly King

The mess on the manicured lawn looked as if a raccoon had been busy at work, but I soon discovered otherwise. A wrinkled fast food bag was left gaping open amongst balled-up hamburger wrappers and crumpled napkins, suggesting that whoever had been here had left in a hurry. Annoyed, I sighed with disgust at the garbage can that was just four feet away as if it had somehow been involved.

I picked up the garbage with great deliberation, shoving it into the paper bag. Beneath the fast food remains were shredded photographs. A bad breakup, I decided. A negative strip burrowed up from the pile, and I almost stuffed it into the bag too, before changing my mind. Instead, I held it up to the sun, staring at it until the strange images began to make sense. In one scene, a car was overturned in what looked like a ravine. The image below revealed a body, naked and sprawled out like Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man.”

Murder. This dirty word echoed in my mind.

Chills like landmines exploded over my body, and I became light-headed as if suddenly aware that I was being watched. I quickly placed the brown strip into the bag, pretending I hadn’t seen anything. With wobbly legs, I stood up and shoved the bag into the garbage can, suddenly grabbing the negative at the last second, and stuffing it into my pocket. As I walked the lonely road to my house, another set of feet lurked behind.