Entry 9

On the sidewalk, directly at her feet was the body of Edgar Maitland, and in Linh’s hands was the photo. The 

body was lifeless and repulsive, yet the situation was truly ironic. Linh couldn’t help but wonder how she 

didn’t connect the Maitland brothers to Mr. Evans from the start. She had never seen a real dead body up close 

like this before, though. It scared her, but it made her feel like her job had true importance.

She quickly phoned Annabeth to let her know the news, then looked back at the photo. Edgar was clearly 

pointing a gun at his brother, which seemed like obvious evidence, but Linh was perplexed. Did Mr. Evans 

take this? Or is there a fourth person involved who we don’t know about? When will these deaths end? Where 

is Ether? She was so hooked on to her train of thought that she didn’t even notice Sayori tugging at her pant

leg.

“Mr. Evans gave that to me,” she said snapping Linh out of her thoughts. Linh twisted her head as quickly as 

she could, but Sayori continued. “But that’s all I know. I lost it months ago.” Then she ran into the crowd of 

people who were behind police tape.

“Wait!” Linh called, but it was too late. Based on Sayori, I guess Mr. Evans took the photo, but why give it to a

small elementary school girl?

Linh looked down at the body, then to the crowd. There was still no Sayori, but Jose was there looking 

directly at her. He nodded at her, and Linh’s brow raised. What was that for? She turned around shyly, but after a minute, she realized it was confirmation that she was doing the right thing, that solving the problems of 

the city was her responsibility and part of her, not being like her sister. She was Linh Luong, the detective, not 

Bao Luong, the girlfriend and traveller, and for the first time in her life, Linh was okay with that. She turned 

back at Jose, gave him a thumbs up, and walked back to the scene, eager to investigate yet again.

Entry 8

Linh's socks and shoes were soaking wet and her hat was nearly blowing off her head as she walked throughout the town. A snowstorm had just finished sweeping through the town, so this was the first time she could leave and look for the masked man she had seen days before.
Everything in sight was covered in snow. Even the street signs had a layer of frost that made them nearly impossible to read, so Linh found herself quickly lost. She tried to use a GPS on her phone, but she had no signal and every time she took her hands out of her mittens, they began to sting in the cold air.

She finally gave up. She couldn't see, feel most of her body, and didn't even have a certain idea of where to look, and she did not want to wander too far away from home and become stranded on such a snowy day. However, when she turned around, a giant sign stood in front of her that seemed untouched by the weather. No swimming in the river.
River? Linh thought. She didn't even know a river was in the city. She walked in the direction of the sign to indeed find a tiny river. It was a beautiful sight. It rushed calmly downward and it was nice to gaze upon with all the snowflakes falling in and getting lost with the current. Linh lost all her anxiety of being lost. I should sit for a minute and just sight-see, she decided.
She took her hands and swept away a patch of snow for her to sit on when she noticed blood on the side of the river bank. It was dried up, but it was an abnormally large amount. Uneasy and not knowing whether or not it was serious enough to report, Linh turned back. All the tranquility she had vanished.

Entry 7

Linh nearly dropped her mug of green tea when she saw that her sister, Bao, was calling her. They had not talked since the move, and Linh almost felt guilty when she looked down at her phone. She had moved, mainly, to get a fresh start at a new job and in a new town. She felt as if this way she would not have to compare herself to her sister or anyone else, but Bao was her little sister and Linh felt bad that she went totally independent.

It took her a few seconds to accept the call. She raised the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Linh!" Bao squealed, "How are things? It's been like forever."
"Oh, everything is just fine!" Linh said, trying hard to act her happiest. "I got a new case to solve, so that's my main focus right now."
"Really? That's so cool! I hope you solve it!"
Hearing Bao act so excited for her made Linh's heart warm. She wasn't thinking about jealousy or anything else. She was genuinely happy to hear from her. "Thank you!" Linh took a sip from her cup. "So, how about you?"
Bao cleared her throat. "Well, I just did an audition for this part in an upcoming film from this smaller movie business, but I got it! And guess what else? Darren and I are engaged! He proposed to me on our trip to Yemen this past weekend. It was so romantic! I'm definitely going to send you photos!"

This time, Linh did drop her mug. It shattered all over the floor and scattered around covering the wood in specks and shards of white clay. She was overwhelmed. Once again, the feelings of animosity filled her. Linh wanted to be traveling the world and getting engaged more than anyone else, but it was Bao instead. Who is going to want to date a girl who examines dead bodies and jumps inside dumpsters and just sits at home drinking tea all day? she thought to herself. Tears started to form in her eyes and overflow onto her cheeks.

"Hello?" Bao asked. "Linh, is everything okay?"
"Yes, everything is fine. Congratulations of your engagement. I can't wait for your wedding, but I have to go."

Entry 6

The city was so covered in fog that all Linh could see was grey. She was outside of the police station taking a quick breather. The office was suspiciously busy today. For some reason, all of the citizens were tense and many came in that day to report a suspicious figure they've seen in the night dressed in all black. The officers knew nothing about it prior and began investigating. Linh had been interviewing people all day. Her neck had a piercing pain and her lower back felt heavy, like a rock.
She began to daydream. Earlier, one of her coworkers told her the newspaper man had accidentally shipped out papers from six years ago, so Linh began to remember what it was like back then. That year, her sister had brought home her boyfriend for the first time, and Linh had just enrolled in the police academy. She sighed and leaned back on the brick wall. Back then, things were happy. She had young dreams, like having a husband or boyfriend and being a top officer, that she hoped would've come true by now, but sadly, they hadn't.

Just as Linh was about to go inside, disappointed in herself, she hurt a large banging sound. She turned around to find the hooded man, the one everyone had described, the one dressed in all black, walking down the sidewalk. She barely noticed him at first with all the fog, but once she looked closely, she knew it was him without a doubt. Linh was flustered. What do I do? she thought. Do I call another officer? But what if he gets away? The body was getting farther and farther away, and Linh began to sweat. Forget it, she said to herself. I'm going after him.

She began causally walking behind him. He didn't turn around, so she began to pick up the pace. She tried to look closer, but the fog made it impossible. Suddenly, he turned a corner into an alleyway that Linh was familiar with. It had a dead end. She panicked. What am I going to do? If I follow him, it'll be just us two and I know I'll get caught. She looked around. A dumpster laid directly across from the alley. Linh hated herself for coming up with the idea, but it was her duty as a cop. She climbed inside and peered through the crack. It was stinky and cold, but at least it was empty.

As she looked, she saw the mysterious man reading something. He stood there inspecting it for a few minutes before slamming it into the ground, mushing it under his shoe, and leaving. Linh climbed out to see where he went, but he vanished. She pouted. How could I miss such a vital opportunity? Then, she wondered what he could've been reading that made him so angry. She tiptoed in the same alley and picked it up. It was the newspaper. She read the front. The death of Ether Maitland?

Entry 5

"Okay, thank you."
Linh placed the phone down. She was just talking with Mr. Evans' distant cousin, Sandra, who lived on the opposite side of the nation and had not seen Mr. Evans since he was ten years old. She, of course, knew nothing about the scars or anything else important to help the case.
She plopped on the chair and yawned. It was so late, but every night, she was stayed at the office longer doing everything she could to figure something out. The scratches, Jose's account, the evidence from other people in the city. It seemed as if as soon as something new came up, it just confused the situation even more.
Another officer popped her head into her door. "It's too late, Luong. You should head home."
She was right. Linh had not eaten or taken any kind of break all day. She nodded and headed out.

As Linh walked downtown to her apartment, a lot of people were outside. People were out of the bar drinking, other people were walking home with their bags, and teenagers were running around in the night. She wondered what all the fuss was about. Last night, she left at the same time, and it was a ghost town.
Then, someone yelled "Look up!". Linh, along with everybody else, looked up. In the black sky was, suddenly, a small flash of yellow. It darted across the sky quickly and only for an instant, and then it was gone. A variety of reactions came about. Kids were cheering and screaming, adults were gasping, but most people were making wishes. As Linh looked around, she saw, once again, hope in everyone's eyes. There was excitement and wonder, the same thing that she wanted the people to feel when she finally was able to solve this case, so Linh looked up again and made a wish too. She wished to get the recognition she finally deserved after she would catch the person responsible for murdering Mr. Evans. She wished to not be the "little newbie" anymore, so she ran home and got right back to investigating now that she had more motivation.

Entry 4

Linh walked to the front door of MADO. The chief had notified her that the final pages of Mr. Evan’s autopsy had been finalized, and Linh had been studying what she had so far for days. So far, nothing was shocking except what Jose had told her the other day, but she had reached yet another dead end.

She pushed the door open and after sitting for a while, she found Annabeth. She was who Chief Clark told her to find when she arrived.

“Good Morning, Nurse Willis,” Linh said. She wanted to act professional. She was the officer in charge of the town’s most shocking case after all, and she didn’t want to come off as ametuer.

“Good Morning,” she said. There was a short pause. “Officer…”

“Officer Luong,” Linh said. She was a bit disappointed that she didn’t know her name, but she was pretty new to the town. “But please call me Linh.”

“Linh,” Annabeth repeated, nodding her head. “Well then call me Annabeth.”

“Alright Annabeth, I’m here on behalf of my precinct.” I started. “You see I’ve been assigned to the death of Mr. Evans. If I could I would like to look at the autopsy of Mr. Evans please.”

“Oh of course,” Annabeth said scrambling. It was clear that she wasn’t prepared, but Linh didn’t mind.“ If you could give me a second to review the details, I haven’t looked at it in a while.”

After a minute of Annabeth scanning the document and Linh observing the inside of the hospital room, Annabeth gasped.

“What is it?” Linh asked. She was excited that she could maybe and finally get some more answers about the case, but anxious for what was to come as well. Annabeth showed her. It was picture of Mr. Evans’ back. It was all torn up with scars, but they were not recent. Linh was trained enough as an officer to know that they had been healed years ago, and Annabeth confirmed her prediction.

“Scars on the back most likely occurred between 50 years and 60 years ago.”

Entry 3

Night had fallen and the city was quiet. Linh was on the couch watching TV. She had been at work all day, and her brain was fried from reviewing the case over and over again. This was her way of relaxation. She took a sip of her milk tea and wiped her face.

Linh suddenly snapped out of her daze quickly when she heard footsteps in the hall. They weren't particularly loud stomps, but it was late at night, so any noise was amplified. Then, there was a ruffle of clothing and a sliding of paper. She held her breath as the unknown figure walked away. When she could no longer hear them, she crept quietly to the door to see an envelope. She picked it up, hoped it wasn't anything dangerous, and broke the seal. Inside was a note:

I heard you're the police detective overlooking the Mr. Evans case. I have something to tell you. Please come to my room. It's room 2 on floor 2 in the West building. 

Jose

Linh new about Jose as she occasionally saw him walking to work at the bar as she was walking home from work, but besides that they had no interactions. She took a deep breath, and even though it sounded fishy, she had to take the risk for her career and for the truth. She looked in the mirror right beside the door before she left. Jose was the most attractive man in town.

Ugh, this is for work. Not a date, she thought to herself.

She rode the elevator and walked to his room. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He opened up instantly.

"Hurry inside," he loudly whispered. Flustered, she ran in. 

Jose slumped on the couch.

"Everything is driving me crazy," Jose said, "I am too scared to leave my house, but I have to because of work or I'm going to get kicked out of apartment."

Linh tried to focus on his distress instead of his looks. "Tell me what happened, Jose."

He looked around. "On the night of Mr. Evans' death, I was headed to work the 12 to 3 shift at my job, so I waited for the elevator to come. When the doors slid open, there was Mr. Evans and a suspicious figure in a mask." He was really shaken up. "I didn't get a good look at anything because before I knew it, the person hit me upside the head and knocked me out."

Linh was shocked. "What time was this around?"

"12:10ish" Jose said, "I was running a bit behind because I napped and overslept."

Linh gasped. If this was around midnight, this must've been the witnessing of Mr. Evans before his death.

"Why didn't you report this earlier?" Linh asked. She distinctly remembered Jose being called to the station.

"Because Lamar gives me bad vibes. The way he is so adamant about this case... I felt like if I spoke up, he'd go nuts or... like... accuse me."

Linh understood where Jose was coming from. Lamar was intimidating, but he was still being a bit suspicious. 

"Is there any proof of the event?" she asked. "Not that I don't believe you or anything."

Jose sighed, paused, and then pulled the hair that covered his forehead back. There was a giant, purple knot. He was telling the truth.

Entry 2

Name of Victim: Mr. Evans
Cause of Death: Stab wound to the stomach by sharp object
Estimated Time of Death: 12:14 am

Linh's eyes scanned the autopsy papers for two days. Chief Clark had finally assigned her to a case, the death of Mr. Evans, who lived in the Maitland for 40 years. She never knew the man, but she did know this was important. The city was different now and she noticed. The people were quieter and everything seemed more bland.

Linh felt stressed. If she could not solve her first case, then she couldn't prove her colleagues wrong. She drank more of her tea, but this time it was ginger, which was more pungent to keep her energized and focused.

Suddenly, there was a knock. Linh froze. She couldn't answer the door in her orange, polka dot pajama pants with bed head from this morning that she never fixed.

Linh sighed, got up, and answered the door, praying that it wouldn't be a sexy man on the other side seeing her look like a slob. It was just Suzy and Faith, but Suzy was wearing a geometric patterned romper, Faith had on a tight dress, and they both had full faces of makeup. What was going on?

"You have been in your house for two straight days!" Suzy said. She almost sounded bitter.
Linh yawned. "It's because of work."
"Well, forget work! Conrad is having a concert tonight, and you're coming!" Faith squealed.
"What?!"
"You never go out! You need a lifestyle change, honey!" Suzy added.
"Exactly! I never do, so I can't! I'm way to nervous!"
"You are coming!" Faith declared, "We're going to have a fun girls night. You can go and blame it on a simple twist of fate."

Linh knew she wasn't going to win this fight. She ran to the bedroom and quickly threw on the first outfit she could think of: a olive green top that showed a bit of cleavage and jeans with some dangle earrings. She applied a layer of foundation to cover the moles that were scattered all over her face that she was insecure about. She couldn't decide between a red lipstick or just a simple gloss, but decided on the gloss. Then she brushed her straight, thick, black hair. She hated it. It was at an awkward length where it laid just above her shoulders.

She stumbled back into the hall with her shoes barely on, and took a deep breath.
"Okay, I'm ready," Linh said, and for the first time in a while, she had a genuine smile.

Entry 1

The day started with Linh brewing a cup of hibiscus tea and opening a box of Lemon Crunchies from Sayori. It was her kind of coping mechanism for when she was sulking, which she had found herself doing frequently since she moved into town last month. 

The sun had just come up, and the morning was quiet. Despite the city being busy, there were hardly any cars on the roads and only a few people out. The light poured through the curtains and throughout the living room. She favored Sunday mornings like these. She didn't have to wake up while it was still dark and head to police station just to sit at her desk and get no cases. Instead, she could sit in the recliner and reflect.

She had finished off the whole row of biscuits, so she slid the plastic tin back into the cardboard box. Then, she got up and rinsed her cup off in the sink. 

What to do now? Linh thought. Her life was stale. Suzy wouldn't be able to meet up because she was playing tennis with Elizabeth, and Faith was working at the doctor's office. 

Linh rested her body over the countertop and pulled out her cell phone. In bold text was: No new notifications. 

Geez, thanks.

She unlocked the phone and opened up Snapgram. Sliding through the various selfies and memes, she stopped at a photo that was uploaded by her younger sister, Bao, two days ago. The photo was of her and her three year long boyfriend, Darren, as they stood hugging in front of a waterfall back in Vietnam. Her caption was: "I love waterfalls but I love him more!"

As disgustingly sappy as the post was, Linh contemplated. Bao was 27, three years younger than her, and she was living life to the fullest. She had Darren, who was great to her, and was an actress, making twice as much as Linh. And what did Linh have? No one but her two friends, and her job as a police detective where she was never assigned anything because they doubted her as a young, attractive, female, minority.

She immediately began to sulk again and sighed heavily as she exited the app, but suddenly, her phone vibrated. It was an incoming call from Clark, the police chief. Why would he be calling me on my day off? Why would he be calling me anyways? Linh, since she got hired, never even spoke to him.

"Luong, there's been a death," Clark said, "Report to the station."