I sat on a bench, in my right hand was a chocolate donut, in my left was a coffee. It was morning, and I could see children with backpacks going to a nearby school. It reminded me, times when my children Katty and Mark were still children. Times where I was nothing other than an unimportant cop with the only duties to fill paperwork and take police reports, desk job was boring but non dangerous. Sometimes I miss those simpler times. Me and my wife were still together. Now I am alone, in a big and empty apartment, with only my job to keep me company.

My phone buzzed, I picked it up. “Give it to me.”

“Hi Gary, you are wanted in the Hotel Castletown. Room 41.”

“I will be there shortly; I am close by.” So, I went in the direction of the hotel. I managed to finish my donut by the time I was there. I was greeted by Liam, who was clearly waiting for me. We exchanged standard greetings. Then I, still with the coffee in my hand, asked, “what do we have here?”

“Body in the bathroom, he was found by the cleaning lady. Go interrogate her, I will try to assess what I can.”

I went to the woman. She looked visibly shaken. “Hello madam. Could you confirm if you are the one who found the body?” She nodded. “How did you find him?”

“He did not leave his apartment for several days. Today was the day he was supposed to check out. He was late so I was instructed to check on him. “

“Why did you not check on him earlier?” I took a sip of a coffee and listened to her answer.

“He told us to not interrupt him, that he will be busy working. If he needs any room service, he will either call or come in person.”

“So, you have no idea how long he laid there?” She shook her head in defiance.

“When was the last time he asked for any service? Some food maybe?”

“Four days ago, at lunch time was the last time we heard anything from him. He asked for scrambled eggs with bacon and orange juice. I remember that because he asked the exact same over and over.”

“Did the victim have any visitors?”

“There was one, the first day, she went away after about an hour.”

“Thanks, that will be it for now. I will check on you later, I need to go check on my colleague.” I found Liam checking on the body and writing something in his notebook. “Found anything?”

“No, nothing worrying at least. He died around four and a half days ago. Severe head trauma, fatal. Traces indicate that he went out of shower, slipped, and died. Does not seem to be any indication of external assistance. Seems to be only the accident, but you can never be sure. I will need to check the whole suite for signs just in case.”

I went to a balcony, the door there was open. Quite a pleasant view from here, you could see coffee marks on the table, and a laptop, now wet. Must have been there for the whole four days and it rained last night. I went to the victim's jacket; It was lying inside on an armchair opposite of TV. I checked it for documents, and they were there. “Wait, I know that guy. I worked on his case.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was accused of the murder of a prostitute few years back. But because the only proof was his sperm in the victim and due to lack of other evidence. He was acquitted on all charges. “

“Do you think that is related?”

“It could be but as you said it looks to be an accident. If he is killed, then it could be karma, otherwise he is unlucky.”

I didn’t really believe in karma. But I know that Liam does. While I did indeed share his beliefs in the past. Years ago, I learned that the biggest scums go unpunished. That if they get some punishment, it was just a stroke of luck and nothing more. I went and asked people in the nearby rooms if they heard anything but none of them were there four days ago. With Liam we concluded that it was indeed an accident. Nothing indicated otherwise, but frankly speaking even if there would be. I would claim ignorance. For that I was sure that this man indeed killed that prostitute. I wanted him in prison, but he was a man with connections and money. He got himself the best layers there were. I remember his smirk when the verdict was called. He was not a man but an animal.

I stood by a river, and I took away the lockpick I found on the balcony. It was obvious that someone went inside through it, while the main entrance had RFID lock, the balcony did not. You could jump from one to the other, then back with a little bit of effort. Someone must’ve picked the lock, assaulted him while he was taking a shower and faked the accident. I should have not concealed that. My job is to uncover crimes, it’s just that this one man was not a human but a beast. Whoever for whatever reason put him down is not my concern. It could be her father, or someone he employed, I remember what he said in court after the verdict. That he will get his vengeance. I do not want him to be taken responsible, as a father I do understand the grief of a man who lost his child. And if it is someone else? I cannot know, I can risk it. But once I do, I cannot take that back. So, I threw the lockpick into the river.