THE NOT SO COLD COLD-CASE Part 1

Dr. Josef is standing in his office and scrolling through the files on his computer. It takes him a few seconds to find the folder he is looking for. He opens the file and scrolls through the documents until he finds what he is looking for. It carries today’s date, just 50 years ago. Dr. Josef opens the file and prints the first few pages. While walking to the copying machine across the room, Dr. Josef realizes that he was about to make a crucial mistake. He is holding a cold file in his hands; the case was given free to use in classes, but there is one thing he almost forgot about. He flips through the pages until he finds the newspaper article. “MURDER CASE STILL OPEN – WILL YOUR CHILD BE NEXT?”emblazons above a picture of the investigators. Despite the tragedy of the headline, he smiles as he looks at the picture; as he looks at himself. He lived in Baltimore, being a counselor for the Baltimore police and helping them solve many cases. He looks around the room, gazes at his reflection in the window, and then looks back at the picture. He grins, satisfied; despite knowing that he is immortal, seeing that he does not age always impresses him. But with this power comes great responsibility; every few years, he must change his place of residence, must be doubly careful that not many pictures are taken of him, and has to minimize his social contacts. As soon as someone realizes that he seems not to have aged, he must leave. So, it comes that he spends his life all over the world. Experience tells him that this might be his last semester in New York City; it was a great time, indeed. But the favorite part of his life was living in Baltimore and helping the police, helping them solve many cases; many cases, but this one in his hands.

The air is stale and warm. The moment the door opens and Dr. Josef enters the room brings only short relief to the students sitting the closest to the door. As sudden as the fresh air entered, as fast it vanishes into the big lecture room. Some students are tapping on their tablet screens; others are chatting with their neighbors. A small rumor goes through the seats as the lecturer walks by. He seems young and could easily be considered one of the students; sure thing, some students do not recognize him as the lecturer at first.

Standing in front of the class, Dr. Josef gets nervous. He tries to hide it with a smile and puts his hands in his pockets. Despite his fear, the students get quiet and focus on him rather than their screens or friends.

»Hey there,« says Dr. Josef into the big lecture room; from the back’s concentrated faces, he can read that he must speak up, »Hello, everyone. « Dr. Josef stops and looks around the room, focusing on almost every student for a split second. When he is sure to have everyone’s attention, he continues.

»Welcome to your first lesson in Forensics,« he shouts into the big lecture room full of first-semester students, »Prepare yourselves for the most exciting yet exhausting class.«