Post by Kwan on Jan 12, 2012 13:18:51 GMT -5
* * * Entry First And Only * * *
A Knock at the Door
Rupert Wolfe found a body on his doorstep when he went to get his morning paper. The paper featured a report on the state of the housing market and an inspirational piece about a local handicapped youth’s struggle to join the volleyball team. The body was naked and covered head to toe in satanic iconography. A post-it note, stuck to the corpse’s back, read simply “solve me”. Rupert, still in his terrycloth robe, processed this information and took a sip of his coffee.
It was at this point that the half-gallon of gasoline and fertilizer in the body’s chest cavity exploded.
The video cut out as Rupert jumped back and the explosion reached for his face. A strong silence fell over the room. Re-watching this video wasn’t easy for any of them. Rupert was one of their best operatives, easily one of the smartest of the group. He was well liked, but was now in critical state at the nearby hospital.
“Ideas?” Chief Williams asked. No one spoke up. “Come on people, we need ideas. One of you must have something to work with.” Chief Williams was an intimidating man, towering well over many of the other officers. His hair was buzzed short and he was clean-shaven, and he demanded as much from the rest of the force. He looked like an athlete, and legends of him running down would-be escaped crooks or taking down criminals with his bare hands often circulated about the office. His dark green eyes made his glare that much more forceful. That glare was now making its way across the room, complimented by his famous scowl, daring everyone to remain silent.
“What case was Rupert working on?” Detective Eric Martin asked. Eric was one of the senior members of the force. He was in his late thirties and was one of the top minds on the force, second only to Rupert. He wasn’t very tall himself, standing just a bit shorter than most of the other officers. It was rare to see him smile, and his brown eyes seemed downcast more than usual recently. Chief Williams’ eyes fixed on him.
“Detective Wolfe was working on the occult case,” the chief said, a hint of anger in his voice. “I told him it was a waste of time. Those people are lunatics, but they hardly seem dangerous.” He turned back to the screen, staring at the paused explosion. “I stand by that.”
“With all due respect chief,” Eric said, “it doesn’t seem that way. You saw that body. It was covered in all sorts of symbols. That screams occult.” A brief tense moment filled the air. Chief Williams wasn’t used to having his judgments questioned.
“You’d think that,” Williams said quietly, nodding. “But you’re not looking at everything, Martin.” Williams turned back to him. “You were at the scene. Use your damn common sense.”
Eric had been one of the first to arrive at Wolfe’s house, shortly after his neighbors had reported the explosion. It was a grisly scene. Rupert had bad burns covering most of his upper torso, though it looked like his face had caught most of the fire. A piece of bone was sticking out of his leg, though Eric wasn’t sure whether it was shrapnel from the explosion or he had broken his leg. The outside of the house was a sooty black from all the smoke. Thankfully, the fire had died quickly and wasn’t able to reach it. Ambulances and fire trucks had rushed to the scene, and Rupert was loaded into an ambulance and rushed to the emergency room.
Eric was surveying the scene, looking for any trace of who had left the body there. Whoever had been there was good. Nothing was out of place, there were no footprints, and none of Rupert’s neighbors had seen anyone suspicious. It seemed impossible that somebody had managed to walk up to Rupert’s front door with a corpse, drop it off, and get away unseen. His neighbors were all shocked and they all told the same story; Rupert was such a good neighbor, they couldn’t believe that anybody would do something like this, they couldn’t believe that it had happened in their neighborhood. Those interviews had all proven fruitless.
The investigation at the scene turned up no good leads. Many of the officers left the scene disappointed. Someone was stationed to watch the house and make sure no one came back for Rupert’s family at all times. Mrs. Wolfe had been devastated by the bombing, and Rupert’s children were being held out of school until further notice. There was the chance that whoever had left the body on their doorstep did it out of some sort of hate or vengeance. Nobody on the force would forgive themselves if anything happened to Rupert’s family.
There were still no good leads by the next morning, until Chief Williams had found something interesting in the office. It was a DVD with a sticky note on it that read, simply, “Solve Me.” Rather than throw it out, the chief had it played. It showed Rupert’s house at night. All was quiet until a large eighteen-wheeler showed up, blocking Rupert’s house from view. It was in front of the camera for a long while before driving off again. The body was on Rupert’s doorstep. The video jumped to the morning and showed all the horrible details of the bombing.
The officers had brought in one of Rupert’s neighbors for questioning and started work to track down the owner of the truck. The camera angle looked as though it had been from his house. The neighbor was removed from the suspect list after the questioning. He lived alone, and worked the overnight shift at a local supermarket. His co-workers had vouched that he was there that night. They still hadn’t been able to track down the owner of the truck, though they were getting closer.
“The bastard who did this was close by,” Chief Williams said. “Whoever it is, they’re smart and it looks like they want to toy with us. What they don’t know is that we’ll beat them at their own game.” The chief looked around. “They got to Rupert. But we’ll get to them.” He looked back at Eric. “Figure it out yet, Martin?”
“No, sir,” Eric said. “Until we get evidence to the contrary, we have to assume it was a member of the occult. It’s the obvious conclusion.” Eric wasn’t willing to base his case off of a hunch the chief had, no matter how right he believed he was. This had to be the work of the occult.
“We’ve got the truck!” The shout rang out through the otherwise quiet office. Chief Williams looked at Eric.
“Come with me,” he said tersely. “It’s time we find out who did this.”
Neither Eric nor Chief Williams said much on the drive to the truck. The chief was obviously angry that Eric questioned his judgment. Most of the officers went were Chief Williams pointed them, and there were many times where he was right. Eric was not one of those officers. He and the chief had butted heads before, but Eric had been right at the time. It was obvious the lives of the force were at stake in this case. It had to be solved quickly. They couldn't afford to waste time on hunches.
The eighteen-wheeler was found abandoned on the side of the highway. Eric and Williams stepped out of their car and moved to the back of the truck, several officers close behind. Everyone stood, guns at the ready, waiting for someone to throw open the back. Eric stepped up, looked back at everyone, and grabbed the lever. With one quick heave he threw the door open and jumped out of the way.
The inside of the truck was covered in blood. It had all dried, staining the floor and the walls. Whatever had happened here hadn’t been pretty.
Eric and Williams both entered the back of the truck. At the back end of the container was a knife, coated in blood. A pile of clothes was sitting near the knife. Williams had one of the other officers take both in for inspection. “So let’s see if we can piece this together,” Eric said. “The killer used this truck to his advantage. He parked it outside of Rupert’s house to block the camera and set up his first corpse. Looks like whoever that bomb had been, was killed in here,” he observed, gesturing to all the blood. Williams nodded. “The question is now whether or not our killer was the driver.”
The two of them hopped out of the back. Eric holstered his gun and stared at the blood. Williams walked toward the front of the truck, gun still at the ready. “Seems pretty clear to me,” Eric stated. “We need to find this driver.” He heard the front door of the truck get thrown open by Williams.
“Found him,” Williams’ gruff voice shouted back. Eric pulled his gun from its holster and rushed to the front of the truck. There was another corpse sitting in the driver’s seat. The dead man was naked, with bruises all over his body. Deep slashes covered most of his torso. The words “Very Good” were written in some kind of black ink on the note stuck to his back. The smell of decomposing flesh was overwhelming. Eric turned away from the sight, fighting the urge to retch.
Williams turned to the other officers. “We need to find out who he is and where he’s from. Get pictures and get me information, fast.” The other officers raced to comply with the chief’s demands.
Eric went home later that night, trying to forget the scenes that were flying through his head. He was reliving the bombing in his head. The fire kept jumping at Rupert, always pausing just before it reached his face. He could see both of the corpses vividly. The satanic symbols and “Very Good” kept flashing through his brain. He could see them both, etched into his mind in a dark red. The blood in the back of the truck was fresh, dripping down the walls as he gazed in. The killer was there, laughing at him as he ran to and fro trying to piece together everything they had so far.
Everything about this case pointed to someone who was more twisted than they had encountered before.
He walked out into the living room, trying to shake the images out of his head, and joined his wife on the couch. She was watching the news, as they showed the blackened outside of Rupert’s home. Apparently, someone had told the media that this was an expected terrorist attack, and that the police were hunting down a suspect. It looked like the chief’s handiwork. He shook his head and sighed.
Sarah looked at him, annoyance clear on her face. “What, Eric? Is this case too boring for you? Would you prefer something different, maybe a case that would put your family in even more danger?” Eric tried to speak up, but Sarah cut him off. “You saw what happened at Rupert’s house, Eric. That could be us at any minute.”
Eric didn’t say anything. He stared at his wife, who returned her gaze to the television screen. “What the fuck are you thinking Eric?” She said quietly. “If something happens to you out there… Or worse, if whoever is doing this comes to the house, our home…” She looked back at Eric, looking more sad than anything now. “Drop this case. Don’t give these people any reason to come after you. Protect yourself, and your family.”
“I’m not going to drop the case, Sarah.” Eric’s eyes were downcast, but his voice was stern. “I’m going to stop them before they even think to come here. I can’t just leave on something like this. The force needs me.” Sarah stared at him for a long while.
“If that’s how it’s going to be… Fuck you.” She got up and walked upstairs.
Eric walked out of the house, slamming the front door behind him. This was happening far too often for his liking. Sarah had always been worried about him since he had joined the force, but normally she was calm about it. Recently however, she had started to resent him for taking on what she considered dangerous cases. He didn’t know what she was talking about. They were the same cases he had always taken. Every one of them was inherently dangerous, but neither he nor his family had ever gotten hurt by one before. He had tried to explain that to her many a time, but she refused to hear it.
He got in his car and drove off, just looking to get out of the house. The images from both scenes came flooding back into his mind, mixing with his frustration with Sarah. He drove more recklessly than he should have, just avoiding major collisions several times. Eric finally stopped, parking on the side of street in a part of town he didn’t know. He put his head in his hands and tried his best to empty his mind of all the thoughts plaguing him.
A gunshot rang out through the night, close by.
Eric jumped in his seat and looked out the window just in time to see the shadow of a person sprinting across the street. He immediately called for support, but as he opened the car door, the shadow disappeared. Cursing, Eric turned to where he had seen the person run from. He jogged over. Sure enough, there was another corpse on the ground.
This corpse was clothed, unlike the other ones. The only mark on the dead woman was the gunshot to the head. On her back was another sticky note, this one reading “Too Slow.” Eric cursed again. This was definitely the work of their killer.
Chief Williams and several other officers arrived shortly afterwards. The body was collected as Williams came over to talk to Eric. “Apparently, she was a friend of Rupert.” Williams looked at him sternly. “I think it’s time we talk to Mrs. Wolfe again.”
Eric couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You can’t be serious chief. How can she be a suspect?” Chief Williams said nothing. He glared at Eric, daring the detective to say more. Eric lowered his eyes. “…If you say so Chief. We’ll bring her in.”
Eric came into the office the next day to see that Chief Williams had started the interrogation without him. He sighed and entered the room. He was supposed to have been here, if only to protect Mrs. Wolfe from the chief. He walked in quietly and noticed that Rupert’s wife had tears in her eyes. He hoped the chief hadn’t been too harsh.
“How can you believe I would do that to Rupert, or to anyone?” She managed between sobs. Eric glared at Williams, though the chief didn’t seem to notice.
“Jealousy,” the chief said bluntly. “Wouldn’t surprise me if Rupert had been sleeping around. Or maybe money was involved. Too bad the bomb didn’t work as expected, huh?” Eric shook his head.
“Mrs. Wolfe, forgive the chief here. You’re free to go.” Williams glared at Eric, who leaned down to whisper to him. “Chief, she’s a cop wife. You can’t keep her here. The second she finds out we have no credible evidence and remembers that we can’t detain her, we’ll have quite the situation on our hands.” Eric felt Williams tense up, probably out of rage. The chief then sighed and nodded.
“We’re done here. Leave.” He said tersely. Mrs. Wolfe left the room quickly, still in tears. Williams turned to Eric. “Next time you question me, it’ll be your badge.”
Eric was about to respond when another officer entered the room. “We’ve got another killing. It’s our guy again; major cuts all over the front of the body.” The officer looked down, his shoulders sagging slightly. “It’s another one of our guys this time.”
“What does the note say?” Eric asked.
The officer paused for a moment. “’Run.’ The body was found this morning. If you want to see it, you two should head out there now.” Both Eric and Williams nodded, forgetting their tension.
The scene was exactly like all the others. The body was more torn up than they were used to, with huge lacerations covering its entirety. Eric didn’t bother looking at the corpse for very long. He had seen enough. Each killing brought the town into more of a frenzy and they kept getting nowhere with every new victim. The bodies were only getting worse.
Another officer… It almost seemed as though the killer was having fun with this, whatever he was doing. The incident with Rupert had already proved that no one was safe, but this had struck another blow with the force.
Sarah’s words flashed through his head. “Drop the case... Protect your family.” That option was starting to look more appealing with every new incident.
Williams finished inspecting the body and looked at him quizzically. He walked over to Eric, with a glare far more intense than he had ever seen before. “Martin,” he said gruffly. “It’s time you talk.” Eric looked at the chief, confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Tell me everything. Where have you been when every one of these murders has occurred? You call us in to report a shooting, but there’s no sign of the runner anywhere. You take the day off the night of the incident at Wolfe’s. This happened sometime last night, after you had left and before you came into the office.” His face turned into a large scowl. “Tell me everything.”
Eric couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You really think I’m doing this?”
Chief Williams glared at him. “I’m starting to suspect that.”
Eric left the scene after that. He couldn’t believe that Williams thought he was the top suspect now. The chief and his hunches had only led them down the wrong path each time. Now he was wasting even more time by chasing after one of his own men. Eric was going home to tell Sarah that he would drop the case. No more disturbing crime scenes and, hopefully, no more arguments. Things could go back to normal for the detective.
Eric opened the door to find a man he didn’t know sitting in his living room. One thousand thoughts flashed through his mind at once. “You’re all so slow,” the man said, a sneer growing on his face. “It’s a shame. Maybe I should have bombed you instead of poor Rupert.” He stood up and pointed his pistol at Eric. “This should be a fun one for Chief Williams.” He held up his other hand. In it was a sticky note that read ‘What Now?’ The killer lifted his gun, pointing it right at Eric’s face. “Sorry detective. Nothing personal.”
The gunshot rang out through the night sky as the killer pulled the trigger...
