The class stood and the sound of feet scuffing against the vinyl flooring drowned any chatter. Jack placed his hand on Nathans shoulder, squeezing gently.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen that Nathan, it brings back good memories’.
‘Glad it does for you Jack, any news on the autopsy yet?’
‘Nothing yet, they need to let the body fully thaw first. It was frozen stiff when she was found, any damage or identifiable marks wouldn’t show until the blood has returned to liquid…….it’s a waiting game old friend!’
‘Great, I’m going out for lunch’
‘Ok, hey, great work today pal……it’s good to have you on our side’
Nathan smiled as he left the room, he showed no sign of apology or sympathy toward Doctor Lime, he avoided him as if he weren’t there. Making his way back down the hall he found himself humming the song that the Wolf had used when slicing up the girl. It was then that he realised. The song was the one he had heard in his dream last night. He moved hastily toward the elevator, Jesus, this fucker has already worked his way into my head.
***
The loud voices could be heard through the slight gap in the open window as the car turned the final corner. Abby shifted in her seat as they neared the school. Her mum decreased the speed as they entered the twenty miles per hour zone.
‘Look mummy, there’s Katie……see?’
‘Oh yes, I see her baby’ smiling at the joy that came from her daughter.
The small Clio came to a stop on the opposite side to the front entrance. The hand break clicked several times as she applied it. She noticed her daughter edging closer to the door handle.
‘Abby’.
‘Ah huh’ her movements froze.
‘Wait for me please, you’ll see your friends in a second’ the young girl’s actions reminding her of an excited puppy. Lindsay climbed out from the driver’s seat and pushed her door shut. Moving around the front of the car, to keep an eye on her daughter, her steps placed lightly upon the snowy pavement, she checked the road for any oncoming traffic.
Abby’s door was pulled ajar and Lindsay leant over her to unclick the seat belt, the clunk told them both it was now free. She moved back allowing room for Abby to climb out of the car, her light brown hair blown to one side by a gust of wind.
‘Wait’ Lindsay warned her, the open hand placed on Abby’s shoulder. Lindsay could feel the tension building up in the little girl, she was like a cat, wriggling with excitement and preparing to pounce upon an un-expecting prey. Her hand a starting block, the girl was the runner and Lindsay’s mouth was the pistol.
‘Go on then babe’ and with the first word spoken she was off, the grey hound chasing the bunny. Lindsay laughed as she watched her daughter sprinting with such energy and enthusiasm. The pink backpack swayed violently from left to right as she crossed the road. She hoped that the girl would stay on her feet, the icy floor gritted for grip, her little legs moving rapidly.
Lindsay climbed back into the car, her eyes constantly fixed on Abby. The engine groaned to life and the mirrors were checked as she pulled out slowly. Clear both ways, the car was positioned into the left hand lane, the front wheels making contact with the zebra crossing. Lindsay noticed Abby waving from the playground. She fired an over-enthusiastic wave back with the silly Cheshire cat grin plastered onto her face. What both of them failed to notice was the black van parked opposite the play area. Within the van lay the animal, his eyes following his Abby as she moved along the fence waving. He waved back, it was less of an effort than her mother’s, but she never noticed him.
‘You will notice me Abbeeeeeeeee……I know you will!
***
The vibration caused the mobile phone to spin in effortless circles. Nathan could hear the dull sound as it seeped through the bedside table. He walked from the bathroom, toothbrush in mouth, and picked the small Samsung from its resting place. The phone had been given to him by Jack, communication was a must and Nathan didn’t own a mobile phone. He preferred to remain unreachable, when you have a mobile you are always unnecessarily reachable, he liked to say.
The screen displayed the name Jack. Knowing who it was he swallowed the mouth full of toothpaste and removed the brush that was lodged between the rows of teeth.
‘Hello’.
‘Nathan it’s Jack, are you awake?’ Nathan pondered slightly on the confusing question that his friend just asked.
‘Jack, firstly I know it’s you, your name showed up on the screen……secondly, I’ve just answered your call, so yes…..I am awake!’
‘Okay easy now, still not a morning person I see……….bad dreams last night?’
‘Yeah, another night of them………what’s up?’
‘Oh, right, well the coroner’s report will be done this afternoon. She just called to say that the body had thawed.’
‘That’s great Jack, when can we go?’
‘Now if it suits you?’ the answer was what Nathan had hoped for.
‘Ideal, send the car’ he ended the call and moved back to the bathroom tossing the phone onto the unmade bed. This was the type of news he enjoyed getting up for. Something may be found on or in that girl’s body that helps create a new stepping stone for the case, he decided to freshen up quickly as there was no time to waste.
Malcolm collected him from the front of the hotel, the car sat idling, awaiting the guest. He climbed inside, the warmth greeted him and his jacket was undone, his cold skin accepting the more ideal climate. The usual morning welcomes were fired between both men as the car pulled away.
He met Jack outside the old building. The brickwork dated back to around the 1800’s. The only thing that didn’t was the eye catching plaque by the entrance. The gold soaked in the sun’s rays and intensified it. Nathan squinted to read the name.
‘Doctor Sally Brough’ he spoke aloud.
‘Yeah, she’s a catch’
‘I’m married Jack!’
‘Yeah but you can look, not touch’ he joked.
Jack dug into his pockets and removed a small green tub of Vicks Nasal Rub.
‘Is it that bad?’ asked Nathan as he contemplated dipping his little finger in and smearing his top lip with the transparent goo.
‘Apparently so, due to the body been frozen and only just thawed out, the decomposition phase speeds up slightly. Bear in mind she has been dead several hours, maybe days Nathan……want some?’ the open container poised in front of his face. He decided it was best to apply a thin layer, just in case. The refreshing menthol aroma brought tears to his eyes. He loved the smell as it reminded him of his childhood. His mother would smear a large blob upon his upper lip and into the case of the pillow where he slept. His eyes would sting as he rubbed the sleeve of his pyjamas across his face. Jack placed the tub back into his coat pocket and both men entered the Morgue after inhaling deeply through their nostrils. The corridor before them was long and narrow, every ten feet or so a chiselled post protruded from the walls, the room had a Greek feeling to it and seemed different from the external appearance. To the left they noticed the Coroner’s office, the door was ajar and the room was empty.
‘She must be with the body’ stated Jack.
The pair walked side by side along the tiled floor, the age showing as the pattern was visibly faded. The copious amounts of shoes traipsing back and forth had reduced the colour to a pale brown, some patches of white could be seen where the colour had vanished completely. The walls either side held mounted pictures of the human anatomy, parts which neither men had seen or heard of, many items were given an obscure and lengthy name, the ones they would attempt but couldn’t pronounce. They stopped at the door labelled as the Operating room. The door offered a hollow sound as Jack tapped the centre with his knuckles.
‘Come in Jack’ the female voice faint from inside the room. Jack flashed a smile to Nathan as he pushed down on the handle.
Inside the room was well lit. Large four bulb panels were scattered across the
ceiling lighting every section of the box they stood in. Doctor Brough stood at the far end of the room behind a long metal table.
‘Morning gentlemen’ she greeted with a small smile
‘How did you know it was me Sal?’
‘Come on Jack, I can tell your knock anywhere. You obviously spend too much time here……..I’m just wandering if it’s me you come to see, or the bodies?’
Nathan stood to Jack’s side awaiting an introduction. He remained silent whilst observing the awkward chemistry between the two.
‘Hi, you must be the famous Nathan Cawley…….it’s a pleasure’ her hand stretched out over the corpse waiting for Nathan to grab it and commence shaking. He chose not to when he noticed the surgical gloves she donned were splattered with red.
‘Pleasure’s all mine’ he winked.
‘So, Sal, what can you tell us so far?’ asked Jack
Sally moved from behind the table and stood next to Jack.
‘Well what I do know is that she didn’t die from the cuts the killer gave her in the movie. See here!’ her finger hovered above a deep cut on the girl’s right cheek.
‘This was the first slice he gave, multiple incisions in fact, looks like several razor cuts. The wounds are shallow and the skin is finely cut, a knife would have dug deeper and ruptured the muscle around the cheek bone…..which it hasn’t in this case.’ She moved back around the table.
‘Now this is what killed her. It looks like he removed the heart, badly. It was hard to determine when as the body was frozen, but this morning this hole was filled with a dark red blood, even after de-frosting, it held its colour……the blood had pumped from the organ and filled her lungs……that tells me she was alive when he began removing it.’
‘You said he?’ asked Nathan
‘I did. Two reasons why……One, the bruising on her skin is in large sections, hands to be exact and bigger than a female…..Two, to remove the heart meant breaking through the rib-cage, not an easy job. So power and force would be needed to do so.’
‘Fuck’ Jack whispered
‘Yep, one sick puppy you have here Jack. On a better note I couldn’t find any indication of forced intercourse, there are no signs…..which would be visible as bruising on the inner thighs, normally found there as that is where the attacker grips the legs to open them.’
Nathan couldn’t help but stare at the gaping hole where her heart had been, the skin was sliced so bad it appeared to have a criss-cross effect at the edges.
‘Did you find the heart?’ he asked her with suspicion
‘No’
‘So he keeps a memento then………..maybe to eat, or possibly just keep sake’
Sally left the table and moved toward a grey locker, the door screeched as she opened it. From inside she removed a coat hanger. Hanging from it was a Red Cloak.
‘This was under her body, frozen to it actually……it had soaked up a lot of her blood also, so I think he killed her when she was wearing it!’
‘Hey there little Red Riding Hood……………….’ Nathan sang to himself. Jack and Sally both heard it and waited for an answer.
‘He thinks he’s a Wolf……….he made the girl dress up as Little Red Riding Hood…….dragged her through a wood and sliced her up, removing the heart.’
‘Your point is?’ asked Jack, the same question floating through Sally’s head.
‘My point is he’ll do it again…….and soon. The preparation this man has gone through, the ritual he will have set himself, the copious amounts of rules he must obey. He is obviously a fan of the story, could be a good place to start. He removes the heart but for what purpose? We need to concentrate on what he is telling us, but it won’t be that easy, otherwise he wouldn’t send the images our way!’
The red garment was hung away in the locker. The cold weather had created the stiff board effect as the blood, soaked up by the fabric, had frozen.
***
Tonight was the last night. The last time he would see his Abby in her safe place. The last time his Abby would sleep, eat and breathe in her safe place. The van sat a few spaces further back than the last time. He tried to avoid suspicion from any prying eyes. He sat with his face to the passenger window. No rain to play with tonight, although a slight snow fall had begun as the forecast predicted. The pink room had been dark since he had arrived, which proved disappointing to him. The last thing he needed was to have missed his girl while she sat at her little desk, his ideal viewing point.
‘Please be awake………Pleeeeeeeease’ he begged.
The light remained extinguished and the timer on his stop watch was approaching ten minutes. He felt an uneasy twang in his stomach, the possibility that he may miss her slowly dawned on him. He deemed the lack of viewing as bad luck and suddenly he began to doubt the chance of abduction for his scheduled date. But everything was planned for tomorrow, everything was ready to go.
The trickle of sweat agitated him and the smacking sound stung his ear as his palm connected with his cheek, dispersing the droplet as it did so. He felt a fear pulsing within him, the fear was not welcome…………..a wolf does not feel fear.
He began clenching his fingers into tight fists, the knuckles cracking and skin fading as it was stretched. He attempted to keep his anger under control, a wolf would have self-control………a wolf would wait patiently, stalking the prey……waiting to pounce.
The invisible guest spoke words of encouragement into his mind, aiming to calm him. Wait patiently, you WILL become, just be patient.
The light caught his eye as he began to inhale deeply and exhale slowly, his chest expanding as the lungs inflated like balloons. The room was empty, but the light was now on. Seconds, he told himself, just a few seconds more.
He watched as the mother of his new girl walked across the room, he noticed the bundle of neatly folded clothes in her arms. His eyes darted back and forth, looking for Abby.
‘Where are you my princess? Where, oh where oh where have you gone?’
Her mother had stopped by the window and kneeled over. She placed the kiss on her daughter’s head and gently stroked her light brown hair. Abby climbed up onto her chair, her hands scrambled over the desk as she located her chosen coloured pencil.
‘Hello Abby………….my sweet, sweeeeeeeeeeeeet Abby’ he felt himself calming. The built up tension escaped his body. Checking his watch he noticed that only a few minutes remained of his self-allocated observation time. He had another scheduled stop to make, one that would put the wheels in motion for tomorrow’s activity.
He smiled as her hair was flicked to one side displaying her neck, he peered through the binoculars. Her skin looked smooth………her neck looked inviting. He noticed the way her throat moved as her head tilted either way. The blood pumping through her Jugular veins began to arouse him, your sweet, sweeeeet blood. The beeping from his wrist distracted him and the previously relieved stress began to creep back into his body. Knowing that he neared the end of his viewing time annoyed him, but he had to stick to his plans, a change now would surely cause problems in the future, he didn’t want problems……especially when so close to the taking.
The van rolled away from its space, the headlights still turned off. He gave Abby one more glance as he drove past her safe place, a slight wiggle of his fingers in her direction, the wave goodbye and see you tomorrow.
***
Nathan entered the briefing room with Jack. The tables had been pushed up against the walls and chairs tucked under them. He counted five persons in the room, all sat at a monitor; their fingers typing frantically.
‘We’re using this as our case room Nathan. Everything we collect comes here’.
‘Where’s the rest of the team?’
‘Out doing the tasks that you gave them!’
Confused he thought hard about issuing tasks……..he hadn’t.
‘Your briefing the other day……..Door to door enquiries, CCTV footage collection.’
‘They’re on
it now?’
‘They are. We have five teams in total working the case, some would say it’s an over kill…..but this is the priority at the moment. I have a conference meeting tomorrow. The victim’s family are attending so I want it to look as though we are putting our all into this Nathan.’
‘The word goes out tomorrow that a killer is loose? Do we have anything else to go off?’
‘Not yet, information is trickle fed back to the team based here. They type and produce all the details, basically creating a huge case file’.
They headed toward the large white board at the end of the room.
‘This is the brainstorming board. The information we find to be most fitting gets placed on here, the idea is to build a large picture of a suspect or suspects.’
‘It’s empty!’
Jack looked to his friend with a grimace. The word empty reminded him that as of now they were nowhere in the case.
‘I know Nathan, the information we have is in no way enough to build a suspect list. What are we going to place on it.......a wolf?’
‘I see your point, but in my experience an empty board can be demoralising…..it makes the team feel as though they haven’t achieved anything……but they have’.
‘Ok, what would you suggest?’
Nathan opened the file on the Wolf, the pictures of the girl starring into his face.
‘Start with these…..to remind them why we’re looking for this guy.’ He grabbed some Blue-tac and began sticking the Polaroid’s into one corner. Next he picked up the blue marker pen and wrote The Wolf in the centre.
‘We know he’s a he. We know he’s careful and confident with what he does. We know he has knowledge of the area, most likely spends a couple of days in Reconnaissance mode watching. He will have a large vehicle also.’
Little Red Page 4