by Tiffany Foxe
“A remembrance. For those we’ve lost,” she explained.
“Like soldiers?” Em asked.
Sophie smiled, amused.
“Like loved ones,” she said.
Chapter 3
Em arrived at a white, inconspicuous building in the industrial district. A sign read “Corazon Diablo.” A police car and crime scene investigation van sat in the parking lot. Yellow crime scene tape lined the back side of the building which met a little dirt alley that hugged the woods. She approached the tape, flashed her badge to the officer standing guard, and ducked under the tape.
A body lay covered in white cloth, shielding any possible bystander from view. Em knelt down beside the body and lifted the cloth up several inches. A young, blonde female was located below, blue eyes wide open. She looked further down. She was wearing a skimpy, black lingerie bra and panties, obviously an employee of the building beside her. There, in the middle of her chest she saw a splintered plank of wood impaled into her chest. It reminded her of the old vampire movies. Em crossed her brow. This was an odd method of execution for her city, and it didn’t match the first victim of her case. Why was she called out here? She turned the victim’s head in order to see the side of the neck. A bite mark, again, on the right side. It looked just like the first victim’s markings. She replaced the covering over the body and stood up. She walked over to Dr. Phobos who was taking swabs of some liquid from the asphalt.
“What have you got,” she asked.
The M.E. looked up and shrugged.
“Death by impalement? Looks like it came from a pallet.”
She looked around the scene that was marked off. There were a couple of pallets by the dumpster with similar colored, unfinished wood.
“We’ve got a footprint over there,” Phobos added.
“Oh yeah?” Em asked.
Finally, something to go on, she thought. She looked in the direction Phobos had pointed toward the dirt alley.
“It may tell us what did that…” said Dr. Phobos.
“‘What?’ Don’t you mean ‘who?’”
Dr. Phobos walked over to the body and pulled back the white sheet. She pointed at the bite on the victim’s neck.
“Not for this,” she said.
“But, maybe for that,” she motioned at the stick in the torso.
Em walked over to where Dr. Phobos said they had a print. A paw print was marked off and labeled as “2”. It looked larger than an average dog or wolf print. It had to be something bigger. She looked at the dumpster on the backside of the building, not ten feet away. Forest Park lay on the other side of NW Sussex.
“Are there any bears in this area?”
The M.E. lifted her head with a look that said, “Seriously?”
“You got any better ideas?”
“The toes look too long to be a bear,” she retorted.
“Well it looks too large to be a dog,” Zadok argued.
She remembered the creature she saw in Chinatown. She still didn’t know what to make of it, and refused to make any assumptions on something so bizarre. She decided she would need to consult an expert about the paw print. Then, perhaps she would begin to make some headway. Em turned her attention over to the stake in the chest.
“Ever seen a murder weapon like this?”
Dr. Phobos looked at the body covered in a white cloth and slightly shook her head.
“Only in the movies.”
Em looked around at the bystanders. She noticed a woman by the backdoor speaking sternly into her cell phone. Em walked over.
“Excuse me. Do you work here?”
The woman grudgingly stopped talking into her phone.
“I’ll call you back.”
She hung up the phone.
“Yes. I’m the owner. Are you going to find out what happened to my employee?” she demanded.
“We’ll do everything we can. What was her name?”
“Ally Jones.”
“Age?”
“19, I think. She stepped out for a smoke break. Someone heard a scream...came out and…”
The woman threw her hands out toward the body. Em jotted down the woman’s information.
“Who found Ally?”
She pointed at another woman sitting in a chair at the back of the building. Em went over and asked her name and if she saw anyone or anything. She said her name was Ariel Amasa and she hadn’t seen anything, though she wished she had. The woman looked more vengeful than sad.
Baldawin walked up to Emiline. He had just arrived on scene.
“She’s a beaut, isn’t she?”
Em nodded.
“Impaled?” he asked quizzically.
“Yeah...oddly enough. And, bitten.”
“Reeaallly?” he asked, amused.
“Mmm,” Em nodded.
“Same location as our John Doe, though not as gory” she added.
Baldawin walked over to the body and lifted the sheet. He pursed his lips in contemplation as he looked over her outfit.
“What a shame. She’s never gonna get the blood out.”
Em rolled her eyes. She knew joking was his way of dealing with dreary circumstances. He had told her once that if you don’t laugh at life it’ll eat you alive. He definitely took his own advice because he was always making jokes about their cases.
“Will you finish up here?” she asked Baldawin. “There’s another vic. I heard about I want to look into.”
“Uh...yeah, sure. What’s the story?”
“It may be completely unrelated. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“Uh, okay.”
Em left the scene puzzled. The deaths of these two people were definitely abnormal. She had heard a call on the radio on her way over that sounded similar, a bite mark on the neck, but this wasn’t in her jurisdiction. It wasn’t even in her state, but she still wanted to check it out.
Em called the local police department where the third murder had occurred to get some information about the murder scene. The third victim had been found on the shore of the Columbia by a kayaker. He had two puncture marks on the right side of his neck and appeared to have died from hypovolemia. They were still waiting on tox screen results, but right now, they were ruling it as the work of some vampire wannabe cult and were looking into such groups in the area.
Em decided to go check out the crime scene discreetly in order to avoid all the timely bureaucracy procedures. She arrived near the shore of the Gorge, got out of her car and approached the sandy bank of the shore where an area was still marked off with plastic yellow tape that swayed drunkenly in the wind. The moonlight dimly lit the foggy ground around her in a pale white. She surveyed the scene with a little flashlight which she always carried in her car. The light flickered on and off and she had to hit it a couple of times to get it to stay on. She looked for evidence but didn’t notice anything unusual, no signs of where the kayaker had stopped, no footprints or blood. The water had probably removed all traces of it. It would have been a good place for a cult to do a bloodletting ritual, she thought. The water would rinse away traces of blood and everyone could leave the scene nice and clean. She couldn’t find anything of use on the bank. She turned behind her and surveyed her surroundings. A giant mansion could be seen a ways back through the trees. She walked up towards it. Perhaps they saw something.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Em waited outside the front door of the mansion. It was dark on the property. A light was on in the entryway, but she didn’t hear any signs of life inside. Maybe no one was home. Suddenly, the door slowly creaked open. A young woman poked her head around the edge of the door.
“Yes?”
“Hi, I’m Officer Zadok, PCPD. I noticed your property overlooks the shore down there.”
She pointed toward the river behind her.
“Did you see anything suspicious or unusual last night?”
The woman looked cross.
“You have no jurisdiction, here,” she asserted.
“Please, I just have a couple of questions. It…”
“It’s late and we’ve already answered enough questions,” the woman interjected.
She started to close the door. Em caught it with her hand.
“Did you see anything? Anything at all?”
“No! Now leave.”
The woman pushed the door harder with a force that caught Emiline off guard and flung her backwards.
Dang.
She was surprisingly strong. Em turned away from the closed door and pondered her next move. Some things would just have to wait until the morning, she supposed. A strange sound from somewhere behind her caught her attention. She made a quarter turn to the right trying to judge its location and source. It was getting louder, but still indiscernible. She stood puzzled. Was it inside or out? Still getting louder. Was that a gallop?
Woof! Woof! WOOF!
Her eyes widened. Three large dogs were turning the corner of the mansion and heading straight for her.
“Oh shit,” she mumbled.
She made a sprint toward the shoreline, running as fast as she could. She could hear the animals behind her, but couldn’t make out what breed they were in the dark. All she knew was they were fast, large, and sounded vicious. She had to get out of there. She made a sudden turn to the right toward the woods. She jumped over limbs and ducked under branches. The foliage that surrounded the mansion was dense and slowed her down, considerably. She immediately regretted her decision to come this way. She glanced behind her. No dogs. Maybe they only stick to the yard, she thought, and she hoped she was right. She slowed her pace and pushed forward, finally came to a clearing. She could see her car a few hundred yards in the distance. She looked left, then right.
Silence.
Sigh.
With no sign of the dogs, she carefully stepped out of the woods and trudged toward her car.
Woof, Woof! Woof, Woof!
Em looked left toward the sound. Two of the dogs approached from the shore. They had gone around the woods along the shoreline. She picked up her pace. She could hear their footsteps grow louder behind her. She still had another couple hundred feet to her car. She glanced back. They were gaining. She pushed harder, using everything she had in her to quicken her steps. She just had to get to her car, then she would be safe. She pulled her key out of her pocket and fumbled for the automatic door unlock button. She hit the alarm, instead. The car horn blared, forcing the dogs to stop momentarily. She hit the “unlock” button. The dogs resumed their chase. Another fifty feet to go. Her pulse quickened.
Pow!
Something hit her from behind sending her face first toward the ground. She struggled to turn over, fighting the heavy weight that rested on her back. She managed to break free from the force long enough to roll over and meet her attacker. It wasn’t a dog, something bigger, stronger, wilder. The creature regained control and pinned her to the ground. Its face was inches from hers. It resembled the creature she saw in the Chinese Garden, but it wasn’t the same one. The coat markings were different. Em tried to break free from the creature, but it was too strong, too heavy. She struggled, anyway. The creature growled, the warmth of her breath hitting her face. She flinched as drool oozed out of its mouth onto the cuts on her cheek.
Yelp!
Suddenly the wolf-like creature flew backward in a rush that looked like a cyclone had sucked it up. Em immediately sat up and looked around. The wolf lay on the ground, motionless, and the other one was nowhere to be found. She had no time to make sense of it. She returned to her original plan: get in the car. She stumbled to her feet and began to sprint. Almost there, she thought. She only had a few more feet left. She reached for the door handle, but was halted abruptly by a wolf standing between herself and the car. Somehow, it had slipped in between her and safety so swiftly she couldn’t even figure out which direction it came from. It was standing on its hind legs, towering over her.
How could any wolf do this?
She searched under her arm for her gun all the while maintaining eye contact, its green eyes staring back into hers. She carefully pulled it out of the holster, refraining from any sudden movements. The animal was so close she could feel its warm breath on her face. She released the safety. The creature heard it click and snapped its eyes downward. Emiline didn’t hesitate and pulled the trigger at close range. Blood spewed out of it chest onto her clothes and face. The force of the bullet sent the creature backward against the driver’s side window. Em could see the moonlight reflect off the backside of the bullet. It hadn’t penetrated very deep. She found it puzzling that it seemed to be sizzling. She could hear it...like eggs in a frying pan. She watched the smoke come out of the entry point and flesh seemed to be pulling away or dissolving around the bullet. The creature groaned in agony, fell down on all fours, and then to the ground on its side. The animal lay motionless between herself and the door to her car. She couldn’t discern if it was dead or alive. She decided not to take any chances. She ran around the front of the car to the passenger side. Halfway around she noticed the first wolf creature sprinting toward her. She pointed her gun. The animal stopped abruptly. Em stood baffled. How could it learn so quickly? She slowly moved toward the passenger door, keeping sights on the animal. It fidgeted, but didn’t dare advance. She got in the car and maneuvered toward the driver side. The creature started forward again. She scooted into the driver seat, shoved her key in the ignition, cranked it, and slammed the car into drive. The tires spun out on the gravel, kicking sand and rocks into the air as she turned the car out onto the road and toward home. She looked in her rearview mirror. The creature was sniffing its companion. She watched it sit down beside it and lower its head.
Em headed back to the precinct and reviewed what she had on the case so far. Two bodies with lacerations on their neck. No weapon on one, a two foot long splintered piece of wood on the other. One potential suspect: Sophie which she still had little information on, not even a last name. There was a possible third victim that had puncture marks on the neck. The first body was found in the alley next to the Masquerade bar. The second behind a strip club across town, and the third with the puncture marks was found on the other side of the Columbia in Washington. She pondered. Were they related? Two male, one female, young adults, wounds on the neck.
Maybe those weird dog/wolf creatures she saw were the culprit. She remembered the one in Chinatown, how it moved with calculation, looking for an entrance into the building, and then later, striking her from behind and sizing her up. Then, she thought of the ones that chased her on the riverbank, and how one immediately ceased to chase her when she pointed her gun. They were no ordinary dogs. They was massive, and they were intelligent. She wondered if the wolf in Chinatown also belonged to the residents at the mansion. Perhaps, the creatures had received special training as guard dogs and that one escaped.
This didn’t make sense. It still didn’t explain the stake in the woman’s chest. She decided to pay a visit to the M.E.’s office.
She opened the door to find Dr. Phobos huddled over a corpse in deep concentration. She maneuvered a scalpel across the torso with great precision and skill. Em peeked from around the door.
“Ahem. Dr. Phobos?”
The M.E. stopped mid-cut and looked up at her uninvited guest.
“Got a minute?” Em asked.
“Of course, Detective Zadok. What can I do for you?”
“I was wondering if you could answer a few questions about those dog bite cases.”
“Sure,” she said.
She set down her scalpel and began removing her gloves.
“The reports state cause of death as hypovolemia, as both have bite marks on their neck, right?”
“Correct.”
“And the second victim was also impaled?”
Dr. Phobos nodded.
“Is that it? Do you think they both died from a bite from the same animal?”
“The bite marks are similar, though one is obviously more severe. The w
idth and puncture marks are similar. My guess? They were drunk. Some feral dog saw an easy meal and took it.”
“What about the stake in the chest?” Em asked unconvinced.
The M.E. shrugged.
“The victim was found prone. She could have fallen. Scraps of pallet wood were scattered about the scene. The animal bites, she stumbles forward...you’re the detective.”
***
Em stormed through the red door of The Masquerade bar.
“Where is Sophie?” she asked the bartender.
He was cleaning the bar top with a towel.
“Haven’t seen her,” he replied without looking up.
She walked up in front of him, and slammed her hands on the bar top, smudging his freshly finished shine. He clenched the towel in his hand as he looked at his demolished shine job.
“Where is she?” Em demanded
“She isn’t here,” he said with disdain.
Em turned toward the staircase and went up the stairs.
“You can’t go up there,” said the barkeep, but he stopped at that and went back to cleaning the counter.
Em went to and fro the second and third floor, searching each room for her objective, gun in tow. She discovered a rustic looking office on the third floor. Sophie sat at a desk looking at a large book. An incandescent lamp hovered over her shoulder illuminating the weathered pages. Em stared for a moment. Sophie remained unaffected by the sound of her uninvited intruder, maintaining her focus on her book.
“There’s something you know that you’re not telling me,” asserted Emiline.
“I know you’re trespassing,” said Sophie, still looking at the book.
“What did you do to my gun? The bullets in that magazine aren’t mine. And there’s something you know about those murders!”
Sophie looked up at the woman. She straightened in her chair and closed her book.
“You used your weapon?”
“What?” said Em, confused.
“Your gun? Did you use it?”