Bloody Case

The loud scream pierced through the silent night, not of excitement but of pure terror. The quickening footsteps came to a sudden halt and a loud thump sounded out of the abandoned warehouse. A woman fell on her knees screaming aloud drenched in blood. “Help! Somebody please help!” She collapsed onto the wet pavement. Moments later, police sirens blare on the streets, flashes of blue and red lights lit up the dark alleys. Officers rushed into the warehouse to a gruesome awakening, the entire warehouse looked like a slaughterhouse. The entire floor was covered in blood, body parts everywhere. In the middle of the room, 3 bodies laid lifeless, severed into different parts and their eyes removed. A young officer turned away and vomited. “Jesus Christ” he muttered. Another officer looked unimpressed. “Call Detective Ray” “He is on vacation sir” he replied whilst trying to gather himself from the horrific scenes. “Is he ever on vacation, get him here now” Thirty minutes later, a black sedan stopped outside the crime scene. A tall man stepped out. The officers instinctively stepped aside as Detective Ray Graham walked in. His six-foot frame and unreadable expression commanded silence before he said a word. Ray is what you call obsessed, His calm but deep demeanor allows him to think like the criminal, psychologically outfox them and get them to face justice. He glanced at the frightened officers surrounding the warehouse. “You all look like you have seen a ghost” Nobody laughed or responded. That alone made him know it must have been really bad. Ray’s expression changed, he slipped on his glove and walk into the warehouse. The smell hit him first-time Blood. Far too much blood. Ray walked around every corner of the warehouse for clues, his eyes scanned everything and every corner. Every Footprint Every Stain Every Detail. He checked the victims out one by one. The first victim appeared to be a man in his forties both legs have been severed off his body, his two eyes plucked out, had on an expensive Armani suit and an expensive watch. No wedding ring but a tan line of where one used to be In his jacket pocket a receipt dated the previous day. “Three champagne bottles” he muttered to himself. Ray looked towards the female victims. The second victim was a young lady in her twenties, both hands were cut off and her eyes were gouged out too. He moved closely towards her and smelt her hair. “olives” Ray moved towards the third victim who had suffered the same fate as the others, pulled up one of her fingers “fresh nails” He opened her purse “hmm condoms” “This is not random, everything fits the profile of the killings of may last year” Ray said The young officer nodded in confusion. “I wonder if cutting off legs and arms symbolizes anything to the killer sir” Justin said “It sure does, but I cant seem to place my head around the reason” “The killing pattern is very similar but I do not think he planned to kill four people tonight”. Justin looked even more confused “How come” “He couldn’t have moved the bodies without help, and the cut patterns show only one person did this.” Ray said. “We either have a copy-cat or the killer is becoming very comfortable” A stout man walked in on the conversation. “Are you saying we have a serial killer on the lose Ray” Captain Will responded. “We need to get to the bottom of this before the public panics, The Mayor wouldn’t want this during an election year”. Ray snickered “I honestly couldn’t care less about the Mayor and his re-election, There are far more important things than the Mayor or his politics” Ray said as he lifted the jacket on the dead victim. Justin crouched to take a closer look “The all seem to be smiling” Ray sighs “The killer tampered with their cheeks to force a smile”. “He is taunting us” Justin added “No” “He is telling us something but we are not seeing it” “I don’t get it” “neither do I “ Captain will brought out a card from his pocket “if you were not able to solve the may murders, then you need all the help you can get “ “I work alone captain” Ray said as he crouched down to take a closer look at the faces of the another victim. “Not this time” Captain Will walked straight to Ray and hands him a card, it reads “Megan Bernstein” “She is a former FBI agent, top agent, she will be your new partner”. Ray got up and is visibly upset with this new information, he squeezed the card and threw it away. “No way Captain, I do better on my own” “She requested for you” “Then she’s already made her first mistake” The young officer quickly picked up the card. “For God-sake Justin, leave the damn card on the floor” said ray as he stood up to face the captain who was heading out of the warehouse. Justin looked flustered and froze in embarrassment. “Captain” Captain Will interrupts Ray “I let you have your way all the time Ray, this time I need you to catch this killer” “I asked you to work with Justin and Friedman, you refused and I didn’t hold you for it, I am not going to allow a crazy killer keep killing in my city during an election year, she resumes next week”. Captain Will walked out of the warehouse to his car, he knew the chances of Ray ever working with anyone was very slim but he had to take his chance anyway. Anything to get Ray riled up to solving the case would be in his favor. Justin picked up the squeezed card and handed it over to Ray. Ray could see the smug on his face but he had a bigger matter bothering him which was accepting a new partner. Ray had not had a partner since the death of Terry Jackson, his first partner and long time friend. Ray puts the card in his pocket and walked outside to the body at the pavement. He asked the officer beside the body. “So, who called it in?” “I did sir, the woman died from the impact of the fall on the pavement, both eyes were removed just like the others.” Ray bends over to smell the corpse and touched the back of her head “She was a hooker too like victim three” Justin looked confused as he looked at Riviera. “how do you know” Ray pointing to the victim's head “Look at this, there’s a huge dent to her skull, whoever did this hit her with a heavy pipe or crowbar but surely metal”. Justin nodded before asking again “No sir, how do you know she is a hooker” Ray chuckled loudly, “The high heels” Justin Frowned “lots of women wear high heels” “not many women wear a six-inch stiletto into a warehouse by midnight” Ray pointed to her fingernails “those acrylics cost money and they are freshly done too” Ray picks up her bag, tosses it over to Justin “expensive bag, cash and designer condoms” Justin opens the bag “Escort” Ray looked at Justin “Now, you’re learning” Ray bends over and sniffed the victim’s hair. “Can you smell that, it is the same perfume as victim three, what are the odds that two strangers use the same perfume” “you can tell all that from the perfume” Justin bemused Ray stood up “You’d be surprised about how much information people show without saying a word” Ray follows blood trail back into the warehouse, Justin follows closely. “He allowed her try to escape” “why would he do that” Justin responded as he followed quietly behind him. He knew she would die. This is truly well calculated by this killer” Ray paced up and down and tried to recreate the scene in his head, he walked up to his car and pulls out a cigarette from the box in his left pocket. Ray lights up the cigarette to think. Clearly the killer took the lady to the warehouse to kill her but he met three unsuspecting people in the warehouse and he killed them too. Ray noticed the expensive suit, the receipts, condoms and secluded warehouse could only mean they wanted privacy. “but how did they get here” Ray looked around the building but could not see the man’s car to confirm his thought. Ray walked out of the building searching for new evidence to back his thought, he found a Mercedes key far from the bodies. “why did he not bury this evidence” Ray whispered to himself. Ray got the keys and walked outside the crime scene pressing the key to activate the car. He was at the first car. He pressed it. Nothing. Then the second car He presses it again silence He kept pressing the button but no sound. Then “BEEP BEEP” half a block away from the warehouse. A black Mercedes C class with tinted glasses. Justin had followed Ray quietly while he was pacing around, and also looking for the car. He was shocked at how effective and unconventional Ray was. Ray knew Justin was on his trail but Justin was not aware that he knew. “Get the officers here now” Ray says to Justin who was crouched down hiding behind a car. “You know I can see you Justin” Justin got up and called Riviera to come with the other officers. In the car they found the man’s phone, wallet and the hooker’s phones which confirmed Ray’s theories. They were clearly not the actual target but casualties from the warehouse regardless exactly as he thought. Ray walked back to his black sedan and drove off. While forensic swept for more evidence on ground, Justin and Riviera also gathered data. “How did he know the man had a car somewhere” Justin asked Riviera who was taking pictures of the car. Riviera smiled at Justin “Trust me, this is the least of the weird things he does, sometimes I feel he can read minds”. The next day at the station, Captain Will gathers information from his team as he prepares to address the public and the press. At the press conference “In the early hours of this Morning around 12:15 am, four people were murdered at the abandoned Recant warehouse. We have evidence to prove this gruesome killings were done by a singular person. 3 of the victims were mutually together while another victim was an independent target. We believe the killer took advantage of the situation and killed more people to cover his identity. We want any member of the public with information about the victims to please come forward. Paul Baylor, Aaliyah smith, Victoria Ramon and Laura Debusky” “if you saw anything suspicious or noticed anything unusual, please contact our help desk or visit the station to help us gather more information”. A middle-aged reporter stood up to ask a question “Captain, have the victim’s families been notified? Before the captain could even mutter a response a young fierce lady from CJBTV abruptly interrupts “Captain Will, are these murders related to the similar outstanding case from last May at Orchard beach?”. Another reporter asked “Is there a serial-killer in the city?” The room erupts in a little frenzy. Captain Will was taken aback by the question, he was not ready to reveal more details about the murders. “well, we do not have evidence to suggest that just yet, we might even have a copy-cat on our hands”. “I’d like to ensure the public that we have everything under control and this killer will be brought to face his crimes. Ray stares in disbelief from the side of the room and quietly walks away. “Captain Will, you’ve said there is no threat to the public, yet no suspect has been arrested. What evidence gives you confidence that the public is safe?” Captain Ray flustered looks to the side of the room and realizes Ray is no longer in the press room. “We have one of the best detective in the country, one of the few with the Mayor’s Medal of valor, I am confident in the men and women who work tirelessly to keep us safe, Thank You” The Captain quickly ends the conference to avoid further questioning. “That will be all for now” he said as he hurriedly walked away from the room. “Captain” “Captain Will” “Captain Will” The reporters called out to him but he had already left the room. The PRO quickly halted the commotion with the reporters. “We would have more information for you all by tomorrow, for now, this is all we can share with the public. No questions will be allowed for now. We will take them tomorrow” “Thank You all for your time”. Ray walked towards his car and drove away from the station he removed the card from his pocket and looked at it again. “Megan Bernstein” He flings the card to the back seat in anger and then his phone rings An unknown number. Ray answers “Hello” “Hello Detective, did you see my smile?” The line goes dead.