Insatiable Thirst

Chapter 2: Blood Bath

POV SETH

"Seth... Seth... Conners!"

I turned my head after hearing my name. "Sorry," I deadpanned to my boss.

"What do you see? What clues have you found," Charles questioned me with his arms crossed and his eyebrows knit.

I looked back over the scene in front of me. The blood spattering the wall in front of me, the pool that had already soaked into the tan carpet. The scent of copper and perfume lingered in the air. I turned to face the rest of the room. The body was already removed by the medical examiner. The markers littered the floor and table and even the bed. There was nothing that seemed out of place to me. The bed was still made. The tray of chocolate covered with strawberries was untouched, and the glasses of champagne were set next to the tray. With the bottle of champagne uncorked and sitting on the now melted ice in the silver stand. I looked at the label more closely. Scrutinizing it, I recognized the name, finally, Veuve Clicquot. It was a $400 dollar bottle. Someone must have liked this couple a lot to give them the bottle. It was not available at the hotel, even for the VIP guests.

I did one more look around. There was nothing that seemed out of place. Nothing taken and nothing left; well, at least nothing noticeable.

“Chief, I do not see anything that we have not already gone through. I will check in with the manager and security one more time. And Ryan was talking to the parents and getting a guest list,” I ticked off as I started to walk out of the room. “Oh and one more thing, yes I know that we will need to keep this quiet."

I turned to head to the elevators. I heard a gruff sigh and then “Be at the station tomorrow at nine sharp.”

I waved my hand over my head in acknowledgement right before pressing the button to open the shiny doors sitting in front of me. I was hoping that they were empty due to the crime scene, and I breathed a sigh of relief that when the doors dinged open, I was alone. I could think and run through the scene from “that room”.

I stepped inside and pressed the L for the lobby, I found my little corner and leaned back against the wall. I looked up at the lights above me and listened to them buzzing. The noise droned on while I made my way down from the penthouse. My mind wandered to the penthouse suite, specifically to the bathroom, the master. It confused me, there was expensive jewelry sitting on the counters. Like they were given as a gift and set out to be worn tonight. So not a theft gone wrong. It also did not seem to be a crime of passion, like a jilted lover or someone who really knew the couple. They were here to celebrate the dead woman’s father’s sixtieth birthday. It seemed odd though, the killer took his time with the woman, but the man was just left there, drained of blood. There were no drag marks, but the body was moved. Meaning the killer would have to be strong. It also meant that the killer had to feel something for the woman he killed to take that much care. She was laid on the bed with pristine care, to make it almost look like she was just sleeping. Her hair was brushed off of her face and placed with care around her face and fanning the pillows. And she wasn't drained. She had the hotel bathrobe on, and it was covering everything that it could; leaving her dressed modestly. It was almost like the killer was old-fashioned.

“Sir?”

“Sir, are you okay?”

“Sir, are you getting out?”

“Hey, Conners! Get your head out of the clouds and move it. We don’t have all day.” I shook my head after hearing Ryan’s booming voice. Dominic Ryan was my partner, and he kept me grounded on cases like this. He was standing in front of me with a couple of the hotel staff as well. He was standing there giving me his signature raised eyebrows, smirking, with his hands in his pockets.

I shook my head and stood straight. I followed Ryan’s long strides, trying to catch up. I finally had to jog a few steps to catch up and finally met him stride for stride. “What did you find? Anything that helps us track this guy,” Ryan aimed at me while we walked to the manager's office.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe the champagne was from the killer, but otherwise, there really is nothing to go on. What is concerning though, Mr. Smith was drained of blood, completely. Even with the blood splatter and pooling underneath him, his body was a withered, empty shell."

"That is something. That means we are looking at the supernatals. We will need to get with the council. I do not like it. They should not be killing prolific, high-caliber families. A few missing homeless, yeah sure, we can brush that off, not the Smith family's daughter and new husband." Ryan was not thrilled and talked out loud what he was thinking.

Damn, I thought to myself. I do NOT want to have a meeting with my family who All sit on that council.