Killer Graves

Chapter 6

Detective Nicole and the crime scene techs are heading back to the mausoleum. They found the head of the victim on the top of the mausoleum. "How did the head get on top of it?" Detective Nicole had her hand in a salute form over her eyes to prevent the sun from getting into them. She was dumbfounded as to how the head was placed perfectly upright onto the cross at the entrance of the mausoleum. There was a ladder not too far from the mausoleum on the ground, but it looked like it had been moved recently. "Okay guys, I found a ladder. Let's get that head down so we can properly identify the victim."

Detective Nicole started to walk back inside the mausoleum. While studying the wounds, the detective found something strange. There was a small puncture in the crease of her arm. "Can anyone tell me if this is paint or blood?" Detective Nicole said as she looked around the room. A crime scene tech said "It's goat's blood." Why the hell would someone smear goat's blood in a ritual?

Just down the way, Michael is in his office spreading the ointment on his skin. His phone went off to see that Reyna had texted him. He didn't tell Reyna about what he and the detective spoke about. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. He opened the front door to see the Detective and Mayor standing at his door. "Hey, we have an ID for the victim. Can we come in to speak with you?"

"Of course."

He opens the door fully to let them in. "We have notified the family already, and we need you to help us do the medical exam here and then do the funeral services."

"May I ask who it is?"

"Yes, it is the Librarian."

"Wait, the same woman who hangs out with Reyna when she goes to town to update the death certificate archives. They do talk to each other a lot."

"It appears so. I will have to ask you not to let Reyna help you with the funeral. She can still work here, but only on the grounds."

"Of course I will call her now." Michael started to pick up the phone to call Reyna, then Detective Nicole put her hand up and shook her head as she muttered the words, "No, we will have to handle this. Can we bring the victim take to the basement now?"

"Please follow me, so I can show you where to put her." Michael finished rubbing the ointment into his arm and led them to the basement.

Reyna was still asleep in her bed from her morning nap when there was a loud banging on the door waking her out of her deep sleep. "What the hell is going on?" Still groggy, she slipped her slippers on her feet and headed to the door. Her black hair was frizzy and knotted in the back, standing up in the air. She opened the door with her eyes squinted, standing there confused in her long black oversized sleeping shirt. "Who the hell is banging on my door?" She opened her door to see the police there.

"Why are you here?"

"We are bringing you in for questioning."

Confused, she walked back into her house with her door open. "Why can't you do it here?" "We can if you like, are you okay with us also searching the house?"

"No, you need a search warrant."

"Don't worry, your little head off, we will have one after they complete the autopsy of the victim."

She waved the officers in to her house. She sat on the couch again. "Do you know the Liberian well?" "Yes , Sarah and I talk when I go down to the library every Friday to drop off the death certificate copies to update the archives. We normally talk about the history of the town when I am there."

"Do you know of anyone that may hurt her?"

"No."

"Did you have any problems with Sarah?"

"No. Like I said before, we only talked about the history of the town."

"Was she into anything witch craft or cult-like stuff like you do?"

"Excuse me." Taken aback by the officer. She stood up and was finally fully awake. "You have no right to talk to me like that. I am not into cult-like stuff nor witchcraft. I like Gothic themes. Yes, but how dare you, I want your name and badge number, then you and your little friend ever so kindly get the f**k out my house!" Reyna pointed to the door and stood up angerly. The police stopped the search and headed to the door. "Here is my card with my badge number on it as well." She ripped the card out of their hands and shooed every single last cop out of her house.

I can't believe that everyone I know is being murdered. Why is someone targeting them? Well, I guess that is it for sleep for me. I need to clear my name. I quickly ran to my room to get dressed and headed to the library to see if there was something there that might clear my name. Maybe there is a note about meeting someone last night. I kept my sleep shirt on and threw on some sweatpants and headed out the door after locking up the door. I got in my car and headed across town to the library. Who could benefit from targeting my friends or people I know?

I finally made it to the library after driving for about twenty minutes just thinking about where any notes were. I parked my car and ran inside towards the archives. I was also going to do some research here. I remembered that last Friday when Sarah and I were updating the archives that Crowley had a string of murders about one hundred years ago. They were in the same way as this. I need to pull those death certificates and news articles, so I can study those to see if there is a history-buff copycat killer. I also need to see if being allergic to the sun is real.

I started to go through the death certificates. Ha, I knew I wasn't crazy. The first victim one hundred years ago was the town funeral director. It looks to be the first of 7 murders. He was killed the same way that Mr. Lester was killed and in the same area. I headed over to the computer to see if I could find the news article to back this up. While looking at the photo, I saw a familiar face. It almost looked like Michael. It was probably an ancestor of Michael's. I started pulling all the other death certificates of the other victims. Some of the crime scenes match the current ones. Something is not adding up here.

I gathered all my research and headed to the police station to talk to the cold cases division to see if they still had some evidence or police reports about the crimes. It started to rain. Everyone was in their house refusing to come out to protect themselves. Soon I saw Michael walking towards me with a bandage poking out from under his long sleeved shirt. "Hey Reyna," Michael screamed. I stopped walking to my car and waited for him to reach me. I did open my car to put the papers away so they didn't get ruined as he approached me. "Hey, I am sorry to tell you this, but you can't work any funerals till the investigations are over, but you can do the everyday groundwork and paper work." I look at him disappointedly. "Let me guess the police thinks that I did it?"