The Tears Devourer

XXIX

     "Nine one one. What is your emergency?"

     "Good afternoon... Eh, my daughter, it's my daughter. She's not answering the phone…” A deep sigh came from the speaker of the device.

     "Do you know where she was going before you lost communication with her?"

     "She went for a run this morning. I hardly felt her when she left... But it's almost one in the afternoon and she's not back... "You could tell from the tone of the woman's voice, who was making a superhuman effort to stay calm.

     "Very well, could I have your details, please. Who is on the line?"

     "My name is Hallie Sweet... Eh, my daughter's name is Rachel. Rachel Sweet."

     "Hallie Sweet. I have you, honey. Your residence is Green Heart number 12, block C. Am I correct?"

     "Yes, that's right... Look, I know that maybe I may be exaggerating with this, but she's not like that, she's not one of the girls who go out very often or who stay out for so long without letting me know..."

     "I understand what's going on, and you're doing the right thing to stay calm. Right now I'm sending a patrol to monitor the precinct. Can you give me the area where she went for a run?"

     "I think it must have been close to the house. We don't know much about these places, because we just moved in a few weeks ago, so I don't think it's gone far. Uh... do you need a description?"

     "We have a photograph of her passport taken three months ago. Have her had any drastic changes since then?"

     "It's a little higher... But I think it's still the same... Oh God...! I'm afraid something has happened..."

     "A patrol is heading into the area right now and they'll do everything in our power to locate your daughter. Keep calm, please continue with that momentum that you have sustained until now. You will keep up with the officer in charge. His name is Jarred Garb, and it will take him only a few minutes to get to your home."

     "Thanks for everything."

     Melina Garrod was the person who took that call. She was one of the few people who spoke to Hallie when she was still calm and hoping to find her little girl. The day before that, a statement had been spread throughout the department, especially for emergency calls that inferred the disappearance or kidnapping of women between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five, with precise specifications of the appearance that they could reach to have.

     The town was so small, and the hotline so little used, that there were only two call clerks, but Connie Pearson was on her self-imposed break. She had lunch accompanied by Sergeant Vincent Peck, a sergeant who in a few hours would receive the call that would change his way of seeing the world since then.

     Melina hadn't taken much importance to the statement. Those kinds of ads were weird, and even though they said there was a serial killer at Dells, she thought otherwise.

     She believed that all this hubbub was pure propaganda because the morbid attracts tourism, and Dells had no history, it didn't have sufficient reasons for the youth to stay and produce profits in the city and instead, migrate to richer states in work and salary. The story of a serial killer at Dells fell like a big bag of money into investors' pockets. Thousands of things could come from it, like a movie, a series, a documentary, a museum, a sightseeing tour, a video game, an escape room, a themed resort, hotels with his name, a memorial day... and lots of loads of stupid things with a single purpose, to keep the population stupid so that they consume and consume until they cannot.

     But the morbid also won her. Garrod noticed that the Sweet girl's photo had a new icon on it, one that had been added earlier that morning for the system to compare the missing woman's face with the matches left by Detective Hunt. And that's when her curiosity pushed her hand to the mouse, pointed the cursor to the icon, and pressed it twice.

     The program took a few seconds, but then a red alarm went off on her screen. 'Match: 97%' dictated. The file was self-mailed to the four detectives in the case, and she didn't have to do anything else. Melina Garrod had contributed to that society that she secretly hated so much, and without knowing it, she had increased the chances of finding Rachel alive, in margins that none of the previous girls who died at the hands of that criminal, had.

     "Garb... Garb. Are you there?"

     The radio in Jarred's cruiser moaned his name over and over again, but Jarred Garb had already left his seat and was standing in the doorway of Rachel's house talking to her mother.

     "She went out at about seven in the morning for a run, and hasn't been back since..." the officer repeated mechanically. He scratched his chin thoughtfully, then decided he really shouldn't do the tour alone. He knows, for a person to be considered missing, it has to keep a two-day margin. In such a way that everything is clear, and that they are aware that that person has not left by his own decision, but in this case, he will make an exception. "Could you get in the car with me, please? It would help to have someone with me who knows her face by heart."

     "Of course. Let me go get my girl first."

     While Hallie Sweet dressed little Julie, Garb could only think of one thing, and that was why he was making the exception: a killer is on the loose.

     It was obvious that this news would be kept under cover until circumstances forced them to do otherwise, but this didn't take away their duty as a policeman, to warn that lady of the danger her daughter was in at this point.

     But how do you start a conversation like this? How do you tell a mother that her daughter should never have gone out alone? How do you explain that it is basically the fault of the squad itself for not warning about the danger in which the town is? But it didn't depend on him, it was ordered from above that kept so much secrecy, even among officers.

     Garb then heard his radio go crazy. A raspy voice screamed through the set. Jarred looked inside the house, and when he noticed that the mother was already approaching with her daughter by the hand, he warned them that he had to answer a call, warning them not to approach the patrol until he gave them the signal. He trotted to the passenger cabin and took the communicator.

     "This is Garb. What's going on? Change."

     "Garb. This is Elijah Hunt. Listen well to what I am going to say, and please keep the girl's mother at a safe distance."

     "What's going on, officer?" Hallie, desperate inside about Rachel's whereabouts, ignored the officer's warning, and was already behind him, with Julie holding tightly by the hand. "Why can't I hear what you have to say?"

     "I'm sorry Mrs. Sweet, but it must be some internal matter. I'm going to ask you to keep your distance for a moment, please."

     Despite the mother's whimpering over the complaints, Officer Garb slipped the device from its hanger into the patrol car, taking it with him a few steps away. He told Mrs. Sweet to wait for a moment for him inside the car, and not to move from there. He waited for Hallie and Julie to get into the vehicle so he could answer Detective Hunt.

     "Alright, Detective. What is happening? Change."

     "Miss Sweet fits the profile of the devourer's victim. There are enough coincidences to think that she has been abducted by him. From now on we will take this case on the assigned detectives. Miss Garrod informed us of what was sent to you. Do it, so you'll stick to the plan until we get to the victim's home. Take a couple of circles around the block until we give you notice. "

     "But Detective Hunt, what if I find her? Change." Jarred took a few seconds to respond, noticing that Hunt wasn't sure how to use the word 'change' when you're having a radio conversation. What's more, he probably wasn't even aware that he should use it.

     "If you ever find her, son... you'll be the luckiest bastard I've ever had to work with. Save those hopes and analyze the place well. Got it?"

     "Understood detective. Over and out."

     Jarred Garb got into his patrol. Mrs. Sweet was already losing her patience after a few minutes of waiting. She didn't yell or flinch, instead of letting the officer guide her through the neighborhood so little known to her.

     They circled the block first, and the places that were already familiar to the girls, and then went on to search further blocks away. In Dells it is very strange to see people walking, most use cars or bicycles as their main means of transport, but luckily, that day people were curious to know what it feels like to walk.

     Four. They were four people who were found walking in one hour and forty-seven of record on the asphalt. The quartet of walkers spoke privately with the officer and the mother, but none of them had seen Rachel, most of them just leaving a few minutes behind her house. It was nearly impossible to spot a person running alone with so little visual information provided by non-existent witnesses.

     "I'll ask for a warrant to search the cameras at the gas station and thrift store. There are no more public places nearby, but we can get some extra records from highway cameras." Rachel's mother endured with all her strength the violent cry of despair that she wanted to leave with vehement desires, but she held it for her Julie. She didn't want for the world to scare her little girl more than she could be now, noticing the sudden absence of her sister.

     "Thank you, officer..."

     For over an hour Jarred wondered, 'Why hasn't Hunt's team called me yet?' And as if belatedly reading his mind, his phone began to vibrate inside his pocket. He paused a moment to answer and read Detective Alex Rocha's name on the screen.

     "Alex, this is Jarred. What happen?"

     "Hunt asked me to give you the tip."

     "Where am I headed?"

     "Sweet's house. Take her home and return immediately to the apartment. Hunt and Mondy are waiting for them at the victim's residence, but we are in charge of a separate matter."

     "Copy. I'm coming." Hallie's face was pale with fear when Garb's gaze fell on her.

     "Bad news?" Suggested Mrs. Sweet.

     "They have asked me to return you and your daughter home. There are two detectives you need to speak to now. I can not..."

     "Detectives?" She cut him off before Officer Garb finished giving her the full announcement. "Why... Why should detectives get involved? Is there something you are not telling me?"

     "Excuse me, Mrs. Sweet," Garb replied, starting the cruiser's engine, "but I'm not allowed to tell you about it until I get to your home."

     Jarred Garb's heart knew at that moment what pity, remorse, helplessness, and hatred were. All together they charged behind her when Hallie Sweet burst into tears. 'She knows...' thought the officer, 'She knows that her daughter is not coming home...'