Price propped up the little paper number in front of the shiny silvery bullets so that the photographer could take shots of their placement. There was a lot of territory to cover in this one; bullets, torn limbs, fluid samples, finger prints. This really was the mother of all crime scenes. Price looked up at the basement door that literally looked like it had been ripped on its hinges. What the hell could do that? Hopefully O'Keefe got his text about stopping for coffee, she was late so it was her job to spring for the caffeine that would get them through this.
"Holy crap, who'd these assholes piss off now?" Officer Rick Everett asked as he ran into Detective Price standing over a few bullets being photographed. Rick wasn't a big fan of the Red Scorpions, and figured they deserved most of what they got. But this? This was something no one really deserved.
"And where's O'Keefe?" he asked, not spying the overly friendly redhead who taught his wife to beat men up at night. When he'd heard about this he figured she'd be here and had brought her some CDs her friend Cho had been bugging him about.
"And where's O'Keefe?" he asked, not spying the overly friendly redhead who taught his wife to beat men up at night. When he'd heard about this he figured she'd be here and had brought her some CDs her friend Cho had been bugging him about.
"Ask and ye shall receive, officer." Rose walked up to the pair just in time to hear Rick wonder where she was.
"Sorry I'm late. SOMEONE wanted coffee." Rose gestured to Price with the hand holding a tray of coffees and stared at him meaningfully. He nodded at her and took one of the large to go cups, sipping the drink appreciatively.
"You want one, Everett?" without waiting for a response, figuring if he wanted it, he'd grab it, she turned her attention to the crime scene and directed her next question to Price. "So how bad is it?"
"Sorry I'm late. SOMEONE wanted coffee." Rose gestured to Price with the hand holding a tray of coffees and stared at him meaningfully. He nodded at her and took one of the large to go cups, sipping the drink appreciatively.
"You want one, Everett?" without waiting for a response, figuring if he wanted it, he'd grab it, she turned her attention to the crime scene and directed her next question to Price. "So how bad is it?"
”This is a big scene, someone had to fill all these tanks or they’d burn out. O’Keefe, you can be late anytime and I will be happy to see you, as long as you have something caffeinated in your hand.” He grinned taking his coffee. It was nice that she always remember how he liked it, his last partner seemed to make a point of screwing it up and putting too much sugar in.
”So, I don’t know how much you’ve taken a look around but the place is literally a blanket of evidence. This is getting out of hand, it seems each one of these murders is a step worse and I’m afraid more is to come. I think we are looking at a rival gang or cult, these murders are too similar and ritualist in a barbaric way to be one person. Seven armed gang members, there is no way one culprit could have done this. There is evidence they were holding a captive downstairs, we got some DNA and hair fibers so hopefully the lab can ID the person if they are in our system. Oh, I should also mention we have an extra arm but no body to go with it. We need to be on the lookout for groups that associate themselves with large animals, like that biker gang on the other side of town… the Howling whatevers. They’ve never come over to Fed Hill but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take a look into it.”
Price meandered around, pointing at the various claw marks along the walls and chunks of body pieces before pulling her out of earshot of the other cops. ”Look, I know everyone thinks this is some sort of turf war or some guy with big dogs but have we considered alternative theories? What if someone is genetically mutating cougars or something? It doesn’t seem likely because they’d have to keep them somewhere and we’ve exhausted our resources trying to find where they would keep them, feed them or transport them. The other theory I have, I know it sounds crazy and the guys are always laughing at me, but… what if it isn’t a human doing things?”
”So, I don’t know how much you’ve taken a look around but the place is literally a blanket of evidence. This is getting out of hand, it seems each one of these murders is a step worse and I’m afraid more is to come. I think we are looking at a rival gang or cult, these murders are too similar and ritualist in a barbaric way to be one person. Seven armed gang members, there is no way one culprit could have done this. There is evidence they were holding a captive downstairs, we got some DNA and hair fibers so hopefully the lab can ID the person if they are in our system. Oh, I should also mention we have an extra arm but no body to go with it. We need to be on the lookout for groups that associate themselves with large animals, like that biker gang on the other side of town… the Howling whatevers. They’ve never come over to Fed Hill but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take a look into it.”
Price meandered around, pointing at the various claw marks along the walls and chunks of body pieces before pulling her out of earshot of the other cops. ”Look, I know everyone thinks this is some sort of turf war or some guy with big dogs but have we considered alternative theories? What if someone is genetically mutating cougars or something? It doesn’t seem likely because they’d have to keep them somewhere and we’ve exhausted our resources trying to find where they would keep them, feed them or transport them. The other theory I have, I know it sounds crazy and the guys are always laughing at me, but… what if it isn’t a human doing things?”
"Not a human..." Rose spoke slowly, as if digesting Price's words. "We were already considering this, Price. I mean, obviously humans couldn't have been directly responsible for what happened to these men. Those are clearly bite marks and something similar to claws did these. I'm not sure where you're going with this, though. Feel like elaborating?" Rose wondered how far her partner would need to be pushed before she could reveal the truth of the situation to him. She sincerely hoped not too much farther as her pack's activities got more and more attention from the local police.
Price leaned into his partner like a conspiring child while nodding slowly. "No, I'm not talking about animals, at least not normal ones. Like big foot or the Jersey Devil. Myths people can't fully debunk as fake." He ran a hand through his hair, he hated sounding crazy but of all the partner's he'd had, O'Keefe seemed to be the most willing to listen to some of his theories. "I know I'm not the only one who's thinking this, these gangsters clearly know something too." Price lifted her hand and pressed a small shiny lump into it. "Check this out, they were armed with silver bullets. Now tell me, what kind of creature that is like a big dog, traditionally murders people and can be killed by silver?"
When Price grabbed her hand, she jumped in surprise but when he set what looked like a small stone in her hand she was confused. Then he kept talking and she realized with growing horror that he had put one of the silver bullets in her hand and was staring at her intently, judging her reaction to his train of thought. "Well, that's-I mean, it could-you see..." Fragments of sentences were all she could manage to stammer out while her eyes were locked on the tiny piece of metal in her hand. Quickly she reached over and set it back in his own gloved hand.
Trying to cover up the visceral reaction she had had when it touched her bare skin, she began to rebuke him for the break in procedure. "What's wrong with you? I'm not wearing gloves! Now my dna is all over that bullet. As for what you were just saying, it sounds like you think we might have a werewolf problem."
Trying to cover up the visceral reaction she had had when it touched her bare skin, she began to rebuke him for the break in procedure. "What's wrong with you? I'm not wearing gloves! Now my dna is all over that bullet. As for what you were just saying, it sounds like you think we might have a werewolf problem."
Price wasn’t sure what was making O’Keefe so squeamish about a little bullet, he’d see her poke chunks of body parts with a ball pen at crime scenes before and not blink an eye at brain splatter on a brick wall. He sighed when she immediately shoved the bullet back in his hand.
”It’s not going to bite you and I pulled that one from the gun’s clip. It’s not like they will find your DNA anywhere else on the scene.” Price pocketed the bullet again and despite how unethical it was, he was considering grabbing the rest of that clip for his own safety. ”I’m not saying werewolf exactly, but I think I’m going to go down to the library and do some research. I just have a hunch that something bigger is going on here than just a slash murderer.”
”It’s not going to bite you and I pulled that one from the gun’s clip. It’s not like they will find your DNA anywhere else on the scene.” Price pocketed the bullet again and despite how unethical it was, he was considering grabbing the rest of that clip for his own safety. ”I’m not saying werewolf exactly, but I think I’m going to go down to the library and do some research. I just have a hunch that something bigger is going on here than just a slash murderer.”
At Price's assumption that her DNA would not be found anywhere on the scene, Rose's eyes took on a slightly apprehensive look and she trailed off a single word. "Right..." Her eyes suddenly focused as his idea to do research at the library registered. "That would probably be pretty smart. I mean, who knows what we're dealing with here? Better safe than sorry!" Rose gave him an impish grin and considered her own options. She needed to get the ball rolling on that drug bust; her pack was counting on her. Price was awfully close to discovering things & so she needed to keep a close eye on him. Checking her watch informed her that it was still pretty early and so she made a snap decision. "Want some company? I'm no stranger to research, I could be helpful."
Price was thrilled that his partner hadn’t dismissed his theory outright. Who would believe that a supernatural monster could have done this? There wasn’t any other explanation in his mind and he had the feeling he was onto a real mystery this time. ’You want to go to the library with me after this?” He tried not to sound too shocked, but he was. ”Yeah, I’d love that and I’ll buy you lunch after for the trouble. You don’t think my idea is too crazy do you?”
At his words Rose made a thoughtful noise. "Well, let's just say I'm reserving judgment. I'm gonna play devil's advocate for a minute. My question is, what would you do if you found out it was true? I mean, no one would believe you. Well, no one else. And judging from this building, they don't work alone. So, now we're talking about a pack of them." She gestured to his gun. "Even if that was full of silver, with extra clips as backup, I'm not so sure this would end favorably for us. At least, not if even some of the lore about them is true." Rose wondered how long she could keep dancing around the subject. Eventually she'd have to show her hand. The key was to avoid getting shot by her partner when she finally did so.
”A.. Pack?” He’d never thought about there being more than one monster working together, but her statement implied that she thought werewolves ran in packs or something. ”I mean, yeah I guess something like a werewolf might act like an animal, wolves do run in packs. There are wendigos and stuff too that had large claws and kill brutally.”
”We’d just have to get the jump on them, set a trap or something if we could convince the force that's what this is. Can you imagine how many theories this would blow the lid off of if we caught something like that? We can't have monsters going around murdering people.”
”We’d just have to get the jump on them, set a trap or something if we could convince the force that's what this is. Can you imagine how many theories this would blow the lid off of if we caught something like that? We can't have monsters going around murdering people.”
"Yes, of course. They just need to be trapped..." Rose cocked her head, as if in thought. Her mind was spinning at 1000 miles a minute, wondering what she could say to keep everything from spinning out of control. Price was staring at her, completely unaware that she was considering showing her hand. "Can I ask you a question? Do you think there might still be a human being in there? I mean, I know, monster. Ahhhhh! Big scary. But, if you accept traditional tales, the werewolf state is only a different form and the human side can and does control things."
His partner was taking this all rather well so he was waiting for the other foot to drop. Eventually she’d say this was all nuts right?
”Well that’s what the library trip is for. There is no way of telling until we get a good look at whatever this thing is. I guess in movies and such sometimes the monster turns into a human again but don’t they usually beg to be put out of their misery or something? You seem to know a little bit about this,” Price cocked an eyebrow at his partner. She kept going back to the werewolf thing so maybe he had hit on something but it did seem to be the most likely monster to be creating these kinds of murders.
”Well that’s what the library trip is for. There is no way of telling until we get a good look at whatever this thing is. I guess in movies and such sometimes the monster turns into a human again but don’t they usually beg to be put out of their misery or something? You seem to know a little bit about this,” Price cocked an eyebrow at his partner. She kept going back to the werewolf thing so maybe he had hit on something but it did seem to be the most likely monster to be creating these kinds of murders.
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