Little Red (6 page)

‘Now this is what killed her. It looks like he removed the heart, badly. It was hard to determine when as the body was frozen
, but this morning this hole was filled with a dark red blood, even after de-frosting, it held its colour……the blood had pumped from the organ and filled her lungs……that tells me she was alive when he began removing it.’

‘You said he?’ asked Nathan

‘I did. Two reasons why……One, the bruising on her skin is in large sections, hands to be exact and bigger than a female…..Two, to remove the heart meant breaking through the rib-cage, not an easy job. So power and force would be needed to do so.’

‘Fuck’ Jack whispered

‘Yep, one sick puppy you have here Jack. On a better note I couldn’t find any indication of forced intercourse, there are no signs…..which would be visible as bruising on the inner thighs, normally found there as that is where the attacker grips the legs to open them.’

Nathan couldn’t help but stare at the gaping hole where her heart had been, the skin was sliced so bad it appeared to have a criss-cross effect at the edges.

‘Did you find the heart?’ he asked her with suspicion

‘No’

‘So he keeps a memento then………..maybe to eat, or possibly just keep sake’

Sally left the table and moved toward a grey locker, the door screeched as she opened it. From i
nside she removed a coat hanger. Hanging from it was a Red Cloak.

‘This was under her body, frozen to it actually……it had soaked up a lot of her blood also
, so I think he killed her when she was wearing it!’

‘
Hey there little Red Riding Hood
……………….’ Nathan sang to himself. Jack and Sally both heard it and waited for an answer.

‘He thinks he’s a Wolf……….he made the girl dress up as Little Red R
iding Hood…….dragged her through a wood and sliced her up, removing the heart.’

‘Your point is?’ asked Jack, the same question floating through Sally’s head.

‘My point is he’ll do it again…….and soon. The preparation this man has gone through, the ritual he will have set himself, the copious amounts of rules he must obey. He is obviously a fan of the story, could be a good place to start. He removes the heart but for what purpose? We need to concentrate on what
he
is telling us, but it won’t be that easy, otherwise he wouldn’t send the images our way!’

The red garment was hung away in the locker. The cold weather had created the stiff board effect as the blood, soaked up by the fabric, had frozen.

***

Tonight was the last night. The last time he would see his Abby in her safe place. The last time his Abby would sleep, eat and breathe in her safe place. The van sat a few spaces further back than the last time. He tried to avoid suspicion from any prying eyes. He sat with his face to the passenger window. No rain to play with tonight, although a slight snow fall had begun as the forecast predicted. The pink room had been dark since he had arrived, which proved disappointing to him. The last thing he needed was to have missed his girl while she sat at her little desk, his ideal viewing point.

‘Please be awake………Pleeeeeeeease’ he begged.

The light remained extinguished and the timer on his stop watch was approaching ten minutes. He felt an uneasy twang in his stomach, the possibility that he may miss her slowly dawned on him. He deemed the lack of viewing as bad luck and suddenly he began to doubt the chance of abduction for his scheduled date. But everything was planned for tomorrow, everything was ready to go.

The trickle of sweat agitated him and the smacking sound stung his ear as his palm connected with his cheek, dispersing the droplet as it did so. He felt a fear pulsing within him, the fear was not welcome…………..a wolf does not feel fear.

He began clenching his fingers into tight fists, the knuckles cracking and skin fading as it was stretched. He attempted to keep his anger under control,
a wolf would have self-control………a wolf would wait patiently, stalking the prey……waiting to pounce.

The invisible guest spoke words of encouragement into his mind, aiming to calm him.
Wait patiently, you WILL become, just be patient.

The light caught his eye as he began to inhale deeply and exhale slowly, his chest expanding as the lungs inflated like balloons. The room was empty, but the light was now on.
Seconds,
he told himself,
just a few seconds more.

He watched as the mother of his new girl walked across the room, he noticed the bundle of neatly folded clothes in her arms. His eyes darted back and forth, looking for Abby.

‘Where are you my princess? Where, oh where oh where have you gone?’

Her mother had stopped by the window and kneeled
over. She placed the kiss on her daughter’s head and gently stroked her light brown hair. Abby climbed up onto her chair, her hands scrambled over the desk as she located her chosen coloured pencil.

‘Hello Abby………….my sweet, sweeeeeeeeeeeeet Abby’ he felt himself calming. The built up tension escaped his body. Checking his watch he noticed that only a few minutes remained of his self-allocated observation time.
He had another scheduled stop to make, one that would put the wheels in motion for tomorrow’s activity.

He smiled as he
r hair was flicked to one side displaying her neck, he peered through the binoculars. Her skin looked smooth………her neck looked inviting. He noticed the way her throat moved as her head tilted either way. The blood pumping through her Jugular veins began to arouse him,
your sweet, sweeeeet blood.
The beeping from his wrist distracted him and the previously relieved stress began to creep back into his body. Knowing that he neared the end of his viewing time annoyed him, but he had to stick to his plans, a change now would surely cause problems in the future, he didn’t want problems……especially when so close to the taking.

The van rolled away from its space, the headlights still turned off. He gave Abby one more glance as he drove past her safe place, a slight wiggle of his fingers in her direction, the wave goodbye and see you tomorrow.

***

Nathan entered the briefing room with Jack. The tables had been pushed up against the walls and chairs tucked under them. He counted five persons in the room, all sat at a monitor; their fingers typing frantically.

‘We’re using this as our case room Nathan. Everything we collect comes here’.

‘Where’s the rest of the team?’

‘Out doing the tasks that you gave them!’

Confused he thought hard about issuing tasks……..he hadn’t.

‘Your briefing the other day……..Door to door enquiries, CCTV footage collection.’

‘They’re on it now?’

‘They are. We have five teams in total working the case, some would say it’s an over kill…..but this is the priority at the moment. I have a conference meeting tomorrow. The victim’s family are attending so I want it to look as though we are putting our all into this Nathan.’

‘The word goes out tomorrow that a killer is loose? Do we have anything else to go off?’

‘Not yet, information is trickle fed back to the team based here. They type and produce all the details, basically creating a huge case file’.

They headed toward the large white board at the end of the room.

‘This is the brainstorming board. The information we find to be most fitting gets placed on here, the idea is to build a large picture of a suspect or suspects.’

‘It’s empty!’

Jack looked to his friend with a grimace. The word empty reminded him that as of now they were nowhere in the case.

‘I know Nathan, the information we have is in no way enough to build a suspect list. What are we going to place on it.......a wolf?’

‘I see your point, but in my experience an empty board can be demoralising…..it makes the team feel as though they haven’t achieved anything……but they have’.

‘Ok, what would you suggest?’

Nathan opened the file on the Wolf, the pictures of the girl starring into his face.

‘
Start with these…..to remind them why we’re looking for this guy.’ He grabbed some Blue-tac and began sticking the Polaroid’s into one corner. Next he picked up the blue marker pen and wrote
The Wolf
in the centre.

‘We know he’s a he
. We know he’s careful and confident with what he does. We know he has knowledge of the area, most likely spends a couple of days in Reconnaissance mode watching. He will have a large vehicle also.’

The board slowly came to life, small branches protruding from the centr
e, single words placed on them
: Male, Van Driver, Observes and Educated.

‘Right, so where would you go from here?’

‘Well…..it would be nice to have a little piece of the puzzle from either the CCTV or an eye witness’.

‘Can you stay here
for the day and do your thing?’ begged Jack

‘I can stay, but I’ll need an empty room……I need to be alone Jack’

His friend understood. Nathan had always worked better when his brain was working alone…..no added comments coming in, no extra cogs cranking his gifted mind.

‘I can sort that for you!’ he assured.

‘Also, a map would be ideal. Start plotting the locations of the victim’s home, the place her body was found and other information we receive throughout the hunt, sometimes a picture can appear, a sort of pattern’.

‘We have one on the way up, large scale…..one in twenty five thousand grid squares, I believe!’

Jack ushered him to a small office barely big enough to house a desk, the walls were bare and in the corner sat a lonesome metal chair, the type that caused you to sit up straight as if you were leaning against an ironing board.

‘I’ll take it’.

‘Thought you would, you’re a bloody recluse Nathan!’ he laughed.

‘That’s the way I like it, you should know better than anyone’.

‘True, look, seeing as though you’re in here and we’re out
there just be sure to pass any details you may find, on to us and we will do the same!’

‘Of course Jack, when have I ever left you out of the loop?’

‘Never, I just wanted to make sure that this wasn’t the first time, that’s all. This case is my retirement, I need it.’

‘Trust me Jack. I’m not going to screw you over just to solve this for myself
…….those days have long gone!’ he smiled reassuringly.

Nathan grabbed a copy of the file and began dissecting it as he had done in the hotel room. He believed that if things were in a similar, if not perfect order, then it was easier for the information to be absorbed when at either location. Jack left him to crack on with his task, organising a coffee re-fill every thirty minutes to help Nathan keep going. They had a long night ahead of them. Both men preferred to work through the darkest hours, there were less distractions from their surroundings and more of a chance in finding something in total concentration. The waxing moon glowed behind clouds of black, the steady snowfall increased, the ground hid under a blanket of glistening white. The time was approaching; the night was nearly upon them.

Chapter Five

T
he familiar screams of a school morning surrounded the entrance. The children ran jumping like lambs, their bags thrown to the ground and parents shaking their heads as they retrieved them, dusting the gathered snow from the parts of impact. Mr Oliver Breen stood at the gates welcoming each child as they passed him. The call had come in at twenty to seven that morning. The school needed a substitute teacher for an unknown length of time……he gladly accepted. The parents leaving their children sparked up small talk with the young teacher, his fresh cut look and sharp dress sense caught the eye of many of the women, single and married. He explained his position, re-emphasising the word
English Degree,
as if it would woo them instantly. He enjoyed the flirting and came across as a well-mannered gentleman, at the age of twenty six and with a well-toned body he was a catch for most ladies.

The bell rang, telling the parents to go home and
the children to come in. Mr Breen said goodbye and flashed a slight smile to the parents as he turned to enter the school. Nobody noticed the van parked by the roadside.

The children sat down at their own individual desks, some fidgeting with the child next to them. Mr Breen entered the room and closed the door behind him.

‘Morning Class’

‘Gooood morning Sirrrrr’ they answered
, the words dragged.

‘I
know you normally have Miss Carrigot today, but sadly she is feeling slightly under the weather, so I will be in her place until she is feeling better’ he turned to face the white board and began writing his name for the kids to see.