The last bit of daylight is fading into darkness, but the day is not yet done for Detective Lancaster. He’s dying to find out what really happened to that young girl. He’s overwhelmingly tired, but he has no time for sleeping. He’s too busy trying to piece everything together.
Still, if sleeping was an option, he wouldn’t rest without feeling some form of guilt. He never had a case turn cold and never planned to, but there’s something that separates this case from all the rest. His instinct tells him there’s more to that girl’s death than an animal attack.
His only desire at the moment is to unveil the truth. Once again, he comes to an area blocked off by police troopers. This area is off the road near a flowing river and a thin wooded area. Jones has already taken the initiative to examine the next victim of an appalling crime. Jones looks over his shoulder and sees Frank approaching him.
He rises off the ground, brushes his hands clean, and steps away from a body that’s completely covered in black plastic. The victim's midsection and legs are tied with braided rope.
“It took you long enough,” Jones tells him.
“Damn, another one?” Frank asks, ignoring his partner’s smart remark. “We have any I.D?”
“Yup, it’s the boyfriend of the girl we found.”
This shocks Frank, but only a little. He knows two animal attacks are not likely, especially if the two victims knew one another. This has to be a homicide; just as he suspected. As always, his gut instincts served him correctly.
“Shit,” Frank replies automatically.
Frank kneels down and lifts the plastic. Staring back at him with gray eyes and a pale-blue face is a clean-shaved male.
“Someone spotted his body floating upstream about an hour ago. Someone gutted the guy like a fish.”
“Jesus Christ,” Frank says as he lifts the bag further to find a profound incision in the victim's chest.
Frank exhales deeply at the first sight of the man’s wound. He then covers the boy’s body again.
“This changes everything,” Frank states while standing. “We’ve got a serial killer out here.”
“It gets worse. The autopsy report came in about the girl. Her heart was taken from her body,” Jones informs him.
“What?” Frank blurts out.
“Yeah, we had a crew go back with search dogs. They’re still looking for more evidence. And it looks like he’s been killed the same way.”
“What kind of person would kill two people like this? What’s the motive?” Frank thinks out loud.
“That's the same question I’ve been asking myself,” Jones replies. “But maybe there is no motive. Maybe the guy is just doing it for sport.”
“Whoever is doing it, he has to be stopped before it's too late,” Frank replies. “We have to keep a tight lid on this investigation. We can’t let the press hear about this.”
Frank uses his keen eyes to observe the surrounding area for clues. He sees the rope trailing from the victim’s feet and into the body of water. He walks along the riverside, trying to find its end, and then pulls it from the water. He notices the rope’s end is mangled and untwisted.
“Look. This was not cut by a knife,” Frank states while examining the damaged rope.
He examines the rope and finds something very odd buried in-between the braids. He pulls a white stone from the intertwined follicles and studies it.
“What is that?” Jones questions Frank.
Frank takes a closer look at the small stone fragment and then realizes what it really is.
“It’s a tooth,” Frank states.
“What?” Jones is instantly doubtful.
Frank reaches over his shoulder and hands him the sharp tooth. Jones lifts it into the air and strains his eyes to observe it thoroughly.
“Sure is,” Jones confirms. “But why was it in the rope?”
“Something chewed through it. I’ve dealt with some weird cases Jones, but this one is a whole new ballgame.”…