Dark Keys of Uncomplacency

Chapter 13: CEDREC

The rain had commenced again as Heinrich hobbled back into town. Everything was dark except the moonlight shimmering through the falling rain. His chest was on fire and his legs felt like stiff tree trunks. He watched as the blood on his hands and wrists trickled down to his fingers. With each flash of lightning in the distance, he envisioned the Lyndhursts and poor Mr. Tremaine, who'd gotten caught in the crosshairs. He would go to the police station and sound the alarm.

Still breathing heavily he ran into Jenson, who took him to Detective Michaels.

"Three dead. Mutilated. LYNDHURST MANOR", he panted.

"Jesus Christ! What happened?" Michaels took one look at Heinrich's bloody cuffs and assumed the worst.

"I discovered the Lyndhurst family, all dead except the elder daughter, who was not at the scene of the crime. More importantly I'm on to the Slasher. On my way out of the station, I came to the realization that he's going after my clients in quite the same order they appear in my ledger".

"Hmm". Detective Michaels pushed his chair out from under his desk and started pacing. "Approximately what time did you arrive at Lyndhurst Manor".

"Not a minute before 10 o'clock", Heinrich replied, feeling his father's pocket watch snuggly against his ribcage. "I walked in to find their bodies arranged in a circle—"

"No cryptic message this time?", Jenson interrupted, taking notes.

"Shh! Let Heinrich speak", Michaels hissed. "Go on, what else did you see?".

He pondered on the sight of the bleeding old woman and quickly blurted out, "Their hands. The victims' hands were configured into weird shapes, no doubt by the killer".

"We must go there immediately", said Michaels hunching over his desk. "But first who was the next family listed in your ledger?"

Heinrich reached into his right pocket and almost forgot about the torn page from his ledger. He looked towards the bottom of the list and said, "The Washington family. Harold and Alice Washington".

Michaels motioned to Jenson then proceeded to grab his hat and head for the door. "C'mon, we have to sound the alarm and head over to Lyndhurst Manor".

"You want me to go back?".

"Yes, is that a problem?", Michaels said nodding slowly.

"No, no problem", Heinrich replied, looking away. "It's just that—well, there's something about the gruesomeness of the scene. I cannot bear to lay eyes upon it a second time".

Michaels paused for a moment, cracked his neck, and let out a sigh. "Don't tell me a little blood and perversion has you running to the door. Not after all that we've been through thus far".

"No, not at all", Heinrich said, puffing out his chest, making himself taller. The Lyndhursts were the first victims he had seen up close and personal, minutes after the killer fled the scene. "We've come way too far".

Within half an hour Heinrich was in front of Lyndhurst Manor once more. It was now five before midnight. Sitting stagnantly in the police carriage had made Heinrich's legs even more stiff and unreactive than before. His stomach grumbled voraciously as he looked upon the wrought iron fence. The charred remains of Winston's body and his carriage were nowhere to be found; most likely removed by the police that had arrived before him and Michaels. Mr. Tremaine's warm corpse had joined the others in Heinrich's memory bank. He slapped himself in the face a couple times, feeling pure exhaustion nipping at his eyelids. He proceeded to doze off in the back of the carriage, swept off his feet and into a nightmare. He approached the front door and immediately found the three bodies exactly where he'd found them before, only this time the walls of the corridor were riddled with sheet music and piles of scrap paper accumulated in the corners of the room. The scrap paper appeared to contain revision upon revision of a love letter written in dripping red ink. Then through the ceiling he could hear Beethoven's famous motif from his 5th symphony. The notes in succession sent a cool chill down his spine.