Shifted

14 - Nefarious Plots and Backup Plans

Being the mayor of small town Beacon Hills was usually an easy job. A fundraiser here, a construction there, sometimes the job even called for a brief public speaking. It was a demanding schedule but still easy, then the body was found in the woods and suddenly it was becoming too much for Mayor Ratliff.

"Sheriff, please tell me this was an accident."

She said as soon as Sheriff Stilinski stepped into her office. Bodies dropping in the woods had no room for pleasantries in her opinion.

"I'm not sure yet Madam Mayor."

"Not sure yet?" She repeated. "You've had the body for two weeks now and I know Beacon doesn't have any other bodies that need investigating."

Noah ignored her tone of voice, instead placing the case folders for Jane Doe and Spencer Dooley on her desk.

"The bottom half of the body has been with us for two weeks and it has been examined. But since we haven't found the second half yet Rollins can't determine for sure what the cause of death is."

"What about Spencer Dooley's case?"

A sombre look passed over Noah's face. "Rollins is still working on him. I just came from Dr. Deaton to ask him if these cases could be caused by an animal. He said it was possible either way until he could get more information."

"What do you think?"

"To be honest with you I have no idea." Noah confessed, "Some parts of these cases point to animal attack and some could be human. I just can't make sense of it."

Ratliff looked at the folders in front of her making sure to turn the crime scene photos face down. She read all that Sheriff Stilinski wrote in his notes, a mental tally going on in her head for animal attack and homicide. It bothered her that it could really go either way, but what bothered her more was that neither of these options would be acceptable to the public. Either both cases were animal attacks and she was a stupid mayor who refused to close down the highly dangerous preserve, or they were homicides and she was an ineffective mayor who wasn't able to catch a killer. Neither option sounded good to her or her re-election campaign in a few months.

"You've kept these cases out of public knowledge, right?"

"Jane Doe was public knowledge before we could stop it but Dooley's been kept out of the papers, yes."

Ratliff nodded, "Good. As far as everyone is concerned, both cases are unrelated accidents. No one's filed a missing person, right? So no need to investigate Jane Doe further, let alone make it public. As for Dooley, just say he tripped or cut himself or had a heart attack. Anything but a crime."

Silence greeted Mayor Ratliff's statement.

"Madame Mayor," Noah began, "Are you - are you telling me to cover-up these two murders?"

Ratliff stood up and shushed Noah at the mention of murder. She practically ran to the door, looked outside and made sure no one had overheard. Satisfied that no one had, she turned back to Noah with her most politician smile.

"Murder is a very strong word Sheriff Stilinski. You said it yourself, we can't prove Jane Doe's death wasn't an accident and no one's really asking about Dooley's death. This is just best for everyone. No panic, no stress, no extra hours for the police force..."

"No bad publicity for you." Noah finished having figured out what the mayor was trying to say.

"Or the sheriff's department."

That addition did nothing to soothe Noah. "There are two dead bodies in the morgue and you want me to just ignore that? What if there really is a killer out there? We have a responsibility to the town to let them know something dangerous is out there!"