Morana Barnes: Murderous Love

13. Morana Barnes

September 8th, 2022 12:55 am

Officially Serial Pt. 2:

Sitting back in the chair my eyes stared at the crime board that was still empty. Pictures of the two victims hanging up connected to nothing but a piece of paper describing the killer and the autopsy reports, that was all. There was no physical evidence. The box beside me sat empty as well. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out before standing up.

I opened my laptop and went to save an image to get ready to print it. I didn't know why but there was something about him; Janson Luke. Something was off with him. When his picture was done printing I hung it in the middle of the crime board with a red tack. I stared at the picture getting an uneasy feeling from it. What was it about him that put me so on edge?

I stared at every feature from his dark brown hair to his bright blue eyes, to the pointed tip of his nose. He matched the generic description that was given to me but I had no way of proving that it was him. Just because he was suspiciously on a hiking trail doesn't mean he's a killer.

I connected his picture, with a red string, to the picture of Syndey's backpack. Their backpacks were the same the only thing missing was the pins Sydney had on her backpack. She had a purple camp counselor pin and a red pin that had the initials of her name. It was the only connection I had.

It seemed like a far stretched and maybe a little bit biased considering the feeling he gave me but none of this was making sense. I tried to rake my mind from the night I met Janson to see if I subconsciously dismissed something but couldn't find anything. What was he doing up there? If there was evidence he contaminated it by just being there.

He seemed so jumpy as though he was caught doing something. I feel like it was a stretch like I was just becoming desperate to pin these murders on someone. He knew the hiking trails were under investigation. My thoughts just wouldn't stop trying to connect him to something.

"I was gonna check some of the other hiking trails but the police were there and they were closed off while they were searching." That means nothing. There were other hiking trails besides those that were cordoned off.

Honestly, it's our fault for not blocking all of them off and instead just blocking off the ones we're currently searching for. I guess there goes one mistake in our attempt to catch the killer. I had been so in my thoughts I hadn't heard my phone ring. When I finally snapped out of it I already had three missed calls from Chaset. I picked my phone up and answered the phone putting it to my ear. "Barnes,"

"We got another one." Chaset's voice rang out.

*****

Three victims. He has officially been deemed a serial killer and he will continue to kill. His motive? Unknown. I looked at the girl, Milly, in front of me who was staring at the table with trauma written all over her face. Milly's eyes were dim and they looked dead.

It was clear she was struggling to process what she had seen. She would need lots of therapy to get over this but then again, she'll never get over it. She'll always remember the moment she saw someone murder another person. Milly sniffed and looked at me. "I don't....He...." she couldn't form a sentence.

"Okay, did you see his face at all?" I asked trying to give her specific questions so that way she can answer.

"No, he had his back turned to me. I know he heard me though because as soon as he....." she swallowed, tears coming to her eyes. "As soon as he noticed me he broke her neck and he ran," a tear slipped.

"Can you tell me what you and your friends were doing?"

"We were just having a late-night stroll. We'd all just finished tests and were talking about what we thought our grades are going to be. As we were walking we heard screaming. At first, we thought it was just some people playing around but the second time we heard it, it sent chills down our spines. Her scream was..." she paused reliving the moment for a brief second.