Bite Shift

35

We had moved into the office. The binder was discarded to the corner. The dirty glasses were all taken into the kitchen and left in the sink to soak. We set out creating a "murder board" of sorts. First, the map was hung on the center of one wall. Around it, we started to hang the pages that we thought were most important.

To the right of the map was everything on victim one. Her name was Angelica Davis. She died at the age of 26 and left no children, no surviving parents and no siblings. Her body was found in Beaver; 43 miles from the center of the city. The police believed that her ex-husband had grabbed her and, in a fit of rage, ripped her apart. With what, they didn't know. She had been a sex worker and arrested twice around the hospital for solicitation. I didn't think the police were working very hard on her case.

To the left of the map was all the information on Hillary Wilde, aka, victim two. She was the youngest to die, at the age of 25. She left behind two parents and a little sister. The night security guard stated he had seen her around 11pm. She had come in for coffee and spent 15 minutes talking to one of the nurses. That was the last time she was seen until a hunter found her body in Washington County. It was 35 miles from the hospital and very rural. The police knew her history and their working theory was that a client had killed her, panicked, and ditched the body. They were sure that the condition of the body was related to wild animals snacking on her. One part of the report referred to her as having "high risk employment". That pissed me off. Cops have a high-risk employment and, when they're killed doing their job, they get justice and a parade. Looking at all the files, it was clear that the first two victims were not getting the same, thorough investigation.

Focus, Kate. After you find the killer, you can start a podcast and raise awareness but, for now, you have bigger issues.

Above the map was a row of papers on the third victim: Julie VanHorn. She had been a 34-year-old social worker. She was loved by all and even volunteered at a soup kitchen. She had gone on a date that evening and twisted her ankle coming out of the restaurant. Her date had dropped her at the ER. He then left, not waiting to give her a ride home. What a guy. The night security guard had seen her leave the hospital around 10pm. He stated that she had called for an Uber and was going out to wait for them. She was found in Trafford. It was 18 miles away. The house was condemned but teens went in to party at night. They found her and ran. Thankfully, one girl was scared enough to tell her Mom, who called police. The police were working on finding the date and suspected he was involved. She had a brother that was not going to let the police stop until the murdered was brought to justice.

I hope I can do that for you, buddy. I really do.

Below the map, a line of black and white pages told the final chapter of 31-year-old Mallory Khan's life. She had been the EMS worker who was found closest to the hospital. She, and her partner, had brought in an 85-year-old woman with chest pain. After the doctor took over, Mallory had gone out to get the lady's purse. She was never seen again. Her body was the most unrecognizable. An officer had discovered it when he went to search an abandoned home that was known to be the sleeping ground of drug addicts. He thought he'd, at worst, roust some drunks and send them into the cold. Instead, he found something that would probably haunt his dreams. The house was in a very bad part of the city, only 3 miles from the hospital. The police believed she was killed by an addict and the body had been attacked by stray, hungry dogs. One part of Mallory's history was too close to home for me.

During the day, according to the reports, she had been working on her dream..... she was in nursing school.

It was too much and I let out tears that I didn't know I was holding onto. Rhys turned to me, looking confused. "What happened?"

"They're so young. They had so much to give the world and they're all dead. Mallory was going to be a nurse. I could have worked with her someday and heard her talk about the man she was going to marry and the babies she wanted to have. It's just too awful."