The Innefible Detective

Part Two

Lou bounded over to join Geoffrey as he saw him turn the corner, the kid's oversized trench coat ruffling in the wind as he jogged; clearly a hand-me-down from an uncle or his father who'd perished in the war like so many others. When the two met on the sidewalk, Lou wasted no time in sharing the details as they closed the distance to the scene. He'd overhead the cops talking amongst themselves, though there wasn't much said that they didn't already know. In regards to the murder itself, much to Geoffrey's dejection, the details were consistent with the previous victims; throat cut from ear to ear. 

A cop leaning against his car smoking a cigarette clocked the pair heading his way and tossed the smoke to the ground, grinding it dead beneath the sole of his shoe. Geoffrey knew straight away who it was, and if he could, he'd have been smiling. 

"Jonesy! Hey!" The cop yelled, gravelly voice full of recognition. It was Aaronson, one of Geoffrey's only friends when he was on the force. He'd hardly changed a bit since then. "I knew you'd be down here sooner or later… heard you've been working one of the earlier murders."

"That so?" Geoff replied, gripping the cops calloused hand in his own and shaking it. It felt strange seeing a friendly face, but deep down Geoffrey was glad to see him; but more so he was thankful that he didn't have to deal with any one of the other cops who likely wouldn't exactly have been receptive to any direct line of questioning, let alone anything relevant to the case. "What can you tell me about this one? Y'see much of a connection?" 

Aaronson grimaced, reaching a hand into the pocket of his overcoat and retrieving another smoke, lightning it with a sigh. 

"I never dealt with anything like this before. It's somethin' sick, I think. There ain't any apparent motive it seems, like the guy just goes nutso and starts cutting people…" He took another long drag of his cigarette, dropped it, squashed it and then pulled another; cradling it unlit between two nicotine stained fingers. "Some of the boys downtown, they think the feds are gonna get called in for this. We get one more body like this one and the station's gonna be up to the roof in spook, I'll tell ya that…"

Geoffrey could see it in his mind; the humiliated cops that despised him milling around with their thumbs up their asses while a fleet of federal agents did their job for them. The image wasn't exactly displeasing, but what really excited Geoffrey was the prospect of putting them all to shame himself by being the one who caught the murderer. All their bigoted mocking of his unface, threw right back in theirs.

"If that's so then there must be a meeting coming up, right? Can you get me in there? Ol' man Krabowits and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye…"

"Yeah, I 'member, heh." Aaronson brought the smoke to his mouth before striking a match and lighting it. He waved the sticks until the flame went out before letting them fall to the street beneath him along with the growing mountain of smoker's debris. Geoffrey always thought it was a filthy habit, but he understood that everybody needed something to keep them sane, especially in his line of business. Especially in a city like that. "Lemme see what I can do…"

"And what about the body, you gonna let me take a look, or what?" 

"No-can-do, Jonesy. We're wrapping the scene as we speak. Captain Krabowits gave us a strict line about keeping this quiet till' we get something solid, thinks this killer will incite a panic if the papers catch wind." Geoffrey had noticed the reporters floating around at the end of the street, watching intently. "Why'd you think they got me standing around out here like a spare prick? Gotta keep out the vultures, you know?" 

Geoffrey peered past Aaronson's squad car and down the dark alley where the other cops were pulling a white sheet over the corpse. 

"At least tell me this, besides the gashed throat are there any other significant injuries that I should know about?" 

"How'd you know the killer slashed her-" Aaronson glanced at Lou as the kid let off a sly smile. "Oh, I get it, seems your boy wonder over here might just have some use after all, eh?" 

The three shared a brief laugh together as the cops in the alley began to make their way back into the street carrying a stretcher. The woman's slender wrist poked through the sheet. Drops of blood dripped down her arm and onto the grimy alley concrete as they passed. Geoffrey noticed Lou's face turn a little green. 

"We've got a killer in our midst." Aanderson said under his breath, lighting another freshly produced smoke. The cops loaded the vic into the back of an awaiting ambulance before heading off to their own cars parked up the street. "Whoever he is… He's a real sick sonuvabitch…"

Geoffrey and Lou watched as the ambulance sped away, the two now knowing full-well that they'd stepped into a case they never could have anticipated.