The horrible case of the Hollow village

- First stage - Discovery

       It really was a horrible case, even in the eyes of an experienced police officer, as I was, no past disaster could compare to this horrible first discovery. Six children between the ages of ten and thirteen had been found dead deep in a forest, about two kilometers from the educational institution where they were studying. Another one, the only survivor, had been found in shock about a hundred meters from the scene, at the foot of a tree, it was because of the occasional screams and cries that the scene could have been found.

       My fellow partner, rather an apprentice, Officer Tarasco, had received a call from one of the elementary school teachers in the early afternoon, arguing that the children, even after about an hour of being called everywhere throughout the campus, had not been seen. Tarasco, as anyone else would have done, tried to calm the person behind the line, saying that as children, they might have been bored with the class and escaped to a nearby playground or to their homes, but still, the insistence of the teacher in charge prompted him to take action and initiate the investigation.

       First things first, without wasting a second of valuable time, officer Tarasco called each of the children's homes to confirm their disappearance, apparently he was known to one of the workers of one of the parents of one of the children, according to the little information I could hear, they knew each other from an auto shop he frequented since officer Tarasco had previously been fond of the car he had received from his father as a gift. Leaving aside the relationship between the two, it was confirmed that the child in question wasn't at home, from that moment on, a search warrant was launched throughout the area near the school and other possible places where the children could be found. The school in question was located on the outskirts of town, it was the elementary school of Hollow, the place where we lived. A town of few people in a valley near a large mountain range; a community of about 550 inhabitants where both wealthy, as well as some of their more personal workers lived.

       Us, as a police team, were hired with the promise of maintaining security and order in this town, we also played the role of forensic investigators if necessary. Being such a closed community, it was very uncommon to hear of any calls, but since it was a children's getaway we took things slow. A call like this wasn't rare considering that children convinced and arrogant regarding to the economic and political power of their parents, used to do mostly whatever they wanted, consequently, the teachers of the institutions, mostly primary, used to despair a lot when a child was lost, since the only responsible entity in that case would be nothing more and nothing less than the educational institution.

       It wasn't long before we arrived at the place in question, the first thing we did was to talk to the person who made the call and to send a separate search team in a perimeter of one kilometer around the place. The teacher who had called, Professor Albert, was in charge of group 3B, the group to which all the missing students belonged.

       —Finally, you guys are here! I can't believe it, these kids are going to drive me crazy someday. I think I should quit this job and look for another in my hometown, I can't stand having to deal with these crazy kids anymore.— claimed the teacher with a visibly stressed face.

       —If the point was to go crazy, I would have quit this kind of job decades ago.— I commented with a slightly sarcastic and serious tone. —Anyway, could you give us a little more information about the situation? I would appreciate it if you were quick, I have some other things to do.—

       —I get it, I get it. Well, the last time I saw the group was right at their break time, at 10am." commented Professor Albert as I began to write in my notebook.— Then the bell rang at half past ten and when it was time to take attendance the children were not there, as you may know, that the arrogant brats don't want to attend is something recurrent, so I didn't worry a lot, but when I arrived at the time of the third class, At eleven thirty, they weren't there either, so I started to worry, without further ado, I sent one of the wardens to look for them on campus, and at lunchtime, at half past twelve in the afternoon, the warden reported back without having found them.— said the teacher looking up as if remembering what had happened.