Petals Fall Once, Never Twice | ONC24

13. Investigation.

Detective Thomspon leaned back in his chair, the weight of the unsolved cases heavy on his shoulders. Rubbing his tired eyes, he glanced at the stack of papers on his desk. Across from him, Detective Reynolds mirrored his exhaustion, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.

"Alright, let's go over what we know so far one more time," he said, gesturing to the files spread out before them. "We've got three attacks, two dead, and one on the verge of death."

Thompson nodded solemnly, his gaze fixed on the photos of the crime scenes. "Ethan Barlowe was found in his family's old vacation house two weeks after they reported him missing...which was a few days after his disappearance," he recounted. Both scrunched up their noses, recalling the memory of the gruesome discovery and the stench of his decomposing body. "Alex Everett dropped dead in a café in broad daylight, poisoned with cyanide and succinylcholine. His blood tests showed lethal doses, perfectly measured and prepared for no one else but him."

Reynolds grimaced at the mention of the deadly chemicals. "The security cameras were facing away from where he was seated." He paused, rubbing his stubble with a weary sigh. "And Nathan Peterson," he continued, "lured in via texts then attacked and set on fire."

Thompson's expression hardened. "We're dealing with a meticulous killer," he observed. "Someone who plans their attacks with precision and executes them with deadly accuracy, leaving nothing behind."

"A stalker?"

"Most probably." 

Reynolds shuddered. Though horrified, he couldn't help but admire the calculations of the killer. "This someone is fucking terrifying, man. While both Ethan and Nathan have been attacked with chloroform, Alex was injected with SUX but consumed cyanide in his coffee. Not only did they administrate the drugs in the only way that ensured the results they sought, but also used two lethal chemicals in one go. And the fire? Brutal. They're not messing around. They're aiming for death, straight up."

Thompson grunted, rolling his eyes at his younger partner's antics. He tapped one of the pictures strewn across the table between them. "Besides being friends, all three victims have one thing in common." He pointed at the numbers scribbled at each crime scene. "These markings appear to be some kind of signature."

Reynolds nodded in agreement. "The cleaning lady at the café mentioned seeing a similar scrawl in the restroom, written in lipstick. She wiped it, however, assuming it was the usual annoying scribble."

"Five," Thompson murmured, his brows furrowed, deep in thought. "We must find the other two before it's too late."

"We need to find the connection between these victims," Reynolds huffed.

The older detective rubbed his forehead, staring intently at the files. "The cameras in the Barlowes' mansion showed nothing but Ethan stumbling out of the house. A while later, he got the car out of the garage and drove away with someone. We can't access their neighbor's footage for extra details until they return from their trip abroad." He sipped his cold coffee for a while before speaking again. "The guard mentioned a fiancé but he's never seen her before and she was too tiny and ordinary to raise any suspicions. Plus, the parents mentioned that they've gotten used to Ethan's shenanigans and disappearance, so hence why the report came late."

"Alex had no contact with anyone unusual besides his rowdy friends. While going through Nathan's phone records, we noted recent texts and calls with a new number," Reynolds added. "We suspect they used a burner phone so we are finding difficulties tracing them. We found its remains in his vehicle. It seems like it was a girl."

"A girl," Thompson murmured.

"The fiancé?"

"Could be. The other customers said a street vendor, a young woman, approached them a while before Alex dropped to the floor."