Sacristan

CHAPTER I

Cover Art by Cosmotose

Using Stock Images Found at: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net and http://miaka-stock.deviantart.com

 Important note: I am sending what has been submitted here as the first chapter of Sacristan as part of a creative writing portfolio to a University. Just to make it clear that they're not stolen, my name is Benjamin Nunn and I wrote those that piece and submitted it both here and as part of the portfolio.

 CHAPTER I

The sight which now befell Alan Gibbs was truly sickening to behold. A corpse lay before him, one so defiled and mutilated that it seemed like something less than human. The cause of death would seem to be a barbaric combination of strangulation, stabbings and burns. To the untrained eye these wounds were nonsensical, random even but to one trained in the art of murder and deduction the strokes and strikes inflicted upon this mortal man were something more. Cuts, bruises and burns came together like seams and strings to create an altogether more sinister picture. Alan made a note of the ritualistic nature of the scene he was now occupationally obligated to face.

Gibbs sifted through the man’s belongings, fully expecting to find some shred of evidence or some clue or lead to take up and begin the investigation. He pondered, and expected that

“Some fool will blame the police, call them incompetent, believing that they should have somehow prevented this unforeseeable act of random brutality. I’m sure some nut will believe this to be the work of some devil, some demon, some hell-spawn, hell-bound agent of animosity striking out against a good and righteous man as is so often the case when a true zealot is overwhelmed with grief.”

Gibbs had met enough grieving fanatics in the past to know that reason was simply inadequate when speaking to those to whom logic had given way to panicked hysteria. Gibbs glanced out of the window, seeing his colleagues standing watch and keep out the public, the steady stream of onlookers pooling and evaporating, staring at the house hoping to learn of what was happening in the residence of their dear departed friend, the late Reverend Burstner. This had varying effects on Gibbs and his colleagues. Some saw that they were leeches, annoyances and nothing short of hindrances to any case and the small help they may provide outweighed by the annoyances caused by the probing nose of the gossiping civilian. Gibbs, on the other hand, saw them has something quite the other. Gibbs believed that these people, the general public were, in fact, the key to any investigation. It was the witness testimonies that held the most weight in his mind; sure a CCTV camera or two never hurts but in the absence of those there was a lot to be said for the general public. Lost in his thoughts, Gibbs stared at the crowd when he suddenly noticed a face that seemed to be somehow out of the ordinary, though he could not place how, where or if he had seen it before or what made it different. It was the face of a young man, probably in his early twenties if that, he seemed on first glance to be dishevelled and spiteful, not the kind Gibbs would take for a drink or even associate with on some level if not for the necessity of his occupation. Then, in the blink of an eye, the mysterious face was gone.

But most importantly, Gibbs thought to himself while he perused the possible entrances and exits to and from the house, most importantly it is the general public that give the impetus to him and his fellow officers. Gibbs inspected a window, the wooden frame of which seemed to have been split in some forceful manner. Indeed, it was broken and it was Gibbs’ belief that it may have been by some intruder in the night, some masked marauder, breaking in looking to pilfer what he could, who had perhaps been caught by the Reverend and killed him in a great effort of self-preservation. This thought was quickly silenced, however, by the recollection of the precision of the killing and the possibility of any intent other than murder pure and true was immediately discarded. Nevertheless, Gibbs inspected the frame further and found that the break was superficial and may just as well have been caused by extremes in whether as by a struggle.