Page 33:

6 0 0
                                    

Audrina's eyes lit up just a little bit when her brother showed up, but yet again dulled and became upset when more people showed up. Listening to the commotion around her, she moved to kneel beside the body, not touching it but examining it. She heard a remark about the victim being unidentified, and while that was true, it also wasn't. The only two who really knew were her and Aaron. She turned back to her brother,offering a smile in return. "Look closely. The message is written out like... like a ransom note almost. And it looks like the cuts are surgical but yet not. Looks familiar.." She mumbled the last part. Her brother was the only one she trusted with the information of what she does, or did. She looked at her brother, flashing her press pass before she signed and stood, turning toward the rest of the group and clearing her throat.

"I know it is not my place to state this, but I know the victim. He... He was my uncle, an Electrician for the city. His name is Richard Black, age 28. His hands are missing, but I can't determine cause of death just by looking at him." She stated to the other cops, ignoring the press. It became personal, she gulped and looked down. Now was not the time to let her guard down, but she couldn't figure out why the killer was targeting innocents. Why he was targeting well known, even liked, people. She sighed and turned back to the body, staring at it.

"Snip Snip, Snap Snap."

Casey regained his composure, knowing this wasnt the time to be lost in thought. He felt a vibration in his pocket. His cellphone was notifying him that he has an unread message.

From: Channing Rogers
Message: Thank y'all for... I am sorry if I scared anyone, I... I think I need more time.

Casey couldn't imagine the pain she must be feeling right now. She lost the most out of everyone in this case. It was all the more reason for him to solve this case and bring justice in the memory of John. He began to type a response on his phone, but deleted everything he wrote. No matter what he had to say, he could say it to her in person. He noticed Easter arriving to the crime scene. She walked away before Casey could give a hello or a wave. He put his phone away and patted Ben on the shouler. "Lets go see a dead body." He said trying to give warm smile.

He walked over to where the dead body was. He made sure to keep his distance so he wouldnt contaminate the scene. He stood a few feet behind Easter. "So what do you got for me?" He asked Easter. He noticed she was upset about something. "What's wrong?" He added.

Hearing the man say that he didn't mean to frighten her in that apologetic tone made Lauren smile; oh how sweet of him to consider her emotions rather than being abrupt like most other reporters that she'd interacted with before, not caring for the wellbeing of those that they were interviewing, simply focusing on the story that they were about to obtain - due to this nature Lauren tended to have slight difficulties trusting reporters and news outlets in general, however this man seemed okay - at least from the solid judge of character that she had given him from their very first encounter. Lauren was a District Deputy Attorney (DDA) it was her job as a criminal prosecutor and profiler to identify individuals, therefore she naturally instinctively judged others based on who they were, sometimes without the intention of doing so, which at times made her far too cautious, naturally always attempting to be a step forward of everybody else, hence her almost never failing in her tasks when it came to questioning suspects. However due to all that murders and the recent loss of John, and now yet again another murder the female was slightly off in regards to performance, but that would not stop her from doing the best she could by being an input to her team to resolving this case, getting to the bottom of who the murderer truly was.

Snapping out of her short thoughts the female replied to the man, whom she still hadn't actually caught the name of. The rain began to drizzle slightly, damping her brunette hair as the wind once again blew sending strands of her hair flying around aimlessly. Lauren quickly grabbed them tucking it behind her ear in the hopes of that not happening again. Poor choice, she should've worn her hair up, then again how was she supposed to know that there was going to be a new body and crime scene today? Laura figured that it'd simply be another day in her office as she reviewed case files, delving into the deepest ends of the killers mind, attempting to salvage these clues into some sort of sense and to at least crack a few, understanding their mensrea and actus reus - the two elements to a crime; but alas she was wrong. Her day had ended up here, with a new crime scene, a new victim, her team doing her job and her, with a reporter. A slight chill ran down her spine, from the cold miserable weather and the lurching feeling she had from this new crime scene. She wasn't squeamish, as she'd gotten a peek of the body earlier when securing civilians from tampering the crime scene just for reasons she could not yet place she felt that something was wrong about what she had saw. Smiling at the reporter, Lauren replied. "It's okay, I've just got a fair bit on my mind. You didn't frighten me too much, I should've been more alert anyway." letting out a small laugh giving off the impression that everything was fine. She didn't want the man to feel bad.

SPLATTER (draft) Where stories live. Discover now