Monstrous

Chapter 6

"Another body was found again this morning. Just like the two bodies found previously, this John Doe was mauled horribly. The Philadelphia Police Department has decided to call in FBI Behavioral Unit from D.C. No word right now of when they're due to arrive. In other news..."

I turned to look at Valentia. She was sitting beside me on the couch with a sour expression on her face. "I told them to call them in months ago, but they didn't listen to me. Who knows, if they had, maybe we wouldn't have had a third body." She groaned, stood up, and began pacing.

"What I don't understand is how we have no evidence. At all. Zero. I mean, there has to have been something. Right? No one can commit a perfect crime-there is always something!"

"Babe, I'm sure there's something. Maybe you guys overlooked something. I mean, it happens all the time, right?"

"Sure, but not to this extent! We've combed over each one multiple times. It's complete and utter bullshit! Who could ever do something like this? And the fact that we still can't identify two out of three bodies is horrible! The killer removed the teeth, fingertips. We even tried the scalp but we still got no DNA match. How is that possible?"

Valentia took a deep breath and laughed darkly. "The FBI are cocky bastards but they know what the hell their doing. They'll figure it out-I'm sure of that."

I sucked in a bit of air and looked away. "Yeah, the sooner this is all over, the better it'll be for everyone." She walked over, kissed my forehead, and I melted. Somehow, the woman had the ability to completely calm me. It was worrying at the same time because I was afraid of letting her have that much power over me.

"I'm sorry I've been so depressing lately. This is all just stressing me out a little too much." Pulling her into my arms, I wrapped myself around her tight. "Nah, I get it. It'll all be over soon, I'm sure." At least, I hope it will.

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I walked through the deli, my sandwich and green tea nestled in the plastic bag I carried. The place was packed, as per usual. Someone knocked into me, the same man from before. This time, instead of slipping a note into my palm, he gruffly muttered the word 'one' and kept walking.

Shaking my head, I headed back to work. Walking into my office, I noticed that my desk was messy, as if someone had thrown my papers around or spread them out. I dropped my bag of food onto one of the chairs and began sifting through my things.

After checking everything, and making sure nothing was missing, I took a deep breath. There was nothing truly important in my office, but I wanted to double check. Once I got myself together and ate my food, I headed out to where the lab was located.

"So, ladies and gentlemen, how are we doing today?" I asked as I looked about the room. Faces smiled at me, murmured an answer, and went right back to their work. Only one person didn't respond-Isidore.

I took my time walking over to him, staring at the back of his head as I moved through the aisles. When I finally reached him, I leaned down and placed my head next to his, staring at the work he was attempting to do.

"Hello, Isidore. How are you today?" He shrugged absentmindedly and I wanted to sock him. "Hey, I wanted to ask you...you didn't happen to see anyone go into my office this afternoon while I was at lunch, did you?"

Isidore stiffened for a moment before shaking his head and giving me a quiet "No." I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Are you sure? Because I kinda think you're lying."

"I didn't see anyone go into your office."

A new, young scientist was sitting in the table across from him. She was a quiet girl, kept to herself-but I knew that she'd give me the information I needed.