True Crime: Five and Counting

Chapter 2: Surrounded by Death

        Homicide detective Gary Mills arrived at the scene and was greeted by officer Mitchell.

        "How you holding up?"

        Mitchell sighed before he responded, "I still feel sick, but I'm hanging in there."

        "Good." Gary looked up at the house and at the surrounding area as he talked. "Tell me what we are dealing with."

        "I came in and found five bodies. One adult female and four male children"

        "My God..." Gary shook his head. He hated cases with children involved. Every single one of them.

        "Three of them have been identified as Jenna's children. We still don't know who the oldest one is."

        Gary finally spoke, "What does it look like inside?"

        "Looks crazy in there. I found a homemade alter of some kind. I'm guessing a ritualistic killing of some sort. There are candles, various religious decorations, and a dead cat in the center of it all."

        Detective Mills didn't respond. He didn't know what to say. A ritualistic killing sounded crazy and terrifying at the same time. But with his years of experience, he knew better than to rule anything out.

        Mitchell continued, "Even crazier, there is no blood and no signs of a struggle or forced entry."

        Gary's keen eye had already noticed the opened window and pointed it out. Mitchell explained that's how he entered the home.

        "Well what's the cause of death? Strangulation?"

        Mitchell shrugged, "I'm not sure sir. I was hoping you could help us out with that. I'm gonna stay out here, I'm still not feeling very great."

        Gary nodded. He walked away from Mitchell and up the two concrete steps. He entered Jenna's home and was welcomed by the smell of death.

        Soon he was standing infront of the alter Mitchell was talking about. It did indeed look like some kind of cult sacrifice, but one thing made him pause. The cat was not beheaded. It was not cut open or stabbed in any way. No evidence of a sacrifice was there. It looked as though the cat had simply just died.

        Maybe a broken kneck? Perhaps strangulation?

        He turned his attention away from the "alter" to the woman in the floor. The first red flag he saw was her unbuttoned and unzipped jeans. A big chance of sexual assault. However, that was the only red flag. There was no other evidence to suggest such an act had occurred... and there was no blood.

        The body had been there a few days. Her finger nails were starting to turn black and the skin had some discoloration. The skin had turned a cherry reddish and pink color. That was all the clues he got. There was nothing else there.

        Gary looked at the other bodies to find the similar discoloration of skin and black finger nails. All he had was a vague time frame of death. That was it. There was no clear cause of death. No bruising on the neck. No abrasions or lacerations.

        Gary was back at the body of Jenna now. He leaned down next to her and sighed heavily.

        What happened here Jenna? How did you end up this way?

        This was one of those rare times where detective Mills was completely stumped. Gary looked around his shoulder to the mantle and the cat. He looked back at Jenna and again down at her pants. He felt overwhelmed. He felt sick and his head began to hurt. His stomach slowly tied itself into a knot. A clue he had missed earlier, now caught his attention.

        He stood up slowly. As he did, his head swirled and ached. He suddenly felt VERY sick. He was terrified. He was shaking. Gary now knew exactly how the family was murdered and the killer was still in the house.

        "EVERYONE OUT! NOW!"