The Chameleon

Chapter 13

His face was pale.

The body was lying on the empty kitchen table. His stomach had the Roman numeral six carved into it. This time the killer had carved the Roman numeral and then used something to carterize the wound afterwards. There was a lot less blood this time because of it. The man's shirt had been removed and was lying on the floor. His hands were cuffed together and were cuffed between a chair back.

The house was kept clean. No beer bottles like Mary's apartment. He had done laundry the night before and had clothes sitting in the dryer. There was a smell of bleach as well as pinesol. He must've cleaned, either that or the killer did. There were a few pictures on the walls. A family photo with the victim surrounded by what appeared to be siblings. Some knickknacks here and there. A Yankees jersey hung on the wall, autographed.

A couch and tv stand with a modest tv on top. The kitchen table had three chairs at it. Everything was spotless and in its correct place. Maddox turned her attention back to the victim lying on the table. It was barely big enough for the man to fit stretched out on. His feet were sticking out at the end and his hands were stuck through the chair's bars.

There was another injection wound in the man's neck just like Miss Wilson's. Tommie had yet to confirm wether or not he was injected with air like Mary. Maddox bent down and looked under the table. Liam had already gone over the the kitchen with a fine tooth comb, and was now looking at the rest of the house. Reaves stood in the doorway scanning the room with his eyes.

He never made contact with the body. In fact he hadn't even spoke since they got here. Casey was talking with the mailman who discovered the body. He had gone to knock on the door and he looked through the window and saw the man lying on the table. In an effort to make sure he was okay, the mailman walked to the back door and then he saw the man in his current state.

"Tommy," Maddox said as he entered the room. "Same as Miss Wilson?"

Tommy nodded and then stepped closer to the victim. "Yes and no. I didn't have the chance to tell you that Miss Wilson was given propofol. It lasts about five to ten minutes and would've kept her sedated while he was carving. Mister Daniels here, was not so fortunate." Reaves stepped forward and was holding his notepad now.

"Could he have carved that on Mary in that amount of time?" There was an unusual softness in his voice.

Tommy nodded and then pointed at the carving. "If he had done it before and practiced yes." He answered before drawing attention back to Daniels. "This poor fellow was carved on and would've felt every bit of it. Not to mention after the carving and the cauterizing on his stomach, the killer injected him with air."

"Why do you think he cauterizing this time?" Allen asked poking his head out from talking with the mailman.

"Not sure. I'll check it over once we get it back to the morgue. Until then, I'm not sure I can help much. He was killed early this morning between five and six."

"About the same time as Miss Wilson." Nate said before writing something down in his notepad.

"Maybe he works evenings. Gets the victim after he's worked. Kills 'em and then goes home sleeps, goes back to work." Casey added.

"Could be. Unfortunately that doesn't really help narrow it down much." Maddox responded.

Liam walked through the room he stopped and held up a piece of tape. On it was what looked like a fingerprint. "Got a partial. I'm gonna run it through the system. And before you ask, it's not Mark Daniels. I compared one of his with it and didn't match. That and I found it on the broken window latch in the bathroom."

Maddox walked through the hallway and saw the window. It was closed, but the latch was clearly broken. She paused looking at it. For some reason it didn't make sense. It was too easy. Way too easy.

She looked out the window and saw someone duck behind the fence. Then she saw him peek over again. This time she knew something was different. The man wasn't just watching, he knew where to watch from.

"Casey! The killers here. He's watching from the neighbors yard!" Maddox announced as she ran into the kitchen.

Casey pulled his weapon and followed her to the neighbor's yard. Maddox removed her service weapon and felt the cold metal on her palms. She hadn't had to use her gun since she was on patrol. It was strange to feel it in her hands again.

They entered the yard and Maddox waved Casey around to the other side. She checked her flank and then headed through where she had seen the man watching. Ducking beside the corner of the house, she saw someone turn into the alley. Sneaking past the open yard she turned and followed him.

She couldn't help but feel like someone was about to jump her. She was now walking down an empty alley, alone. There was no sign of Casey. Her heart was pounding as she thought about coming face to face with the monster that had killed two people. She stopped in her tracks as shifting on the broken up asphalt echoed. He was here.

She stepped slowly, one foot after the other. There were only two places they could hiding. There was a dumpster and a parked car. She did a quick scan behind her and then proceeded forward. She came up on the dumpster and she checked it. No one. She started towards the car and then she heard it again.

She inhaled deeply and then started towards the car. It had been parked in the alley for some time. Dust covered the windows and two of its tires were flat. She came up to it and slowly inched her way to the opposite side.

It was then the dark figure jumped out and knocked the gun from her hands. It landed on the ground a few feet away. The figure shoved her back and she landed on the ground. It was clearly a man due to his size and height.

She kicked his foot out from under him as he was walking towards the gun. He fell back and she started for the gun. He grabbed her arm and she kicked her foot as hard as she could at his face. He moved and it made contact with his shoulder. Letting out a yell, he released her arm. She scrambled forward to the gun and then felt him grab her. He locked her head in his arms and squeezed.

She attempted to break his grip, but it was too tight. She could see her vision dissipating and was beginning to feel weak. She grabbed for his arm or legs and tried to get some kind of trace evidence they could use. It was then she felt herself slipping. He squeezed tighter and tighter.