The Last Hunt

II

Its chilly. I fit my hat better on my head and walk to the car Ionescu waits in. We left quickly without even talking
-So, officer, what happened? I asked him after a while
-A forester: Vasile Popa. He was managing a hunting field near by.
Three days ago he dissapeared while at his cabin in the woods. This morning we found him...eehhh....sort of
-Hunting accident? I said
-Clearly no. You see...
-What wounds does he have on the body?
-lt's...you know what? You can see yourself!
He was visibly irritated of my cut off.

The car stops in front of a cabin in the middle of the forest.
-Where is the body? I say
-Come with me!
We are walking deep into the forest. It's just what l wished, especially with an empty stomach!
Here and there a squirrel leaps from branch to branch. Red squirrels, Sciurus vulgaris, not the grey non-native ones l see in England usually. Cute playful creatures!

We arrive in a clearing. A few policemen are already there. All around a a tree.
Getting closer, l am really intrigued about what could it be.

Good Lord!...It is horrifying! I've never seen such thing. A human skull was nailed on an oak tree, next to him a human skin hanged by a branch. What kind of sick person could do that? The victim was slaughtered like an animal!
-And how do you know its Mr. Popa? I say
-The tattoo, says the officers pointing towards the picture of a bear skull on the skin hanging there. Right under the skull you can see the initials "V.P". The wife confirmed it.
-Wife? Is she here?
-Yes, one moment to find her...
-Don't bother! I can hear her later! Now let's hear what we know about we got here.
-Of course, mr. Trapper. Hei! Bă Georgescule! Vrea domnu' să vorbiți! He is the forensic pathologist, mr. Georgescu
A tall young man, slim, approaches us and shakes my hand.
-Nice to meet you, mr. Trapper. I've heard a lot about you.
-Yeah, nice to meet you too. So, what do we know so far?
-l analyzed the skin, and l was able to tell that our victim was shot two times: in the liver and in the heart.
-Mhm...so our murderer is very skillful with aiming. I may say as a...
-Hunter, mr. Trapper. One with a lot of experience.
-Yes, yes. How about the skull? Does it say anything useful?
-Just like the skin, it was cleaned with a hunting knife. Not very well, l can say. The remaining bits were cleaned by martens.
Officer Ionescu intrerrupts him.
-But why would the killer display the skull like a trophy? And if he cleaned it, why didn't he clean it perfectly?
-Well, my friend, can you question the acts of a person who is insane enough to murder and display their victim's skull and skin, like it's a wild boar? I say
-Da, you are right.
-Do you have any idea where the rest of the body is?
-Nu! Not a clue, they say togheter.
-Hmmm, l see. Now you can call Mrs. Popa.
-One moment, Mr. Trapper.

While l am waiting l stare at the creepy trophies hanging from the oak. A hunter was shot like a boar and his head and skin were displayed in the woods like a morbid warning. Who could have the cold blood to murder a man and slaughter his body like he was an animal.
Now that l look closer, the skin is only 'till the neck. No face. Maybe it's better. It's disturbing enough this way. We were lucky with the tattoo, though. Otherwise it would habe been really hard to id our victim.
I move my eyes to the skull. His golden eye shines compared with the dirty-brownish bone. If it was cleaned with chlorine or H2O2 it would have been white and it wouldn't stink like this. Phiu! I get closer and pull out my magnifying glass. Some teeth marks are clearly visible. Small pointy teeth. How Mr. Georgescu said, martens!
It was so beautiful here! I really thought Romania was a piece of Heaven, but now l see it's as wicked as any place where people live. In these beautiful mountains, someone had enough wrath to take a man's life and rise his body parts up in a tree as a warning. No place inhabited my men is a perfect one. Sin is growing from every corner.

As l am sitting here like that with my thoughts, a woman comes followed by officer Ionescu. She is visibly affected, with tears in her eyes. Her voice is trembling
-You said you wanted to talk to me, detective?
-Yes, of course.
Hmm, she is indeed affected. But are those tears of sadness...or of guilt? Could the wife have been able of such a gruesome act? I can't wait to see!
-Mrs. Popa, l got a few questions, if you don't mind.
-Da, l will answer anything you want to know!