"There it is," I say with a gesture of my hand.
"It is beautiful," He says in reply.
The leaves had all just about been stripped from their branches for the autumn, and you could see clearly through the branches. On the ground, vibrant, warm colors spread across almost the entirety of the grass, making it unable to see even the slightest bit of ground. The satisfaction of the perfectly distributed leaves was all I needed to take the stress away from this first date.
Is this a date? I ask myself. I'm just showing him the forest. My place of solitude.
"I've had so many adventures here," I say with a sigh, "now I can share them with someone."
He looks at me and smiles.
"I hope I enjoy it as much as you have."
We turned and walked towards the edge of the forest. Almost like doors, the forest trees seemed to part for us as we continued our journey with one another.
-------
I couldn't wait any longer for the sudden chime that was projected through my phone's speaker. Not that I wanted for there to be any more killing or murders, but the lack of evidence was killing me. I have to have more. I've been on this case for more than six months, so when the next bit of evidence decides to pop up, well, let's say nothing can get in the way between me and solving this case. It rings again.
"Officer Taylor-"
"No time for formality, Taylor, another incident has taken place. A Seven incident."
I was already getting in my car.
"Where did it happen?" I ask
"The library, on Birch parkway."
I start my car.
"Alright. On my way," I say as I hang up.
Now, speeding through traffic with my alarm blaring, my mind was racing faster than my car, and my heart was going double the speed.
~-~
It takes about twenty minutes to get to the library. The other officers have already roped off all the entrances and we're keeping the press away, for the better good of all the people watching at home. I walk straight through the crowd and into the building. I was greeted by officer Bryant, who showed me the first piece of gruesome evidence.
"This," he says, then sighs, "is what appears to be a half of a thigh."
"A human thigh?"
I myself am not bothered by stuff like this, but Bryant... Oh boy.
He looks away before he covers the evidence with, ugh dare I say it, puke.
"And how many pieces total?"
"Twenty-eight."
I already new the answer, I just had to make sure we were dealing with the same person.
See, the reason we call the murderer Seven is because of how he kills his victims. He is known to use seven different blades and cut his victim into a number of pieces that is devisable by seven, all in order. The first being seven, the second being fourteen and so on.
This guy is smart too. He covers his trace so carefully the we haven't been able to track him, even the slightest bit. No fingerprints, footprints, hell, even the cameras went offline during the occurrence.
The next part was the deciphering. Who was killed? How did it happened? When did it happen? What, ugh, pieces were cut first? Why were they cut first? Is there an order? Do the different body parts spell a name? All of this will take place tonight. Speculation and brainstorming.
And I love it.
