The Cage

1 ignorance

The police department was a mess. Inspector Alistair McCormack was tired and revised. His exhaustion would soon take over his mind if he kept being called for emergencies during the night. It was a murder again, he just had one last week. "Come on", he told himself and tried to stay concentrated. The crime scene had looked worse than the last one - the blood had been quite fresh and the murderer must've been still present as the victim has been found. The corpse had been even more dismembered than the last one - Cleo Waterstone. And again, it had been found by a young adult man. The parallels were obvious but it could still be independent. The inspector groaned in distress and went outside his office to tell the young man to enter.
"So you found the corpse?", he asked. "Yeah...it was my best friend Jasper. We were out drinking that night because he finished his exams and just wanted to go home. I lost him in the fog and...maybe 15 or 20 minutes past, I found him all bloody dead." The boy shook his head in disbelief. "How did that murderer even work while I was still there? He could've gotten me too. Easily." Alistair McCormack nodded. "That'll be our problem to solve.", he said and continued asking questions.

We go away from the inspector sulking in his exhaustion and the young man, still traumatized by finding his best friend dead. It's a day later in Lucas house - you remember him I assume. His phone's ringing and he hesitated for a minute before he picked up the anonymous number. "This is Lucas J Carter?", he answered. "Hey Lucas, it's me Cleo. Have you forgot our date? I've been waiting for an hour now!" Lucas is shocked. "Cleo? But you're dead, ain't you?"
But the girl he thought about as dead just kept blabbering. "I expect you to show up in ten or I'll leave. Meet me in the black lion, I've already ordered drinks." And with that, the girl just hung up.
Man, that's impossible., Lucas thought. I literally found her dead body, didn't I?
As he left his apartment, he called Inspector McCormack. "Inspector Alistair McCormack how can I help you?"
"I'm sorry for the late call sir, it's Lucas Carter, Cleo Waterstone just called me, telling me she'd wait in the black lion for our date."
He only heard silence on the other side of the line. "Sir?"
"I'll meet you there in ten."

It was raining again but both Lucas and the inspector were already used to the english weather. Shaking the limpid rain drops off their jackets the men entered the black lion. As soon as they did so, they loud and exciting live music eclipsed their ears. They could smell sweat, alcohol and the slight smell of warm food. The jazz band covered the whole pub in their loud improvises music and both men tried to scan the crowd that flowed to the rhythm for Cleo.
After they sat down, an elderly woman approached. "How can I help ya lads?", She asked, smiling brightly.
The inspector asked for two glass of water - and got some strange glances for that. "Have you seen a young lady
in her mid-twenties here? Dark brown reddish hair, dark eyes and quite tall?" The woman frowned and thought for a while. "Not that I'd know, but you're welcome to look around a bit as long as your glasses stay filled." The inspector nodded in agreement and dived into the crowd and Lucas followed him without hesitation. They scanned the people for some red hair but didn't found anything.

As they kept searching, we do change the time but not the place. A few weeks earlier, it was a Wednesday, therefore the black lion was much emptier than in the night where the inspector and Lucas are searching right now. The elderly woman was now standing at the sink, washing empty beer glasses. The door opened and a young woman entered, bringing in the fresh autumn breeze from outside. The old woman who was the pub owner noticed her pretty and feline features, her soft skin and her pretty eyes, hidden under dark lashes. She was incredibly pretty and her dark orange hair crowned it all, fitting perfectly into the autumnal landscape. "Good evening, how can I help you, miss?" The woman looked around. "I reserved a table on the name Carter." The owner showed her a small romantic table in a cozy corner of the pub. "Aw that's perfect, thanks a lot." 
She sat there for at least an hour, seeming more and more uncomfortable, shifting in her seat, looking at her watch nervously. "How is it possible, that he still didn't appear yet. He reserved the goddamn table.", She whispered to herself. Both glass of red wine that stood on the table were empty by now so she took her phone out of pure despair and dealed his number. Nobody answered and she talked on the mail box: "Hey Lucas, it's me Cleo. Have you forgot our date? I've been waiting for half an hour now! I expect you to show up in ten or I'll leave. Meet me in the black lion, I've already ordered drinks. See you in ten. Hopefully.", she sighed and put her mobile aside.

Of course, Lucas and the inspector didn't find anything in the black lion and went back to the elderly woman to ask her about Cleo. Lucas described her and showed the woman a picture. "Oh that girl", the woman smiled. "Yes, I've seen her. She's been here last week, waiting for someone. She left though. Guess it was a date. A real shame to leave such a beautiful woman like that alone, right lads?" Lucas blushed. "She left alone?", the inspector asked. "What day of the week was it?" The woman shook her head. "She was all alone I'm sorry. And I think it was Friday. A real shame. Now if you excuse me laddies, there are guests who need my attention." And with these words she vanished into the crowd.