She's Got The Devil's Eyes - Deckerstar (Completed)

Chapter XV

Just as Chloe suspected, there had been another murder. They had been working on the cyclist when the lieutenant came to her desk and gave her another case file; another victim that had been laid on the floor surrounded by proof of their wrongdoings.

Their afternoon was spent doing a background search on Paul Sinclair, all his bank information, his phone records, everything that could draw out a possible suspect but so far there had been nothing. His email inbox was filled by messages from possible sponsors and the only mail that stood out had been one for his ten-year high school reunion that was supposed to happen the night he died. He obviously didn't get to go there, so they were back to the beginning.

The autopsy report came quickly, arriving at Chloe's desk at about four in the afternoon. His cause of death had been pretty rare, unique, to say the least. He had died of an air embolism large enough to tamponade major blood vessels and cause a heart attack. There was no way an air embolism of such size could be caused by a natural cause, and even if it were, it would mean the victim had had a big vein or artery completely exposed to the air, and no recent major injuries had been listed on the report. Ella's conclusion at that was that the MO had been purposefully injecting air into the bloodstream, causing a rather slow and painful death.

"This guy had such an awful death!" She had exclaimed, showing them the pictures of the injection spot to reinforce what she was saying. "First, the embolism starts causing anxiety and tremors, then, slowly, their upper and lower extremities start to become paralyzed by the lack of oxygen and they get cyanotic, and lately, when the embolism reaches the heart or brain, boom, death," she brought her hands up to her head to simulate a bomb exploding there, bringing emphasis to her point.

"Thank you, Miss Lopez, for such a... graphic description of this chap's death," Lucifer had said, visibly uncomfortable and shifting the weight between his legs as he stood right next to Chloe.

"Normally, embolisms in arteries are way more dangerous than in veins, and the killer used a vein to pump the air, which means they had to inject at least fifty milliliters of gas," Ella had seemed oddly excited about the case. Sue her, but causes of death were almost always stab or bullet wounds, if killers were feeling a little bit excited maybe poison. That cause of death and therefore that case were a one of a kind.

Once the information had settled in, they started to look for any kind of contact with a healthcare worker or physician, given the fact that to get the supplies needed for that kind of procedure you had to work in healthcare. You just couldn't buy an IV kit at CVS or any kind of drugstore really. If Paul had recently gone to the doctor or had any medical procedure done, they had a place to start.

Far too soon they were hit with the fact that Paul's last contact with any healthcare physician had been over four months ago and it had been a physiotherapist because he had an injury in his right knee. Just like that, their hopes were crushed and they were forced to back to the very beginning. It wasn't as if they had gotten too far though, which made the fall hurt a little bit less.

However, when their second case dropped in, they had a little more information to work with. The first thing they did was look out for any injection bruises and try to get the autopsy report as soon as possible, but given the fact that they arrived at the crime scene in the evening, the report was most likely to be done by morning. The victim, a woman named Hannah Lacroix, had been found dressed in lingerie, with her wedding and engagement rings on, with a crucifix around her neck and surrounded by pictures of her cheating on her husband. They didn't need much more than that to realize that the killer was trying to make a statement with his kills, he wasn't only killing by pleasure.

They drove themselves to the crime scene as soon as they could, arriving at dawn. It was an exuberant family home in suburbia, surrounded by a white fence and it probably had a pool at the back. Based on the stressed man standing at the porch and the number of backyard toys scattered around, Chloe could draw to the conclusion that the home probably housed a large family; at least two children.