The Rose Murders | Original Story

SEVEN

The sound of someone banging on the front door really early in the morning woke Kaylie and I from our sleep.

"It's literally like five after seven who gets up this early." Kaylie groaned, slipping from the covers.

I shrugged. "I don't know, but they're so dead." I took my hair down from its braid so I wouldn't look as bad in case it was JJ.

Kaylie threw open the door moments later and squealed. "Elena, come here!" She shrieked.

"Shush you'll wake Elliot." I walked to the door. "Who is it?"

Kaylie shook her head. "Not a who." She sounds terrified or disgusted. It's too early to tell.

"Is that?" I asked.

"Yep, and it looks fresh."

A bloody liver set bleeding out onto the doormat. A preserved liver more than likely because a fresh one would actually deteriorate pretty quickly.

"Who would leave us a liver and run?" I shut the front door.

"No clue." Kaylie was still looking at the door in slight horror. "What do we do with it?"

"We put it in a cooler for now, and take it to Lizzy later." I suggested.

Kaylie returned after a minute with the white-and-red ice cooler. "Do we have to involve Lizzy?" She opened the door again.

"Yes, we do." I knelt to retrieve the doormat. "Her parents run a funeral home which means she can tell us more about this liver."

"Fine." Kaylie shut the lid on the cooler once the mat and liver were in. "But I don't like this."

+++

Elisabeth Colby's parents ran Colby Mortuary, the biggest funeral home in all of Gravesten. The building sat on the corner of Cherry Street and Broadway Avenue so it was pretty much in the middle of town which made it hassle free to most people.

But more importantly for Kaylie and I, they had just about every scanner possible to determine causes of death or specifically who or what this liver came from.

Kaylie was opposed to the idea of bringing Lizzy into everything, but it was our only hope to figuring out where this liver came from.

Lizzy was tucked back in one corner of the foyer as we entered, her journal propped on her jean clad legs.

Lizzy Colby was quite possibly one of the prettiest women I had ever seen. She had natural wavy chestnut brown hair with gold highlights and big doe eyes. She reminded me of someone who should be on the cover of a magazine not doodling in her journal inside a house that smelled like formaldehyde.

"To what do I owe the pleasure girls?" Lizzy asked, standing from her chair.

Kaylie held up the cooler with a slight smile. "Brought you a surprise, Liz."

Lizzy pecked Kaylie's lips before taking the cooler. "Did you guys accidentally cut Elliots finger tip off again?" She questioned skeptically.

"I wish that was all." I commented as we followed her into the back.

Lizzy slipped the lid from the red cooler and peered inside. "That's a liver." She stated. "And judging by the lacerations to the outer layer along with the color, I would say it was cut out of the body about twelve hours ago which means it had to be stored properly before being left on your doorstep this morning." She explained.

"God she's so hot when she talks nerdy." Kaylie remarked, a dreamy gaze in her eyes.

I rolled my eyes at the sickening pair. "How did you know where we found it?" I tried to keep my gaze from the liver as she lifted the mat from the box completely. I mean what if that's Esme's liver?

Lizzy smirked at Kaylie before turning her attention to me. "That's the same doormat you've had since third grade so it didn't take a genius." She sat the mat on the metal work table.

"So?" Kaylie pressed. "Besides you looking hot in glasses and pink latex gloves, what have we established?"

"Would you focus?" Lizzy snapped playfully. "We established that this is a sheep's liver that was probably taken from the slaughter house about twenty minutes north of here."

"A sheep?" I echoed questionably, the liver looked very humanish to me.

Lizzy nodded, placing it back into the cooler. "Sheep's livers are very similar to ours in texture and appearance." She removed her gloves. "So what's all this about?"

Kaylie shook her head. "You don't wanna know." She said simply.

"Too bad I do, princess, so spill it."

Great one more person who's about to know my crimes. I trusted Lizzy, however, I knew she wouldn't tell. That's why I told her the whole story from start to now.

"Interesting." Lizzy leaned back in one of the pews of the auditorium. "So obviously the next step is to go to the slaughter house and see if anything is missing and get a list of names of the people who were on duty last night."

Kaylie sat on the same pew with Lizzy's legs in her lap. "Yeah sure that's what I was just about to suggest."

I sprung from my chair, a little rattled. "Let's go then."

So we left, but all of us missed the point of what the liver actually meant.