The Symbologist

Chapter 16

"Oh hey look! We look kinda alike," DI Sugars picked up the photo of Leanne Hample and held it next to his face.

Sergeant Carla wasn't sure what to say so she simply nodded. The resemblance was uncanny. All of a sudden, Sugars' phone started to ring. And guess who it was?

"Carlos!" Sugars gave Carla a look that old her she was supposed to leave, "Shoo! I've got something important to attend to!"

"And the Sugars I know is back again," Carla mumbled to herself before leaving. There was no point in arguing with him.

"We're going to talk to Hayden in an hour, sir, be ready," was all Carla said.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, I thought we agreed on the her committing suicide story," Sugars yelled in hope Carla could hear him from one office over.

As annoyed as she was, Carla walked over and said sweetly, "Sir, we can't completely rule it out until we have hard proof."

"Hmph," Sugars grunted, then went right back to ignoring Carla.

Sighing, Sergeant Carla decided she'd ask if anyone at the station knew anything about the case folder being wide open on Jones' desk when she found it. She figured she'd ask Officer Leirmæn, a junior officer, and Officer Antelopenoliree, the first senior officer at the station who comes from a minority group. Both officers had a tendency to take a sneak peek at classified information.

"Officer Leirmæn," Sergeant Carla walked up to his desk, "Did you happen to take a look at the serial killer case folder when the case first began? It was left open on the desk and it's been bothering me ever since."

"No...." Officer Leirmæn shook his head. He was a plump man with a small mustache.

Carla nodded her thanks and went to ask Officer Antelopenoliree.

"...You won't get in trouble for it."

Officer Antelopenoliree, a tall, lanky man with jet black hair, sheepishly nodded. Well, that was out the window. Turned out it wasn't something to be concerned about or obsess over. Carla sighed and thanked Officer Antelopenoliree.

She decided she would go get some dinner. After grabbing a bite to eat at the nearest Starbucks, Sergeant Carla went straight back to the station to do some more work on the case.

"Sir, it's time to go," Carla popped into Sugars office to tell him. Truth was, it had only been 40 minutes, but she was sure Sugars wasn't keeping track of time.

"Go where?" Sugars asked, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

"To talk to Hayden, sir," Carla reminded him, "I was also thinking we could visit the areas where the victims' bodies were found, see if we can find any similarities that can help us predict where the killer will strike next."

DI Sugars grunted, told Carlos he had to go, and took a good few minutes figuring out how to get out of his chair. This all took around 20 minutes, making Carla more agitated than she had ever thought possible.

"Alright!" Sugars said, dragging out the l as he sauntered over to the door in his improper work attire.

"I see that you are finally ready, sir," Sergeant Carla said through gritted teeth.

Sugars looked rather amused, "Yes, I finally am."

After checking out every single crime scene, Sugars and Carla were in deep thought about where the killer would possibly strike next. Well, Sergeant Carla Lostin certainly was.

"How about that deserted place on the edge of town? The killer seems to do his business at places like that," Sugars suggested.

Carla wasn't entirely sure which one he was referring to, "Sir, you mean the one north of the station?"

Sugars took a second to think, "Yeah, that one."

"Not a bad idea, let me grab my—where is it?" Carla searched frantically for her notepad and pencil, "Oh here's my pencil....I must have left my notepad at the station."

"I have a clean tissue," Sugars shrugged, pulling out a crumpled tissue.

Carla sighed, "Oh well, I suppose I can make do."

The car ride was 30 minutes, not the longest time, but still longer than Carla would have preferred. Stepping out of the car, Carla took a good look around at her surroundings. It wasn't nightfall yet, but it soon would be, so they would have to make this trip quickly. Perhaps they'd talk to Hayden the next day instead.

"Geez, this place is run-down!" DI Sugars whistled, taking in his surroundings as well, "Oops, stepped on a daisy."

Carla looked down and realized she, too, was stepping on a wildflower that was growing in the cracks of the pavement. Lifting her foot, she carefully stepped around it and joined Sugars to check the place out.