The Bear House

Act 3. Chapter 1: The case of the missing boy

Act 3. Chapter 1: The case of the missing boy

Trigger Warning: Graphic depictions of violence.

For the fourth time, Jacques made Powley replay the damning video from the application called "Tiktok". Powley rolled his eyes. He had seen this video 15 times since last night, and he'd rather not see another awful repetition of the video. Jacques, however, didn't even know such application exists, and even has no clue boys his age do activities as such. Having no smartphone can be a blessing.

But for the love of god, they will have to stay away from this certain man's channel. If they weren't investigating, they would not have need to see Arthur Goldie's 'rich boy check' videos. He also does acting; a kind of acting that is not... artistic.

"What in the bloody fucking hell?" Jacques exclaimed after the fifth time he told Powley to repeat the video. "Who the fuck was that?"

"Arthur Goldie, apparently."

"That's no Arthur!"

"I know." Powley replied, exasperated.

Their conversation has been interrupted by the police car halting driven by another senior officer who was kind enough to let an unathorised person to come to the crime scene with presumed morbidity. Besides, Jacques has a pass for the subdivision for his babysitting job from one of the residents. They slid out from the car, being welcomed by a swarm of Scenes of Crime officer (SOCO) and yellow police tapes draped on all entrances of the Keller abode.

A person from SOCO grumpily greeted Officer Powley with a blocking hand, then pointed at Jacques who looked very much like a civilian.

"He's an acquaintance of the missing boy. Prime witness." Powley said firmly.

And the SOCO let them through, even holding out the tape for him. "Aren't you the rookie from Scotland Yard? Why are you here, boy?"

"Uh... well, don't tell me you do not find this county interesting." Powley smiled nervously. Being bombarded in social situations has never been his thing.

The SOCO just rolled her eyes and led them though the kitchen and towards the basement. For some reasons, Ms. Keller has a basement filled with books and paper blueprints. She works as a vice president in an architecture firm so that makes sense. What does not make sense is the industrial freezer sitting in the middle of the workshop. It looks clean and new, yet there's no identifying logo of anything, not even a Quality Control sticker, as if the buyer of this huge equipment wants to put product tracing at its end. In the first place, the officers would not have bothered to check who ordered the freezer. It could be Ms. Keller herself, but with all evidences, it seems Ms. Keller had not bought this freezer situated in her own basement: The killer did.

Ms. Keller's remains are chopped and thoughtfully packed inside the freezer, with her organs separately packed in vacuum seals. Her head is on a tray, and her liver is missing.

"My God." Jacques covered his mouth in shock and ran straight out from the basement. Powley remained, looking at the dead eyes of the woman who was once full of passion and firmness. Her once rich and dark brown skin are paled from being drained of blood. Her hair, which Colin beautifully inherited, has been shaven clean with a mark of surgical cut along the scalp. Jacques guessed her brain has been taken, and with a little look at the contents of the freezer, he concluded his guess is right. Her brain is in a Tupperware, just sitting a top a vacuum sealed lungs.

Powley would have laughed, but he did not, of course. Lungs over your brain? Haha, symbolisms, am I right?

The officer has a little bit of idea that Colin's mothers is short-tempered for being a perfectionist.