Little Red

overheard and now felt an intriguing sensation within his body. He pondered from his leather chair and looked out of the ground floor window, his fingers balanced against one and other in a pyramid shape under his chin. The past…….digging up the past…….may be worth a little look.

The task room was filled with chatter as Jack and Nathan neared the door. The talk was of ideas the team were throwing at each other about the case. They waited and listened to the varied opinions on the matter. The mixed ranks within the room had begun debating the evidence collected to the day. Some fired remarks on why the killer was doing what he enjoyed, others argued the reasons why it was at a similar location each time. But Jack welcomed his team’s conversation, he approved of their agreements and disagreements, to him it showed initiative and comradeship. He decided to enter the briefing room and the silence engulfed him. The team froze and all chatting stopped.

‘Morning team’ he welcomed, Nathan entered closely behind.

‘Ok, this morning we are going over the case file. We have more evidence and need to explore all areas of the case, I also need the reports from the individual teams that deployed yesterday. I understand that you worked hard on the assigned tasks but am disappointed that no information was trickle fed to me throughout the day……..I should not have to call you and request your findings, it stops now…………understood?’

‘Yes Sir’ in unison.

Nathan was unaware that Jack had spoken to the teams whilst he was asleep, it agitated him that his friend had failed to inform him with a current update. Jack moved over to the large white board and located a free section that wasn’t cluttered with images or different coloured pens.

‘Firstly, we had a breakthrough yesterday thanks to Nathan’ the class looked towards the helper, their heads flicking in his direction. Jack began to write a series of bullet point notes, the tip of the pen squeaked as it moved across the smooth surface. The tapping on the glass behind them alerted their attention and everybody turned to see who was intruding into their team time.

‘Come in’ bellowed Jack as he placed the lid back onto the pen. The door eased open and Doctor Lime poked his head through the gap.

‘Do you mind if I sit in for a while Chief Inspector?’ the hissing sound stinging the listening ears.

‘If you must’ sighed Jack as he brought his attention back to the board. Doctor Lime fired Nathan a smirk as he closed the door, he shuffled to the rear of the room and found an empty space at a desk. He rested upon it, the cock sure smile plastered on his face. What the fuck are you smiling at?

‘Right, eyes on the board. Like I said, we had a breakthrough thanks to Nathan. Here’s what we got’.

The list displayed several notes; the writing was too small for the people at the back to see so they moved forward and squinted at the board.

‘He doesn’t kill the victims whilst making his movie……his film is more of a mock to us, showing us that he can do what he does and get away with it. He transports them in his vehicle to a public wood to finish his ritual’……..the hand was raised from the crowd and Jack dismissed the question asking them to leave any queries they may have until the end of the brief.

‘In the woods he leaves the vehicle parked with the headlights blasting into the trees, this, we believe is a guiding method for his victims. He lets them run free into the darkness, the lit section being the place they go to first. He then flanks them, as we found in the last crime scene, and hunts them. Then he catches them and drags them to an open space to complete the kill’.

‘Also, if you don’t mind, Jack?’ Jack shook his head allowing Nathan to proceed.

‘We believe he kills on a full moon, which is what we need to confirm today, if it’s true then we can plan ahead for the next kill.’ Nathan moved to the front of the room next to Jack.

‘This information all leads to one thing……….HE thinks he is becoming the Wolf, he hunts them…..stalks them in the night. He kills them under a full moon and removes the heart……..there is a possibility he eats the organ, that we cannot yet confirm’. The room sat in silence as Nathan finished his speech. Jack stood to his side, arms crossed and nodding his head. The hands remained down, no questions were asked. Jack spotted the hand move towards the ceiling, he moved his head to see Doctor Lime waiting to ask his own question.

‘Yes Doctor Lime’

‘Sounds intriguing, but I heard a few believes in that speech. To me, believes isn’t strong enough to go on’ his hands placed on his hips.

‘Okay Lime, first of all there was one believes in that speech….secondly, why don’t you take your arse out to the location of the body and see what you can conjure up!’ Nathan snapped, it was followed by a low giggle from the crowd.

‘Excuse me?’ fired Lime angrily.

‘I will……..I’ll excuse you from this fucking room!’ Nathan stepped forward, his focus aimed only on the man he despised. Jack jumped in front of his friend who was on a war path and obstructed him from attacking the doctor.

‘Right, everyone out…….NOW, MOVE!’ he ordered. He pushed Nathan back slightly and ushered Lime forward. The door rattled the glass as it was closed.

‘What the fuck is going on here?’

‘I want to know why this prick wants to throw spanners into the case!’ spat Nathan, his finger aimed at Lime’s face.

‘Spanners……..You have no solid evidence, believes are not solid evidence!’

‘It’s a damn sight better than what you have offered, which brings me to the question………..what is your fucking position on this case exactly Lime?’ his arms open wide awaiting the answer.

‘My position….Mr Crawley, is the lead Psychologist and profiler…….please, what is your position? I do recall being called upon by New Scotland Yard to assist…….were you?’ he snarled back. Jack stepped between them and pushed the men further apart. He knew Nathan too well to allow them to get close to one and other. They had been in this situation many times, which normally ended with his friend delivering a powerful jab to the throat, followed by a clenched blow to the jaw. Though he would have liked to see Nathan wipe the floor clean with Lime, he knew the case would be turned over to new hands.

‘Look. Both of you need to calm down right now…..this is my case, I’m the one who goes toe to toe if needs be. Doc, I think you should leave now…..go cool down somewhere and I will give you the updated case file later!’

Lime adjusted the collar of his brown suit jacket and pushed his glasses up to his eyes.

‘Before I leave gentlemen. I would advise you that jeopardising my position within the case is a very unwise call…………….after all, we wouldn’t want the past catching up and biting you on the arse…..would we?’ his eyes fixed on Nathan. He turned and exited the room at speed. Jack turned to his friend.

‘What did he just say?’

‘If he said what I just think he said then we may have a big problem Jack!’

‘How would he know?’

‘He’s a fucking worm Jack…..a slimy little bastard who only cares about his fucking reputation. If he brings this down on top of us……well…he’s a dead man!’

Jack felt his heart skip several beats as the case became unstable. He asked Nathan to go calm himself for a while and prepared to give the rest of his speech to the class. He ushered the team back into the room.

‘Not a fucking word!’ he growled.

***

Megan ran back and forth, the snow flicked up from her boot heels and scattered against the pale wooden fence. She ran in anti-clockwise circles around the small snowman, her dad chased her pretending to try and catch her. The giggles and pants of Megan attempting to catch her breath were a welcoming sound as he listened from the van. The new girl played in her safe place, with her safe person………….enjoy it Megan… enjoyyyyyyyy it. He watched from the misted window as she collapsed and was lifted into the air by the large man. They laughed with each other, sharing happiness and love. The Wolf grinded his teeth, the urge to