Little Red

and watched as the insides wobbled. The object rolled in its place. The eye sockets starring back at him, the dead teeth offering an unwelcome grin.

The barrel was sealed within a sheet of plastic and taped up tight. The contents and smell were hidden, like a gift, all wrapped up for the forensics team to open. Jack sat on a wiry chair in the garden, the cigarette placed between his lips. Nathan strolled over and sat on the grass next to him, the packet was placed in front of him and he pulled a stick from its home. The smell of nicotine helped to clear the previous fowl stench.

‘I believe we just found the real Mr Breen’ stated Jack as he exhaled a puff of smoke.

‘My thoughts exactly’.

They sat in silence, different versions of the last hour and a half repeating in their heads. Their bodies relaxed and began to come down from the adrenalin high they had been suffering from. Jack felt like a wall had been placed in his way, the investigation crept further away from his grasp. They watched as the evidence was lifted and carried into the rear of the Forensic van, the doors slammed shut as they container was secured down with several ratchet straps. Jack extinguished the smoke on the freezing ground and placed the butt in his pocket.

‘Don’t forget to bring your evidence mate’ pointing at Nathans fag. He stood slowly and stretched his arms wide, grunting as his muscles ached. Nathan got to his feet and followed behind. The voice came from behind as they shuffled towards the vehicle. Both men turned to face the calling.

‘Sir’s…….we may have found something of use’ the Constable declared, his eyes wide with a slight tint of excitement. The A4 size books were sealed with several evidence bags, the red print letters warned the holder of the items that they were of importance. Jack turned one over in his hands. The white sticky label, coming free at one corner, sat at the top right of the black book. It offered a date.

‘What are they?’ he quizzed, hoping to tear open the package.

‘We have one yet to be packed Sir’ the book poised before him. He placed a pair of latex gloves onto his hands and gently grasped the item, his fingers moved cautiously as if it were a delicate artefact of great importance. His eyes met a label similar to the last book, a date hand written upon it. He was provided with a list of names, dates and times as it was opened. The words were clear, all joined with a stylish flick or curl in certain letters.

‘It’s a record!’

‘A record of what?’ asked Nathan.

‘It looks like Mr Breen home tutored in his spare time. These must be the records of his students’.

‘Jack……we need to get these back and searched for the names of the victims!’

‘I agree’.

Both men knew that sleep was not an option for them, sleep seemed like a reward that had been taken away since the case began. Nathan didn’t mind, he wanted a night off from the darkness lurking within his mind.

***

Doctor Lime gathered the copies he had printed from the files he viewed. So far roughly twenty sheets had been ejected from the machine, it groaned as more were being produced. He had started with the results of Nathans Psychological tests. His eyes had widened at the words that appeared before him, Mentally Unstable, Unfit to perform an active duty and must receive Trauma counselling, were his most favourable. Hidden inside the folder was an un-named file, the first six pages were blank. William had become bored of searching them until he passed the sixth white sheet. The seventh began with bold lettering displaying, The Golden Boy Case File. He froze stiff; his limbs were numb with shock. Here, before his very eyes, were the secrets hidden away from the prying eyes of the department. The list of in-depth procedures and methods used by Nathan were shown. The names of the victims and details of each kill were also included. But what William failed to see was that the conclusion to the case was missing.

He spun in an anti-clockwise circle, his legs kicking the chair around. The printer spat out the remaining pages and he collected them in a bundle. He noticed that a paper clip or stable would fail to hold the information together as the amount was too large, he began breaking the information down into categories. The staples were fired into the top left corners and he placed the evidence into a brown envelope. He looked upon the package, knowing that what was hidden inside had the potential to make him famous…..very rich and very famous. He kissed it smack bang in the middle.

‘Thank you’ he said aloud, his eyes looking to an imaginary sky above.

***

Russell awoke mid-afternoon. His slumber had lasted longer than he had planned. The dream had taken up some valuable time. He felt fresh, like an animal that had woken from hibernation. He stretched his toned arms wide and let his chest expand fully as he sucked in the air around him. The thoughts for consideration swarmed his mind once again, take her now or wait until the planned date? He stood in complete darkness, his body reeking of sweat. He hadn’t showered for a long time, since the first girl was taken. It hadn’t been a priority for him. He planned the events of the evening and decided to clean himself, personal admin was a must and he had let himself down, his armpits made him aware of that.

The water warmed his skin as it rained down upon his head. His black hair was flattened to his scalp as the shower soaked it. He lathered his body with soap and pondered upon the question he had asked himself previously. He paused to weigh up his options.

‘Fuck it!’ he bellowed, rapidly washing the suds from his skin. He jumped from under the trickling water and dried himself quickly. The mirror caught his eye and he glared at the beast.

‘My, what big teeth you have’ grinning at the reflection. He pulled the same clothing back on and bolted down the stairs, the thuds from his feet echoing through the house. He opened the storage cabinet and removed his black bag. The items were removed and checked thoroughly, his main interest was the Chloroform. Seeing that he had enough of the liquid to proceed, he zipped up the items and gripped the carry handles. The cellar door creaked as he opened it. The stairs were illuminated as he switched the lighting on, he could find his way easily in the dark but he needed to see that everything was in order before his guest arrived. The entrance to his den was open and he poked his head passed the door. The lights came to life and he checked the interior with his eyes, that’s ready……that’s good to go….it’s all good to go.

The temperature outside was starting to drop but the extremities were no concern to him. He knew that the early capture would be difficult. He didn’t know enough of her patterns to be able to say where she was right now. He would hate to have a wasted journey and come back empty handed, but to him, that was better than not trying at all. The engine roared to life and the road was lit by the headlights, he decided to plan on route.

Chapter Seventeen

Nathan sat in his office, his eye lids feeling heavy. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept, symptoms of Insomnia started to kick in. He struggled to focus on the images upon the wall, he fought to stay awake. The team had worked late, some through the night. Individuals were tasked to comb through the records located at Mr Breen’s home. The evidence required was any of the victim’s names, dates they had been tutored and all other names tutored that same day. Nathan believed that the killer will have known Mr Breen and possible met his victims there also. The light tapping at his door brought him back from his drift off, he turned in the chair.

‘Come in’

‘Sorry to bother you Mr Crawley’ the young PC offered.

‘No it’s fine, good timing actually’ he stood and stretched his weak limbs, the shoulder giving the usual shooting pains.

‘I needed to see you this morning, but with the obvious search, it was a bit difficult’.  He gathered a small stack of notes from the desk and handed them to her, the facial expression showed she required some explanation.

‘This is a list of details I believe would be worth looking into. Seeing as though we have determined that the