Chestwood town.

2019

"She's dead, sir."  

A voice spoke from the other side of the phone.

A man, who had a cellphone glued to his ear, stretched his legs and got up from the chair. He shut down his desktop as he removed his glasses. He was walking around the room to flex his body while constantly rubbing his temple with his thumb and index finger. The slow tapping of his boots on the wooden floor produced a creaking sound. He moved his eyes towards the right side to have a view of the outside world. But the translucent window housed numerous water tails on the other side of the glass, thus vaguing the view. But at least it was successfully blocking the mouldy smell of the foul air.

Why the hell does it rain so much here? I hate this smell.

His mind was distracted in cursing the weather when his ear received a noisy frequency. "Sir? Are you there?" The voice queried in a flat tone.

"Hmm." The only reply he muttered while rubbing his bloodshot eyes. His furrowed brows were begging to be relieved and straighten up. But he denied addressing their appeal and wore his glasses again, owing to the urgency of the moment.   

"Are you coming here?" The voice continued. A slight hint of respect was perceptible in it.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a while. Gather all the needed information until I reach." He cut the call as he picked up his car keys and rushed towards the door. 

*

The water was dripping slowly from the tree leaves like blood dripping in an IV. 

The impenetrable shadow of woods started to fill the whole area. The intermittent rain and thunderstorms had rotten the soil completely, causing the putrid smell in the air. There were no traces of sunlight peeking into the woods. As if some covert activity was going in between the trees and the sunlight would bust them out.

'The place where even the sun forgets to shine.' That was how Chestwood 's forest could be described in a single line.

But the sun not marking its presence in the woods was hardly a topic of concern for the locals. They had something else to worry about now. 

A dead body in the woods. A girl's body. Found early in the morning. 

The screeching noise of car tyres made its way to the middle of the woods. The muddy ground ruined the black tar of the tyres with perfection. It halted at the sight of the barricading tapes and the sound of the hubbub caused by the locals around it.

The same man came out of the car as he adjusted his glasses again. The cold, blowing wind raised all the minute hairs on his body. He rubbed the nape of his neck to throw the creepy feeling aside.

He sniffed the air as the smell made its way inside his nostrils and then the internal nares. The nerve signal hit his brain cells hard as his face shrunk in disgust.

Here comes the natural fragrance. After satirising nature, he decided to block his nose by wearing his mask. 

His glasses became foggy as soon as he wore it. He ruffled his grey hair as frustration peaked in his mind. His reddish-white skin wrinkled on his forehead - depicting how soon he was going to get old. He was happy that he wore his black jacket that was protecting him from the cold. But at the same time, he wanted to throw it away as the heat of wetting was overpowering the cold breeze now. Agh, this humidity always gets to me!  

"Sir!" A man in uniform came running towards him, ducking out of the tapes. 

As he was making his way towards him, the ambulance carrying the body made its way out of the woods.

"Tell me everything about it, Officer Mason." His gaze was fixed on the white powdered-outline of the body in the middle of the cube of barricade tapes. 

Officer Mason cleared his throat as he started assessing all the pieces of information he gathered. "Sir, it's a girl. As soon as we got a call from one of the locals, we reached here. After looking at her state, it was presumable that she died a few hours ago. That's when I called you, stating that she's dead... We found a driver's license from her back pocket. It states that her name is Jane Parker. Also, sir...her tongue is slit. But we couldn't find it anywhere near her body. The killer might have taken it with him." He stopped in the middle to catch a breath.  

The man turned his head in different directions to let the creepiness of the atmosphere sink in his mind as he waited for Officer Mason to continue. But his eyes unintentionally matched the gaze of one of the distressed locals gathered around. 

It was a mistake on his part to make eye contact. He realised it too, but it was late. As soon as their eyes met, that person started running towards him in panic.

"What happened to her? Is it him...? We know it's his deed. We've told you already, detective." His voice was shaking with trepidation. His string of questions piqued the detective. 

"I'm sorry sir, but you need to relax now. I know all of the theories that are doing the rounds in this town. We are investigating the case. And we'll release the information as soon as we find something relevant. But till then, you need to stay out of it. A killer's on the loose. It can be dangerous for you to roam around in the woods like this." He lectured him while hiding his irritation as he slid his hands in his pocket to take out his gloves. 

"No, you don't get it, detective. It's dangerous for us even if we stay out of it. You are unable to catch the killer now. You were especially called from the Ritzville Police department for this purpose. The killings are not gonna stop any sooner. You do nothing other than complaining about the weather and covering yourself with protective clothes as if we have some virus in our air. Our sheriffs and officers couldn't find him. And if even you can't find him, then how will it all stop...? Whenever a person comes near the lake, he finds a body. This is the fifth one. How many more? We are at the end of our tether now!" He groaned as his whimper sent a rush of heat to his face. His eyes glorified his red blood vessels on the white cornea. 

Detective Ezio seethed after the man criticized his way of working and doubted his capabilities. But he kept his cool as the criticality of the situation demanded the same. 

"I understand your frustration. I totally do. I was called in for this case just a month ago. And we all are trying our best. Please, I assure you that we will soon have our hand on the killer and send him behind the bars. We have our own way of working. You all need not panic till then." he said, his assurance making its way in their hearts. 

He signalled Officer Mason to follow him inside the barricade to slither away from the questioning eyes of the locals. 

"I'm sorry about that, sir." Officer Mason apologised on the behalf of his townspeople.  

"No, no. It's fine, Officer. I know how scared they all must be. Let's get back to the details. Was the body found in a single piece or...beheaded?" He had a thorough look at the photographs clicked by the forensic photographer present at the crime scene while listening to Officer Mason's answers. 

Meanwhilst, the gloomy clouds rumbled above their heads, struggling to wet Mother Earth once again with the water that was once cycled to them from beneath. 

The clouds know how to return the favour. Unlike humans.

Detective Ezio's eyes stuck at one photograph in which the body was clearly visible. The radial muscles dilated his pupil as his eyes grew wide in aversion. 

"No, sir. It wasn't beheaded. But..." Officer Mason took an insinuating pause.

"But both of her hands are cut off." Detective Ezio worded out Officer Mason's thoughts, aghast at the cruelty of the killer.

A water droplet fell on the photograph in detective Ezio's hand as the clouds started mourning the fifth death.

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