Chapter 3 Leighton

Worry spread like a blazing inferno to the nearest towns. Parents opted to lock their children in their homes for safety, accompanying them to social places and school. Panic rose in the communities as weeks went by and the two sudden cases remained unsolved. Dana's team was relentlessly searching for missing clues, none of the criminals matched the perceived description of the killer from the reports given.

One woman called the police department claiming she saw a white male, not more than six feet tall, well built and shaggy hair drive out of Gilgil town the night before the murder of the young boy. She could not give a clear description, just that we wore a checked shirt and had unkempt hair. That was what they were working with, but it did not fit the criminals in prison and some who were doing community service.

Every step the town folks took was cautionary, businesses sales and profits were dwindling, since most closed up before 9 p.m. Eventually, as the second week came to an end, things began to cool down and started going back to normal. Children run around in the park carefree unaware a predator was lurking in their midst. Parents were still on edge, but the reassurance from their Mayor soothed their burning souls.

Dana was up and down, going from one town I the other asking questions and looking for clues. Her board was filled with more puzzles than answers. Loops. None of the criminals had the L initial in their names, nor did it have any relation with them. She was surviving on coffee. The bags underneath her eyes clear in the day. She was exhausted but kept moving. She craved for justice, for Julie's family and Peter's.

She yawned and stretched her tired limbs, she had woken up from a two-hour sleep. Walking to her joined bathroom she took a quick bath and settled on her reading desk. The chief investigator asked her to take the rest of her day off. She was grateful for it, she wanted to argue at first but, held herself back when he gave her a stern look.

And, with a glum expression she was driven to the hotel room she stayed in. It was decorated tastefully, although not extravagant. She was only there for work after all. Making her way to the kitchen, she made coffee and went to the extra room she converted to her workspace. In her second office, she settled in the chair and pulled the files to her latest case.

She started with the Julie Waters case, it was not anything she had not seen before during the hours at work. She was only hoping something she missed in the photographs and crime scene would happen to reveal itself. A copy of a postmortem result was at the back of the file. Dana sighed, everything was exactly how it was at work.

Nothing changed, the clues were not enough to pinpoint the location of the murder and their killer. It frustrated her, to work with fewer clues. That did not mean she would quit on it, if anything it made her want to work on the case so she could crack it. ' This may get out of hand if we don't find our guy.' She thought. As there was no pattern to it, she expected to hear of another similar case. Perhaps, they would be able to map the attacks and catch their killer in action.

Her phone rang startling her from her train of thoughts, she picked up and stood from the chair. "Go for Detective Dana." She said into the mouthpiece.

'We need you at the office right now.'

She did not respond, grabbed her handgun and hoisted it on her belt, and drove to the office. 'So much for resting.' She mumbled as she walked into the office.

"Detective," She said acknowledging her colleague. He said hello to her as he walked out of the station.

"What happened Philip?" She asked the man who was helping her with the case.

"Another attack has occurred in Leighton. The victim was found in her car this morning killed. Isabella Mendez, 32 years old, was a teacher at Leighton High School. She had stabbing wounds on her neck area and stomach. Her body is currently being examined at the hospital. We have to go down there to pick up more clues from the scene." He explained.

"Does she have a family?" Dana asked as they made their way to the car. Philip jumped in the driver's seat and started the car.

"A son, sixteen years old. We could not find any information about her other family members. She just got posted on the school, previously lived in Taru. Not far from here." Phillip explained as he drove out of the station and down the road to the next town.

"Who found her body?"

"A passerby, they said in their report that they were taking morning walk when they came across her, cold and blue in the parking lot."

"That seems sketchy, so they just happen to find her body?"

"Yes." Dana tapped her nails on the dashboard.

"Have they been taken to the local station for questioning?"

"I got informed that they left an hour ago. Dana, I'm worried the public may riot. In three cases in two weeks, families are already pulling their children from school. If this continues, we may have to hand the cases over to the Federal Government and god knows we don't want that. Reporters are already sniffing our butts with ridiculous assumptions, I'm worried about you."

"I know, " Dana answered shortly dismissing the conversation.

Three hours into the drive, they pull up into the town police station. They walk right in, "Detective Dana, may I speak with the Sheriff?"

"I'm the Sheriff. How may I help you?" A short stout woman voiced.

"I want to know all the details about this mornings' murder."

"Right this way, " The Sheriff led her to a room that contained information about the case. She went through all the documents, pictures from the crime scene stunned her. The woman's throat was disturbingly open. Inexplicable brutality. She saw the knife wounds on her stomach. It seemed as though the killer stabbed the area multiple times, shoved the knife in the wound, and whirled in her stomach.