Two-Faced

1994

It was difficult to ignore the stench of blood in the warehouse. A stung in the eyes. Detective Dana cleared her throat as the Sheriff walked towards her. She had been called by the local police department to handle the case of a fifteen-year-old murdered girl. Arriving at the scene, she expected to see a lifeless body of the teenager with either bullet holes or marks of strangulation. What she did not expect was to see the little girl brutally mutilated. No identifications, her limbs were ripped from the joints, her fingers lying on another part of the warehouse. Her throat slit. It was a scary scene. Flies were all over the body feeding off of her corpse. Her hair seemed burned, with bits of her scalp showing. It was horrifying.

Detective Dana Lavey had been handling homicides for the past two years and none of the killings matched the current one. It was straight-up cold-blooded, bile rise up her throat. She swallowed painfully and allowed herself to stand and await the Sheriff's news. The medical team collected the body so they could handle it over to the hospital for an autopsy. Police surrounded the area and placed it under investigation as the first clue to the whole shackle. Evidence was been collected by the investigating team, sure they were not going to help much seeing as DNA tests were not all that popular and the technology was yet to be used by the science department.

"Do you know the girl, Sheriff?"

"No, I just received a distress call from one of the farmers who found her. He was pretty shaken up when he called. She's not from around here."

"May I speak to the farmer? Is he in a stable state?"

"Yes, sure right this way." Dana followed the Sheriff outside where a man who looked like he was in his late 50's sat on a Stonehedge rocking himself back and forth. He seemed out of it, scared. He jumped startled when Dana placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry sir, Detective Dana Lavey from the County Police Department. I have some questions for you."

The man grinned weakly showing his set of brown teeth, his eyes pale and weak. "Sure, " he mumbled lowly.

"Can you describe to me how you found the girl?" He seemed to hesitate, a variety of emotions flickering across his face as though he was trying to get his emotions in check. He cleared his throat and spoke calmly, taking a deep breath so he didn't seem nervous. Detective Dana's gaze was not more welcoming. It was evident that the man was frightened by the outcome, he did not want to be involved in whatever the case would hold.

"Ah, yes, I was going to get supplies from the warehouse when I saw her body. I hurriedly went back to my farmhouse, grabbed the phone, and called 911."

"And what time was it?" Dana asked.

"It was at Eleven in the morning,"

"How often do you go to the warehouse?" She asked.

"Not very much, the last time I was there was about a fortnight ago. I had come to oil and sharpen the farm tools."

"Does anyone, apart from you, have access to the warehouse?"

"No, ma'am." He answered the image of the young had scarred him for his remaining life. It was a horror no parent should have to go through. No one knew who the girl was, it would take time looking through a database of reports on missing persons. Finding the girl's family and letting her rest in peace was the priority. Dana thanked the man, she walked back to the Sheriff's car to have a word with him.

"Knowing Tapas, this has never happened. Do you think it was someone outside of this town who did it?"

"Most definitely, the position of the body and the disarmed parts indicated the place of murder was in a different location. The killer must have steered into town and come across the warehouse. Decided it was best and far out of anyone's curiosity." Dana nodded in agreement, cases reported in the local police station were theft, burglary, and domestic violence. Tapas was a quiet community, a very small town with a population of only five hundred. The Sheriff knew almost everyone in town, so it was easy to specify that the body was not from the town.

Local news outlets were already at the scene, their cameras blinding with blazing lights, zooming in as close as they could get to the crime scene. Some cornered Dana as she was being escorted to her car. "Is it true that the town is no longer safe?" One journalist asked, her microphone so close to Dana's mouth she had to take a step back to answer him

"It's too early in the case to cause worry to the public. Everything is under control." She spoke calmly into the microphone.

"Why is this happening now? Are the authorities not doing their work? Rumors are going on around, that a serial killer is on the loose. Should the public be worried about this?" One of them blatantly asked, unlike how a journalist should conduct themselves while interviewing. She ignored the question and thanked them, "That will be all." She dismissed them and her driver drove off to the police department.

"Any news from the search?" She asked once she stepped inside the office she was assigned for the moment.

"Results from the autopsy ma'am, the victim had a punctured skull, there were signs of sexual assault, strangulation. An interesting mark was left on her leg, L, that is something to look into. It may have something to do with our killer. We are still waiting for the DNA results. His fingerprints must have been left behind." Dana smacked her lips.

"Her family?"

"We're still running her image through the database although it is quite difficult, seeing as her face was badly mutilated. It will take some time. Probably five hours after checking all missing person reports in towns directly nearing Tapas."

Dana dismissed him, she settled in her chair and swiveled. "L, " she murmured and stood up walking to the board placed against the wall in her office. She stared at the pictures of the victim, she was barely more than four feet three. Dana sighed, all she could do was wait for both the DNA results and files of missing persons across the county.

Working on the case, Dana found more puzzles than answers, she spent half of her night trying to piece the case together. With no hard evidence to work with, she settled with the close family of the deceased girl. The DNA results were not of help, the killer's DNA was rescinded as it was not enough to match with anyone with motives to kill the innocent child.

At least she had the family's name and finally, the girl's family was aware of their missing daughter's whereabouts. It was not the kind of news they were expecting. The call from the police department left Julie's mother in a devastating state, she was speechless and rigid for a while, still on the phone with one of the police. She broke down, a series of insults and curses left her mouth painfully.

She did agree to meet with Detective Dana so she could answer a couple of questions. Dana placed her main interest in the family tree and all involved closer to the family including friends. She was looking out for anyone with the motives to murder the teenager.

Narrowing down to Julie's cousin who according to the family was in love with Julie, unhealthy obsession would be the word to describe his love. As the interrogation went on, Julie's family held a burial ceremony for their daughter, after receiving her body. Dana had reason to suspect Michael Carter, her cousin, from his general behavior. He looked detached from his emotions, he didn't cry at the funeral. In the questioning room, he answered questions rigidly. His face was hard.

Michael however, agreed to provide his DNA sample so they could match with the killers. The results came back negative, Dana was frustrated, he was her only hope for cracking the case. Julie's mother, hopeful kept driving down the station in Tapas from Gilgil to ask for progress. Each time, she left disappointed than the last. It was now three weeks since the first shocking news of Julie's carnage. Dana was not about to give up, all the small details she had, she would piece them up on the board including the mysterious marked letter 'L' which she hoped meant something for the case.

News reporters were still breathing down her neck and concluding things about the case. She had security driving them off the two premises more than five times in the week. A local public owned news organization was following up with her and was the only station announcing the truth of the events. They also helped with announcing to the people asking anyone with information that would help the police in the case to come forward. Of course, multiple calls came through especially since the reward money was promising.

A frantic caller disrupted her thoughts, "Tapas Police Department. Detective Dana speaking, how may I assist you." She said into the speaker. The cold shrill that came as a response shook Dana, she stood up from her chair and called out through the mouthpiece.

"Ma'am I need you to calm down please, explain to me what happened?" She asked.

"Help!. . he's- uh, Lord! He is dead." The woman at the far end of the earpiece cried out.

"Who is dead ma'am? Where are you calling from?"

"My son . . . I'm in Gilgil, Street 40, House number 4." The woman whimpered. Dana could hear her cries intensify as she called out her son's name.

"Just hold on ma'am, a dispatch is being sent to your location now. Hold on. Help is on the way" Immediately a team of paramedics and police officers were dispatched to the next town. Dana was in that town, talking to Julie's mother about her daughters' case. It was one thing to have a murder case in your hands, but it was another to have another added before the other had been solved.

Dana and the team drove to the town as quickly as they could. They found the town's sheriff wandering about the scene. The child's mother was draped in a blanket, her eyes bloodshot. Her head shook vigorously as tears fell from her sullen eyes. Dana made her way to the body of the boy, covered in a black bag. She lifted the bag and examined him. He appeared to have his neck slit, he did not have a shirt on. She asked the policemen to completely uncover the body.

There was the mark, that bloody mark present on the other girl. Her gloved hands run over the mark, it seemed to be engraved in his skin through a burning metal. She sighed and covered it. The body was not disfigured as the other, that was a relief. The entire crime scene was free of any evidence, not a footprint in sight. A splattered blood in the shacks, no. Strings of hair, no? The victims' blood was all on the ground and some of it smeared on the mother's clothes.

She approached the distraught woman, "Hello, I'm Detective Dana. You called me earlier. Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?"

The woman barely nodded, Dana went on about her work. Asked her what time she discovered her son was missing, who he was with before his sudden departure. She asked if anyone she knew would have a vendetta against her. She questioned the woman's neighbors who would say nothing but good about the family. Miranda lived a quiet life, the kindest and caring mother, her devotion to the local church was astounding.

Her son had left home to visit one of his friends from school when he met his sudden demise. No one seemed to threaten their lives, the neighborhood seemed peaceful. Dana found it troublesome to understand how in three weeks, two bodies were found with the same marking and almost the same method of death. It disturbed her to want to conclude a serial killer was on the loose but with the form of brutality, it was not a hard pass.

She only hoped they would not strike before she got a hold of them, now handling two cases of the same manner. She decided to approach the case differently. By running information on every criminal within a mile radius that had been convicted of attempted murder or murder for the past years. It would take a lot of her time but she had to do it for the bereaved families and for the sake of maintaining the public's trust in the authorities.

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.