I Am Tired Of Being A Hero-Chapter 222: The fog

Under the bright light, the eyes of the corpse were slightly open. It was very red, with a heavy redness in the whites like the blood vessels were inflamed. The eyes reminded Arlen of a movie he had watched when he was much younger with dead people, walking and growling for human flesh.

But even in the eerie forensic room with the red eyes, it was not the strangest thing that Arlen had ever seen.

In the middle of the victim’s stomach was a red rose.

***

It was a long-stemmed, velvety rose that looked just too perfect to be natural. It had over 30 petals and its color was a deep, rich red with subtle hints of crimson , almost black a the edges.

"The rose was planted premortem."

"You are saying the victim was alive when the killer opened her stomach and put a rose in." There was a calmness in Arlen’s voice that fascinated Korra. The first time that the sergeant had seen this, the fifty-something-year-old man had thrown up for more than twenty minutes.

"Yes. The surgical technique is extremely good. So either this killer has been learning and practicing for a very long time or he/she works in the medical profession. The healing of the external body was very well done as well, there is no sign of any binding mark either or traces of his mouth and nose." Korra blinked, if it was her formal workspace with the number of cases that they get in a day, no one would have time to do an in-depth autopsy, because of just how healthy the victim looked from the outside.

"It could be either. We have identified 21 missing Jane Does. We would ask the forensics in Alstria to send some examiners to aid you. If the toxicology report comes back, contact me immediately. If you check any of the Jane Does and they have the same..." He paused, swallowing, he did not know how or where to start with a person who tortured someone, healed them and then planted a rose in their stomach, healed them again, and then slashed them and left them on a sidewalk to bleed to death. If he had held the victim for such a long time, why was the woman killed there? Did leaving her outside mean something particular for the killer?

"

21 deaths was not a coincidence at all but Arlen still needs confirmation from forensics, "If the same Mo appears, then I need you to establish a time of death for them, according."

"You want to..."

"Yes. If this is indeed a serial killer then he had s crime cycle. The interval between the last crime and the next crime can be divided into a cooling period and an intensification period." 21. If correct, There is no doubt that the killer is immersed in killing, it is very unlikely the killer would stop.

"Okay."

"And send the rose up. We would need to investigate the rose. Where it is from? Everything." He did not believe they could not solve this case.

As long as it involves murder, from the moment the killer harbors the intention, all actions are like a set of dominoes. Every action he takes, words he says and even last minute steps can cause a different change. It might be so small that the killer might not notice.’

This was the first lesson he had learned in police Academy, Every action, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant leaves behind a trail of evidence, like breadcrumbs leading to the truth. These traces can be subtle, but they are carefully examined and logically connected through the power of reasoning, they can reveal answers. To investigate means to reconstruct the events surrounding the crime, uncover the motives and methods of the perpetrator, and ultimately crack the case.

***

Davenport Police Bureau had never been this busy, at least since the Nest had erupted in Harlem. Almost all cases were pushed away to give priority to this recent serial killer.

The Media was given strict instructions from the capital, they could report that there was an increase in crime in Davenport, targeted especially to club workers and prostitutes but they could not mention that all the crimes were the work of one person. It was a Gag order.

Ten Forensic examiners reached Davenport in less than 24 hours, the efficiency was so great and fast that the Chief could not believe his ears. He recalled the time that he had asked the Alstria Police Bureau to assist with a serial robbery case, by the time the detective and his team had arrived in Davenport, it had already been three days and the robber was killed, apparently, he had been smashed on the head by an old woman who was doing her evening calisthenics.

The gaze that the Chief of Davenport Police Bureau used on Arlen gradually changed, having an even more gleam of respect and even a little awe within them.

Arlen’s office was transformed into a working hub. The table was pushed aside to let in a large blackboard where the picture of each victim was hung on the wall. With every passing three hours, the forensic team would contact them and another picture would be pinned to the board.

In four days, all 21 pictures were pinned to the board. They had all died the same way, they had been starved, tortured, healed, and then slashed and left to die in a public area, pushed from a car. None of them were taken to the hospital until they were dead and the cameras facing the place were all destroyed days before the victim was dumped.

There was no doubt that this was not any kind of impulsive killer, this was someone who extensively planned every aspect of his murder and

The board was filled with pictures of young women from 21 to 33 years old with different facial features, they were all a little attractive and were generally from the same socio-economic status. All of them, except one.

Mary Taylor, 28 years old. From the 10 completed forensic reports that were filled on the desk, she had been the one that had died the earliest. Five months ago.

Arlen looked at the picture in front of him, the woman in the picture had red hair and baby-blue eyes, she was smiling in the pictures, her eyes glowing with joy.

He pushed down the stone in his throat and looked up at Draco who had just entered the office, "Officer Brown? What about the victim’s phone records and credit card information."

The woman was the manager of a gas filling station here in Davenport. She was the manager and also the co-owner of the gas filling station. It had come as a surprise to her workers who thought that she was just an ordinary manager. Arlen had interviewed them one by one extensively.

While they complained that she was a bit too withdrawn for her position, she was kind and thoughtful. One of the best managers they had ever had.

Kind and thoughtful. Humble. Drove an old peugot but she lived in a two-bedroom flat that was tastefully furnished. Was there a reason, she wanted to appear poor to the public?

Draco handed over some documents, "The last usage was five months ago and there had been no activity. Her last call, I tried to trace it but the phone seemed to be a burner. There was no record of the line with the phone company. Also in the last few months, there have been so many expenses on her credit card, including some luxury items for men. It is like she was buying things for a boyfriend. Some of it was...rather intimate."

Arlen looked through the credit card records and indeed, as Draco had mentioned, there were sudden significant expenses in Sarah; ’s credit card, from seven months ago to five months ago.

She purchases wristwatches, wallets, jewelry, and various luxurious items. This perfume for instance cost over 8000 dollars. Arlen furrowed his brow, he had gone to her apartment with Ravi and Sarah and they had searched so completely but there was nothing that was that amount.

So obscenely expensive!

There had been an increase in dining expenses. These travels indicated that this mystery man had part of Mary’s life for a while.

"And about this man..."

"Npbdy in her life knew she was dating. We even called her parents."

From various pieces of information, it seemed they could find some leads. However...

Arlen furrowed his brows. A person, a living person, who eats, sleeps, travels to many places, talks to many people, goes online, and knows many individuals – comprehensively retracing all these interactions and details was an immensely complex task.

They had started the investigation, but it felt like they were spinning their wheels in a fortress, without finding a breakthrough, like running through quicksand.

The whiteboard about the case was already set up, covered with pseemed that seems to lead to nowhere.

Looking at the documents in front of him, he seems to see small hope, "Call Offficer West and Officer Adams, we would visit all these restaurants one after the other."