I found this story on my computer and decided to post this.
I will continue 'So damn Lucky', but since I don't have any time to write right now I decided to devide this story in chapters and post it.
Enjoy!
Bethany Morris cycled on a deserted path,enjoying nature. When she reached her garden she got off her bike. She placed her bicycle against a tree and grabbed her stuff out of the shed in the back of the garden. She weeded the garden and harvested some vegetables. Suddenly she felt something slam shut around her wrist and a searing pain shot up her arm. She looked down and saw her wrist stuck in a clamp. She screamed and tried to walk away, but the clamp was stuck in the soil. She pulled and pulled, but the clamp didn't come lose. If anything, the clamp just tightened. She cried for help, but no one came.
***
Steve drove up in his car and saw that Danny's car was already there. He looked around and saw Danny already examining the corpse and talking to Max. He walked over to the body. He noticed the clamp around the woman's wrist. He said, "Morning." Danny seemed lost in thought and didn't react, so Steve repeated his words, a little louder.
"The man who found her recognized her as Bethany Morris. That's a clamp used for foxes."
"Damn!" Steve said, but again Danny did not respond to him, he just continued.
"When it clamped shut, the artery in her wrist was hit. Or it happened when she tried to break free."
"And then she bled to death?" Steve asked in a revolted tone. Following Danny's affirmative answer, he asked "How long does that take?"
"Definitely several hours," Danny said.
"And what's her time of death?"
"Max estimated she died between 7 and 9 A.M.. That means she must have been here before 6 A.M., so that's fairly early.
"At that time it's deserted out here, nobody saw or heard her." Danny squeezed his eyes shut, but again didn't answer him. Steve didn't know what to think of Danny's strange behaviour. "Didn't she have a phone with her?"
"No," was Danny's curt reply. "And they didn't find anything in the shed either." He looked around and didn't notice the inquiring gaze that Steve threw him.
"Who would place such a thing? And why here?" Danny simply continued to look around and started restlessly walking back and forth.
"Is something wrong?" Steve asked.
"I don't know yet," Danny said and he walked away. Chin tapped on Steve's shoulder and asked him to come.
"I'll be right there," Steve said and followed Danny, who had found a phone in the meantime. He was scrolling through the phone. "She tried to call 911," he said.
"How did that end up here?" Steve asked. Danny simply pushed him aside and walked away again. Steve shook his head and walked over to where Chin and Kono were talking to an elderly man.
"Bethany hired this land for almost ten years. But we didn't see her very often, she was always here before dawn."
"Mr Green just told me he also places clamps sometimes," Chin said.
"Well, I do, but only small ones. For the birds, they always ate my beans, and my strawberries. I don't have anything to do with this one."
"I have been informed this is a clamp for a fox," Steve said.
"That's what I mean! There aren't any foxes on Hawaii, why would anyone place a clamp to catch one?"
"Okay, thank you," Steve said and walked away, looking for Danny. Suddenly he saw a flash from the corner of his eye as Danny jumped out of a tree. "Jeez, Danny!" Danny looked up at the tree again, so Steve looked to see what had caught Danny's attention.
"He sat in this tree."
"Who?" Steve couldn't really follow Danny anymore.
"The murderer."
"So he grabbed the phone, threw it down over there, and then he climbed into this tree?"
"Yes, that's correct," was Danny's simple answer.
"Why? And how do you know?" Danny bent down and picked something up from the ground. "Look, nutshells."
"I'm not really following you," Steve said in a skeptical tone.
"Do you want the summary?" Danny asked
"I'd like that, yeah."
"We have a problem," Danny said, walking away and leaving Steve dumbfounded.
***
"This photo was taken exactly six years ago. And when I say exactly, I mean up to the day. That's how I know it's not a coincidence," Danny said. "This man was also found in the morning, in a garden. This was followed by four more."
"I remember, they called it the bizarre case," Chin said. "With those peanuts."
"Pistachio nuts," Danny corrected. "He let his victims die a slow death, and sat down to look at that while eating nuts."
"That's just sick," Kono said.
Danny showed them a bag of pistachio nutshells. "These were found under a tree this morning, with perfect view of the place where Bethany lay dying."
"But the killer in that case was arrested and sentenced, right?"
"Kyle Smith," Danny said while pulling up a mug shot of the man. "He's been imprisoned for almost 6 years now. He can't be our killer. Maybe it's a copycat."
"Probably. Apparently he knew that she would be very early, that there was no one to help her with her hand in that clamp," Steve said. "That means he observed that area. Where the other murders also committed with these clamps?"
"No. His second victim was in fact his first victim. This man was found later. He was trapped in a self-made trap and died of dehydration. It probably lasted a week," Danny said.
"Does this mean that a trap with a corpse will turn up soon?" Steve asked.
"And, can we still save that person?" Kono asked.
"We need to talk to Smith immediately, maybe that copycat has contacted him, or he knows who it is. Chin, Kono, can you pay him a visit?
And Danny, were there any fingerprints on these nuts? "
"No, spotless. And the only prints on the phone were of the victim."
"If our killer is indeed playing a game, he has taken a big risk," Chin said.
"Why?" Kono asked.
"Well, he wanted the nutshells to be found, but how could he know that someone would be looking for them?"
Danny bit his lip. "Because of me. The case of Smith was my very first case on the island"
"Do you mean that the offender is also after you? Because you had to do with Smith being arrested?" asked Steve
Danny shrugged. "I do not know."
"I think you really have to be careful from now on," Steve said.
TBC