Conrad Hudson took a left at the next intersection on the path. He hadn't jogged this far into the woods before, but, what the hell. It was his day off. It was started to get a little cooler as the trees blocked out the sun, but he kept up a good pace. Slowing ever so slightly, to check his watch, he needed to be back home for an early lunch at 11. He stopped, looking around. He had heard something.
It had sounded like a deep raspy sigh, from somewhere nearby he guessed.
"Hello? Is….is someone there?" He called out. Maybe someone had fallen beside the path? Maybe it was some bloody teenagers smoking some of the local herbs? Either way, his call was unanswered.
He continued on, feeling increasingly uncomfortable that someone was watching him. He shrugged off his uneasiness, determined to enjoy his morning.
He stopped again.
There was that deep breathing again.
He called out into the gloom of the surrounding trees again.
"This isn't funny, just show yourself." He demanded.
This time his calls were answered………with more moans.
The next morning
Lieutenant William Cabot was interrupted from his phone call by a knock on his office door. He waved through the glass to allow Sergeant Marvin Branagh to come in. The noises of the busy office outside echoed in as Marvin opened the door.
"….yes honey, we'll see….tell Steven I'll be sure to be there. I gotta go; I'll call when I'm on my way home, yea……see you later." He finished up the call to his wife before turning in his chair to face Marvin.
"What is it, Marvin?"
"We found another body."
"Shit." Bill exhaled. "Where?"
"Couple of miles outside town. We got a couple of guys up there now."
"Does the chief know yet?"
Marvin shook his head.
"I just got told myself, you wana tell him?"
"Marvin, I think if I have to deal with Brian Irons at this particular, someone's going to get hurt."
Marvin allowed one of his very rare smiles,
"I'll 'tip off' McCreary, shall I? He can tell the chief."
"Sounds good. Notify forensics. Tell them they're needed as soon as possible. I'll head up to the scene now."
Bill pulled on his jacket as they both left the office.
As he headed outside to his car, Bill mentally added up the figures. That was the seventh body found this month, plus they were considering adding the fifty four recently missing people to the growing murder case.
It was cold outside; another unwelcome reminder that winter was on the way. He pulled his jacket tight across his chest as he passed through the entrance gates to the Police Headquarters.
He reached his car and headed to the crime scene.
This one was further into the mountains than the other cases, so it was becoming increasingly evident that whoever was killing all these people lived somewhere in the woods. The scene was already partially cordoned off at the base of the mountains, near the ranger's station. He left his car in the car park and headed up on foot. Either he was getting older or these paths were getting steeper, but Bill found himself out of breath and sweating before he reached the incident scene. A large tent had been erected around where he assumed the body was. Several officers were standing around nearby chatting, whilst a number of forensic personnel combed the immediate surrounding area. Bill turned to one of the officers he recognised, an older officer called George Thorne.
"George, help out the CSI guys would you? And widen the search pattern while you're at it."
"Copy that boss. Ok boys you heard the man." They dispersed amongst the forensic scientists, heading off into the dark trees for any evidence.
Bill, meanwhile, headed into the tent.
The body was in the middle of the tent, partially obscured by a scientist in a white boiler suit crouching over it. The scientist stood up as Bill cleared his throat. He removed the surgical mask covering most of his face.
"In my professional opinion, the subject is quite dead."
"You have a morbid sense of humour Rob." Cabot said, shaking the man's outstretched hand. Dr Robert Kendells was the city's chief forensic officer with nearly thirty years of experience. Bill had worked with him many times in the past and had found him to be an excellent crime scene investigator, but with a slight tendency to pay undue attention to insignificant details.
"So I've been told." The doctor replied with a smile.
"What's the prognosis?" Bill asked, crouching down beside the body. Most of the victim's face was gone. Whatever had attacked him had kept going till it reached the back of his skull; his head was little more than an empty husk now. Moving his vision down the body, Bill saw that most of his throat was torn out, along with what seemed like the majority of his digestive system. What was left of his intestines seemed to have been….chewed on. Just like all the others. His left arm was gone, along with most of his legs.
"As you can see, the victim shows several similarities to the other bodies we've been finding recently. The attackers seem to prefer the victim's digestive tract in all of the cases. From what's left of this victim's ileum, it seems obvious to me that the attackers have caused these injuries by biting the victim. In other words," He paused, breathing out. "He was partially eaten."
"You think there was more than one attacker?"
"Judging from what's left from the victim's clothing, he was out running. If that was a hobby of his, he would be, if not a fast runner, but a powerful runner. It would take at least two people to bring him down."
"Maybe they got the jump on him."
"Perhaps. I must say Bill; I'm surprised to see you here. Isn't Sergeant McCreary in charge of this investigation?"
"He is. I came up here to get a look before the body disappeared, just like the other ones."
"Yes I heard about that. What exactly happened?"
"Sorry Rob, you know I can't discuss any investigation with you."
"Yes, of course." He looked disappointed. "Just be careful around the good sergeant. I have a feeling he has some ulterior objectives when it comes to this case."
Bill was interrupted from replying by the very man they were talking about entering the tent.
