2. On The Front Lawn
Will nearly ran to Hannibal's in his robe when he received the telegram that morning. It was another crime, similar in nature, and it had happened right in the middle of the square. He got dressed quickly and ran out the door, barely waiting for it to shut behind him. When he arrived at Hannibal's he knocked repeatedly on the door.
Inside Hannibal woke up on the floor. There were several chairs and notebooks around him that had somehow been tossed about. He looked around confused; he hadn't been drinking or anything, why was he waking up in such a stupor? He considered it work related, even though he knew they had both gone home at five o clock, not late at all.
Hannibal looked down at his arms and bare chest, there were thin scratches running down them. He felt himself panic, but quickly calmed himself. He must have slept walked into the room, crashed the furniture about, and scratched himself in his sleep.
The knocking continued, and Hannibal knew it was Will. Instead of coming to the door right away, he got dressed first.
"Finally – you look a mess, did you even brush your hair?" asked Will, looking at Hannibal's shabby appearance.
"Well the knocking sounded urgent so I think you can forgive me." Said Hannibal, raising an eyebrow at Will.
"Right, well, there's been another set of murders, right in the square. We have to go."
The scene was more horrific than the former crime; the bodies were strewn across the square, right outside their office building. There appeared to be what was left of three bodies. There were scattered limbs and blood everywhere, as well as bits of flesh.
"More eating." Said Will when they arrived. "It's got to be some sort of animal. Maybe a wolf that was kicked out of the pack, it'd certainly be angry. Perhaps it tried to become the Alpha, failed, then wandered here. We should analyze the bite marks; we should have done that yesterday. I'm going to go talk to Beverly."
Hannibal looked at the crime scene and had a sudden child-like thought, what if this was the work of something more sinister? He sighed, humans fear the unknown, this is unknown, but this is not supernatural. He reminded himself of this a few more times before Will returned.
"We're going to find out if it's wolf or bear or whatever it is. The team is looking now for a good bite sample. When they get it we'll get the results later today. I think it's time we get everyone off the streets at night. It isn't safe."
"I agree." Said Hannibal, "Let's head back to the office, compose the memo, and send it out. We can work with some of the officers before we get the results back."
"Good idea." Said Will, and the two headed inside.
From their windows they could see the scene being cleaned up; they could also see somebody standing around the barricades.
"You've got to be kidding me." Muttered Will.
"What?" said Hannibal, looking out, but he saw her too. "That could be a problem."
"That could be a big problem. Come on."
The two headed back outside and walked over to the barricades.
"Just the men I wanted to see, and what are you two doing about the murders?" asked a condescending voice.
It belonged to none other than Freddie Lounds, a tabloid reporter whose previous story was on Will's apparent "psychosis" for his ability to get behind the mind of killers.
"We're working on this case, finding the truth in the mess, rather than the mess in the truth." Smiled Hannibal, with a hint of anger on his voice.
Freddie made a noise with her throat like an angry little laugh, "Sometimes the mess turns out to be more truthful than the words of our police force." She looked them up and down.
"You're a disruption to this case." Said Will blankly, barely looking at her.
"Am I? I'm on public property; I'm allowed to be here."
"Not if we have you removed." Said Hannibal.
Freddie sighed. "This case is far from over – and I know you two aren't going to be able to stop it. I'll be back when you flatfoots fail to stop these crimes."
With that she turned and walked away. Hannibal rolled his eyes and Will let out a frustrated sigh. The last thing they needed was Freddie starting a town-wide panic.
The next few hours went by slowly, there wasn't much to do while waiting for their results. They got the officers to enforce the memo, and there would be several officers stationed in doorways to make sure no one was out at night.
The telegram for the results finally arrived, and Hannibal opened it, looking suddenly very puzzled and very concerned.
"What – what did they find?" asked Will, reaching for the telegram himself.
Hannibal allowed Will to take the telegram. "This can't be true."
Will read the words on the small piece of paper and looked up at Hannibal gravely. "The bite is…human?"