Angels and crooks

by Nuredhel

Bard and Thran are getting used to their lives as married but they do still have their jobs and it makes things very interesting at times...AU story, sequel to Beast.

17. White wedding

Chapter 17: White wedding

This wasn't what Bard was used to, well, he was partly used to it but… trying to comfort some weeping person was not what he usually did, others took care of that. He hadn't been part of this type of investigation for years now. He and one of the patrol officers were standing outside of a shop, the front window smashed and the inside did look as if a tornado had passed through it. Bard was a high ranking investigator, his job was solving murder, not dealing with petty crime like burglaries and such but he had been paired off with this one patrol cop for "awareness day" It was a project Thor had been forced to participate in, every newcomer to the force was to have a day when some older more experienced cop rode shotgun with them and lo and behold, the peaceful and rather boring day had been brought to a screeching halt by a call from dispatch.

Bard stared at the shop, the woman owning the small business was still leaning onto him, crying hysterically and he could see why. The place was a mess, and since it wasn't some large shop or part of a brand or anything this could be devastating. There wasn't much left in there which could be sold. He did pat the rather voluptuous lady on her shoulder, tried to remember that even though nobody was murdered it was probably very devastating for the poor lady. She could lose her livelihood this very day. She sobbed. "Oh God, what am I gonna tell the customers? I…"

She wailed. "We are gonna get sued for sure, the dresses…they were ready, and ..and…"

Bard saw that Georg did go through the trashed interior, the place was disgusting. Somebody had set off the sprinkler system and then emptied several fire extinguishers into the mess just to create even more havoc. And there was dye splashed everywhere, not one of the many gowns in there were white anymore, all were ruined. "Easy Mrs Bancroft, do you have insurance?"

She sniffled. "Yes, but…Oh I am afraid Ms Fairdale will blow a fuse, she is a bridezilla, everything has to be perfect and her dress was…challenging to say the least"

Bard frowned. "Which one is it?"

The woman pointed and Bard groaned. What was it with women and weddings? That dress was a monstrosity even before it was splashed with water, dye and powder. It did look like a cake, overly decorated and completely over the top with ribbons and crystals and what not. If his daughters ever decided to tie the knot with somebody he would demand that they kept it simple. He was sure they could see that dress from the international space station. Mr Bancroft let out a new wail. "Why? Why would anybody do this? I am a small business, I cannot afford to lose even one dress. The brides have paid up front and …"

She pointed at the rows of soiled gowns. "Just one dress like that costs several grand, and the work…I have to tell my seamstresses that their work has been ruined…oh what a horrible day, horrible dreadful day"

Georg did return from the soaked inside, he was wearing some plastic covers over his shoes but Bard could hear the splashing sound which did indicate that they weren't water proof. Georg did make a grimace. "Sir, the till wasn't touched at all, all the money is there still but the counter was crushed, all the jewellery is at the bottom, in a heap"

Mrs Bancroft did sob again, this did sound like true vandalism. "Is there any sort of camera here?"

Bard tried to keep his voice calm and supportive and she did look up at him with the trust of a golden retriever puppy. She wasn't what he would refer to as attractive, he did guess it was a good thing considering her profession. Every bride would feel like a beauty compared with this person. "Yes, but it has been out of order the last month or so"

Georg did roll his eyes and Bard found the perfect opportunity to teach the greenhorn some new tricks. "Check if there are any traffic cameras in the area, also ATM's and ask the other shops here if they have working cameras. Even a small glimpse of a vehicle or person can sometimes be enough"

Georg did raise an eyebrow and ran off, obviously a wee bit angry he didn't think of that himself. Mrs Bancroft was shivering. "Oh my heart, my poor heart. This is too much"

Bard did pat her again, just to do something. "Mrs Bancroft, do go over the shop and see if anything is missing, please. This could be an attempt at hiding theft"

Mrs Bancroft did sniffle and walked into the shop, the front was pulverized and Bard was rather sure that somebody had driven a car inn through the window and door. There were some dark rubber marks on the asphalt outside which did indicate that a large truck had been involved. She walked around, making sounds which made Bard think of a beached whale or something, he knew he was being mean and felt terrible about it but he couldn't help it. Mrs Bancroft did look like what mathematicians did refer to as an "orb" and her short legs and rather plump arms didn't exactly help repel that idea. Bard wondered how in heck's name she managed to do her job, she was just a wee bit over four feet tall and she had to look like a midget compared with many of the brides these days.

She ran through the store and he heard the splashing of water, the level had to be at least a foot above the floor and she was soaking wet. Bard did miss Thran, he was out there somewhere too and Bard happened to know that his husband was partnered off with a greenhorn who was so green it was a miracle he had gotten a job at all. That guy was the type who would handcuff himself or make jokes that could cost him his career since he had no social antennae at all. Thran had said that the dude already had fired off some comments about the fact that the lady manning the dispatch function was dark skinned and he had wanted to grab the guy, turn him over his knee and give him a good old fashioned spanking, with a belt. Bard guessed that he was lucky after all, spending an entire day with some racist asshole with the IQ of a pound of yeast wasn't what he would refer to as a tempting scenario.

Mrs Bancroft did return, she was wiping her face. "You are right Sir, there are things missing, ten gowns, ten pairs of shoes, some jewellery and veils and stuff. "

Bard had to joke. "Okay, ten of everything. I guess that means that somebody out there has turned Mormon and has ten potential wives to please"

Mrs Bancroft made a grimace. "But the gowns aren't expensive, they are the cheapest I have, the type which can fit anyone, and the shoes are cheap too. I don't understand"

Bard shrugged. "A frugal burglar? But ten gowns? That is odd. Maybe he has a picky girlfriend"

The shop owner did glare at him. "We have dresses in here worth as much as half a million, and he takes only the cheapest most simple ones? This one isn't out to please some girl, I bet he is a pervert who wants to dress like a girl, like that creep in "silence of the lambs" or something"

Bard just smiled. "I wouldn't worry about that Mrs Bancroft, I am sure we will solve this. It is a case of theft and destruction of property, and I bet the culprit was an amateur. You will get your gowns back for sure."

Mrs Bancroft did try to smile and Bard did flash his most confident grin. He had no way of knowing how his words would come back to haunt him, with a vengeance!

The summer that year was hot, and by that people meant sweltering. The temperatures did reach record levels and there were warnings being issued everywhere, nobody ought to stay outside for too long and doing physical work was out of the question. It did mean that the ladies of the suburbs were treated to the sight of the trash collectors working wearing only pants and even the cops were allowed to wear shorts. The city had crawled to a halt, nobody had the energy to do anything at all. But some people had to work no matter what, the city borders were wide, in the north end there was an area of undeveloped land which was planned to become a new suburb but as of yet there hadn't been enough money to start developing it.

The sad effect was that the area was abandoned completely, and it had become a sort of wilderness with bushes and trees and it did attract some not so welcome guests. Last year some bears had taken up residence there and they had raided the nearby suburbs, the wildlife officials had struggled with the bears for months until a very nervous and angry citizen did go too far and shot one of them. The result was a shitload of trouble since bears are protected and the remaining bears had to be trapped and relocated. Which in the end cost close to half a mill because of dimwits who looked at personal profit more than doing their duty and getting the job done quickly. The rangers were trembling for they knew that it was only a question of time before another bear got shot or some kid got attacked for getting too close.

So now there was a group organized which was dedicated to this very area. At least once a week a ranger would drive up to the area and go for a walk, check for bears and other large predators. This week the job fell to one of the rookies, she was in her early twenties and a very sweet girl who did love animals but she did also have a solid core and wasn't too soft. Her job could be unpleasant and heart breaking too but she could handle it. She was already well respected by the other wildlife officers and she loved the job. She did drive up to a parking lot and left the huge pick up there. She wore a singlet and shorts plus her hiking boots, and she carried a backpack with several bottles of water. Not only did she need to drink a lot but sometimes you could come across dehydrated wildlife too. The heat of the last weeks had brought lots of problems and many of the natural sources of water had vanished. She and the other rangers had been involved in several cases involving swimming pools and wildlife, ranging from squirrels and other cute and innocent critters to things like rattlesnakes and bears. The day before she and two others had helped a hysterical homeowner getting rid of a huge stag who had decided that the swimming pool was an excellent place to cool off and there had been several incidences of wildlife hugging the irrigation systems used to water the lawns.

She did know the paths like the back of her hand which was a good thing, this area was infamous for its terrible terrain and it was very easy to get lost. She threw her rifle over her back and took off, it was really too hot for comfort but the job had to be done. She followed the main path for a while and then she took off into the wilderness itself. The area wasn't that large in size but very diverse and since it did consist of ravines and steep hills and dense young forest it did feel like a world of its own. She had her ears and eyes open and used her senses for all they were worth, areas like this was a potential home for cougars and she didn't want to encounter one of those large cats. Cougars were known to attack people and she didn't want to have to kill one. She was on her way up a rather steep hill when her nostrils did catch a scent she knew too well. It was the scent of decay, of death. She stopped and found the wind direction, her eyes narrow and her chin lifted. It had to come from down below her somewhere and she did hesitate. It was probably some poor unfortunate critter who had succumbed to the heat but she had to check it out. It could be that it was something which had to be reported. Some years ago an idiot of a local amateur gardener had placed huge portions of rat poison everywhere around his garden and the result was that even a black bear had died due to poisoning. The lawsuit and legal process had been a nightmare.

She ran back down and followed the scent which did become rather dense after a few hundred meters, she sneezed and stopped, she pulled a bandana out of her backpack and sprayed it with peppermint spray, it was a good old fashioned trick they all knew of. The scent was almost gone when she did reach a dry riverbed, she could only smell the peppermint. She did stop, it was something in the riverbed, something white? She took some steps further and then she stopped, eyes wide and her mouth open. She turned around and ran into the bushes, retching. Finding a dead animal was one thing, a person was something completely different. She was glad she had a satellite phone for there was no way in hell this was a natural death.

Bard was swearing to himself. He had forgotten about the trashed wedding boutique, but now he was painfully reminded of it. The corpse the animal service officer had found was wearing one of those cheap wedding dresses, complete with a veil and jewellery and all and it had been there for a while. Judith was working fast, the heat in the narrow valley was intense and the body had almost been turned liquid already. Bard turned to Thran who stood there with a handkerchief pressed over his nose, the entire group of cops who had arrived there did look green and Bard felt an intense urge to follow their example and retch but he tried to keep his dignity. The woman who had found the body was standing there still, her face a bit pale but she didn't seem to shocked. Bard knew why, these people got used to death and they were usually very tough. He did nod at Thran and they did walk over to her and the woman did smile at them but the smile was a bit pale. "I am sorry I cannot tell you much about this scene, the heat has baked the ground, no footprints or anything, by the way, my name is Carina Browne"

Bard sighed "Yes, I thought so. But you are used to tracking yes?"

The woman did nod. "Yes, I am very good at tracking"

Bard did squint, the sunlight was intense. "Good, I give you permission to take a walk around this place, see if you see anything odd, anything out of order. Even the smallest thing can be important"

Carina did brighten up. "Will do Sir"

She took off with her eyes on the ground and the bushes and Thran did wipe sweat from his forehead. "Good, I bet she is better at this than any of our people"

Bard grinned. "No shit, she has to be to have that job."

The girl did disappear into the thicket and Judith did approach them, pulling off her gloves. She did stink and her blue coveralls were stained in a manner which made Bard and Thran back off a few feet. "I cannot do diddely squat about this one, the body is too decomposed. Goddamn it"

She waved at her assistant who came with a garbage bag and she did toss the gloves and her mask into it. "But the victim is female, probably in her twenties judging by her teeth and pelvis and I haven't found any skeletal injuries"

Bard frowned. "Meaning?"

Judith sighed. "I have to remove the last remnants of flesh to be one hundred percent sure but I am rather sure she wasn't shot or stabbed. And the tissues are very uniform too, no bruises or injuries. I have to guess that this was a drug related death"

Bard looked at Thran. "Was she poisoned?"

Thran shrugged but Judith did grunt and made a grimace. "She was barefoot, and the dress torn and very dirty. I say she did die here, but why? And how?"

The animal services officer did reappear, she did look excited. "Sirs, I have found something?"

Bard and Thran did turn towards her. "Yes?"

Carina did gesticulate. "I found tracks, paw tracks, with claws. And some very faint footprints. She was barefoot for a while but I bet she was wearing shoes to begin with. She was running, the tracks were very clear about that"

Bard leaned forth. "Paws with claws? A mountain lion?"

She shook her head. "Nope, cats don't extend their claws until they are ready to strike, these were canine tracks. Very large and probably four or five individuals"

Thran swallowed. "Wolves?"

She tilted her head, the expression on her face did tell them that she found this lack of knowledge appalling. "There haven't been wolves here for centuries and no, the tracks are very different from those of a wolf. They are too round. The claws are not worn as they would be on a wild canine, and the animals have been moving in a very odd manner"

Thran was fascinated. "What do you mean by that?"

She smiled. "They have been trained, to chase a person. They were spread out like a fan, the woman was being chased by a pack of very large dogs"

Bard did wet his lips. "Pit bulls?"

She shook her head. "They aren't very large dogs, a pit bull isn't a pack dog, they are hard to train that way. These were massive, I think we are looking at a cross breed, probably some huge mastiff breed and possibly a sight hound of some sorts"

Thran blinked. "You mean like a greyhound or wolfhound or something?"

Carina snapped her fingers. "Bingo, power and speed and probably very terrifying too"

Bard took a deep breath. "Could you be a darling and backtrack the whole thing? If there are shoes out there somewhere I bet she lost them early on, we need them"

She did smile. "Yes, but I will wait until after sunset. The tracks may be easier to see then and I will bring my own dog. He can find the track way easier than me"

Thran did smile. "Good, do that. Here is my phone number, call the moment you find something!"

Bard did wait until the girl was out of hearing range and then he did grasp Thran by the shoulder. "What do you make out of this?"

Thran made a grimace. "Know what dear? We have a heck of a job ahead of us for there were ten gowns stolen wasn't it?"

Bard gaped. "Aww shit, you cannot be serious?"

Thran nodded, there was a sinister glow within his eyes. "Oh I am, I am very serious love. This is just the first, believe me. "

Bard swallowed hard, he felt the heat even stronger all of a sudden. "So you are telling me that there is some deranged madman out there killing women wearing wedding dresses?"

Thran did bite his teeth together, Bard saw his jaw muscles swell. "Yes, we need to check the missing persons reports, I bet that there are women missing, all close to their own wedding"

Bard frowned. "What makes you say that?"

Thran grunted. "Easy love, this is a person who has an intense hatred against brides, I bet he was left at the altar or something. Or his chosen one did pick another man to wed. He won't stop, that is for sure"

Bard cringed. "Alright, so, back to HQ and check the missing persons reports?"

Thran did snap his fingers. "Exactly!"

The Hq was blessed with air conditioning and fans and most of the people working there did refuse to leave the building before they were done for the day. The two investigators were met by a furious Elisa who was heading out. She carried her badge and gun and her eyes were shooting flames. "People are going insane, I am telling you guys, this is madness"

Thran frowned. "Yes, we know but why the anger?"

She did almost snarl. "I have been called out to act as a mediator, apparently some foreign families are allowing their kids to bathe in the river, just above the harbour"

Bard did cringe, the area was infamous for pollution and taking a bath there was probably less healthy than bathing in the cooling waters of a nuclear power plant. Some said that if you wanted to see scary mutations the inner harbour was the place to go. Elisa did sigh. "I speak Spanish so I have to explain to these people that they shouldn't bathe there, I bet they don't want their kids to grow an extra head, or fins"

Thran had to laugh. "Alright good luck then"

She just waved her hand and was off and Bard and Thran sat down by their computers and got to work. They knew that Judith already was working on the corpse and she would report to them the moment she knew something. The list of missing persons was long as usual, but they could filter out those people who weren't going to be interesting to a serial killer. There were lots of men and young teenagers and some elderly people and in the end they were left with five persons. All females between twenty and thirty five and they all had gone missing within the last week or so, suddenly and without any warning. Thran stared at the pictures, his face was a mask but Bard saw the emotions boiling within him. "He has a type, he has a fucking type!"

Bard swallowed. "Are you sure about this? We have found one person, not any more and…"

Thran turned his head around with a snakelike movement. "I am dead sure Bard, remember the things a certain someone told us? We are special now, and I can feel it in my gut. This could turn out to be really bad"

All the five missing women were blond and very elegant, tall and beautiful and neither was married, as of yet. Thran grasped the phone and started calling the operators who filed the reports and lo and behold, all five were scheduled to get married soon. Thran did look triumphant. "See? I was right"

Bard just shuddered. "Alright, you are. So what do we know?"

Thran stretched his legs out. "The person in question isn't living in the city, he is probably an outdoors type of person and he is very sadistic"

Bard cocked his head and kicked his shoes off, they were wet with sweat. "Based on?"

Thran did look a bit smug. "He has dogs, large dogs. Five or more huge canines do leave an impression on people and if he has trained them to chase people he has to do it somewhere isolated. I bet he has some experience with dogs, and he could possibly seem like a very normal person to everybody surrounding him."

Bard nodded. "Yes, an animal lover, harmless!"

Thran waved a finger. "No, not harmless. I once saw a ninety pound woman trash a two hundred pound guy who just had dumped a litter of kittens into a dumpster, that was rage incarnate Bard. Some people do love animals more than humans"

Bard nodded, he did love their pets and would do whatever he could to protect them. It was just the way it was. The phone did ring and Thran did answer it. They heard the voice of Judith and she did sound excited. Thran hung up and made a grimace. "Alright, the lady of the dungeons do call, let's heed her call"

They walked down to the morgue, it was the coldest place to be right now but nobody had sought it out to cool off, the place was perhaps modern and clean and all but it was still a morgue. Nobody wanted to spend any more time down there than absolutely necessary. Judith was wearing a full hazmat suit but she had removed the hood and for some reason she did remind Bard of a character from some horror sci fi movie he had once seen. She did grin and held up a jar with what could only be a pair of eyes. Bard did feel like retching. "Hooray for eyes guys, the birds hadn't had time to pick them out yet so I found something very exciting within them. The fluid does often preserve any drugs within the body for a while after death"

Thran nodded. "I know, so, what did you find?"

Judith did look like a general who just had conquered a vast army. She smiled from one ear to the other. "Something incredibly sinister, the cause of death!"

Bard rolled his eyes, sometimes Judith had a weird tendency to be a bit too dramatic. " And it was?"

Judith raised her arms. "The poor woman was quite literally scared to death. I found a hallucinogenic drug in her, one which makes you see all sorts of terrifying stuff. And also a heart medicine which in the wrong doses can cause a cardiac arrest if you exert yourself"

Thran mumbled and Bard growled. "Bastard!"

Judith nodded. "The poor soul suffered guys, horribly. She was being chased by dogs, in the dark. Probably drugged out of her mind. It was a most ghastly death"

Thran shuddered visibly and then he stared at the body on the table, it was covered with plastic and the smell was camouflaged but they could still feel it. "How long was she dead?"

Judith sighed. "Now this is gonna be an educated guess, or rather a wild shot for the canyon did mess with the timelines here. The heat was so intense but the nights are ice cold down there and I bet that there weren't as many scavengers there as normal due to the heatwave. But I would say that she has been dead for two days, approximately. Maybe less but not more"

Thran closed his eyes. "Alright, any idea of the ID of the deceased?"

Judith did pull out a sheet of paper. "Here, I did identify her with the help of dental records. She is on the missing persons list. Alison Webb Lawson. Age 29, worked as a secretary for some computer company downtown and was about to get married at the end of this month. Her fiancée has been alerted and so has her family. They are all coming so I guess you guys better get going. I am sure they will have questions, lots of them"

Thran nodded. "Alright, we will be out of the way then. But that means that we have four other victims out there somewhere"

Judith did grunt. "Yes, probably. I just wonder about one thing though"

Thran frowned. "What?"

She made a grimace. "You know, if the culprit finds some sort of joy having his dogs chase the women to death where is he? I mean, what is the fun in it if he cannot watch it happen?"

Thran's face fell and Bard knew that expression, it was sheer frustration that he hadn't thought of that himself. "Shit, he has cameras"

Bard nodded. "Probably those wildlife cameras which are so popular now, and maybe even some on the dogs too"

Thran almost growled. "Most certainly, it probably gets the bastard off, so, what are we to do now?"

Bard tried to think like a cop. "We do know he has dogs, large dogs. Aren't there some dog clubs here in the city? Maybe they have come across the dogs? I mean, a pack of large canines are hard to hide"

Thran grunted. "Don't say that, remember that dog fighting ring they blew open last year? They had more than twenty pit bulls and not one of the neighbours had any suspicions."

Bard sighed. "But we can try?"

Thran smiled. "Of course we will try, I will find all the dog clubs and we can make a call list"

They returned to the office and got to work and there were in fact many clubs in the area, for everything from lap dogs to hunting dogs. After about two hours of intensive activity they had come up empty handed. Nobody knew of anybody who owned five very large dogs like that and they had no idea of anybody capable of training a whole pack to attack people. It was frustrating. The day was coming to an end and they headed home, tired and feeling a bit beaten. The kids were vigorous as always and Jean had invited some friends over for some barbeque and her ribs were to die for so they managed to get their thoughts off the work. They both got a bit drunk and spent some time making love before they both fell asleep. The house was luckily cool and very well ventilated but still they had to keep a window open and the cool breeze made sleeping very comfortable.

Thran was in the shower when the phone rang and Bard did answer it. He heard an excited voice on the other end of the line. "This is Carina, the wildlife officer?"

Bard tried to sound as if he was completely awake and not half in a coma still. "Yes, I remember you"

She did sound as if she had been running. "I found the shoes, and something else too. She was dropped off from a dirt road on the other side of the area, and she was probably not able to orientate herself at all. The track went all over the place. But I found some marks on some of the trees, there had been something attached to them with strips. Probably wildlife cameras"

Bard nodded. "We have suspected that yes"

Carina did probably jump up and down with eager energy. "But you don't know the type do you?"

Bard gaped. "Do you know that? How?"

Her voice was smug. "He made a mistake, the cameras have a sort of lense cap and one had fallen into the dust. Barky found it, that is my dog by the way. I know that model, it can use both natural light and infra red and it is costly as heck. State of the art, only professionals use them. They cost a month's pay each, or more"

Bard swallowed. "Great, can you mail me the specifications? I think the mail address we use is on the business card Thran gave you"

Carina did confirm that and Bard told her to drop the shoes at the HQ as soon as possible, and make a drawing of the track and where the woman had been dropped off. Thran came from the shower and he got very excited when he heard the news, a very expensive camera told him that the culprit had means and resources. They ate a fast breakfast and then the phone rang again. It was Thor's number and Thran made a grimace. "Here goes"

He did answer and they heard Thor's voice, it was a bit strained. "Guys, two more brides has been found, one on the island just off the harbour and another one in the national park to the north of here. Both probably died a day or two before the one we found yesterday but they were in better shape to be frank, not as…decomposed"

Thran moaned. "Right, same MO?"

Thor's voice was tired. "Yes, but Judith has something for you, something which can be important. Get over to her the moment you arrive"

Thran did end the call and stared at Bard. "Gee, I wonder what that might be?"

Bard stared at his sandwich. "I wonder too!"

He did put it away, the mere thought of that morgue did cost him his appetite.

Two hours later they were in the morgue again and Judith was scurrying around like a squirrel gathering nuts. She did look almost hysterical and her eyes were huge. "These girls did die just like the one you found yesterday. Both were quite literally scared to death. But I did find something odd about one of them, the one in the national park."

She took out a small petri dish and Bard stared at it, at first he didn't see anything at all but then he did see that it did contain a small hair. It was very short and looked to be brown in colour and he frowned. "What am I looking at?"

Judith smiled. "A hair of course, and what is even better, I know what that hair came from"

Thran had to grin. "I have a feeling that you are saving the best for last"

Judith grinned widely. "Of course I am, this is a hair from a bovine, or more precisely, a hair from a Jersey cow"

Bard blinked. "Really?"

Judith nodded. "Yes, they have very special fur, very silky. So the girl had been somewhere where they do keep cows or have kept cows."

Thran did snap his fingers. "A barn? He could be storing the girls for later, I bet he need to prepare before hunting them"

Judith nodded "Yes, the one found on the island had her fingernails torn out, it did look as if she had tried to claw her way out of some cage. "

Thran was thinking, his eyes were dark. "Five girls, all going to get married soon. How did he find them?"

Judith did look up. "Good question. He has to be able to find them somehow, to choose his prey. And since he does prefer the tall blonde type I bet he must have been stalking them for a while"

Bard nodded. "Sounds reasonable yes, he must have picked them carefully"

Thran grunted. "Where do you go to find future brides? Without exposing yourself as a creep."

Judith made a grimace. "Check out facebook, there are groups in there for brides to be, they exchange tips and advice and everything between heaven and earth. But be ware, the number of bridezillas is huge"

Thran sent Judith a huge grin. "Thank you so much, we will check it out immediately"

They almost ran upstairs and got the computers started and then they started searching the wide web for groups. It was no shock that they found several dozen but they did manage to narrow it down to a few local ones. Bard did open a tab and entered one and bingo, one of the dead girls was on the front, reported as missing and everybody were wondering where she could be and what had happened to her. Thran came over and sat down and they discovered that all five had been on that group, and been rather active too. Thran did look nervous, he did bite his thumb and made a grimace. "The culprit is in here somewhere, probably posing as a woman going to get married. We need to find the fake profile"

Bard made a grimace too. "That would be a good job for Erestor, I have no idea of how we do this"

Thran picked up his phone. "I am on it!"

He did make the call and told the hacker the name of the group and he promised to check it out. It was sometimes a good thing having a hacker on their team. One of the CSI technicians came over with photos of the places where the girls had been found and Thran did stare at them. The girls just lay there, they hadn't been moved after they were dead and Bard saw that this did disturb the profiler. "What are you thinking?"

Thran lifted one of the photos. "The culprit haven't assaulted the victims sexually, it seems as if this is all about vengeance. Whence they are dead they are nothing to him, not even human. He has no respect for them, whatsoever"

Bard felt a chill going down his spine. "That is terrible, really. So cold and heartless"

Thran sighed deeply. "Yes, and I fear that we will find even more bodies soon. He has two more women and several dresses too. He will not stop, his anger and wrath does feed itself, keeps growing. It is like a cancer. "

Bard frowned. "You know this how?"

Thran ran a hand through his hair. "Because I have studied the human psyche, it will escalate. Believe me. Soon he will forget about being careful and make a mistake, let us hope that happens soon."

Thor did walk over to them, he didn't look happy. "I fear that the press has caught our scent, I have had reporters calling all morning. We cannot let the newspapers know about this, it will become a mass panic. I have told them some neat little lies, enough to shut their gobholes but it won't last"

Thran nodded. "We have at least two more bodies out there. Only God knows when and if they will be found"

Thor sighed. "Tell me, is this guy one of those who thrives on attention? Is he out for fame and glory?"

Thran shook his head. "Nope, I don't think so. Some serial killers want to be admired and feared and they do almost anything to be noticed by the media but this guy isn't like that. He is doing it out of hatred and anger, I don't think he will change his MO even if the word was spread. He is stuck in his ways, trying to avenge something in a very specific manner"

Thor did shrug and sighed. "Alright, so, what do you know?"

Bard had opened a map of the county. "The girls has probably been kept on a farm somewhere, I would guess an abandoned one. Remote too, a place where nobody can hear screams"

Thor stared at the map. "Yes, that makes sense. But he must have abducted them somehow, really suddenly and stealthy."

Thran nodded. "Judith does believe he has used ether, one of the girls had chemical burns down her throat."

Thor growled. "Bastard. But ether, that is something very few use these days, I know vets used it a lot in the old days. They would sedate colts with it before castrating them and also during operations on other animals. "

Bard snapped his fingers and his eyes were shining. "Could he be a vet?"

Thran sort of shrugged. "Possibly, but ether is hard to come by these days. It isn't sold anymore and nobody use it, they have better things to use now. But maybe…"

He did lean over the computer and stared at the map. "Search for veterinary practises which has been closed down over the last decade"

Bard started working and Thor did look slightly disturbed. "We have to catch this beast, the public will have our hides if this one gets away"

Thran nodded. "Duly noted"

They were working when one of the other investigators did enter the room, he held a phone and his face was apologetic. "Sorry guys, but…they have found another body, also in the national park, not far from the first one"

Bard closed his eyes and groaned. "Shit, fuck, goddamn it!"

Thran leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Then the last one is out there too."

Thor did wet his lips. "So, five girls, will he stop now?"

Thran shook his head. "Nope, he won't. He stole ten dresses and he was smart enough to avoid all surveillance cameras. He will use them all, believe me."

The phone rang, it was Erestor and he didn't have any good news. He hadn't found any fake profiles on the site and it could mean many things but at the core was the fact that they were stuck. They couldn't find the culprit this way. Bard kept trying to find closed down vet's offices and found five in the area. Two were in rather densely populated areas but one was some miles out of the city in a very rural area and he did press his fingers against the image. "We need to check out that place. Now! It could be where he gets the ether."

Thran nodded. "Yes, are there any farms in the nearby area? Closed down ones?"

Bard was working hard now, the tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth. "Several"

Thran made a grimace. "Alright, any dairy farms?"

Thor did look fascinated and Bard nodded "Three, all closed down many years ago"

Thran bit his lower lip. "Open google maps, check them out, I have an idea"

Soon they looked at aerial photos of the three farms, all were clearly abandoned for the main buildings were almost ruins and Thran was staring at them with narrow eyes. "Let us see if older images are available"

Bard did obey and Thran did grin. "There, that one. See the difference?!"

Bard frowned. "Uh, what difference?"

Thor did stare too and Thran put his finger onto the image. "The grain silo, it has a new roof"

Bard gaped. "Goddamn it, you are right!"

Thor got up, his eyes ablaze. "Silos are sturdy and solid, a good place to keep someone confined."

Thran nodded. "Yes, we have to send people over there asap"

Bard made a grimace. "What about the cameras? And the shoes?"

Thran grunted, the CSI technicians had already checked the items out and he picked up a small list, somebody had made some notes on it and he did read through it fast. "The shoes were not very worn, they couldn't have been used for more than five minutes tops. And the soles had remains of old manure, and dog hair too. The soil was from the canyon, we sort of anticipated that."

Bard did nod, no surprises there. Thran did read out loud. "There have been ten such cameras sold over the last month, and five the month before. There is only one shop here in the city which does sell such equipment and they did take note of the sales for normally very few buy these things. They are very expensive indeed. Having fifteen sales within two months was a new record and it says here that the sales were made online and the cameras were sent to different addresses but the CSI techs have done their job. The payments were done with the same two credit cards, both in the same name"

Thor did snap his fingers. "Good, who?"

Thran sort of made a grunt. "It says here. Francis Theodore Poisson, but that name is a fake. There is nobody with that name, or rather, there was but the name and social security code was stolen."

Thor's face fell. "Are they sure?"

Thran nodded. "Yes, it did belong to a kid who did die of SIDS at the age of one, in 82."

Bard took a deep breath. "At least we know the approximate age then, he cannot pretend to be somebody much older or younger than that"

Thran nodded. "Check the property lists of a name similar to this one."

Bard attacked the keyboard. "On it"

He did work for a while and the tension in the room was palpable. Thor was chewing on his fingernails, a very nasty habit which did make Thran flinch. He didn't like seeing that sort of thing at all. Bard did wrinkle his nose. "One of the former vet practises, the building was bought six years ago by a Theo Fish?"

Thor swore. "Poisson means fish in French, it is our guy!"

Thran grinned from one ear to the other. "Alright, go on, search the almighty web for this fish guy, I be he is very fishy indeed!"

Thor and Thran did almost collide when they both tried to look at Bard's screen at once. Bard was excited now and he didn't even look at his keyboard. " Oh shit, look at this guys!"

Thran whistled. "He is the registered owner of that abandoned farm, officially it is going to become a kennel. So he does have dogs. He has two previous charges of violent behaviour, two charges for fraud, one for endangering the lives of others and three charges for reckless driving and DUI. This guy is a piece of shit"

Thor was almost shaking like a hunting dog on a fresh track. "The violence, what type was it?"

Bard did read as fast as he could. "He did beat up a teenage girl at a pub, for rejecting him. And he did also stalk a woman and tried to beat her up when she fought back. And the endangerment was even worse, he worked at an amusement park and didn't bother with checking the harnesses people did use on one of the attractions, several fell and got injured. He doesn't seem to feel empathy at all"

Thor did grunt. "Check the records made by the animal patrol, he could be there too, in their records I mean"

Bard did comply and did enter that part of the system. "Bingo guys"

Thran stared at the list and it was extensive. He felt a wee bit sick. "Guys, this is a monster, he is the worse type of human being. We have to get him and get him now!"

Thor did gulp and Bard felt nauseous. "No wonder he stays under the radar, he isn't allowed to own any sort of animal again, ever!"

Thran's eyes were black. "Feeding live cats to his dogs to make them more ferocious, keeping reptiles under revolting conditions, starving five horses almost to death, and running a dog fighting business of the worst kind in secret. I really hope he does resist arrest, he does deserve a bullet"

Bard shook his head. "No, he doesn't, it would be too kind. We are dealing with an abomination, not a human being."

He did pull out a photo of the man, he did look like a rather ordinary guy who couldn't be more than five foot five and he did look scrawny. "He doesn't look intimidating at all"

Thran smiled, the smile was a nasty one. "Yes, he does look like your average joe, I bet he can be very charming and convincing too"

Thor was about to say something when there was a knock on the door and one of the officers did peek through the crack. "Ah, Sir? There is a person here to register a missing person, and considering the case?"

Thor went pale. "Send him inn"

The officer did open the door and a man did enter, he was very tall and wide shouldered and handsome didn't even start to describe him. He was too rough looking to be a model but he was a perfect specimen of masculine beauty and power. He had an impressive beard and long hair and wore jeans and a flannel shirt and the entire being did just scream "Viking" to high heavens. He did even wear a Thor's hammer around his neck and he did look a bit nervous but there was steel in the blue eyes. Thran got up and smiled, he tried to look as if he was calm and collected and so did Bard. "So, what can I do for you Mr…?

The man did shake Thran's hand and it felt like a vice. The hands were very rough and worn and he did smell of steel and coal. Was he a blacksmith? "I am Egil Laufeyson, originally Icelandic but I live here now, work as a farrier. My fiancée has gone missing, her friends says she didn't come home yesterday, the dog hasn't been walked and the house was empty"

Bard did choke a groan. "Alright, your fiancée is tall and blonde? "

Egil did lift an eyebrow. "Yes, Andrea is quite tall yes, and blonde."

Thran did squint. "Has she visited a site on Facebook recently, devoted to future brides?"

Egil did blink, he did look nervous all of a sudden. "Yes? But only a couple of times, she needed some advice on a possible catering firm, we are going to have a pagan wedding and some does resent the idea. We did pick a very remote spot for the ceremony because of that."

Bard did move away from the computer. "Can you access her profile please?"

Egil did lean forth and found the profile rather easily, the picture did show a very lovely looking blonde woman dressed in a white lace gown with flowers in her hair. The picture was almost like a commercial for the archetypical gorgeous white bride. "Mr Laufeyson, there is a man out there who does target future brides, he does kidnap them and drug them and let his dogs chase them to death, I have to be honest with you, it does sound like your fiancée may have become his last victim"

Egil did suddenly look very menacing, he had a striking resemblance to an old painting of the pagan God Thor all of a sudden. "There is somebody kidnapping brides? And murdering them?"

Thor did nod, he wasn't so sure that it was smart to tell this guy what was going on, he didn't look very stable at the moment. Egil did bare his teeth. "Then may the gods be with that man for my Andrea isn't like other women at all, she used to be…a special forces soldier. She know how to kill and how to survive even in the most extreme conditions. Do find that man and do it fast, before she does kill him. And if she doesn't then I will"

Thran did wet his lips, there was something in the man's voice which told of absolute confidence. He did nod. "We have an idea of where he does live"

Egil did nod. "Then go, go now. If Andrea is out there you have no time left, she will turn the hunter into the hunted, believe me. "

Bard made a squeak "He does drug his victims…"

Egil just smiled, the blue eyes were almost electrical blue for a moment. "She has a special condition, most drugs doesn't work on her, or works very poorly. Get going, if you want that man brought to justice it has to be done now. Andrea will protect herself, believe me."

Thor did make as rather pale grin. "I am gonna call SWAT right now, you better head out. Gear up"

Thran and Bard got up and ran to get their bullet proof vests and guns, Egil just stood there and there was something odd about him, Thran could feel it. After their encounter with Sekhmet they both could sense the truth about people and something about this man was setting off their instincts, he felt dangerously close to that ancient Egyptian deity. Two minutes later they were on their way out the door, and Egil was following them. Neither Bard nor Thran wanted to deny him that, he did catch a ride with the two and they did drive like mad towards the area with the abandoned farm.

The room she had been kept in had been hot, way too hot for comfort but she hadn't succumbed to the heat. The rage within her had kept her going, kept her controlled and at ease, kept her thinking. The attack had been sudden, from behind and without any warning and she hadn't had time to think or react as she ought to. The nauseating scent she still felt told her that she had been sedated, probably some old school stuff for the modern things didn't work on her at all. She woke up in a dark room which did smell like a barn and she could feel concrete walls around her. A faint mouldy scent told her that this had been a grain silo and she used her senses and knew that it had to have been a farm. Where was she and why? She could feel that she was wearing something new, a dress of some sorts. And she did also wear jewellery and nice shoes, some sicko with a fetish for dress up games?

She walked around the confines of the room, it was circular and she did bump into something, something soft. She did pick it up, it was a scarf, made from very nice wool and it did smell of perfume. She wasn't the first woman who had been kept there, shit. Andrea did raise her head, used her nose for all it was worth. She had keener senses than ordinary people and wondered if the kidnapper had noticed the subtle differences between her and other people? He probably hadn't, she was very careful to hide it all. It was the rules. She did look human enough for anybody who saw her without knowing about her true nature. It was pitch black in there, not even she could see without any light at all but she could use her tongue and make hard clicks which did tell her more about her surroundings. The roof was high above her, probably made from metal, the walls were all concrete and the door was of the blast proof type. It did tell her that the culprit had prepared well, and that he had money. So, what was this about? She just guessed that she would find out, eventually.

She sat down, there was straw on the ground and she could smell that it was relatively new. In the distance she heard a dog bark, and there was a sort of mechanical sound too, a sort of pump? A truck was running, probably a large one judging from the sound and the faint creaking sound could be from an old fashioned wind mill or something of that kind. It was probably getting dark outside, she had been taken some hours ago for sure and she did bare her teeth. Whatever that bastard was up to, she could deal with it. He had no idea of who he was messing with. Suddenly there was a new scent, sickly sweet and with a very clear chemical aftertaste, it came from above and she did grunt. It was a sort of gas, probably meant to sedate whoever was in the silo. She pretended to fall over, this could get intere

sting.

After just a little she felt fresh air, there was a streak of light, probably a flashlight and she heard footsteps. Should she kill the guy right now? No, she wanted to see what he did, what he had done to the other women he had kept there. She could smell that at least three individuals had been there in the past, the last mere hours ago. The fear they had felt was still very clear and she could feel anger bubbling up inside of her. She would make him pay. She was grabbed like a doll and hauled off, she pretended to be unconscious and she felt that she was being deposited in a truck, the back of a pickup if she wasn't wrong about it. She was blindfolded but that didn't mean much, she could smell everything around her and as the truck did speed up she felt the subtle changes in the direction and how the smells did shift.

She knew that Egil would be worried but he did also know that very little could actually harm her, this was very unfortunate and very annoying but not much more than that. The truck didn't move for very long, they couldn't be more than a few miles from the farm and when it did stop she heard the baying of hounds and she did smirk. Dogs. Now that put a new and interesting twist to it. She was pulled down from the truck and it felt as if her hands were being tied to something, very loosely. Then the truck did speed up again and she frowned. So, the culprit wasn't going to be there in the flesh? That was odd, but that probably meant that he was able to keep an eye on the action from afar. She got her hands free and tore off the blindfold. The forest around her was dark but to her it was bright as daylight, she wore a wedding dress and formal shoes and everything, even a veil. In the darkness she was very visible wearing white.

The baying got closer and she felt slightly dizzy, there was a sort of itching feeling on her left leg and she bent down and lifted the skirt. There was a patch there, a sort of medical one, the type they use to administer medicine through the skin and she grunted and pulled it off. She did sniff it. A normal person wouldn't have noticed it at all, but she did. It did contain some sort of drug she didn't recognize but the slight tingling told her it was powerful. A human being would be overwhelmed by this shit rather fast, she heard the dogs and smiled to herself. Let's play the role, for a while, let's see what happens.

She ran, pretended to be completely confused and scared and she did feel a slight electromagnetic disturbance in the air. She could see that there were cameras placed there, along the path. A person fleeing for their lives will chose the easiest path, too bad she didn't follow those laws of normal behaviour. She took off, to the side, down a steep hillside. There was a river down there, and she hissed as she tore off the dress and the veil. The dogs weren't that far behind her now, she got naked and found some fat mud, rolled in it. Now she was dark all over and she snarled.

The animal was awakening, she let it have free reins now.

The dogs came rushing towards her, a pack of six very large animals and they all wore cameras on their collars. She grinned, what he was about to watch wasn't what he had expected. She saw that the dogs were trained to chase a person, not to kill and she ran up from the river until she found an open area. The dogs did act a bit as if they were confused. The people they had been chasing before had ran, not stood there. But they were pack animals and their instincts were strong, the bravest of the dogs did attack.

She slid out of the way and grasped the collar, crushed the camera before she simply grasped the dog by the neck and spun the entire body around, snapping its neck like it was a rotten twig. She growled, it was a warning and the other dogs did back off. The eyes told of fear and confusion, this didn't smell like a human being, and it had killed their leader. What was this?

Andrea did walk on, the path was right there and she followed it, crushing the cameras one by one, it was a clear challenge. She was covered in mud and almost invisible even to thermal cameras and she wanted the bastard to lose his cools, to come for her in the flesh.

She saw a sort of line in the terrain, too even to be natural. It was an old fence, collapsed and almost gone but she did follow it. There were poles there which were still rather solid and after a few hundred meters she found the remains of a metal gate. The movable type farmers use when they have to separate cattle. Andrea did grin widely, she bent down and tore loose one of the long metal pipes the gate had been made from. She used a rock to form a sort of spear point and her eyes were glowing slightly in the dark. The dogs did still follow her and she did backtrack herself. Now only the collar cameras would feed the kidnapper with information, and she wanted to really show him what she was capable of.

The dogs did gather again, getting closer, some of them did whimper and jerk and she realized that they had electric collars, they were shocked into obedience and she got even more angry. This was downright evil. The dogs did attack again, two at the time and she did jab the spear down the throat of the first one, tore through the chest and pulled it free in a spray of blood. The other dog tried to reach her arm but she ripped its entire throat out. There were three dogs left, they fled. Terrified and she felt the scent from them, they wouldn't try to attack her again, no matter how much their master tried to make them obey. No animal commits suicide, it isn't in their nature.

Andrea got rid of all the cameras and she moved towards the farm itself, the man had to be on the move now and she bared her teeth again. She was ready. The truck did appear, the lights on and the engine roaring, the vehicle did move very erratically and she realized that the man was probably beside himself with rage. Good, that was what she wanted. The metal rod she had used to kill one of the dogs was placed on the road, it did look like a branch from afar, and in the sharp light of the headlights it was almost invisible. The crunch when it hit the front of the car was distinct, she had made sure that it was supported by bedrock and leaned forth at an angle. The radiator and the front of the engine block did bear the brunt of the impact, the car came to a screeching halt and a man tumbled out of it.

Andrea had heard swearing which would make your ears bleed, the einherjer of Odin didn't exactly weight their words but this would have made even them blush. He wore a colt at his waist and carried a shot gun and his pockets were filled with shells. He thought he was prepared. Andrea growled, the mud made her hard to spot and even her hair was covered completely. Only the whites of her eyes was visible and she did sneak closer. The man was almost frothing at the mouth, his anger so great he probably had few senses left.

She did toss a rock at the road ahead of the truck and he did snap out of it, he did fire the shotgun in that direction, without even aiming. Andrea wanted to giggle, so stupid, so incredibly so. He was no hunter, no warrior. He was pathetic.

Another stone and another shot. She did circle the truck, slowly. Triggering him to shoot again and again and he didn't realize that he was being tricked.

In the end he was out of shotgun shells. He threw the weapon away and grasped the handgun. "Show yourself you demon!"

The voice was trembling and thin and Andrea did step into the lights for a swift second. The man screamed and fired the colt, she was already gone by the time the bullets flew by and he did start to run. He obviously thought that the sight of a colt would subdue just about anything but not her, she found the idea of this type of false safety ridiculous. She let him see her, a swift glimpse and he did follow, into the forest. Andrea did smile, she had counted the bullets. He had one left. Now it was her game completely.

She threw her head back, let out a shrill warcry and the man stopped, eyes wide. The gun was held by shivering hands and now he did realize that he had done a huge bummer. He had one bullet, and he was far into the woods, being tracked by something which had killed three of his dogs and was capable of resisting the drugs he used. He tried to follow his own track, back to the car. It was no good, it was getting lighter now but the forest was still very dark and Andrea waited until he was trying to get past a huge tree before she simply rushed past him and grasped the gun, threw it into the thicket. The man screamed and ran, all thoughts of trying to fight gone. Andrea wished that she could spit on him, such cowardice was unmanly. She had never brought those who were like that to the great halls, these days few would have been deemed worthy.

The farm was more of a ruin than anything else, the moment they did stop the SWAT members did rush out of their black van and spread and Thran and Bard did stare at the grain silo. The door was open and it was clearly reinforced. Egil did nod. "She was here, I am sure. Not very long ago. "

Bard turned around, there was a kennel there, it was empty too, six rooms though and Thran nodded. "Six dogs, look at the paw prints. They are massive"

The forest did end just behind the old barn and one of the SWAT soldiers did point towards what had once been a corn field. "I see movement, three objects. "

Thran nodded. "Do not shoot unless you have to"

Three dogs did appear out of the thicket, they were indeed massive, both wide and tall and they stopped and hesitated. The SWAT leader was used to dogs, he did whistle and the dogs did walk closer, very hesitantly. Before long they were back in the kennel and the leader had removed the collars. "Electric, he did probably shock them."

Bard frowned. "There has to be three more dogs out there"

Egil shook his head. "If they aren't here they are dead, they wouldn't leave their pack otherwise"

Thran waved his hand. "There is a small cabin behind the old main building, let us see what's inside"

The SWAT team was standing guard and they did enter, it was a sort of combined control room and living room, a bed at one end and then computer screens and other technical equipment. The computers were running and showed mostly darkness but one was showing something else. It was obvious that it was the images from a camera attached to a person, running for his life. They heard heavy breath, terrified shrieks and a distant growling which wasn't human at all. The man ran like mad, crashed into trees, fell into streams, he did act like he was mad and Bard and Thran did stare at the images with narrow eyes. "Is she chasing him?"

There was a distinct sound coming from the computer, like a thunderclap and it went dark, all of a sudden.

Bard did blink and he suddenly realized that the direction of the light did indicate that the images came from a spot not far from the farm. "Come"

Thran frowned. "Where is Egil?"

The huge man had simply vanished and they ran outside, Bard pointed at the forest just beyond the silo. "Over there, the culprit should become visible any minute."

They all ran, SWAT team and investigators and they saw Egil, he just stood there. He was looking at something laying on the ground, steam was rising from the body of a man which was still twitching. The SWAT team did stare at the man, he wasn't very intimidating at all, rather the opposite and the marks on the skin did tell a very clear story, he was struck by lightning.

Bard gaped and Thran did sigh, Egil just smiled, there was a hint of malice in that smile, of vengeance. There was movement in the bushes and the SWAT team did raise their guns but it was a woman, unarmed and covered with mud. She wasn't that intimidating at all and did look rather normal but both Bard and Thran saw her aura, she was anything but normal and Thran did draw a sharp breath. The old deities did sometimes prove to be more real than anybody could have imagined. The SWAT leader did walk over. "Are you alright ma'am?"

She did nod. "Yes sir, I was…able to stay hidden, camouflage you know"

The man handed over a blanket and she did grasp it, covered herself with it. "We heard the thunderclap but the skies are almost clear?"

Egil just shrugged. "Lightning can strike many miles from a thundercloud. I guess somebody out there was pissed at this guy"

Thran mumbled. "Yes, that…could be it"

Andrea did hug Egil and there was some sort of hidden communication going on for they both looked very smug and Thran took a deep breath. "Let the technicians check this place out, bag the body and let Judith have him. It is over"

Andrea sighed. "There is a body out there, by the creek. I saw her when I was…fleeing"

Bard nodded. "The last one, so sad. "

She nodded. "This man was mad, an abomination"

Thran did hand her and Egil his card. "You will be called in for questioning later on, but now I would guess that you would prefer to go home, get cleaned off and relax?"

Both nodded and Thran did pet Bard on the back. "Great, let's go. This place gives me the creeps."

Bard sighed. "You are right about that, I wonder what the techs will find"

A few hours later they were back at the office and Thor was glad it was over but there were things which didn't make sense. The man had been chased through the woods for a long time, the camera recordings were several hours long. But they never saw what it was that chased him and they never saw Andrea. The recordings did only show Andrea running wearing a dress and then the recordings were blank, erased and Erestor said it had to be due to electrical discharge, probably the lightning strike which killed the guy.

The small cabin had many recordings stored though, all of the women who had been kidnapped and the stuff was terrifying and ghastly. The techs were green when they delivered the material to the investigators and lawyers. The culprit was dead but there was the case of compensation for the people who had lost their loved ones.

The man who had been behind it all had been a true bastard and his real name was in fact Frank Murray, he was the son of a vet and he had been off the grid for many years after a sentence to five years in a juvenile detention centre for cruelty to animals. But the rage and the fixation with brides had started five years earlier. He had been rather wealthy back then, due to some smart moves on the stock market and he had met a woman online, a very beautiful woman who obviously was completely taken by his charm. She had wanted to marry him and everything had seemed to be just wonderful, then she had left him at the altar and taken all his money with her. She had been a scam artist and of course it had been a nasty move but it had made Frank snap completely and when he did face rejection from yet another girl on a dating site he came up with his nasty plan.

He had been mad but also terribly sly and Bard was glad he was dead. Judith had no idea of how the man had managed to get killed by lightening for there hadn't been any strikes reported by the weather services that day but there could be no other explanation and Thran had just grunted something about odd weather phenomenon and static discharge.

The investigators had been silent in the car on the way back home that day, until Thran did lean back into the seat and stared off into the horizon . "Bard, you do know that Laufey is another word for Odin?"

Bard just shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Thran closed his eyes. "I am glad it is over, that bastard did pick the wrong victim for sure"

Bard frowned. "Yes, I still don't understand everything…"

Thran nodded. "We aren't meant to, believe me. The Gods do play their own game, we are pawns. She was not of this world, neither was he. We ought to be grateful I guess, they solved this for us"

Bard grinned. "Yes. They did adopt those three dogs though, named them Geri and Freki and Fenrir"

Thran did chuckle. "Why am I not surprised. Well, at least Frank Murray did face white lightening, instead of a white wedding"

Bard had to laugh. "You are right, no shotgun wedding there."

Thran relaxed again. "No, definitely not"

Bard stopped the car outside of their home and sighed, they had once again encountered something normal people couldn't explain, he just wondered how many more times this would happen. Thran did squeeze his hand. "Many my dear, believe me, many. We have plenty of adventured ahead of us, trust me"

Bard squeezed back. "Always!"