35
"Whatcha got there little man?" Ianto crooned with affection as he leaned over the railing to the medical bay and Owen replied without turning to face him.
"A dead body"
"Oooooo, did you procure that yourself of find it already left as an offering?"
Owen's hands stilled and he grinned, swinging to see a huge white tiger looking down at him, the front paws on the railings curled so cutely around the railing with claws out. "You know… not everything offers dead things to humans as treats."
"Hmmmmm. So?"
"This is one found out on the moors. The Heddlu thought it was a mugging until they got the coat open and found her naked with these weird markings on her flesh. See? Star shaped wounds… weird. Brought her to me" Owen explained stepping back to let Ianto see and the huge cat flew over the railing to land with a soft thud next to him, the thrill of the huge body's warmth amusing Owen who reached out to stroke him.
"Got a T.O.D.?"
"About three this morning I think… within half an hour of it either side, was a cold morning so the frost could be giving me a false reading by that much either way" Owen replied.
The tiger materialized into Ianto who stood in while clothing now, just the faint smudge of black here and there like the stripes needed time to fade. He leaned in close and sniffed her "Weird. The smell… like… antiseptic. You don't wash them."
"No… I don't. Whoever dumped her did… I think it's something ritualistic or… I don't know… to hide DNA? Watched too many CSI shows. Ya see the stippling around the wounds?" Owen said as they both leaned in close, Ianto reaching out a finger to touch the skin and to Owen's delight a single claw emerged from his finger like a long vamprish fingernail.
"It goes deep into the flesh… like… hmmm... maybe plaster cast these before you cut into them, get some idea of what the shape of the weapon was… or … whatever it was… smells different here at the impact site… sort of… cinnamon? No.. spicy sort of" Ianto muttered, his nose wrinkling as he sniffed "Where did they find her again?"
"Out on the moors" Owen repeated looking up to find Gwen and Jack at the railing now watching them "A man with a full bladder parked in the lay-by and ran into the marsh, practically fell over her."
Still cordoned off?"
"Yeah, they were still processing the scene" Owen confirmed.
"Right… I want to go sniff about at the scene, you get that impression done" Ianto turned and walked up the steps, coming face to face with Jack "I don't like this. Something makes the hair on my ruff stand up about it."
"OK… lets go" Jack agreed, both men heading for the vehicle as Toshiko rushed to follow.
.
.
The yellow crime scene tape fluttered in the breeze as the two of them walked towards it, flicking their IDs as those on duty. Toshiko came powering past them to land in the spot where the flags were, scanning the ground with interest and Jack walked the perimeter as he tried to visualise the body there.
Marshland with raggedy bushes and reeds, small outcrops of long grass… barren and desolate. A horrible place to be left as carrion. Must have been strong to get her weight over the bogy ground that was trying to trip you with hidden holes and toots at every turn.
"Sir, we have some photographs here" one of the UNIT men said, handing over a folder full of colour shots.
Ianto stalked from the site, walking farther along the ravine as he scented the air, something not quite right about any of this. He touched his earwig "Owen? You got a good description of whatever cased those marks yet?"
"Weird, yeah. Long and thin like… thicker than a straw, more like a finger but really long and star shaped, five ridges." Owen replied.
"Blood loss?"
"Yeah, she bled out… I thought she drowned in the bog but… no… these weird incisions … she seemed to have bled out from these areas like… weird" Owen was muttering to himself as Ianto stopped walking and canted his head.
"Suction? Like it had been sucked out?"
"Yeah!" Owen agreed "Exactly!"
"Right, a proboscis" Ianto frowned as he stood looking around "Like… insects… this thing is clearly either a shape sifter, invisible to us or fucking hiding during the day, coming out at night?"
"Sounds right" Owen agreed, the sound of clicking as he loaded his files "you know… the size of this… like… if you take it as an incest sucker… this thing must be at least… five feet high? Six? Human sized. Shit… no way it can hide if… Ianto?"
"I just found another" Ianto said with a sickening groan as he scented the rotting flesh, slowly walking over to some bushes, crouching to see the remains beneath it then rising and calling out to Jack. Lifting his arm high so they could see him.
He knew this was not the first… or the last.
The scents wafting around him changing with the breeze.
He knew damned well he was in a killing field.