Chapter 4: The Investigation

A YEAR AND A HALF LATER

A homicide team started scooping a field somewhere outside of California. Detective's McCormick and Costar walk up towards a photographer whom was taking pictures of something found in the bush.

"Yeeuck." The photographer cringed as he had finished and walked away.

"First time photographing a homicide?" Costar asked him.

"Actually this is my third year, and I must say this is the most disturbing site I have seen so far."

Costar watched the photographer as he walked away a bit before bringing his attention back to the scene. He frowned with a sad mournful face down at the discovery. "Poor kid, no one should ever end up like this."

"I know what you mean!" McCormick replied as she covered a handkerchief over her mouth. The smell from the corps was starting to get to her. She stood up and looked to her partner and added. "It's hard to say, but I think that this is one of the missing children from the mysterious kidnapping case?" The female chipmunk says in a both hopeful and sadden manner.

"How can you tell?" Costar asked. By even looking at the body there was no way to tell if it could even resemble anyone from the case files.

McCormick shook her head as she tried to find the right words to explain it. "I don't know, call it…instinct."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

AT THE SEVILLE'S HOME

"DAVID!" Miss. Miller crowed as she walks hastily into the kitchen. This made Dave jump and nearly drop the lasagna that would be for dinner. "M-M-Miss. Miller?" Dave said composing himself. "What is it?"

"David, turn the TV on, right now! There is something you have to see!"

Dave and Miss. Miller both go into the living room and turn on to the news. They both watch as a news reporter announces a find.

"A young body had been found earlier today." The female reporter announced on the TV. "It was discovered by two hikers in a field just out side of California. They had just come out of the trails and were heading back to their car when they spotted the body. The Homicide detectives tell us that the body was so badly torn up that they had to bring it in to a Pathologist in order to ID the child, and discover what manner of creature might have caused the death.

"On the other side of town a suspect to this case had also been caught and was brought in for custody. He had been acknowledged as a homeless man, but the police are assuming that is his 'cover up' when they found an expensive black dress suit in a tot bag that he carried on him. It was the same suit that each principal reported when a strange man would show up just before the kidnapping of a child or two from their school. When they rounded up more evidence it led the police to him as the 'master mind' to all the mysterious kidnappings that had been going around the past few years here in LA. What clinched the case was the suspect even admitted to the crime of kidnap and murder to the found body. They brought the man in for questioning in hopes they could find the other children that had been taken from their schools."

When the report ended and the news drifted to a new topic, Miss. Miller looked down at Dave. He still was glued to the TV. How could he relax with this news…how will he know if his son was safe? Or be found the same way as the child in the field, or a deeper and scarier thought was if that the child was his son?

"I-I'm sure Simon is alright?" Miss. Miller said as she tried to sound convincing. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. All Dave could do was let out a stressful sigh.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Meanwhile at the L.A. precinct, detective's Costar and McCormick were in the elevator heading to the floor of the interrogation room; both seemed to be silent as they moved. McCormick stared at the picture of the boy as he was found in the bush. She suddenly had a puzzled look on her face. Costar, her partner, looked down at her and notices her eying suspiciously at the picture and spoke to her with the question. "What's up?"

"Huh? Oh, just thinking."

"About what?"

"That something about this case just doesn't sit right?"

"Let me guess…ah, another 'instinct'? You seem to be coming up with those a lot lately!" He said in a half joke. "Well, maybe it will be cleared up after we interview this guy?"

"I hope so." McCormick prayed as the elevator doors open and they both head down the hall.

McCormick and Costar walk into the interrogation room and find a cop standing guard near the suspect. The homeless man sat with a blank look on his face. To the detectives assumption they figured this could be a mastermind serial killer. With an emotionless face, the homeless man slowly looked up at the detectives.

"All right, where do we begin?" Costar said as he tried to restrain himself from reaching over and killing this man himself.

"I did it." The homeless suspect quietly said in a neutral state of appearance.

"Why?" McCormick asked.

"I don't know…I just did it."

"Look, just tell why you killed this child and where you have the other children you kidnapped." Costar nearly growled.

"I killed them…I killed them all."

"Where are they? Tell us!" The Male human detective grew louder. The homeless man did not answer just stared blankly into space. "This is getting us nowhere!" Costar sighed.

McCormick thought of trying a different approach and pulled out the picture of the found mutilated child. She laid it on the table and inched towards the suspect so he can see it clearly in his plain view. "Could you explain why you chose to do this to this child?"

"I did it…I kil…" The homeless man stopped in mid-sentence and looked at the picture in shock. He looked as if he had just come out of a trance. He started to pull one of his hands up to his mouth to block it from vomiting. "Oh, my God!" He managed to say before he could not hold it in.

The detectives and the officer by the door all looked at each other in a confused manner. "Well, this is different?" Costar said in a frustrated manner.

"Hey!" McCormick yelled at the suspect to get his attention. She slammed her hands down on the table.

The man looked back up at the detectives and again at the picture. "Wha…what happened to that kid? Why am I here? I don't remember doing anything wrong." He asked practically in tears.

What do you mean you don't remember doing anything? You just admitted to murdering this child and the other children!!" McCormick acknowledged him.

"Tell us why you did that, and where you had put the bodies!" Costar yells.

Just then the door swings open, and three officers came in to grab the man and dragged him away. "Questioning is over, detectives! We'll take it from here!" One of the officers announced.

"No," The homeless man screamed shaking his head. "I could not kill that child…not like that! Only a monster could do something like that!" He cried as the officers forcefully removed him towards the door. One of them stops and lifts his baton and whacks the homeless man over the head to silence him. They then continued to drag him out the interrogation room.

Both detectives were now completely lost. In all their years being on the force an interrogation never ended like that before.

An hour later, the detectives were called into the captain's office.

The man behind the desk looked up with a serious expression. "Detective Costar, Detective McCormick, first I want to congratulate you on a great investigation. Now that we have the kidnapper in custody we can officially close this case."

"Captain, please! Don't drop this case just yet!" McCormick pleads.

"McCormick's right! Something strange is happening here, and the interview we had with this latest suspect seemed totally off."

"I'm sorry, but I have just received orders that this case was now 'closed'." The Captain answered sorely.

"Captain, do something! Costar and I suspect that this case is much bigger then we anticipated. There might be a bigger hand at play here! We can't let these killers, whoever they are, get away with this…I mean, who would be next? …This thing needs to be stopped before another child is taken. Don't you care? What if they go after one of your children next?" McCormick cries to try to get through to her Captain in to reconsider this decision.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, DETECTIVE!! I don't like this either, but we have no choice in this matter!" The Captain screeches in defiance. The fact she had used his children as an example made it fell like a stab in the heart.

"Captain, listen…McCormick and I have done some extra research in the last year and a bit since starting on this case. This isn't the first time something like this has happen." Costar attempts to add. "Many cases, around the world started out similar as the ones that were happening here. Most of them usually ended up with some homeless man admitting to the kidnap and murders."

"So…?" The Captain questions them.

"So…don't you find this the slightest bit suspicious? How so many cases start in the same way and all end with different 'homeless' people admitting to the crime? Wouldn't you think this had to do with the same person or group of persons?" Costar explains. "You weren't in the interrogation room, but McCormick and I were…that man, as soon as he saw the picture, suddenly looked surprised and scared to see the mutilated child."

"Give us another chance, Captain?" McCormick again pleaded. "Allow us more time to dig up more evidence."

The Captain sat and thought about what to do about this case and then shook his head and looked up to his Detectives. "I'll see what I can do…? Now, go back to your desks, I'll contact you if I can re-open the case for you two."

"Thank you, Captain! I could just kiss you!" Costar said with a grin with a joke.

"Hey, I'm a married man!" The Captain laughed. "Don't make me regret this decision, Detective." He then warned.

The next stage was 'where to now'? They left the room and sat at their desks plotting out their next move. It was pretty much back to the drawing board with this case.