The Detectives and the Victim
Detective Ramirez stepped out of the patrol car, the scene had already been tapped off and despite it being on the road near the woods on the edge of Lawndale late a night a small crowd had already gathered.
She spotted a free colleague and headed over to him. "Officer Schiff."
"Detective." He replied with a nod.
"What have we got?"
"Caucasian female, mid-forties, same injuries as the other victims. Her ID says her name is Helen Morgendorffer."
"Morgendorffer…" Ramirez muttered to herself, "That name sounds familiar."
"She's a lawyer for Vitale's firm."
"Ahh... Has the family been contacted?"
"Yes, I sent Parker on the job."
Ramirez nodded in approval, Parker was good at breaking bad news to people and being a comforting ear, and getting information out of possible suspects without them knowing it.
But in this case Ramirez was certain that it wasn't the husband who did it, this murder had all the hallmarks of 'Metalmouth'.
Ramirez glared at the nearby trees in anger, the bastard had been killing people on and off along this very route since the 80's and despite all the effort of both Lawndale PD and the Maryland State PD they were no closer to catching him than they were when Metalmouth claimed his first victims.
Ramirez took a quick walkabout around the car and sure enough the killer's signature was there on the door handle, a set of steel-forged metal teeth clamped into the metal of the car like a demented shark.
"Anna." A familiar voice broke her out of her ponderings.
"Joel." Detective Ramirez replied, glancing up at her colleague and on-again/off-again flame Detective Joel MacAngus. "Anything turn up besides the usual?"
"No," MacAngus replied, hearing Ramirez's tone and going to a more formal demeanor, "Just like all the others. A brutal death, the calling-card, no prints, no tracks, no hints of where the bastard came from or where he went. He's like a fucking ghost."
"Ghosts don't leave body counts like this." Ramirez answered flatly.
MacAngus leaned in closer and said quietly, "Do you want to get a coffee after this?"
Ramirez considered it for a moment, knowing that the coffee would very likely lead them back to one of their places after work for more than just a drink.
"Maybe."
MacAngus flashed a smirk, glancing back at the car, glad the body had already been taken by the CSI team, though the car's interior was splashed and stained in the sheer amount of blood that only Metalmouth could get out of one of his victims.
They both knew that teams were sweeping through the nearby woods, trying to find anything that Metalmouth might have left as evidence, but suspecting that once again the bastard would prove too adept at covering his tracks to catch.
Still, as Ramirez began looking forward to getting away from the latest crime scene, she hoped that maybe this time there would be something that would turn up that could crack this case.
She gave a brief prayer for the family in her thoughts, knowing that they'd need all the help they could get to cope with their loss.
Even if the victim was one of Jim Vitale's toadies.
FIN