Crimson Lullaby pt 2_
Julie Finlay wasn't squeamish but looking at the body of Natalia Wild, the Crimson Lullaby third victim made her want to close her eyes and never open them again.
The first victim had her throat slit, the second poisoned and Natalie hung with her eyes and eyelids removed with baby spiders crawling out of the sockets. Her naked body there for everyone to see, to gawp and gaze. She wanted to cut the rope and get Natalie down, cover her body and face. Give the young woman respect but this was a crime scene, and she was evidence, evidence they couldn't remove until the corner said so.
The killer had sent them Natalie's ID, the name of the abandoned motel so they could find her body with a poem inside an envelope taped to the windscreen of a cop car. He or she was cocky and comfortable, taunting them from the shadows.
Maybe they were outside somewhere, watching from a distance with a grin on their face and glee burning inside their chest at what they had done.
"Whoever did this is a twisted son of a bitch," Finn heard Zack mutter to Mia. Finn nodded her head in agreement, not that either saw they were focused on processing the scene like she should be but she couldn't stop staring at Natalie.
She wanted to tear her eyes away, focus on the evidence before someone in the room noticed it was affecting her. Before there were glances and whispers about how she was close to breaking down.
"Jules, come and look at this," DB called over, his voice firm but gentle like a soft gentle alarm clock waking her up and pulling away from Natalie.
"Fresh blood, fresh fingerprint," DB told her, showing her the clear bloody fingerprint on the doorframe. "Our killer could have gotten sloppy".
"Fresh blood, fresh fingerprint," DB told her, showing her the clear bloody fingerprint on the doorframe. "Our killer could have gotten sloppy".
"Or the killer left it there on purpose to taunt us," Finn remarked, unable to keep the frustration out of her voice.
"True but I prefer to hope they are getting sloppy and that will lead us to catch them, Jules," DB informed her, briefly putting his hand on her shoulder. To keep her grounded or to give her comfort she wasn't sure what the gesture was for but she appreciated it.
The fingerprints found at the scene weren't in the system. Finn wasn't shocked, she knew the killer left them to give them false hope.
Natalie's body had no trace from her killer. The crying and gagging sound Natalie's father made when he identified her rang in Finn's head even now.
Tate told her to go home and rest but she couldn't. The moment she walked out the door then it was like she was walking away from the victims. She was failing them. The sleep-deprived part of her blamed her colleagues, they weren't willing to work doubles and triples. To go without sleep no matter how long it took to find something to get the killer.
The rational part of her knew it wasn't true. They were working as hard as they could and wanted the killer caught as badly as she did. But still, she couldn't shake off her anger.
She paced the locker room with the urge to hit something or someone. When the urge became too much, her fist collided with the metal locker door.
The instant throbbing pain that shot through her fist left her feeling satisfied. It was like taking a gulp of air after being stuck under water.
"You know you will have a lovely bruised hand come tomorrow," DB told her standing in the doorway, fighting the urge to examine her hand to make sure she had broken nothing.
"I will live unlike Natalie or Carla or Hannah," Finn snapped, inside seething that he had caught at moment of weakness.
He looked concerned, and she hated it.
"No they are dead, their lives taken from them in the most twisted way and you hurting yourself won't change that. You working every possible moment won't bring them back nor will it change what you had to do in Philadelphia," DB told her, his voice soft. Looking at her like she needed to believe him, needed to snap out of her guilt spiral.
"You have no clue what your talking about, I'm fine," Finn shot back, her aching hand balled into a fist.
A snarky voice that sounded a lot like her least favorite cousin Isabelle snort "Yeah you're doing fantastic kid," inside her head.
She heard DB let out a heavy sigh. "Talk to someone, do something because if you don't Jules then you will be burn out and I'd hate that you're fantastic at what you do,".