Chapter 12
"Hey, Bobby," Dean said.
"Dean. What can't you idgits figure out this time?" Bobby responded with his usual loving annoyance.
Dean rolled his eyes, "We've got a weird one…"
"That tends to come with the job description," Bobby interrupted.
"Yeah, well this one doesn't have anything that really jumps out at you. I mean; six guys bite the dust in two weeks and one's a cop."
"And the weird part?"
"No sulfur, no electrical problems and none of them have any alters in their basement. So, it's not a demon problem. They all have a heart, so no werewolves. And we've spent hours scouring the net and libraries for untimely deaths, murders, and suicides and came up with butkiss."
"So what do you have?"
"It looks like whatever it is, used a knife. The first guy was stabbed in the side and neck and the second guy was lucky enough to only get one to the jugular. After that they got worse and quicker; slit throats and a couple straight heart shots. As far as the guys themselves go; they spent most of their time at the gym, so they weren't the easiest targets. Actually, the gym is one link we do have. The first three were gym bunnies; but after that they were all over the place. All the murders took place in a one block area, so that's where we've been focusing but it isn't taking us very far. Sam's out walking the area again to see if he can use his puppy eyes of doom to extract any new info," he rolled his eyes.
"How you two doing anyway?"
Dean knew he was really asking just about him, "We're fine, Bobby. There was a guy, Emmett Hale, who was mugged on the same block a few weeks before the killings started. He was in a comma for awhile; but he died just before the whole thing started."
"Well it sounds pretty obvious then…" He paused for a second, "You haven't salt and burned him yet, have you?" his tone was harsh.
"No, not yet. Once Sam gets back that's the first thing we plan on doing. I just wanted your take on this whole thing…"
"My take, is light him up."
"We're on it, Bobby," he snapped.
"Good," Bobby snapped back and hung up.
Dean snapped his phone shut with a growl and threw it on the bed. Sam walked through the door, "It's about time," Dean snapped and grabbed his jacket. "Let's go."
Sam watched him walk out the door, "Yeah, my walk was nice, thanks. I found out something new, by the way," he said to himself before following him out.
"So whatever this thing is, it had to have an exit?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, I mean once I got up the ladder and onto the roof; it was obvious that someone had been up there. Not only that; but there was a burnt pile of clothes up there too. They were just setting in the corner."
"So you're telling me someone started a fire on the roof and no one noticed?"
Sam shrugged, "Misdirection. People were focused on the commotion around the scene."
Dean shook his head, "Hours passed before anyone found Morris. The thing would've been long gone by then."
Sam sighed, "Yeah, you'd think…"
Dean gave him a weird look before turning back to face the road in front of him. "So this isn't Hale then?"
"Seeing as how ghosts can just up and disappear, clothes and all… I'm thinking not."
"So, what the frick?" he growled. They were quiet for awhile and Dean continued to drive. Finally he pulled over, "I guess going to the cemetery would be a waste of time…"
Sam gave him a look, "Yeah, unless we're looking for a zombie; then it is a waste of time." Dean lifted his brows and tipped his head at the possibility. "Dude, we are not looking for a zombie," Sam snapped.
"Are you sure? Remember that guy who was so desperate to get laid that he brought that hot friend of his back from the dead? Maybe Rebecca thought she got jipped and wanted more time with her dearly departed."
He was making some good points and so Sam thought about it; but realized some missed points. "If this were Emmett Hale, then why would he burn his clothes? No one would suspect him of killing six guys after he died. There wouldn't be any reason to try and cover something like that up."
Dean sighed, "So there is a reason I put up with you."
Sam could feel the tension easing so he smiled back, "If you didn't you would have, let's see…salt and burned a corpse for no reason and went after an innocent woman."
Dean smirked, "Details, Sammy, details."
Sam laughed, "Yeah, nothing important or anything."
Dean shrugged and turned the Impala around. "So where to now Mr. Logic?"
"We should probably go back to the other scenes and find out how the thing escaped there."
"Right. And then you can leave the cops a little roof-top tip. I'm sure they're dying for some kind of break; after all, it is one of their own. They can run their little tests, we'll don the suits again, and soon we'll all be right back in the loop."
Sam laughed, "There's no 'I' in team."
"I prefer to see it as, equitable allocation of responsibility."
Sam gave him a slightly shocked look, "Impressive…"
Dean smirked and Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes.