Our heroes arrive in the middle of the nearby forest. Police tape had been placed around a certain part, keeping the passerby and witnesses away from the crime scene. Naked bodies are being excavated from the ground as they are now a vessel for dozens of fungi and mosses. Those latest victims had been planted and used as a natural fertilizer for the microbes and fungi that were now inhabiting most parts of their bodies.
Jack walked first, slipping under the tape with Will, while Rana was close behind him. The strong smell of mushrooms and decaying flesh, mixed with soil was strong to the noses of the two Wolfskin individuals.
As they walked, Jack decided to bring up the fact that Hannibal had given Will a clear pass, indicating that after a psychic evaluation he was clear and sane; capable of returning to the field. This of course had thrilled Jack, who needed Will to solve more cases that seem to be one bizarre lunatic after the other.
Rana on the other hand, while happy to hear that Will was cleared, was still partially sceptical. She did not want Will to suffer through something again, something that she could have protected him from.
"...Maybe therapy does work on you," Jack said.
Will was not happy with that. " Therapy is an acquired taste I have yet to acquire but sure served your purpose. I'm back in the field."
Rana sensing the tension, decided to interfere and fill Will in on what she had been informed before, along with Jack. "Local police found more small animal traps in the surrounding woods. They even discovered a thirty-gallon drum of pesticide hidden in a hollow tree along with a rusted Radio Flyer wagon."
Will quickly made an observation. "Didn't want his 'crop' disturbed."
Jack gave a nod. "All that's missing is a scarecrow."
They soon approach the famous trio, who behind them had their special FBI team that was working carefully to unearth the three remaining buried victims from their shallow graves.
Seeing them, Jimmy spoke first. "Seven bodies, various stages of decay, all very well fertilized."
Beverly had already focused on one of the graves that were containing a partially uncovered, fungus-ravaged corpse, whose eyes, nose, and mouth were covered by duct tape. The palms had a handful of black soil, much different than the brown clay walls of the grave.
"He buried them in a high-nutrient compost. He was enthusiastically encouraging decomposition." She filled them in as she quickly did her observation studies.
Jimmy commented on that. "Patient way to dispose of a body."
"And not one we have seen before" Rana muttered, commenting on his comment as she felt the need to pinch the bridge of her nose, realizing they had once again to deal with one creative and most likely, highly unstable serial killer.
Brian waited patiently before adding what he had discovered so far. "They were buried alive to keep them that way. At least for a little while."
"Long enough for the fungus to eat any distinguishing features and make it nearly impossible to tell how long they'd been in the ground," Jimmy added, nodding his head at what his colleague had said.
The said colleague then guided our heroes by pointing to a catheter in the victim's outstretched arm, which we were now supported by a section of rebar. "Line and rebar were to administer intravenous fluids after burial. He was feeding them something."
"Fertilizer? Or something to grow the Fungi?" Rana questioned, making the trio to be sceptical but have no clear answer yet, without any tests being run.
"No restraints? They weren't bound?" Will asked right after. " Nothing to stop them crawling out?"
Jimmy shrugged. "Just dirt."
Just then, Beverly pulled a tiny brush from the kit on her belt. She cleared the debris from under the corpse's nose and pulled back the duct tape revealing a breathing tube jammed into its nostrils. "The other end of the air supply system comes up over there." Will was looking around with his eyes when he spotted a small umbrella in the grass close by. Pulling on a rubber glove, he picked up the umbrella to find an exposed piece of tubing sticking out of the ground. "It isn't a very considerate clean air solution, which wasn't a priority. Cause he's not lazy."
"No, he's not," Will added, his gaze already looking lost.
Jack and Rana exchanged a look before they spread out, to herd everyone out of the clearing and back into the surrounding woods, away from Will and the graves, letting him do his job.
Much later, Will found himself in Hannibal's office once again. He had gone into the mind of the new killer, gaining insight but that had also led him to a new freshly dug grave, whose inhabitant was barely alive. However, for a moment in the grave, he saw Hobbs instead, which caused a big scare at him when the corpse moved to grab Will by reflex. This made him question whether he was truly stable and whether he had returned, back to the arms of Hannibal.
However, after their discussion, the smart doctor found a very sneaky Freddie Lounds, who was trying to record secret and private information about Will. Having already noticed and followed him from the latest crime scene.
Hannibal had invited the nosy reporter into his office and with ease of persuasion had already "made her" give her back to him, which he placed by his side. If she thought he was as stupid as everyone else, she was in for a big surprise.
"I was recording our conversation." The redhead tried to justify her actions.
This amused Hannibal, who saw right through her but decided to play along. "Our conversation? Yours and mine?"
"Yes."
"No other conversation?"
"No."
Hannibal held back his smirk, studying the woman like the predator he truly was. " You were very persistent about your appointment time. How did you know when Will Graham would be here?"
Freddie wanted to argue, say something to save her skin but something about the way he spoke and how he looked at her, made her feel almost...compelled. Before she knew it, her mouth started to speak on its own.
"I may have also recorded your session with Will Graham." She said, doing her best to try and hide any more information by faintly biting her tongue.
"You didn't answer the question. How did you know?" Hannibal asked, tilting his head faintly.
Freddie tried her hardest not to think of the answer, which was her sleeping with Zeller to gain intel on Will. "I...I can't answer that question."
Hannibal kept studying her with interest but mostly amusement, enjoying toying with her. Unknown to her, she was struggling under his charms like almost any other woman. It was so easy to mess with the minds of most humans, it amused him to no extent.
He patted the cushion of the seat next to him, beckoning her like a child or better say...a pet. "Come. Sit by me."
Freddie was confused for a moment, weighing her options. She thought of just bolting but something stopped her. She felt this subconscious need to obey. There was something about Hannibal at the moment that gave a silent warning, that if she did anything but what he asked her, she would not leave the office alive.
With hesitation, she did exactly that and sat by his side.
Hannibal, seemed pleased as he moved his body slightly to the side and propped an arm casually on the back of the seat, within snatching distance of Freddie's neck. He looked her dead in the eyes, his body language and his tone saying more than one would realise. "Delete the conversations you recorded. Doctor-patient confidentiality works both ways." The woman rattled under his penetrative gaze, as she felt his voice reaching into her mind and faintly giving her orders that she could not refuse. She pulled her phone out of her purse and stopped its recording. "Delete it, please."
The woman did exactly that and then she handed her smartphone to him, without any arguments or hesitation. This satisfied him, evident by the faint smirk plastered on his exotic face. "You've been rude, Miss Lounds. What's to be done about that?" he asked, cooing his head faintly to the side, making the woman feel weaker and weaker under his sharp gaze and she swore for a moment, his iris seemed to be redder than before.
Back at the FBI HQ, the bodies had been moved to the examination room. Brian Zeller, Jimmy Price, and Will Graham were hovering above the latest body that Will found, wearing gloves, aprons, and splash shields.
"What has he been soaking in?" Will asked the other two men working with him.
As per usual, Rana stood a certain distance away so she was not in the way and was watching, ready to keep mental and written notes to give to Jack, who was busy handling the paperwork and the media about this latest case. Considering it was a few boys that had found the bodies, it had attracted attention.
"A highly concentrated mixture of hardwoods, shredded newspaper, and pig poop. Perfect for growing mushrooms and other fungi." Jimmy replied to him, making Rana lift an eyebrow.
"Was it those things that killed them? Or was it something else?" she asked.
Brian pointed faintly a finger in her direction, liking that she was making the right question. "Wasn't the mushrooms. What killed all of them was kidney failure."
"From what?"
The answer comes from Beverly, who walked into the room carrying empty bags of HIV fluids. " Dextrose in all the catheters. He probably used some kind of dialysis or peristaltic to pump fluids after the circulatory systems broke down."
Will simplified her answer. "Force-feeding them sugar water."
"You know who loves sugar water?" Jimmy asked, mostly looking in the direction of Rana.
It was clear he already had an answer to it but he wanted someone to ask him, like a little kid proud to show what he had learnt. The female agent rolled her eyes but decided to amuse him. "Let me guess, mushrooms?"
"Yes! Mushrooms. They crave it. As much as a mushroom can crave anything."
Brian decided to spoil it for him. "Recovering alcoholics crave sugar. Don't take that personally."
Yet he did take it personally. "I'm not recovering."
"Feed sugar to fungus in your body, and the fungus makes alcohol. It's friends helping friends."
"Is someone preying on recovering alcoholics? Other than themselves?"
Rana snapped her fingers a few times. "Guys, focus on the victims. Your person can be told later" this made the two men mumble but continue the examination, giving her side glares as she stood not that far away with her hands behind her back as if she was in the army.
Will decided to be the one and make a difference once again. " Alcoholics aren't the only ones with compromised endocrine systems. They all died of kidney failure. Death by diabetic ketoacidosis?"
This made Beverly look at Brian with a raised eyebrow. "Did you know they were diabetics?"
He shook his head. "We don't know they're diabetics."
"They're all diabetics. He induces a coma and puts them in the ground." Will explained, earning the full attention of Beverly that loved watching him work, barely suppressing a smile.
"How is he inducing diabetic comas?" she asked him.
"He changes their medication. He's a doctor or a pharmacist or works somewhere in medical services." Will concluded, making Rana smile faintly for they got a new lead but also pale once she realised how thoroughly they would have to search. "He buries them and feeds them sugar to keep them alive long enough for the circulatory systems to soak it up.
"So he can feed the mushrooms," Jimmy commented.
Brian followed next, concluding something else. "We dug up his mushroom garden."
This made Rana pale, realisation coming faster than she expected. "He'll want to grow a new one" she muttered and she quickly moved out of the room for a better signal, phone already by her ear as she was calling Jack.
Lots of searches, resources, and more digging lead our heroes to one of the many chains of Big Box Pharmacy. Despite the vehicles in the parking lot, the storefront was strangely quiet and deserted. After a moment, there's a small flurry of movement... armed, dark-clad figures creeping in swiftly and silently, moving along the outside of the building, weaving through parked cars, taking up positions.
Jack, Rana and Will casually approach the main doors of the pharmacy like regular customers. Rana walked first, in order not to draw suspicions and the men were close behind her. Yet, her sensitive hearing picked up the talk between Jack, who was filling up Will as they slowly spread across the pharmacy.
"She's the eighth diabetic customer of the chain to disappear after filling an insulin prescription, second from this exact location."
"The other seven?"
"All over the county. One pharmacist has been all over the county, too."
"A floater."
"Floater's floating right here. Still logged into his workstation."
Once inside, some plain-clothed agents herd the last customers and cashiers out of the door. Jack walked towards the counter, with Will close behind him. Rana trailed further back, her hand ready to go and grab the gun hidden in the inside pocket of her jacket.
Jack stepped behind the counter and calmly walks inside, holding his badge very clearly in front of him, instructing the 6 pharmacists. " Everyone. Stop what you're doing and put your hands in the air." They do as instructed, realizing there are many FBI agents suddenly pointing their guns at them as Jack continued. " I'm Special Agent Jack Crawford. Which one of you is Eldon Stammets?"
The pharmacist manager took a step forward, hands still in the air. "What's happening?"
"One of your customers didn't go to work this morning after picking up a prescription here yesterday, filled by Eldon Stammets. We have reason to believe he abducted her."
"Eldon was just here. Just now."
This immediately made Rana narrow her eyes. "Fan out, find him!" she barked an order at the very next second, which the lower levelled agents obeyed without a second thought as Rana also got her gun out.
"His car still in the parking lot?" Will suddenly asked, making her look at him before somehow mentally understanding what he had in mind.
Didn't take long to find his car and Will used a crowbar to smash the driver-side window of Eldon's car. He reached in and popped the trunk. Rana was ready, one hand holding her gun ready as she used the other one to lift the trunk the rest of the way open with a grating creak.
Immediately, they are hit by a very strong stench, coming from the freshly rich, dark soil that occupied the whole compartment. Jack, Will and Brian all took a few steps back but it was Rana, who held her breath and wasted no time digging her hand through the soil.
Everyone was focused on the stench but she focused on something else. The faint familiar sound of a heartbeat that was coming from in there, made her instinct kick in. Placing her hand on its holster, she started to dig with both hands.
Will was the next to speak up, realizing what she was doing as he focused on his senses and picked up the sound of a heart beating, although to him it was far fainter than how it was to Rana, due to years of inexperience.
"She's in here!" he finally said, moving to help Rana, quickly the duo uncovering an unconscious, naked Gretchen Speck, an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose.
"E.M.T.s now!" Jack shouted, drawing the attention of the said responsible team.
