Two-Faced

1994

It was difficult to ignore the stench of blood in the warehouse. A stung in the eyes. Detective Dana cleared her throat as the Sheriff walked towards her. She had been called by the local police department to handle the case of a fifteen-year-old murdered girl. Arriving at the scene, she expected to see a lifeless body of the teenager with either bullet holes or marks of strangulation. What she did not expect was to see the little girl brutally mutilated. No identifications, her limbs were ripped from the joints, her fingers lying on another part of the warehouse. Her throat slit. It was a scary scene. Flies were all over the body feeding off of her corpse. Her hair seemed burned, with bits of her scalp showing. It was horrifying.

Detective Dana Lavey had been handling homicides for the past two years and none of the killings matched the current one. It was straight-up cold-blooded, bile rise up her throat. She swallowed painfully and allowed herself to stand and await the Sheriff's news. The medical team collected the body so they could handle it over to the hospital for an autopsy. Police surrounded the area and placed it under investigation as the first clue to the whole shackle. Evidence was been collected by the investigating team, sure they were not going to help much seeing as DNA tests were not all that popular and the technology was yet to be used by the science department.

"Do you know the girl, Sheriff?"

"No, I just received a distress call from one of the farmers who found her. He was pretty shaken up when he called. She's not from around here."

"May I speak to the farmer? Is he in a stable state?"

"Yes, sure right this way." Dana followed the Sheriff outside where a man who looked like he was in his late 50's sat on a Stonehedge rocking himself back and forth. He seemed out of it, scared. He jumped startled when Dana placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry sir, Detective Dana Lavey from the County Police Department. I have some questions for you."

The man grinned weakly showing his set of brown teeth, his eyes pale and weak. "Sure, " he mumbled lowly.

"Can you describe to me how you found the girl?" He seemed to hesitate, a variety of emotions flickering across his face as though he was trying to get his emotions in check. He cleared his throat and spoke calmly, taking a deep breath so he didn't seem nervous. Detective Dana's gaze was not more welcoming. It was evident that the man was frightened by the outcome, he did not want to be involved in whatever the case would hold.

"Ah, yes, I was going to get supplies from the warehouse when I saw her body. I hurriedly went back to my farmhouse, grabbed the phone, and called 911."

"And what time was it?" Dana asked.

"It was at Eleven in the morning,"

"How often do you go to the warehouse?" She asked.

"Not very much, the last time I was there was about a fortnight ago. I had come to oil and sharpen the farm tools."

"Does anyone, apart from you, have access to the warehouse?"

"No, ma'am." He answered the image of the young had scarred him for his remaining life. It was a horror no parent should have to go through. No one knew who the girl was, it would take time looking through a database of reports on missing persons. Finding the girl's family and letting her rest in peace was the priority. Dana thanked the man, she walked back to the Sheriff's car to have a word with him.

"Knowing Tapas, this has never happened. Do you think it was someone outside of this town who did it?"

"Most definitely, the position of the body and the disarmed parts indicated the place of murder was in a different location. The killer must have steered into town and come across the warehouse. Decided it was best and far out of anyone's curiosity." Dana nodded in agreement, cases reported in the local police station were theft, burglary, and domestic violence. Tapas was a quiet community, a very small town with a population of only five hundred. The Sheriff knew almost everyone in town, so it was easy to specify that the body was not from the town.

Local news outlets were already at the scene, their cameras blinding with blazing lights, zooming in as close as they could get to the crime scene. Some cornered Dana as she was being escorted to her car. "Is it true that the town is no longer safe?" One journalist asked, her microphone so close to Dana's mouth she had to take a step back to answer him

"It's too early in the case to cause worry to the public. Everything is under control." She spoke calmly into the microphone.

"Why is this happening now? Are the authorities not doing their work? Rumors are going on around, that a serial killer is on the loose. Should the public be worried about this?" One of them blatantly asked, unlike how a journalist should conduct themselves while interviewing. She ignored the question and thanked them, "That will be all." She dismissed them and her driver drove off to the police department.

"Any news from the search?" She asked once she stepped inside the office she was assigned for the moment.

"Results from the autopsy ma'am, the victim had a punctured skull, there were signs of sexual assault, strangulation. An interesting mark was left on her leg, L, that is something to look into. It may have something to do with our killer. We are still waiting for the DNA results. His fingerprints must have been left behind." Dana smacked her lips.

"Her family?"

"We're still running her image through the database although it is quite difficult, seeing as her face was badly mutilated. It will take some time. Probably five hours after checking all missing person reports in towns directly nearing Tapas."

Dana dismissed him, she settled in her chair and swiveled. "L, " she murmured and stood up walking to the board placed against the wall in her office. She stared at the pictures of the victim, she was barely more than four feet three. Dana sighed, all she could do was wait for both the DNA results and files of missing persons across the county.