Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Lost Second Victim
"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"
- Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of the Four
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
PART II
The sun is rising but the cold wind stays around the place. As the birds fly freely in the sky and as the trees follow the rhythm of the wind, the fog is slowly disappearing with the fresh air that changed into a slimy smell of blood. A number of row of similar houses and people who live in this confusing place was still asleep. And only the maintenance, in his 30's, of the subdivision is awake and calmly walking around. His clothes suites the weather on that day: black plain t-shirt, blue short pants paired with his black flip-flops while the sleeves of his blue jacket were tied in his waist. He's 5 feet tall, tan-skinned man, skinny body, beard haven't been shave for months until his lips were barely seen, his nose is not that pointed, his eyes were too slanted and his eyebrows are about to collide for having it too long and messy. His clean haircut is the only thing in his asset that makes him look presentable.
He swings his police batton that he borrowed from his friend, who works as a security guard in the subdivision, as he whistles.
When he stopped in the very end part of the subdivision, he saw a group of policemen and forensic laboratory team scattered around the area. Some policemen are walking around the scene and examines the spacious vacant lot close to the crime scene while the others are taking a picture of it and of the victim. The forensic laboratory team was walking with their own petri dish and laboratory tongs, bringing some zip locks that contains things of the victim while wearing their protective coat.
He wouldn't like to be interrogated by Detective Keswick so he chose to leave them and return to his small, simple house.
The victim was found inside a water barrel that is filled with the victim's blood. As Detective Keswick and Hamish approach the crime scene, one of the forensic laboratory team gave something to the detective. "Here's her ID, sir," he said as he gave him a ziplock with a red wallet inside showing the ID of the victim.
"Mrs. Laurine Alcas, 23 years old, a medical technology student," the detective said as he read her ID aloud.
The young man was amused in what he's seeing right now. He never encountered a serial killer who would mind placing his victims in a place where he likes them to hide. "You told me this is the second victim?" Hamish asked.
"Yes. Different spot but did the same strategy in hiding the body of the victims," the detective said.
"Give me some information that you have collected," the young man said as he walked closer to the water barrel and peeked inside of it. He saw the body of the victim that was bent too much to fit inside while she afloat to her own blood. The young man went back to his companion and listened to what the detective has to say.
"We only knew that this subdivision blacks out every 8 o'clock in the evening. That's all," the detective said. He gave the ziplock that he's holding to one of the forensic laboratory team who was passing near them to return it.
"Now I know why you're not active," Hamish said and turned his back to the detective to look around the crime scene. "In collecting information, time is not waiting for you. It chases you. Time is what people need. That is why your agency's status has been dropping. You've been taking your time a lot to solve the case when your clients need it to be done as soon as possible."
Hamish looked at Detective Keswick and asked, "When did the blackout started?"
"Maybe it was two days ago."
"Two days ago?"
"Yes."
Hamish looked around the vacant lot and said, "According to what you've said a while ago, two days ago: you discovered a body and now... this. That means, " Hamish put both of his hands behind him and said, "... there's one more victim that your team didn't found."
"What?! Really?!"
The young man nodded and answered, "Yes." And because of this, Detective Keswick scratched his head and facepalms. Hamish smirked as he saw the detective's reaction. "Now, I want one from your team to know what is the relationship between these two victims in order for us to know and find our real second victim."
"What if there's no connection between them?" Detective Keswick asked.
Hamish smiled and said, "Then, we keep digging."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone