Little Red (16 page)

The list displayed several
notes; the writing was too small for the people at the back to see so they moved forward and squinted at the board.

‘He doesn’t kill the victims whilst making his movie……his film is more of a mock to us, showing us that he can do what he does and get away with it. He transports them in his vehicle to a public wood to finish his ritual’……..the hand was raised from the crowd and Jack dismissed the question asking them to leave any queries they may have until the end of the brief.

‘In the woods he leaves the vehicle parked with the headlights blasting into the trees, this, we believe is a guiding method for his victims. He lets them run free into the darkness, the lit section being the place they go to first. He then flanks them, as we found in the last crime scene, and hunts them. Then he catches them and drags them to an open space to complete the kill’.

‘Also, i
f you don’t mind, Jack?’ Jack shook his head allowing Nathan to proceed.

‘We
believe
he kills on a full moon, which is what we need to confirm today, if it’s true then we can plan ahead for the next kill.’ Nathan moved to the front of the room next to Jack.

‘This information all leads to one thing……….
HE
thinks he is becoming the Wolf, he hunts them…..stalks them in the night. He kills them under a full moon and removes the heart……..there is a possibility he eats the organ,
that
we cannot yet confirm’. The room sat in silence as Nathan finished his speech. Jack stood to his side, arms crossed and nodding his head. The hands remained down, no questions were asked. Jack spotted the hand move towards the ceiling, he moved his head to see Doctor Lime waiting to ask his own question.

‘Yes Doctor Lime’

‘Sounds intriguing, but I heard a few
believes
in that speech. To me, believes isn’t strong enough to go on’ his hands placed on his hips.

‘Okay Lime,
first of all there was one
believes
in that speech….secondly, why don’t you take your arse out to the location of the body and see what you can conjure up!’ Nathan snapped, it was followed by a low giggle from the crowd.

‘Excuse me?’ fired Lime angrily.

‘I will……..I’ll excuse you from this fucking room!’ Nathan stepped forward, his focus aimed only on the man he despised. Jack jumped in front of his friend who was on a war path and obstructed him from attacking the doctor.

‘Right, everyone out…….NOW, MOVE!’ he ordered. He pushed Nathan back slightly and ushered Lime
forward. The door rattled the glass as it was closed.

‘What the fuck is going on here?’

‘I want to know why this prick wants to throw spanners into the case!’ spat Nathan, his finger aimed at Lime’s face.

‘Spanners……..You have no solid evidence,
believes
are not solid evidence!’

‘It’s a damn sight better than what you have offered, which brings me to the question………..what is your fucking position on this case exactly Lime?’ his arms open wide awaiting the answer.

‘My position….Mr Crawley, is the lead Psychologist and profiler…….please, what is your position? I do recall being called upon by New Scotland Yard to assist…….were you?’ he snarled back. Jack stepped between them and pushed the men further apart. He knew Nathan too well to allow them to get close to one and other. They had been in this situation many times, which normally ended with his friend delivering a powerful jab to the throat, followed by a clenched blow to the jaw. Though he would have liked to see Nathan wipe the floor clean with Lime, he knew the case would be turned over to new hands.

‘Look. Both of you need to calm down right now…..this is my case, I’m the one who goes toe to toe if needs be. Doc, I think you should leave now…..go cool down somewhere and I will give you the updated case file later!’

Lime adjusted the collar of his brown suit jacket and pushed his glasses up to his eyes.

‘Before I leave gentlemen.
I would advise you that jeopardising my position within the case is a very unwise call…………….after all, we wouldn’t want the
past
catching up and biting
you
on the arse…..would we?’ his eyes fixed on Nathan. He turned and exited the room at speed. Jack turned to his friend.

‘What did he just say?’

‘If he said what I just think he said then we may have a big problem Jack!’

‘How would he know?’

‘He’s a fucking worm Jack…..a slimy little bastard who only cares about his fucking reputation. If he brings this down on top of us……well…he’s a dead man!’

Jack felt his heart skip several beats as the case became unstable. He asked Nathan to go calm himself for a while and prepared to give the rest of his speech to the class. He ushered the team back into the room.

‘Not a fucking word!’ he growled.

***

Megan ran back and forth, the snow flicked up from her boot heels and scattered against the pale wooden fence. She ran in anti-clockwise circles around the small snowman, her dad chased her pretending to try and catch her. The giggles and pants of Megan attempting to catch her breath were a welcoming sound as he listened from the van. The new girl played in her safe place, with her safe person………….
enjoy it Megan…enjoyyyyyyyy it.
He watched from the misted window as she collapsed and was lifted into the air by the large man. They laughed with each other, sharing happiness and love. The Wolf grinded his teeth, the urge to take her was eating away at him. He fought the demon that wanted to escape, keeping it at bay until the time was right.

‘Hey there…..little red riding hood….
whistle whistle
…you sure are looking good…
whistle whistle…
you’re everything a big……bad…..wolf could want’.

The snowball struck his windscreen and his heart raced. He had been fixed on his girl, the moment had been broken. He started the engine and sped away, the wheels spun on the spot and gave a piercing screech as the accelerator was forced to the ground.

Richard looked towards the sound, he noticed the grey cloud appearing at the rear of the black van that sat two houses down on the opposite side of the road. He watched as the vehicle spun out of its parking space and shot down the street. He observed the two young boys throwing snowballs at the parked cars.

‘Come on Meg…..time to go inside’ his eyes fixed on the path of the van.

The van came to a sudden stop as the traffic lights turned red. The Wolf was thrown forward as vehicle came to a halt.

‘FUCK……FUCKING FUCK FUCKKKKKKKK’ he slammed the steering wheel continuously and screamed the profanity. The tapping at the window startled him and he turned his head to see the Police woman signalling for him to wind down the window. He contemplated his actions,
I could just go…put my foot down and go. NO…..that would be stupid….I need her……I need to be complete!
The window was slowly lowered.

‘Good day Ma’am’ he smiled.

‘Sir, I noticed that you had to brake suddenly to stop for the light….any reason why?’

‘My windscreen had misted and I was trying to clean it…..
good, the snow….the snow stopped me braking in time…..
and with the snow, well I guess my brakes just took a bit longer to respond’.

‘Okay, just make sure next time you approach the lights with less speed, and if you can’t see it would be wise to leave a window open slightly’.

‘Thank you…..I will’. He smiled as the light turned green, the van rolled steadily as his heart paced in a rapid rhythm.

***

Jack could hear the whispers between the members of the team. He chose to ignore the mumbles and carried on with his speech. The room fell silent as he began talking.

‘Right, where were we………yeah, the recent finds will be added to the updated case file, I suggest you all take a thorough read of it. What I require now is a detailed listing of the finds the three teams made yesterday…..we
are
getting closer to catching this bastard so I need one hundred and ten per cent from every one of you’. He headed towards Nathans office and tapped on the door.

Nathan opened it and smiled.

‘I’m calm’ he assured.

‘Good, we’re about to go through the results from the school checks. I need you to run them through the full moon idea of yours’

‘No dramas’

They walked to the front of the class together and Nathan began to explain his idea to the room. He delved into the reasons behind his assumption and that if the results showed that both victims were in fact executed on a full moon night,
then they prepare in advance for the next kill. He assigned two female officers the task of retrieving the information once the briefing had finished, asking for the results once they were discovered.

‘Okay. Team
one, run us through the search from the first victims school’.

The two man team stood and made their way to face their colleagues. The tall constable had been chosen as the talker, the
youngest of the two felt awkward giving a speech to the room.

‘We conducted a ro
utine questioning at the Trinity Primary school in which the first victim, Jenny Marsch attended. We took along the identification of  Mr Oliver Breen and spoke with every teacher at that school. Each one confirmed that the image was Mr Oliver Breen. To this end we accepted the evidence and gathered other pieces of information about the man in question. His address was also confirmed as number seven Ellen Garth, the location in which the surveillance team have been in position observing’.

Jack nodded as the officers looked at him for his approval. He turned and placed a small tick symbol on the board.

‘Good work, team two please!’

Once again the team positioned themselves in front of the class. The female officer had been delegated to speak.

‘PC Shields and me were assigned the school of the second victim, Abby Clough. We questioned all members of staff at St Michaels Primary School apart from Miss Carrigot, who was the teacher replaced by Mr Oliver Breen. Her where a bouts are yet to be confirmed. The teachers all confirmed that the photograph was Mr Oliver Breen. We then decided to visit Miss Carrigot’s home to see if we could speak with her. There was nobody at the location and after speaking with several neighbours, whose names are in the case file, we were informed that she had not been seen for several days’.

‘Excellent work’ another tick was placed on the board. The third team had already climbed to their feet and moved to the front. They nodded once ready.

‘I PC Gunter and my colleague PC Campbell were assigned to St Paul’s Primary School. This school had recommended Mr Oliver Breen to the Trinity Primary School when questioned about his performance and suitability for hiring. We spoke to all the teachers individually and every one of them denied that the picture was Mr Oliver Breen’

Nathan stood confuse
d. The statement took him by surprise; he looked to Jack who was now smiling.

‘Denied?’ he asked

‘Yes Sir…..they denied that the picture was of the man in question. They gave us a school photo which shows Mr Oliver Breen. The section had been blown up as before so all could see. The face they starred at was a large round shape, the nose was slightly squashed and his cheeks resembled a hamster when stuffed with treats.

‘This is Mr Breen’ the officers confirmed.

‘Well who’s this?’ he was becoming more confused.

‘This
, my friend……is the Wolf!’ Jack spoke softly, the words sounded powerful and had stunned Nathan. He starred into the eyes of the killer. They knew his face, they just needed a name.

***

The van was parked in its usual position, hidden by the brick wall of the house. The recent scenario that he had encountered caused a surge of mixed emotions to coarse through him, fear…..doubt and anxiety were the ones that hit him hard. Fear of being caught, doubts of completing his tasks and claiming the new girl…..anxiety that he would no longer become the creature he longed to be. He climbed down from the van and headed quickly to the kitchen door. His heart still raced as he pondered over the police woman and how close she came to catching him. He decided to leave the watching sessions until night time, when the streets would be less busy. The house remained dark and he allowed his sight to adjust. Moving cautiously he headed for the bathroom to freshen up, the stairs absorbed his large boots as he ascended. The water was cooling, revitalising; he starred into the eyes of the mirror, the mask he wore looked tired. He prodded the skin around his mouth
, creating small indentations as he forced his cheeks between his teeth. He contemplated when the mask he wore would finally crumble away, revealing his true self…….the Wolf he longed to be.

Like before, he opened his mouth to reveal his normal teeth. They disappointed
him, he noticed no change to their shape.
That can be fixed.
He moved with speed down the stairs and left through the door he had entered. The large garage was set back into the trees and bush, partially hidden from the overgrowing foliage. He approached the double doors and removed the small key from his trouser pocket; it glimmered as he turned it under the sun’s rays. The lock clunked as the teeth were aligned and it sprung open. He slid it from the hole and pulled one door ajar, slipping into the building. The small of damp saw-dust filled his nose as he entered, he could hear the tapping of the little feet scurrying to hide. He searched for the cord that dangled from the roof, finding the knot in the end he pulled down and activated the lighting.