With his second cup of coffee in hand, Nate stepped out of his car. The flashing blue and red lights from the squad cars illuminated the better part of the street. A small crowd of the local residents had gathered around the police tape. A few were being interviewed by uniformed officers with notepads that Nate would have to speak to later. A large van sat at the edge of the crime scene. Several people in jumpsuits were gathered around, discussing evidence and processing.
Nate ducked under the tape and looked around. The scene before him looked fairly normal for a two-story house in Salem. The lawn looked freshly manicured. The flower bed by the porch looked clean with few weeds popping up from the soil. What stood out to Nate was the shattered front window and the trounced flowers underneath. The larger shards of glass glistened in the moonlight.
Nate took a swig of lukewarm coffee carefully padded across the lawn to where a uniformed officer was standing, admiring the broken window. He turned as he heard Nate coming and a grin crossed his wrinkled face.
"Nathan Ryan as I live and breathe," The older patrolman said. His grey eyes shown with pride as he looked upon his once protégé.
Nate smiled back, trying hard to hide his exhaustion. "Gus!" He exclaimed and stuck out his hand. The patrolman took his hand in a firm grip.
"How's Steph and the little one?" Gus asked, clearly no longer making the crime scene a priority.
Nate nodded slowly. "Fantastic. Cassie's got her mother's sense of humor already."
"Wrapped around her little finger it sounds like, boy?" Gus chuckled. "I remember when my Gabriela was a baby all she had to do was whimper and I was at her beck and call." Gus chuckled mostly to himself.
"I'll treat you to coffee in the morning, Gus, and we'll catch up," Nate offered, gesturing toward the crime scene. "But first–"
"Oh, right," Gus said, his eyes widening for a second. "It's a bloodbath in there Nate. The eggheads haven't seen anything like it in months."
"Similar M.O. to the Mitchell case?" Nate asked.
Gus thought for a moment. "On a larger scale, but yes."
"What happened?"
Gus took a deep breath. "From what I could gather from the boy wonder over there," Gus gestured to a blonde-haired boy sitting on the curb, holding his head in his hands, "there was a party held here a few days ago. Kid's the one who called us in. Names Paul Darwin, hell of a name for a linebacker."
"Gus," Nate warned.
Gus shook his head. "Right, sorry. Paul heard about the party from a third party, and the neighbors confirm. He is involved with one of the victims, Lana Foster. The other two victims are Hayley Norris and Michelle Calderman. All three are students at the University, Lana and Hayley both Sophomores and Michelle a Junior."
"Three college students can afford a three-bedroom house?" Nate asked incredulously.
Gus shrugged. "Not my place to judge. That's your job." He laughed.
Nate nodded slowly, drinking in the information. "How did nobody notice the broken window in three days?"
"It was broken in the party," Gus explained. "Officers were called to the scene, broke up the party, the window has been broken ever since. The neighbors didn't think anything more of it."
"And Paul discovered the scene this evening because?"
"According to him, he hadn't seen or heard from Lana in a few days. He was worried and came to the house to check on her. He managed to get close enough to the window to see inside. And trust me, he ain't unseeing that." Gus shuddered at the thought.
Nate kept his gaze on the boy for a long time without saying anything. He finally turned his head back to the Mansion. "Bodies?"
Gus shook his head. "That's what's strange about this. No bodies."
Nate turned to Gus with shock on his face. "None?"
Gus shook his head. "But with as much blood is spattered, those three girls have to be dead."
"We can't assume anything if we don't have the bodies to confirm," Nate said. "Even if the blood is theirs, the sick bastard may still have them somewhere."
"So, you're not ruling this a homicide?"
Nate grimaced as his mind raced. "I can't rule it out, but nothing is definitive." His eyes scanned the house as he stepped closer to the open window. No other windows were smashed, the door looked intact. The glass shards on the outside showed that someone was leaving, not entering.
Nate looked through the window as something caught his eye. There was barely a sound coming from within. But he thought he had seen moving through the window. He turned to look at Gus, the other uniforms, and the forensics team, doing a quick headcount.
Doing the math quickly, Nate took a swig of his coffee and held it out. "Hold this for me," He told Gus. The older officer took the cup from Nate and allowed Nate to walk around to the porch. The door was still open a crack, no sign of forced entry. He reached down, wrapping his hand around the grip of his service pistol, before heading inside.
Nate stepped across the threshold and immediately was hit by the stench within. A mixture of stale alcohol and decay was not pleasant by any means, but Nate kept his composure as he made his way into the living room. He wasn't more than a couple of steps in before he pulled his pistol out and steadied it on a man crouched in the middle of the room.
"Salem PD, put your hands where I can see them!"