Back at the Police Station, the photos of the six victims were spread out on a table.
Five of the six women had similar features, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a slim figure. The sixth woman looked... Different. She had red hair, and freckles.
Oscar said, "This is making my head spin."
"It's making my head spin, too," Lucas said, "What the hell are we supposed to be looking for?"
Oscar looked up at the ceiling. "This is going to be a long night."
Oscar sat down at the table, and said, "I want to start with facial recognition software. See who else is... A-list."
"That's a pretty inclusive list," Lucas said. "Pretty much anyone with a pulse can get on that."
Oscar said, "We only have six victims so far. Maybe we can trace this killer based on commonalities."
"What's the story with the sixth victim?" Lucas asked.
"She's a bit... Different," Oscar said. "She has red hair and freckles."
"Yeah, and? That's not helpful at all," Lucas complained.
"I know, but that's all we've got to go on for now."
Oscar's computer booted up. Oscar waited for it to load the images he needed. Oscar said, "We can run the software on these photos. See what it comes up with." Oscar clicked the first one, and the software started analyzing the face. After a few seconds, it said, "Valid Input." Oscar looked up at Lucas. "Do you see anything?"
"No, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything, does it?"
Oscar said, "Let's keep at this until we find something."
Oscar ran the software again on the sixth victim's photos, and again, it came back with a match.
"Matching Profile." Oscar looked at the screen. "This is... Weird."
"What?" Lucas asked.
"It says here that the woman in the photos most closely resembles the Queen of the Damned. Like she's a supernatural clone or something."
"So?"
"So, it could mean the killer is someone who dabbled in dark magic in the past, and used that magic to clone the woman," Oscar said.
Oscar pulled up the victim's file. The description of the woman matched that of the sixth victim. Oscar said, "It's the same type of woman, in the same type of place, at the same type of time."
"What place, time, and mannerism are we looking for?" Lucas asked.
Oscar said, "Let's look at what else we have to work with. We don't have a very good description of the killer, but we do know he's targeting women that appear alone in secluded areas."
"That's not a lot to go on," Lucas said.
"We've got some similar items that were used in the murders," Oscar said. "A flashlight, a cell phone, and a pendant."
"Where do we believe these were taken from?" Lucas asked.
"One from the victim in the forest, one from the jewelry of the fifth victim, and one from the... uh... Repository of the first victim," Oscar said.
"So, we're looking for a killer who is calm, cunning, and strong. Someone who is familiar with the area, the layout, and the routines of the women he's killed. And... Possibly a necromancer." Lucas explained.
"If there's a necromancer out there, that should make him pretty easy to find. Let's go through the databases and see what we can come up with, okay?" Oscar ran a database search on the six known victims, and came up with several interesting results. Oscar said, "We need to find out more about this one first, though. Let's pull up the surveillance video for the area." Oscar clicked a button, and said, "Took you long enough."
"What?" Lucas asked.
A minute later, a map appeared on Oscar's computer screen, showing a camera's location and nearby objects. Oscar pointed to the screen, "
Oscar pointed to the screen, "See that clump of trees over there? That's where the camera is focused. It's a wide-angle lens, so the entire clump of trees is in the frame." Oscar said, "The camera can't see anything beyond the edge of the clump." Oscar moved the map and zoomed in on the area.
Lucas said, "Yeah, I can make out a figure clearly. Whoops." Lucas had accidentally spilt his drink all over Oscar's pants. Oscar looked down at his now soiled pants.
"Can we... Can we get a new pair?"
Oscar sighed. Oscar got up from his chair and left for the bathroom. He returned a minute later and said, "Sorry, I had to go to a gift shop and buy a new pair of pants." Oscar said, "Let's go through the video." "Where is it?"
"I've got footage from last night, and from the night before. Sadly, we don't have video from earlier in the evening, so we don't have any video from... 'The incident…'" Lucas shuddered. "I'm not even sure what to call it."
"I wouldn't," Lucas said.
"Anyway," Oscar said, "we're looking for someone who is apparently quite skilled at stealth, who is calm and deliberate in his actions, and who is familiar with the layout here." Oscar pointed at a spot on the map. "Over there."
Oscar said, "If this person is following the same routine as the other four victims, he'll hit here." He circled a point on the map. "And if he's not, he'll be here." He pointed to another spot on the map, "We need to split up to cover more ground. You head down here." He pointed to a spot between the two areas. "I'll go over here, but that's too far to walk in a day, let alone in an evening."
"I don't have a choice," Lucas said. "I need something to help me blend in with the night."
Oscar said, "I suggest you put on some boots that will at least help you to walk through the mud. I have a pair of Nike's that I never wear, that should fit you perfectly."
Oscar walked away, heading over to where he kept his shoes. He came back a minute later and handed Lucas a pair of boots. Oscar said, "Let's do this."
Oscar and Lucas walked off into the night. Oscar walked down the road for ten minutes, until he came to a four car accident. The vehicles were all stopped and the drivers appeared to be waiting for something. Oscar stepped up to the drivers' window of the lead car. He looked inside, they were dead. He stepped back and gestured for Lucas to go check the other cars.
Lucas walked around the vehicles and looked inside. All the people were dead. He observed the corpse, checking for any cuts or bludgeons, but nothing. That was, until he noticed something: Oscar opened the car door to find a handwritten letter. He picked the note up and read it, "The Clamp Tower, tonight at midnight. Bring what you will need."
Oscar glanced at the surrounding area, and saw two figures walking up the road. It was Shelley Hauswirth and her cameraman Kenny. They spotted the two investigators, and came to a stop. Oscar waved at them, and they came over.
Shelley said, "What's going on?"
Oscar said, "4 new victims, that's the problem. I thought it was just some tragic accident, but this letter here makes it seem like it was intentional."
Shelley said, "You think it was a copycat?"
Oscar said, "No, it's the same individual. Hand-writing is a difficult thing to copy."
"What are you going to do?"
"Find out who made this letter," Oscar said, "and why. Hopefully, we can stop this killer before another innocent person gets killed."
"Well, I'll try and help the best I can," Shelley said. "Are you going to need me for anything?"
Oscar said, "No, I think we'll be OK. Thanks a lot, it's much appreciated."
"Thank you, sir," she said, and went to go and check on her crew. Oscar and Lucas went their separate ways. The night slowly dragged on, as Oscar walked around, thinking about the investigation. "Hey Lucas, I want you to do something for me."
"Sure, what do you need? I can do anything."
"Watch the security cameras in the morning, just to make sure nothing sneaks past them."
"Will do," Lucas said.
As the sun rose the next morning, Oscar made his way to one of the security control rooms. He checked the tapes from the night before and found nothing of interest. Lucas wasn't in the department yet, he said he was running late. Oscar was about to leave when he saw something. He played the footage from the night before, and sure enough, around 11:30 p.m., a masked man with a knife had appeared, walking down the street. He had gone to the parking lot of the Super One and targeted a specific car. He opened the hood of the car, and cut the brakes. The car quickly began to roll down the road, before it crashed into 3 other cars. The man ran off.
Oscar said, "That's the guy we need to find."
"You think he's a drifter or something?"
"Not a chance," Oscar said. "The man in the video matches the descriptions of the only surviving victim, Lisa Hofstetter, and he told Mrs. Hauswirth wanted to be the villain in her show, so I don't think he's a drifter - I think he's someone in town."
"Then do we have any leads?"
Oscar said, "Not yet. We don't have any photos of our suspect, and we don't know his real name, but we do have a partial address. He lives in the 1300 block of N. Fulton Avenue. That's near your apartment, right Lucas?"
"Yeah," Lucas said.
"Then that's where we start," Oscar said.
"But, uh, I... I don't think we should look there, it's only partial, right? We need more concrete evidence." Lucas demanded.
"Lucas, is there something you're not telling me?" Asked Oscar.
"No," Lucas said, "but if we go there, we might miss our chance to catch the guy. We need to wait for another opportunity."
Oscar said, "Wait, wait, wait. Let's look at the evidence. We might be able to get some fresh evidence."
"What? No! No! I'm not going back there! I told you, 100%, we shouldn't go there!" Lucas protested.
"Calm down," Oscar said, "it'll be OK."
"No! I won't go back there! This is dangerous!"
"We need to do something," Oscar said.
"No! No! I won't go back there!"
"Lucas, why don't you want me to search around N. Fulton Avenue? You and I both want to catch this guy, and yet, now that we have some form of a clue as to the identity of the culprit, you don't want to investigate. Why?"
"Because it'll put us in the same danger, maybe even more so! We don't know what's lurking around those darkened alleys and garbage-filled backstreets!"
"Lucas, this is the same thing you were complaining about when we were canvassing around W. North Avenue. There's an opportunity here to do some good and bring this perpetrator to justice. "
"No! No! I'm not going to let you take that chance, and I'm not going to let you search around that area alone! "Then come with me! Why are you making this so difficult?"
"Because I'm not comfortable just throwing caution to the wind because we have a lead! Not when we don't know the risks and we could be putting our safety in jeopardy!"
"What choice do we have?"
"We can't go around searching a dark alley with a bunch of knives to our names," Lucas said, "That's just asking to get cut."
"If we don't search that alley, we're likely to never find out who murdered those women," Oscar said. "I can't take that chance."
"Fine," Lucas said, "we'll go around, but I'm driving. If you're nervous, get in the back."
"Noted," Oscar said. They both then exited the security room, and left the police station. They walked around the block a few times, and when they were satisfied that they were not being followed, they entered the 1300 block of N. Fulton Avenue. Lucas parked the car, Oscar got out first. He opened the trunk, and pulled out a large flashlight.
He switched it on, and said, "We should be able to get through here without being seen by anyone." Even though they were in the middle of the sidewalk with a block full of houses and buildings to either side, Oscar said, "Just in case," and held up a small handgun.
Lucas said, "Meh," and pulled a large revolver out of his pocket. "Now let's get to work."
They started walking down the narrow lane, on either side of the street. Both were silent for a few minutes. Then, they saw the garbage truck. It was coming down the lane, toward them.
"It's on its way," Oscar said, "Move over."
"Why?"
"Just do it," Oscar said.
Lucas moved to the curb, and stood on the opposite side of the road from the garbage truck. The garbage truck passed, Oscar and Lucas both stepped back onto the road.
"Come on," Oscar said, "let's go."
"Why are you stopping?"
"No," he said, "You don't understand, I really don't want to be down there with all those cans and trash."
"You do realize that I am a police officer, right? I can protect you from anything. Trust me."
Oscar shrugged, but he did trust Lucas.