Chapter 2; 5:00 am the Alley at the Corner of Haze and 7th street

The rain had finished its descent on the City, red and blue lights danced in the remaining puddles. Police Officers moved up and down the Alley; some were unrolling yellow police tape, others held back the small crowd that had formed at the opening of the Alley. An ambulance was just a few feet within the alley, the backdoors were open, casting a white light down the long alley. Two EMTs tended to their patient. One was a tall dark skinned man, the other a short rounded woman. Both dressed in a crisp white shirt and black slacks.

"Here you go Mrs. Graham. " Mrs. Graham sat on the edge of the gurney while the EMT wrapped a wool blanket over her shoulders to keep her warm after they had to remove her raincoat to get her vitals. Snickerdoodle had balled up in her lap, the horrors they stumbled on this morning would stay with them both for the rest of their lives. Mrs. Graham looked into his face; he had a kind face, but even looking into his kind and handsome face could not erase the horror she had just seen.

"Were those real?" Mrs. Graham's rattled voice drew the attention of the EMTs.

"Don't worry about that right now. Let the Police handle it." Mrs. Graham looked past the handsome EMT towards the yellow police tape. She could see a mixture of officers in blue and regular street clothes. At that moment, she felt pity for all those people. Horrors like that should not be seen by anyone. Seeing the visible pain on the old woman's face the rounded woman gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Gabriel I'm going up front to start the report, I am sure you can handle Mrs. Graham." Gabriel smiled and nodded while his partner exited the back of the ambulance.

"Mrs. Ariel Graham?" Gabriel, Mrs. Graham, and Snickerdoodle all jumped; with Mrs. Graham letting out a squeal. With all going around them, no one noticed the gentleman in the long black coat, fedora, with a gold police shield hanging from a chain around his neck approaching the ambulance. He was 5'6" or 5'7", wearing a simple white-collar shirt with black slacks under his raincoat; he looked tired, with a faded red hair neatly trimmed, blue to grey eyes. Something about him made everyone in the ambulance uneasy. Gabriel shivered; Mrs. Graham felt Snickerdoodle tense up in her lap. She had never seen him just freeze up, he always had to prove he was the biggest little dog on the block. That is when she realized just how much this night affected her poor puppy.

"Excuse me folks, I did not mean to startle you. My Name is Detective Stone" Detective Stone's voice matched his name, it was neither friendly nor warm, but it was not mean, or hateful, it just was.

"It's okay Officer, we all are a bit on edge this evening." Gabriel straightened his shirt while exiting the back of the Ambulance.

Detective Stone nodded as Gabriel walked past him to the front of the vehicle.

"How are you feeling Mrs. Graham?" Detective Stone's voice was void of any real emotion. Mrs. Graham shifted in place, a sudden chill rolled down her spine.

"Well I have been, Better." Her eyes wandered over Det. Stone's shoulders to the bodies are now covered with dark tarps. Stone noticed tears beginning to well across her gentled faded green brown eyes. Realizing she was not aware of how the trauma began to overtake her, the Detective side stepped into her field of vision.

"Mrs. Graham, I know it's been a long morning for you; I read the statement you gave the Patrol Office. I have no further questions for you, here is my card. If you remember anything else, please give me a call." Detective Stone placed his card into her hand. Once she felt the card stock against her palm, her eyes slowly moved and focused on him.

"How do you do it Detective?" the tears followed the wrinkles down her face.

"Not every day is a good day, but there is good in every day." Det. Stone replied while walking down towards the bodies.

A Crime Scene Forensic Officer noticed Det. Stone approaching. He stood up and removed his latex gloves.

"Detective Stone I presume." He extended his hand towards the Detective. Stone stopped just in front of the CSF

"Have we met before?" Stone while shaking the man's hand.

"No Sir, but I know you. Your reputation is well known. I am Oscar that is James; we are about done here." Oscar was an older gentleman; thick in the waist with thin hair. He wore a white jumpsuit under his jacket. James was a young man, dark hair with glasses, built like a wrestler, he had a black polo on with blue jeans under his jacket.

"What can you tell me so far?" Stone asked as he crouched down lifting a corner of one of the tarps to look at the body underneath.

"Well based on the skeletons' overall size and sturdiness, I am guessing three males. The state of decay makes me believe some form of acid was used."

"I'm going to have a look around and see what I can find." Stone replied while putting on a pair of latex gloves.

Oscar just nodded and pulled a pair of shoe socks from his bag and tossed them to Detective Stone.

"Can't have you contaminating the scene."

"Thank you" after taking a moment to slip the socks over his loafers, Stone was free to move about the scene. Stone took his time Looking over each body. Each one looked like a scene out of a horror movie. The smell burned within his nose while he looked over the third body. Discolored flesh remained loosely around the neck, behind the separated skin Det. Stone noticed a small white card in the throat.

"Oscar, you see this." Detective Stone inquired while pulling his pen and flashlight out of his pocket. Using the pen to pop open the stiff mouth on the body he shined the light into the mouth. The light exposed something white rolled up in the throat.

"Bring over some forceps." Stone shouted without looking up from the body.

"What did you find Detective?" Oscar bent over handed the forceps to Detective Stone

Stone used the forceps to pull a crinkled business card out of the victim's throat.

"A Clue." He handed the forceps back to Oscar while sliding the card into a small zip lock bag. Detective Stone stood up, peeled his gloves off, and straightened his jacket. He unrolled the card within the baggy, it was stained with bodily fluids.

930am Gwen's Apartment.

Gwen returned to her apartment from her early morning run. Her dark hair pulled tightly into a pony tail, sweat beaded across her face and body. It had been a hard run, each step felt like she was running further away from the nightmare that had woken her. Gwen's apartment wasn't anything exciting, but it was hers. Gwen placed her keys and phone on a small table by her front door while hanging her neon-green windbreaker on the back of the door. VROOM, VROOM, her phone gently vibrated on the small table.

{Who is calling me this early on a Saturday?} Gwen begrudgingly picked up the phone.

"Hello" she could hear the mental exhaustion in her own voice.

"Ms. Greene?" a professional voice replied.

"Maybe? Who's this and why are you calling me so early?" Gwen didn't even bother to try and hide how annoyed she was at this moment.

{Too early, too short-tempered, this is why I need coffee}

"Ms Gwyneth Greene?" the man replied in a calm and professional manner. One that clearly dealt with rude people on the regular.

"Sorry Officer, I had a rough night, how can I help you?" Gwen replied in the best manner she could muster for Saturday morning with broken sleep.

"How did you know I am with the Police Ms. Greene?" He replied

"Far too polite for this earlier in the morning, especially after how rude I was" she said with a deeper sigh than she expected. For as long as she could remember, she had a knack for just knowing things.

"Very perceptive of you Ms. Greene, I'm sorry to disturb you so early this morning, but I need you to come down to the station on 10th street as soon as you can. Tell the Desk Sergeant you are here to see Detective Stone"

"Should I call my Lawyer?" Gwen already knew she did not need one, police do not call you to come in when you are a suspect, they take you in.

{Come on Detective; give me something to work with}

"No Ms. Greene, Should I expect you within the hour?"

Gwen looked down at her Fitbit for the time, 945 am with 5254 steps the little device reported back to her.

"Can we make it 1130?"

"Of Course Ms. Greene. I will see you at 1130." With that the phone line went silent

End Chapter 2