Salvation

chapter 12

Los Angeles, California

The forensic team assigned to the case were

flown in by helicopter touching down in the middle of a

high school football field a mile south west of North

Stanley Street. At the request of Lieutenant Harrington,

Officers Silversmith and Carson were dispatched to transport

the three member team from the school to the crime scene.

The arrival of a police helicopter was a grateful distraction

for the facility and staff at Union High as the teenage children

held there for their protection were bored and impatient

complaining they now felt like hostages.

Normal bus transportation had been canceled and no child

was allowed to leave the school grounds with out a parent

or guardian personally picking them up.

The school had been designated a local emergency shelter

facility. Both F.E.M.A. and the Red Cross where currently on site

busy converting the multipurpose room into a receiving center.

More persons were arriving at the school then departing.

It was just after 4:00 PM and for many in Los Angeles this

Wednesday had already become a very long day.

Forensics scowered apartment 12 taking photos, gathering

evidence, examining the bodies, and searching for identifications.

Hal had found the third victim where Lieutenant De La Cruz

indicated he would, in the kitchen.

The third victim was not wedged behind a door, or hanging

face down from the ceiling. Victim number 3 was sitting on

a chair at the kitchen table with a half eaten bowl of

wheaties in front of him..Hal surmised the reason

the man hadn't finished his breakfast of champions wasn't

due to the fact he'd been a picky eater. His professional

opinion was the guy had been "fat dumb and happy"

moments before his demise.

Besides he still clutched a stainless steel table spoon in

his right hand..Not the little tea spoon size either..It was a

manly man's size spoon.

Nope, the guy hadn't scooped up the last few remaining bites

at the bottom of the stoneware cereal bowl simply because he

no longer had place to stick the spoon. His head was missing.

Mystery solved..

Hal looked for it though..Under the table, in the trash, behind the

couch, in the shower, generally peeking here and there. All the

while a little tune playing in the back of his mind..

"Come out, come out, where ever you are"..

Only so much he could do with no gloves, but now

that forensics had arrived even with the clear latex slapped

over his hands allowing a more thorough search without the

concern of disturbing fingerprints or evidence, the head was

not to be found.

He was in the single bedroom of the apartment now. The

only room in the place seemingly undisturbed by the violence

that had transpired.

It smelled of stale sweat and dirty laundry..Like soiled socks

left fermenting under a bed. He found personals in the dresser

and was busy categorizing evidence when something Samantha

said earlier struck him.."Like somebody painted the walls with

them."..She'd been referring to the blood stains and gore smeared

over the walls of the living room..

Hal walked back to the living room staring at the walls confirming

what had sprung aware to him while still in the bedroom..

The opposite walls of the room some twelve feet apart had

identical patterns left there etched in blood..

Hand prints..

Not the impressions of human hands as one would expect.

These were distinctively of a creature previously unknown

to Hal. Four individual three foot appendages attached to a

hand the approximate palm size of the fourteen by twenty

shattered picture frame lying on the living room carpet.

He shuttered.."Impossible..It can't be."

The ends of the appendages were what can only be described

as talons. Two inch wide sickles rugged and serrated

the inside line of which appeared would tear like a rough

cut saw blade.

Hal realized these were the weapons used on the first

two victims. Victims now identified as Leroy Shepard and

Jason Blackwell..Both members of the band 'MENACE'.

The third victim wasn't carrying any identification.

Maybe it had been taken, or maybe he just didn't carry

a wallet with him today.

It was concluded however the third victim's body was

not that of one Herman Gilespie, the man the SWAT

operation was intended to apprehend.

Photos of Herman Gilespie proved him to be of far

slighter build than the two hundred fifty pound man

(not including his head) sitting at the breakfast table.

Process of elimination suggest the victim to be

Winston Mckeen the fourth member of the band.

Previous to Hal's discovery of the strange prints left

over the living room walls, both he and Lieutenant

Harrington were leaning in the direction of a basic

prejudgment that Herman Gilespie committed the

murders in an attempt to silence loose ends.

Probably some time shortly after 10 AM when

results of the radio aired contaminated music began

hitting the news.

No murder weapons had been found however and

Lieutenant Harrington was somewhat hesitant to draw

concrete conclusions.

"It's possible Gilespie wasn't even present at the time

of the murders and his absence may have simply spared

him the same fate."..

Hal had to admit looking at the 8x10 colored glossy promotion

photo of Gilespie it seemed improbable, perhaps even impossible

for the skinny framed speed freak to do this kind of damage

all by his lonesome.

He hadn't ruled out the fact the three victims had been

converted to grinners however..Two smashed up Apple

Ipods with headphones were found and sealed in evidence

bags. The headless drummer might in fact still be wearing

his headphones with the Ipod neatly stuffed inside his mouth..

As with the kitchen butcher knives Hal kept having recurring

brain references to Thanksgiving Day turkeys.

If Gilespie had somehow managed to infect his companions

with the song and remain uninfected himself.

It could explain how he so conveniently got the drop on them.

Grinners were like cattle to the slaughter as long as pacified

by the continuous play of the music.

Hal's theory didn't explain how skinny little Herman could

have managed the enormous strength it would require to

crucify the one hundred seventy five pound Jason Blackwell

to the bathroom ceiling.

Standing in the living room trying to make some kind of

logic of his findings on the walls, he thought maybe

he was viewing evidence of what did.

Samantha De La Cruz was currently in communication with

division headquarters cooperating with the coordination

of another SWAT operation. A situation had developed

in the North Hollywood area and Lieutenant De La Cruz's

team was ordered to conduct yet another mission.

She finished with headquarters and stepped through the

doorway of apartment 12 watching Hal as he stood

perplexed before the hand prints.

Her movement caught his attention and as he turned to

face her they both switched their radios to channel 5.

"Tell me your not considering this as an art form."

She said pointing at the right wall.

He smiled.."No..But there is something here that

deserves contemplation."

She considered this and raised her perfect brown

eyebrows.

"Are you leaving?" Hal asked.

She nodded.."North Hollywood..We've got another call."

He felt a sense of panic tug at his gut and wondered if

the surface worry for her safety wasn't a emotion rooted

deeper in his own self protection. An ingrained response

warning him that he was going to hurt bad if something

happened to her..

"What was it earlier about the guy in the bathroom you

wanted me to see?"

Her words brought his thoughts back to the present.

"Oh that..It was just a tattoo on his arm that spelt

MENACE..Linking him to the band is all."

"How's the investigation coming?"

"There are APB's out on Gilespie now." He said..

Samantha nodded and spoke.

" Probably not much chance he's gotten far with the

airports closed and the freeways a mess."

Hal shook his head.."That's what worries me."

The pretty eyebrows raised again.

Hal continued." Two of the victims brought their own set

of wheels..The guy in the bathroom?..Name's Blackwell.

We were able to contact Mister Blackwell's girlfriend.

Turns out he's a diehard biker..Got a fancy custom chopper

he takes everywhere he goes.

We found Mister Shepard's keys on him and his firebird

it sitting outside on the street."

Samantha finished for him.."So, where is Blackwell's

fancy motorcycle?"

"That's what worries me." Hal nodded.."If I am Herman

Gilespie and I want to get out of town fast...

What better way through those freeways out there.."

"Then on a bike!"..She finished for him again..

Officer Silversmith appeared at the front door and Hal

held up three fingers..He and Samantha tuned to

Silversmith's frequency.

"Lieutenant their looking for you outside."

"Thanks Silversmith Samantha answered." She switch

to 5 again and Hal followed..

"Got to go..I just wanted to wish you good

luck on the case."

"Thanks, I appreciate that." Hal said..

She started to turn toward the door and Hal heard

himself speak.."Listen,..Sam...Would you do me

a favor?..I mean after the SWAT op is clear..

Could you patch over? Just let me know how

things went."

She stopped and turned back to him.

"Why detective..Are you asking me to call you

and let you know I am ok?"

He didn't hesitate. "Yes I am."

She pushed the transmitter button.

"Tell you what..I'll bet you dinner at my

place we both will be just fine at the

end of the day."

Hal smiled.."That's a bet I'd love to lose."

Tags: Fiction

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