26
Feb
“You are suggesting that it is a woman who is behind the Fish Hatchery die offs?” Gerald was incredulous.
“That’s what the evidence seems to suggest.” Ransom beat Lynn to it. Her responses recently had been tart.
“You are aware of the statistics against that sort of thing are you not?” Gerald was looking right at Lynn.
“You are a piece of work you know that Gerry?” Lynn was done with him. “Call my supervisor at Quantico, I really don’t care at this point.” Ransom tried to settle her down.
“No, I won’t calm down. He thinks I am stupid or something.” She turned to Gerald. “I am VERY aware of stats and figures. These sorts of crimes are not traditionally committed by women. Which tells me something about the motive of the crime. What does it tell you Ger?”
She didn’t wait for his answer.
“It means it probably has nothing to do with FISH Gerry. These crimes are probably a diversion to make us look somewhere OTHER than someplace else.” She turned on her heel and walked out of his office. She didn’t bother to correct her grammar. If SSA Gerald Hinch was confused, she didn’t care.
“Where does she think she is going?” Gerald asked Ransom calmly. Sheriff Johns looked at Gerald and said, quite seriously. “To catch a fish killer.”
-MRC
25
Feb
Geoff nearly fell out of his chair when the phone rang. He had nearly given up on getting the call that day, or even at all. After the “Lucy Fiasco”, which wasn’t THAT big of a fiasco, (after all, Lucy DID make it to the museum and had been showing successfully) Geoff had to dip his toe into the job pool. Mostly as a protective measure IN CASE he lost his job and partially because the event had given him a reason to reevaluate his life and his goals.
“This is Yvette at History Detectives, is this Geoff?”
He smiled.
-MRC
23
Feb
Mr. Grey peers over his glasses and gives Eric a look that makes him shudder a little.
“You MUST find her. You ARE The Expeller. It is your DUTY!” He pauses. “I’m sorry, you don’t need the reminder. I fear the worst and when I fear ANYTHING, I act irrationally. Forgive me.”
Eric doesn’t flinch. Mr. Grey likes that about Eric. “Nothing to forgive, my friend. The situation is dire.”
He pauses.
“I have more bad news, I am afraid. No one can tell me just how long Lilith has been, erm, unaccounted for.”
“Then there is no time to lose. There is no telling how much damage has been done; how many lives have been affected.”
-MRC
22
Feb
Johnny rubbed his eyes. It didn’t matter, he still couldn’t see anything; only blackness. He could smell though and that was not a blessing. His stomach turned at the stench present here. Wherever here was. He was propped against something hard. Probably a wall. He shivered. He was cold. Then he felt a sharp pain. His leg was not working right. He reached for a place on his leg that hurt. He immediately wished he hadn’t. His head hit something and he saw stars. He fell back against the wall he had been propped against.
“Where am I?”
-MRC
19
Feb
The hunger was different this time. Demanding. And it came sooner than before. It scared him and worried him too.
“Why so soon?”
The answer came back in a hot flash of rage. Scorpius wasn’t to be questioned, only obeyed.
He would have to move up the deadline and that felt like rushing. He couldn’t afford to be sloppy. He would have to make excuses and rearrange a busy schedule. It might make others suspicious. He would have to be very careful. The Keeper was nearby as well and that made him very uneasy.
-MRC
18
Feb
The raspy voice emanating from the small audio cassette player gave her a little chill. This was a voice from the grave. This was a blood relative; a man Jeannie would never know. It made her a little sad.
Her dead Uncle, Christian Bates, spoke directly to her.
“Hello, Jeannie. Pardon the indecency of our introduction to each other. It isn’t fair to you. I know that. If you can forgive me and look past my sins as a relative you never knew, I would be eternally grateful. Which is sort of funny seeing as I am dead.” There was an audible click as though he had stopped the tape for a moment. Then it continued.
“I am a clumsy fool. My words are poorly chosen. I will continue now. Please excuse my crassness and allow me to be as direct as possible. You are probably wondering ‘why all the cloak and dagger stuff’ in regards to my will and this tape and the conditions surrounding it. To put it simply, what I am about to tell you may have gotten me killed. In fact it may have gotten many killed before me. I hesitate to tell you this story as it may well place you in equal danger. I have done what I can to safeguard you. If you care to go no further, burn everything. Burn it all. Do it now. It will not matter to me now that I have passed. If you have courage, and I hope that you do, you will not destroy this gift.”
Jeannie stopped the tape. She was sweating. Where was that bottle of scotch?
-MRC
17
Feb
The Family has never been open to “outsiders” and today was no different. The whole group was in such turmoil and grief, I felt it was going to take every ounce of patience to sort out what happened last night. But, it seems they were open to my investigation, today at least. That was a surprise and a worry.
“He was only a child. Who would do such a thing to a child?” She was inconsolable at the loss of her son. I still wasn’t sure what happened. The story was hard to believe. The woman continued but it was hard for me to look at her and she knew it. I was not familiar with the ways of the Gypsies.
“I am truly sorry for your loss ma’am. I need to know what happened as best you can recall. Did you see or hear anything?”
She stopped sobbing, took a deep breath, and spoke in a surprisingly calm voice.
“We were celebrating another year of prosperity. The fires were high and so were our spirits. The drink flowed freely as it always does during the celebration. The children are not allowed to drink but you know children, they find ways. It had never been a problem before. So when he wandered off we assumed it was just a bit of childish curiosity and it simply didn’t concern us.” Her sobbing started again. Guilt.
“Did you see or hear anything?” I asked again.
She inhaled deeply and looking up in disbelief and agony said, “Outside the light of the fires it is black. The predator was silent except for. . .” she shuddered. “. . .except for the howl.” She was done. Her grief overcame her.
I just wish we had been able to find the boy’s body so the family could find closure. All that remained was a small patch of wet blood.
-MRC
16
Feb
The body is larger than, say, a coyote but not as large as a horse. It could very well be human. Most likely an illegal crossing the border and getting lost and disoriented in the hot sun. He isn’t entirely sure what species the badly charred body is. The burn patterns make no sense at all. Only bits and parts are burned to char. The sun doesn’t generally cause this kind of burning. This seems intentional. There are no scorch marks on the ground or even drag marks. Did this happen here or somewhere else? If it happened elsewhere, how did it get here? Curious-er and curious-er.
-MRC