Opaque (Part II)

Part 1

She hid behind the covers, and pulled it to her face, hoping that the nightmare would end even before it starts . She heard the familiar sound of the boots across the floor. The closer they came, the stronger she held onto her blanket, tears streamed down her face, her eyes screamed for help, but not  a sound escaped her lips, the door opened and she welcomed her nightmare.

                                             **************

Miasha’s Dad was a cop and a damn good one. Ronald Pascoe was one of the finest, as they liked to call him. There was not a case that he couldn’t solve. He was smart, intelligent, and a single parent, who had painstakingly and skillfully brought up his only daughter.

He was appointed to look into the gruesome murder, which shocked the locals. Media lapped up all the details, citing police inefficiency for lack of evidences or any lead about the murderer. All this added to more pressure and unlimited hours of work for the cops.

                                             *************

“Mia, I think you should call him, what’s the harm in meeting up with him” crooned nay-nay, as she broke loose from Justin’s embrace and headed over to Mia. “He is not a bad catch, let me tell you that, and he likes you, you should call him”, she said snatching the book from Mia’s hand, and demanding her undivided attention.

“Nay-nay, I am not interested in him, and moreover he seemed like a jerk, than someone all so nice…”

“Oh c’mon and stop thinking like your dad, you don’t have to x-ray everyone, I say you go and meet him, that’s it” .

                                             *************

The cops were still trying to find out details of the first murder when another shook them up completely. The second murder shook the small town as well. They were getting edgy and demanded concrete answers from the cops. This was more brutal than the first. The victim was murdered and his hands were cut off, they were found around 50 mtrs from the body.  The victim’s left hand was cut into eight pieces and was placed along with the right hand.

“There has to be a reason for the arrangement of the hands in that particular manner, Gerald”, said Mr. Pascoe. “Any leads on the first murder?”

“No Ronny, all background search completed, no enemies, no debt, no family quarrels, he is as clear as water. His wife died 10 years ago. No kids. There is nothing to suggest any bad blood here.”

“Then why was his left eye found resting on a stone slab?” That was a question that no one had answers to.

                                         *************

“Let’s all bow our heads and pray for the soul of Simon Andrews. A man whom we all loved. May his soul find peace and may he rest in the lord’s company in heaven. In the name of the father, and of the son and of the holy spirit”

“Amen”, the church chorused

No one saw her among the crowd, and even if they did, they would have smiled and greeted her. She was a known figure among the locals. They would have assumed her to have come, to pay her respects to a man who was loved and who was brutally murdered.

                                         ***********

“It has to be a man , maybe in his late twenties, tall, and well built, considering our victim Simon, to have been very fit and athletic, our murderer should have been a good match.” Gerald said looking at Ronald

“Or someone who Simon knew only too well”, said Ronald, as he forced his eyes shut. There was something that he was missing out, and he knew it was staring him in his face. He hadn’t been home for the past two days, and was worried about Miasha, but she assured him that she would take care of herself, and wished him luck for the case.

A smile spread across his face, it ironed out the creases on his forehead. He suppressed his desire as soon as it had started surfacing.

“Victim 2 – Ian brown, 45 years old, unmarried. Ronny do you feel that the two cases are linked?? Ian has a clear background as well. His last call was made to a grocery store to refill his monthly supplies. He lived a quiet life.”

“Gerald what is common between the two cases?”

“The fact that both the victims were middle aged and living alone”

“Exactly !!!, and what is the advantage that the murderer has in such cases?”

“No one to pursue the case”

“Spot on, round up similar cases, middle aged men with no living relatives and give me a list, if this is case of a serial killer, he is in for a ride.” He smiled “and also I want to see the pictures of the victims, something tells me that our killer is playing a small game of hide and seek with us, but is also leaving us clues, to reach him.”

“Why would you say that”

“Mr. Andrews was brutally murdered , here have  a closer look”, he pushed a picture towards Gerald "our killer decided on writing something on the victims chest and decided against it, if you can see the mark here”, he pointed at the victims chest “So our killer, stops right there and thinks it apt to pull out his eye and place it on  a stone slab, to make it more obvious. So this picture here, has something more to tell us, and we need to figure out what that is”.

                                         **********

“So your dad’s a cop huh”, asked Kenneth

“Yea, and how does that matter?” she snapped back at him "Seems like you were trying to learn more about me in the past few weeks, homework well done, I must add” she mock patted him on his back, and looked away.

If he was uncomfortable, he didn’t show it, and did a great job at hiding it. “ So I heard your dad is the main officer working on the Murder cases, has he had any leads yet, any evidences leading to the killer”

This time she looked at him, and looked closely, she shifted in her seat “I’m sure the papers are giving away enough information, why are you trying to get more? How does this case interest you?”

He looked away, unable to stand her gaze” I was just curious”, he rambled off.

to be continued