Wolves of Haven : Lone

Doe No More

Akia looked at the gathered officers and government officials that were filling the bullpen of the small police station. She hated being front and center. She hated attention in general, but when she was the lead on a case there was no way around it. The identity of the fifth body proved to be a nightmare in the making. There was a reason why Damian was able to find the identity without a picture, DNA, or dental records. The information on age, size, race, and the calluses on her fingers lead him to the front page of the Boston Globe and the headline: Progeny and Heiress Missing.

Inspector Pierre joined her, standing in front of the group with an air of superiority about him. "Thank you for waiting-" he started.

"Shut it!" Commissioner de Rue of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police interrupted. "If you open your mouth one more time, you'll be in a holding cell next," he warned.

Once the identity of the fifth victim was confirmed, officials from both sides of the border got involved. Out of respect for the families of each victim, no official media release has been issued, and each of those involved in the case are being tightlipped in fear of repercussions and the deep pockets of the fifth victim's family.

The family of Arianna Winterfeld, the only child of Boston real estate mogul William Winterfeld the Third, demanded that the United States government get involved in the case when he came to claim the body. That demand, in turn, caused the RCMP to get involved. When Mr. Winterfeld was informed by Superintendent Manning of the Boston Police Department that his best was already on the case, and after dropping the long list of cases Akia had closed in her career, the mogul demanded that Lieutenant de Wolfe stay on the case as the American liaison and lead detective.

Pierre said no way in hell, but when Commissioner de Rue walked through the door with official documents in hand, the look on the older man's face made it more than obvious that he was pissed off and would take it out on the first to cross him. Pierre knew he was on the way out of the investigation, so he was shutting up, for the most part, in order to stay in the know since it was, without question, the biggest case of his career.

"Lieutenant," Commissioner de Rue said in a clipped tone, motioning for Akia to start the briefing.

Akia nodded. "Thank you, Sir. I'll skip the formalities and get right to it. What we are dealing with is a serial killer that is trying to cover his crimes by making them appear as if they are animal attacks."

One of the officers raised their hand. "There were hairs consistent with a wolf on two of the bodies," Officer Paquette argued without being called on.

Akia nodded. "Yes, there were," she agreed.

"And that doesn't seem odd to you?" he pressed. "Nowhere in your report and profile has a wolf or animal been mentioned. Does he own a wolf? Does he do something that requires him to be around wolves? Maybe he's one of those handlers from up in Montreal?" he argued.

"The wolves at the Montreal habitat are not the same species of wolf, thus they were not a match," she explained.

"You can't know that already," Paquette said, his voice raising.

"The foremost expert in canine pathology and psychology has confirmed that the hairs found on the bodies are from a breed that is not common in these parts, or on this continent even," Akia assured all of them. "The division of the Jeffersonian that Dr. Michele Arberdeen works for is a benefactor of the Winterfeld Natural Resources and Sciences grant, which supports the work of more than a dozen departments at the Jeffersonian in Washington D.C., and because of that generosity, Dr. Arderdeen was more than happy to drop everything and assist with the case. It is in the opinion of Dr. Arderdeen, and that of the Jeffersonian, which I am in complete agreement with, a wolf, or wolves, were not responsible for these deaths."