Dark City

60.

Carl tried to make sense of it, Jacob Serrell with his broken neck, Savannah Mitchell stabbed and decapitated in a passionate rage. It was like an assassin had done jobs that both clearly linked back to Liam. The first responders thought that Jacob slipped, but called it in when they saw the bruising on his ribs and arms. Carl had a few theories bouncing around in his head. Maybe Liam was getting paranoid and knocking off his inner circle before he made a clean break. But neighbors in Shark River Hills noticed nothing out of the ordinary that day, no outsiders hanging around, no commotion from the house. Jacob's death was swift and quiet.

"Take photos of these bite marks," Carl said, rolling up Jacob's sleeve.

"Just like Cinderella," the female photographer joked darkly.

"That shit almost never holds up in court. But maybe we find another vic with similar wounds. Gotta keep all doors open so we can close them one by one."

With a click-click-flash the photographer captured the teeth imprint. "You think he had it coming?" she asked. "Piece of shit like this."

"Doesn't matter what kind of person he was or what he did. We're gonna find who did this."

A scream erupted from the doorway. Jacob's mother stood there, an officer holding her back and telling her that someone would be out soon to talk to her. She continued to scream and sob helplessly, smacking the walls as they carried her out. Carl went out to talk to her.

"Mrs. Serrell," he said.

"Nathan Stone did this!" she shrieked, holding her head and wailing. "That fucking loser killed my baby!"

"Hey. I need you to talk to me. Come here." Carl walked her back to his patrol car and they got inside. When her hysterical cries subsided somewhat, he said to her, "We both know Jacob had his fair share of enemies in this town. Do you know of any threats made to him recently?"

"Nathan's been stalking him. Ever since he came back from the war, he's been hanging around our house, watching Jacob from the street."

"You ever approach him?"

"God, no! He's crazy!" she cried, clawing at her dry hair in frustration. "Detective, my son was a good boy. He was only dealing to help me out. And that little junkie girlfriend of Nathan's was coming around here, and that's the first time I saw him, just staring at the house from his car across the street."

"Who's the girl?"

"The Stockton girl. Alex. My son made peace with her. Nathan couldn't accept that. That boy has a lot of anger and he's thrown it all on Jacob. He killed my baby!"

Carl entertained the possibility that Nathan was involved. He didn't like it, but he had to consider all leads, and this murder had the professionalism most civilians lacked. It would explain why the kill was so quiet. If Nathan had come in and snapped Jacob's neck, there was no need for a getaway. His house was right down the street.

"Allright, darlin'. We're gonna being Nathan in. You just cry it out, sweetheart. It's painful. I know. Just cry it out."

____________________________________
Music: Muse "Hate this and I'll Love You."