The Forensic Laboratory at Nashville Police Station was a strangely calm place. There was the usual suspect, that was the lack of living people to liven the whole thing, on account that on many an occasion the dead outnumbered the living on the regular, but also because the people in charge were overall quite wholesome. Chief among the wholesome staff was the lead forensic, John Jefferson, the larger man walked around with an honest smile and a pride in his work. John tended to inspire people around him, and was keen on keeping his staff feeling that their boss got their back, caring for their mental state as much as their physical situation, making him a beloved figure, and with his large frame, graying hair, and supportive demeanour the team saw him as a sort of fatherly figure.
That night the Forensic Office was lighter than usual, John had given many overworked staff members the night off, and had anyone not off duty helping on some case, tonight it was just him and his work, which he did not mind, unlike the living the dead did not bother you, so it was peace and quiet, plus he was better working alone, particularly when the case required full concentration.
The slaughter last night was something no one was expecting, not even him. Many of the victims were children of wealthy families, so the demand for results was only superseded for that of the victims' bodies being returned to their families for a proper burial. John had done his best, pushed his team, and he was sure to work overtime, but even the best minds could only got so far, he was working against the clock but he needed everyone fresh for one final look into the victims before he could send them back to their families, and so far he had very little to account for. And then there was the victim that had arrived this morning: that homeless guy found in that container with a single wound and no blood, and a whole new clue.
John took to his desk and went over his notes from the previous cases, he had not noticed that wound before, but some of the new victims had it in detail. It made him tremble, this was something that terrified him to his core. For years he had noticed strange things, wounds and causes of death that did not match, he was vocal about them but most people decided to play to the idea that those were not real, his teachers taught that, his colleagues taught him that, only two people told him to think about it and do what he could, one of those people had a picture of her framed on his desk, smiling with two girls and one boy, and he himself, all smiling and looking to the camera in their hiking trip to through the mountains. John's wife always had his back, she believed in him, and pushed him to do what he could; what he did he did for her and her children. John's wife also lead him to meet the other person that would support him in his views, a person that was coming in escorted by the Chief of Police.
"Be grateful I managed to sneak you in, things are hell in here, I am under enough pressure already to have you making demands on top of that" stated Rhodes as he opened the back door of the Morgue for Mortis to come in.
"I need the box" stated Mortis, John sensed this word had been repeated a few times before.
"I told you, Wilson's men are keeping tabs on it, if it disappears they will get my ass for it" pleaded Rhodes.
"You want me to stop that thing? I. Need. The. Box." Mortis spoke and John could feel there was no way around it for Rhodes, Mortis was not asking any more.
Chief Rhodes waved his hands and moved his head in desperation as he contained his frustration with the current situation until an idea dawned on him.
"You said you need to study it, right?"
"Yes."
"I can get you high definition pictures of each of its six sides" said Rhodes.
Mortis glared, he was evaluating the idea in his mind.
Rhode pushed through: "Physical and digital copies".
Mortis pulled a thumb drive from his pocket and gave it to Rhodes, sealing the deal.
"You have ten minutes, I will be back with both things" Rhodes closed the door behind him leaving Mortis and John to work.
"I see you are your usual charming self Mort" said the forensic as he poured a cup of coffee from the filtering machine and offered it to the detective, who took it as a reflex action.
"It has been a long day" said Mortis with a bitter bite to his word.
"Felt asleep at some point, didn't you?" asked the Forensic, piercing through the Detective's strong defenses and earning a side glare that pointed to his victory. Not that Mortis would agree to that.
"What do you know?"
"I know that the bags under your eyes look a lot better than last night, but knowing your work ethic you worked until late and then started early, meaning less sleep than usual, piling on your already overstretched health. Judging for your mood and your speed at going for coffee you must have felt asleep two to four hours ago, woken up recently, and rushed over. Plus you are about an hour late from your usual times, am I right?" deduced John.
Mortis glared harder, but rather than argue with John he walked past him and got to the for the morgue's freezer.
"There is work to be done" grunted the Detective. Behind his back John made a silent 'Yes!' pose to congratulate himself for hitting the nail in the head and followed Mortis to the freezers.
Mortis waited for the forensic to pull the bodies out, two of the students, the one that had been tortured by the killer, and one that had died a seemingly simple death.
"Here we go, this are some of our latest victims" pointed John as he went for their paperwork.
Mortis took a good look to the bodies, the one closer to him was the most mangled of the two, leg amputated, slashed in several places, he was made to suffer; the other had single big laceration where his stomach was, and clearly his guts may have been on the outside when he was discovered.
"Two victims, two similar yet completely different ways to die" stated the Detective.
"The attack was clean Mortis, whichever weapon they used it was sharper than any scalpel I had ever had to use. It is unnerving" said John as he refreshed his memory on the victims.
"Not a month ago the victim was cut with a nicked blade, now this? Are you telling me this guy switched weapons?" inquired Mortis.
John put the files down and took the rubber gloves to handle the bodies.
"I do not know, but I know the guy is getting better at it" pointed John as he grabbed the amputated leg and pushed it against its stump, the cut was so perfect you could barely see it at all. "Tell me that this is normal?"
Mortis was impressed, he had seen sharp blades but this takes the cake. Such skill and precision was something strange to see.
"What do you think Mortis?"
Mortis looked close to the wound "I have not seen enough of his work to make an educated guess, but to do this is not just a sharp blade, the attacker must be incredibly skilled."
"Let me tell you, compared to the first attack this is on a whole new level. Honestly, if not for the missing blood I would believe it is a completely unrelated murder" explained John.
"It looks like the kid suffered heavily before he died" pointed Mortis.
"He was not the only one" John shifted to show the other body. "This kid also took his time to die, probably left to hold his guts in his hands as he bled to death."
"And somehow he manages to clean the blood after, it still baffles me" pointed Mortis. As he finished his remark John lifted his right finger with a sense of grim excitement, meaning he had found something.
"That was until out John Smith arrived" John shifted to open a third freezer, this one containing the death man Mortis and Captain found early this day. "To tell you, if you had not brought this man, I may have never found this."
John indicated Mortis to get closer as the forensic showed the Detective the partially rotted wound, much to Mortis's disgust. Mortis was used to terrible smells, but the smell of rotten flesh, of blood and gore, it drove him insane, it made things inside him battle to get out, things he had to keep sealed for his own safety, or else.
"What did you find?"
John forced the wound open, much to Mortis's chagrin, revealing very dead tissue that maggots had tried to feast on earlier today. The smell was subtle but Mortis could sniff the smell of rotten decay and it made him twitch and feel wild.
"I know this is not your cup of coffee Mort, but believe me it is worth it. Just see inside" encouraged John.
Mortis took a look into the homeless man's body, there was a nasty wound, very nasty, too nasty.
"Tell me, what do you see?" asked the forensic.
"A wound, a big wound" pointed Mortis.
"Too big. Too big at least for the entry and exit hole" pointed John as he let go of the wound, it closed with a disgusting wet sound. "You know what that means, right?"
"That whatever went into the wound, it expanded when it went inside" reasoned Mortis.
"And do you know anything that does that?" asked the forensic excited, sure that he had stumbled into the clue of the century.
"No" replied Mortis dryly, making the forensic lose part of his built up optimism.
"What do you mean no?" John was having a hard time believing what Mortis said, he sure knew the man would not joke about this, but still.
"Maybe this could help" John went to the side and showed Mortis a piece of the tissue taken from the victim's wound cross-section and handed it to Mortis. The Detective was astonished to what he saw, the section shown to him had a series of clear lacerations going through it, small yet quite clear, that looked almost as roots sprung from the main wound.
"Unreal, isn't it?" asked John with a nervous smile on his face. "I do not know if it was present in other corpses before, we weren't looking for it, too small, but with this guy, suck dry of blood, the flesh retracted and revealed the pattern ever so lightly, and because it was the only thing we focused on when looking at the body my team and I were able to find it".
"Are you sure this is a result of the weapon?"
"Mort, I have been at this for over twenty years, believe me when I said I have not seen something like this before" pointed John.
"And is not unique to this particular victim? Some previous laceration, some cellular thing?" prodded Mortis, hoping that the ball would not fall on his court, but he knew better, his pride did not allow him to go down without a fight.
John crossed his arms and shook his head. "I am sure, we even found it on the wounds of the other victims" pointed John.
"Then it is the murderer in question, or the murder weapon" said Mortis.
"Yeah, I feared the same when I read the report from the team, hole matching on the dumpster, only wound in and out, I do not know what to think any more" John scratched his greying hair dumbstruck and frustrated at the whole thing.
"I do have something that may help" Mortis pulled the small fragment of iron in his pocket and handed it to the forensic. "I found it when inspecting that homeless camp, inside one of the deep cutting marks on the walls. I do believe it is a piece of our murder weapon" explained Mortis as John picked up the item with the up most care, yet stared at it with a worried expression.
"Everything okay John?"
"Are you sure this can help, compared with the early killings this is at a whole new level. The killer might have changed weapons" said John.
"Or the weapon may have changed" stated Mortis.
John squinted his eyes in confusion.
"What?"
"The pattern seems to be the more the killer kills the more blood he gets and the more he kills. I think there might be a correlation, and I think this piece of iron may be the answers we need" pointed Mortis.
The light returned to John's face as he saw possibility open. "Leave it to me then".
"I know I can count on you John" said Mortis.
"Speaking of counting" John went to his file pile, and from his 'To Do' tray he pulled an envelope marked urgent and handed it to Mortis. The envelop was big, and heavy. "It contains the files of all the victims, including detailed pictures of the wounds. I do hope this will be of help" added John.
Mortis made sure to store the file inside his jacket, away from preying eyes. "It will do" said Mortis with an implied thanks to it. Mortis did not say it often, but he felt really lucky to have a man like John to rely upon.
Like a clock Chief Rhodes knocked and then appeared from the back door, files on hand.
"Time's up Detective, you better leave before things get worst" stated the Chief,
Mortis tipped his undertaker hat to the forensic and vanished into the darkness of the back door, leaving the Forensic with the piece of iron, the remains of the recently departed, and his thoughts to keep him company for the arduous task ahead.
"Welp, this thing won't investigate itself".