Kira leaned back in a chair in the kitchen of her apartment. She was tired but didn’t feel the desire to fall into bed just yet. Given her work with a recent case of Cadavre Exquis resurfacing after several months of silence. Like always with that bastard. Her mind was too on edge to think of sleep right away.
And there were practically no leads, like with every other crime the person had done, leaving no evidence, not a single trace. The boy who was found and treated couldn’t give anything since he couldn’t remember what happened, possibly due to the drugs he was given.
The boy was a spoiled brat and entitled to high heaven, but Kira did feel bad for him, given how the kid was found in the basement of his mother’s own home. No one deserved that, not even a woman as cruel as her. Kira despised racist people like Karen Crock. She wished the woman was brought to justice and then meet some heinous end.
Of course, there were always those who would never be redeemed, she wasn’t an idiot, but murders such as these always left a bad taste in Kira’s mouth.
But that wasn’t her only issue. She had recently heard who the bodies of those discovered along the highway to the United States.
Eric Mitchel and David Davenport.
Lauren Davenport’s brother and father.
With questions in the air, this was made even worse when some loudmouth in the department leaked it to the press and now wouldn’t stop harassing Cathryn Davenport, Lauren’s mother, an influential woman who held ties with the Canadian government and had a seat in Parliament. A woman who, for some reason, never bothered to file a missing person’s report on her daughter. Claiming her daughter simply ran away.
This now brought further questions about Lauren’s sudden disappearance in the early summer, where many people wondered if Lauren somehow killed her father and brother before disappearing altogether. But Lauren wasn’t a strong girl. She was thin and short, while her brother and father could have easily overpowered her in a heartbeat unless she had the upper hand and took them both by surprise.
To know more, they needed access to the Davenport home, yet the police couldn’t do anything unless with a warrant since Cathryn didn’t want the police inside. Mounting even further questions as to what the woman was hiding and why.
Something about this stunk. More so than the sudden murder of Karen Crock.
Just where did Lauren go? And what the hell happened to her brother and father? How did they end up torn to pieces by the border? So much was missing. It drove Kira up the wall with these unanswered questions.
“Are you planning to come to bed sometime soon?”
Kira tilted her head back to look into hazel brown eyes. “Not until I’m sure that I won’t be called in.”
Pale, freckled hands rested along either side of Kira’s face. “You know that’s not healthy.”
Kira gave a half-smile before kissing the right palm then moved away. “The life of a detective never is, Lu.” She said as she turned to look at her girlfriend thoroughly.
Lucia Guillaume, a petite woman with an hourglass bottom heavy figure, her dark brown hair cut short into a bob that framed her freckled face as some of the said freckles crinkled with her furrowed brow as she was currently dressed in pink and white plaid pyjamas.
“This whole thing with that serial killer isn’t going to do you any good if you keep going like this.” Lucia continued. “I mean it. It’s been almost two weeks, and you’re almost dead on your feet. At this rate, the job is going to kill you before some ner do wells do.”
Kira gave Lucia a look. That wasn’t the right word. “Given that you write stories, I don’t think that’s not the best word to give those who commit these horrible crimes. Why are you even using a word like that anyway?”
“Working on a historical fiction,” she said as she moved to the counter to grab a glass, filled it with water and handed it to Kira. “It’s not just these two cases that have got you on edge, is it?” Kira sighed but didn’t go into it, not that it mattered when Lucia said. “Thought as much.”
“Lu, please, you know I can’t go into that.”
“I know,” she says as she wraps her arms around Kira’s shoulders before asking. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll let you know when I know.” Kira turned to face her. “Enough about me though, how are things with you? Any word back about your manuscript?”
Lucia became quiet before moving to sit across from Kira. “Rejected, just like the last one. Even though I knew this book was what they were looking for with the specific genre.” She smiled, but she still looked dejected. “Fourth time, you think it wouldn’t keep hurting.”
“You’ll get it one day,” Kira tells her as Lucia gave a half-laugh.
“Anyway, people are more into horror this time of year, so I’ll try my hand at working on something like that. I even have some material already.”
Quick on the draw. “Oh, yeah? What’s it going to be about?”
“You’re going to laugh.”
“Try me,”
She let out a breath. “I decided to base this story on a rumour that’s been going on for a while now. About a person people have dubbed the Ghost Woman; apparently, she’s been killing people and not leaving a trace of her existence, hence the name.”
Kira leaned back in her chair. She has heard such rumours, though nothing has been proven, nor has there been sufficient evidence to back it up, which led her to ask. “What makes these people think this woman has killed anyone?”
“On forms like Reddit, people have been making connections to some of the unexplained murders the past few years, that these people in question met with a woman who people describe as unbelievably beautiful only to vanish and are found dead later. And that this Ghost Woman only kills around September to November, before stopping until another year goes by.”
Kira frowned; she hadn’t heard of this rumour before. “Can you show me?”
Lucia went to their bedroom and came back to the kitchen with her laptop. And with a quick few minutes of searching, she then turned her screen to Kira.
There was a whole dedicated page to this Ghost Woman, as well as a bunch of theories that didn’t hold a lot of weight, mainly those thinking that this person was an actual ghost. But what stood out to Kira the most was three cases that were still unsolved. Kira didn’t work on these cases in particular, but she had heard of them.
Cases where men’s bodies were discovered, beaten and bloody, their limbs broken, and their faces unrecognizable with missing teeth, fingers and toes. Like they had been tortured. There were no signs of sexual violence or penetration, but something like revenge couldn’t be ruled out given how violent they had died.
Kira could recall the three men in question had files for domestic or sexual assault on women they were in a relationship with.
Some of the posters would say that their deaths were justified. Hell, some comments were commending this ghost killer for “taking out the trash,” as a number of them put it and in much less kind ways. But what bothered Kira was how so many people were sure it was a woman.
While scrolling, Kira came across a particular comment by a user named Ballzilla69.
I remember seeing the third guy! He was at a bar, being a disgusting pig, and hitting on a gorgeous woman who was waaaaay out of his league, and she left with him not long after! But then she came back the next night, and the dude was nowhere to be seen. I just figured he got tossed on his ass, but then he was dead!
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
This was followed by another commenter asking why they never went to the police and wondering what bar the user was at, which was then responded with:
lol! Fuck no! the guy deserves it! Why should I report to the police when they can’t even do their fucking jobs? They’re supposed to be protecting us, not this scum-sucking prick? I’m glad he’s dead. I hoped it was painful as shit for him!
Jesus. Kira thought but then came across other people claiming to have seen such a woman and that she was the one behind not three, but at least fifteen other deaths, or if not deaths, horrible assaults where they died shortly after. On both men and women alike. Yet from what Kira could see, not all comments had anything to stand on. In contrast, others were focused on the first three thinking it might be the beginning of a serial killer and whoever did this, be it a man or woman. They would keep saying this might have been a slow escalation over time, with other theories ranging from someone who had been abused to someone avenging a family member, someone with a saviour complex, an act of vigilantism, to just someone who couldn’t take the police’s slow response time or letting people get away with it because they were either, white, rich, or both.
Two of the three men were not white, and only one of the three was white, who was also not someone who had a lot of money due to gambling addiction.
Someone even pointed out that when dealing with cases like this, a person should never, and they meant never, judge based on a biased profile because doing so would mean you’ve fucked the investigation over with a narrow-minded mentality.
That user was someone by the name of F8. Scrolling through this person’s interactions, they seemed to be very knowledgeable about people asking if they were part of the investigation, whereas F8 merely responds.
No, I’m like the rest of you guys giving opinions on what might have happened. Because that’s all we can do, but I think we might find some truths in this and possibly lead to whoever is killing these men if we work together. And while I think any person like this is disgusting, they should be in prison for the rest of their miserable lives. When they are dead, those who suffered are still left with what was done and might not be even close to healing.
That was surprisingly deep. That was what Kira felt when reading that. After that, there was more speculation about what might have happened, with users looking back to Ballzilla69 wanting proof that they saw something or at least the bar’s name.
The guy must have been a troll because he wasn’t giving anything of note before F8 came back in to say.
The bar is probably one in an area that all victims frequent (regardless if it was three or more). Even if it was just once, then there is a connection. I highly doubt 69 knows since they’re evasive about it in the first place. I mean, you clearly want to draw this out for the attention.
Am not! Sixty-nine went on. I just don’t remember the bar. I was drunk!
Yet they remember seeing a woman and the victim in this bar? Kira thought when many other people seemed to agree. Kira took out her phone and bookmarked it. The moment she had her phone began to buzz, looking at it she saw that Freddie texted her. Which meant she was still on the clock for overtime. “Welp looks like it’s back to work for me,” Kira says with a slightly sarcastic tone.
“Want to take something before you head out?”
“Nope, knowing Freddie, he’s already grabbed me something. I’ll let him know that you say hi.” Kira grabs her coat, throws it on and her gun, and clips her badge to her belt.
“Be safe out there,”
Kira then kissed Lucia’s cheek. “I always try, now go to bed. Or if you can’t sleep, I’m sure there are a few sorry SOBs online just waiting to have their asses kicked by your Mage.”
“You know that’s not how it works, right?”
“Hey, I play fighting games, never been a big MMORPG person. Besides, I’m sure it’s super cathartic regardless of what you’re doing.” Her phone buzzed again. “Now I really got to go. I’ll text you when I’m heading back home.”
Kira then left the apartment, heading down the three flights of stairs to reach the parking lot where Fredrick was waiting with coffee. Bless this man.
“You took your time,” he says as she gets into the passenger seat. “You weren’t sleeping, were you?”
“No, nothing like that. Lucia says, “hi”.”
“Well, you can tell her I say “hi” right back.” Fredrick paused as he drove out of the parking lot. “What’s up though, you’re scowling as you do with a bad case.”
Kira shook her head before taking a sip of the much-needed brew, not minding if it was too hot at the moment. “Why were we called?”
“Found a body in a warehouse near Cherry Beach.”
Kira frowned. “That’s not in our jurisdiction. That’s Division 52’s. Why would we be needed for this?”
“Because of the recent crackdown on illegal drugs and guns coming in from the USA. Several detectives have been tasked to help with that, leaving them short on manpower, so they’ve asked other divisions for help.”
“Wouldn’t 14 be better since they’re closer?”
“Yeah, but since you and I live close to 14, they thought to ask us given our track records in solving cases.” Fredrick sighed. “Sometimes, I hate that we get so much recognition.”
“Because it feels like they’re pawning off their work on to us?”
“No, not that. If they’re going to give us more work, they should at least pay us more for it, and I don’t mean the overtime. Though my wife takes no issue with it because then we can just put what I get for overtime into our kid’s college or university funds, thought Meg would just be happy if I got a raise, which I’d rather have too.”
“How is your family?”
“The twins are good, about to start grade nine, and Melody is in her final year of high school. She’s been working hard to get good grades so she can get a college scholarship.”
“And your wife?”
“Megan’s been good, though if Liam wasn’t called in, you could have chatted with her for a bit before getting into, well, you know.”
“Yeah,”
Freddie paused when they reached a stoplight, glancing at her with a look of worry. “What’s up with you Song, you’re not normally this quiet.”
Kira looked out at the few people walking in the dead of night. Even though it was nearly two in the morning, seeing so many people out always made her wonder when they ever slept. But then, she could put herself into that category as well, given how things were this past week.
“Any word about the Davenport case?” she asked.
“Nothing yet. We should be able to have Cathryn Davenport in for questioning and a warrant to search her house. But it’s been hard given her political status, and I honestly wonder if there will be anything that can be used as evidence.” He sighed. “What bugs me about it is that this woman didn’t seem to give a damn about her daughter, not even a missing person’s report. Hell, even with what happened to her husband and son, she acts like it’s nothing to think about. Not to mention the nasty rumours that are surrounding the daughter since her disappearance.”
That piqued Kira’s interest. “Like she killed her father and brother before running?”
“Yeah, with the bonus that she was being abused, and that’s what caused the brother and father to be killed, that Cathryn disposed of the bodies and hid Lauren away.”
“But you don’t think that,” she said.
“Neither do you,” he added. “Lauren Davenport wasn’t strong. We know this from the photos we’ve seen of her, but there haven’t been any medical files since she was twelve. On top of which, Cathryn didn’t seem to give a damn about her daughter. Either she’s an amazing actor, or she’s full of herself and thinks no one is more important than herself.”
“How do you know about the medical file?”
“My wife knows a few people, asked around and found out from a doctor she’s acquainted with from her university days. Though, hearing about that made me suspect some form of abuse might have taken place,” his grip tightened on the steering wheel. “I just hope I’m wrong about that…”
Kira remained silent. She heard stories that Freddie had a younger brother that was subject to child abuse at the hands of other family members. Fredrick was very protective of his younger brother, Bobby, a low functioning Autistic, having the mental stability of a four or five-year-old and was currently in assisted living. Kira would sometimes hear Freddie on the phone talking to his brother. Honestly, he came off more like an uncle than an older brother.
Knowing that it made sense why Freddie would detest child abusers.
* * *
They arrived at the crime scene around three in the morning, with the red and blue flashing lights from police cars and an ambulance.
With her stomach full of coffee, Kira got out, followed by Fredrick as they headed to the police tape that blocked off a portion of the peer. Thankfully, there was no News crew yet.
“Detectives,” a police officer from Division 51 waved them over and allowed them past the police tape towards the crime scene. “Thanks for coming. Things have been crazy these past few days.”
The officer didn’t need to elaborate. Much of the police force had been stretched thin with the re-emergence of Cadavre Exquis and the disappearance of Lauren Davenport and whatever other cases they had piled on their plates.
“Who found the body?” Freddie asked.
“A group of explorers, been getting a lot of people coming through exploring abandoned places, making videos about it and posting it online. One of them said that something felt off about the building, but couldn’t figure out why until finding a dead body that, honestly, looked like whoever did it interrogated the poor bastard.”
“Must have scared the hell out of them,” Kira said.
“All but one, she’s used to coming across those who died, and before you start questioning her, no, she has no connections to the victim whatsoever. She mentioned in her statement that whenever you go into an abandoned place, you’re bound to come across something others wanted to hide.”
Kira paused. That sounded a very mature thing to think. What in the world did this girl see to have such a mindset?
“I think it’d be good for us to talk to them, just to make sure, even if they have no connection, best just to cover all bases.”
The officer merely shrugged in response. “Hey, suit yourself, though I’m more concerned about the state of our dead guy than a bunch of kids who found him.”
Kira frowned at the officer’s statement as a familiar feeling rested in the pit of her stomach once more as the C.S.I team was milling about taking photographic evidence and marking what they’d found thus far.
Amidst the chaos, Kira saw it, the mangled remains of a man tied to a chair, tortured beyond recognition. Seeing that made her recall what Lu had shown her before getting the call.
“Freddie?”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever heard of a rumour about a “Ghost Woman”?”