Chapter 4

Gus and Stan arrived at the morgue sometime in the afternoon. They approach a desk where a young woman is sitting, surrounded by papers, trinkets, and picture frames of her family. She had blonde hair and was wearing a bright pink blouse and a vanilla-colored skirt.

Stan tips his hat to greet the young woman. "Scuse me ma'am sorry to bother you, we were wondering if you could answer a couple of questions for us."

"Sure, but Dr. Cayden went on a quick errand; he should be back any minute. If you don't mind waiting, that is." The mortician's assistant said.

"Not a problem. This should be a question you could answer for us anyhow." Stan says.

"Am I gonna need a lawyer?" The assistant asks jokingly.

"No ma'am. We're just doing a follow-up with the mortician's office about a few bodies that came in?"

"Not to be rude officers, a lot of bodies come in here."

"You'd know ma'am. Quite a few bodies all showing up at the same time? From a similar location." Gus says.

"I really should ask Dr. Cayden…" she says while she reaches for the phone.

Stan quickly grabs the assistant's key card off her desk. He makes a break for the door between the lobby and the set of doors leading to different areas of the morgue.

"You can't go through there!" She chases after Stan.

"I'll be quick." Stan shouts.

Stan hurries down the hall, hoping to find the body-holding area. Gus grabs the door and follows him down the hall. Stan ends up in a room with nothing but metal refrigerated drawers. Holding bodies mainly from the unrecorded 10-66.

"All this death and there's no record. Everyone's treating the call like it didn't happen. Now, why is that?" Stan says to himself.

He starts to observe the room. Looking at the names on the units. Anything to lead back to who they saw in the woods. A mother and child were stored next to each other. It stops Stan in his tracks.

"You aren't allowed in here! I could lose my job for this! I'm going to call Dr. Cayden!" the assistant hurries back to her desk pushing past Gus.

"Heather and Janice Wright. Ages 30 and 3. A mother and daughter." Gus reads allowed from a clipboard hanging off the drawer.

Gus opens the doors. They pull out the tables first with the mother. Then the child's. Slowly pulling down Janice Wright's bloody sheet. Revealing the broken jaw and disfigured face. Her eyes and mouth were still open in horror. Separated from her body. Her arms and legs are stiff and visibly broken. Blood can be heard hitting Gus' shoe. After the guilt was finished washing over their faces, they realized this woman was not only decapitated but also had been torn in half. Her legs and torso were twisted to unholy shapes.

"This poor woman." Gus said.

"Something happened Gus. These people weren't killed by some guy with a gun, these people weren't stabbed. I don't even think it was that guy we chased in the woods. They were torn apart. Tortured and slaughtered like cattle."

"What should we do?" Gus asked.

At that moment Dr. Cayden snuck up behind them. Nearly scaring Gus out of his skin.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!" Gus screams.

"What are you doing here? Why am I getting a call that a couple of officers are harassing my assistant? You officers finally come to pick up your corpses?"

Dr. Cayden is an older white gentleman in a lab coat. He's a cooky, old man, with square glasses, shaking his cane at the officers.

"They just dropped them off! I haven't heard anything in days! You drop off pieces of bodies, ask me to put them together then just leave? Your department is full of assholes, you know that?"

"You think he's talking about the chief?" Gus whispers.

"Probably." Stan replies. "So they just dropped off the bodies and left you to pick up the parts?" Stan quickly snapped back to the situation at hand.

"Yes! Then I got an email to cremate them! Without another word? Really?! These people deserve more than that! I already pieced them together and at least got their names! I haven't contacted the families yet! I figure your department should do some of the Goddamn leg work!" Dr. Cayden rants loudly.

"Sir. Sir. Please calm down. I didn't know. Now…"

The doctor dries his tears.

"Yes, I'll show you the email…" Dr. Cayden said.

They make their way to Dr. Cayden's computer. He types on his computer bringing up the email sent from the police department. More importantly from Chief Fields.

To: Dr. Cayden

From: Police Chief Fields

06/07/2012 7:00 AM

Hello Dr. Cayden,

We had an incident last night involving some kind of mass murder. Originally reported as a possible robbery at the grocery store on Mortif Dr. My officers and the on-scene ICU unit picked up several bodies. I'm going to ask you to cremate after full autopsy reports of all the victims. I think it's best if the families don't see the bodies. I apologize ahead of time for the gruesome details I am about to share with you. Majority of the victims' limbs have been severed, they have been decapitated, their faces have been carved off and eaten. The fingers have been separated from the hands and found throughout the store. Entrails were spread out like pork sausages in the meat section. A woman and her baby were found dead at the entryway in pieces. After you finish the autopsy reports I will send some officers over to collect the data. You will speak about this with no one. You can understand the seriousness of the situation as to why I contacted directly.

Best regards,

Chief Fields.

"That son of a bitch! This is days ago. Gus what's today." Stan says while he wipes his mouth and thinks.

"The uh tenth." Gus had to think for a minute.

"Dr. Cayden, I'm gonna need those autopsy reports." Stan says.

"Did Chief Fields send you?" Cayden responds.

"Yeah, for the reports." Gus catches on.

"Okay quite frankly the quicker I dispose of those bodies the better I'll feel. Their loved ones don't deserve to see them like this. I'm not doing anything unless you can promise me you'll do right by those people." Dr. Cayden replied.

"I promise the families will be notified." Stan says sincerely.

"I need those autopsy reports and after I figure out what's going on, we will notify the families." Stan repeated.

"Honestly it's nothing I've ever seen before. Come look at this." With a disturbed look on his face, Dr. Cayden points over to another door.

Dr. Cayden opens the door to reveal Harry Bennette, age 18. Harry had been working the night of the murders. His throat had been ripped open and he was missing fingers. Dr. Cayden was lucky to identify him. As the fingers and face had been chewed off. His vest and name tag were bagged up as were all the victims clothes.

"These claw marks are of no animal I've ever seen, and also look at this." Dr Cayden points again but to an opening in the arm socket. The bones twist in unnatural shapes. The arms are detached and at Harry's side. He is missing fingers but his head is intact.

"It's almost as if the arms were twisted off." Cayden says.

"If they weren't going to clean up the bodies, why sever the limbs after death? Don't most people only sever limbs for torture or to make the body more transferable." Gus says.

"It wasn't just severed, Gus. It was torn off. This was no animal but I don't see how a human could do this either. The strength needed to tear the limbs off would be inhuman. I'd say the fingers and faces missing, meant the killer would be trying to conceal the identity. But they were found scattered and dental records would've done the job." Stan replies.

"Sir, there is a crushed skull under one of these sheets. There's teeth marks on most of the victims, a mix of human and beastial." Dr. Cayden says.

"We need to tell someone about this." Gus says.

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"Look Gus, we have no idea who we can trust. That email came from the chief, which means he knew about it. Something isn't adding up. How is he gonna know about a call that we were at the very least, the second responders too? Then act like we abandoned our post? Nothing about this makes sense." Stan whispers to Gus.

"Maybe the chief misread?" Gus responds.

Stan looks in disbelief. "Do you know how long that report would be? Who do you want to report this to?"

"Fucking someone!" Gus throws his hands up, visibly upset and distraught at the present situation.

"Gus, if you tell anyone I won't be able to protect you from the backlash if I'm right." Stan warns.

"What are you Stan? A secret agent all of the sudden? This is bigger than us!"

"If you don't calm down, I swear to god!" Stan shouts but is cut off.

"Let's recap shall we. We have several bodies. The only lead we had escaped. We have no idea who he was or where he was going." Gus reiterates, visibly scared.

"Gus I'm telling you we can solve this ourselves. Something is going on and the chief is involved or at least knows about it." Stan, trying to make his point.

"You don't like me, Stan. I don't trust you. I still don't know why the department keeps us as partners after all your "senior complaints". I can't tell you how many times I requested a transfer. Even as a rookie." Gus says his voice shaking.

"First off let's not do this in front of the doc…" Stan says.

"See! Right there! It's that attitude. I'll be handing in my letter of resignation as soon as possible. Gus says, gripping his fists.

"Where's the doctor?" Stan asks.

The doctor snuck away while Gus and Stan were having their quarrel. Gus and Stan rush back to the front desk.

"Yes sir. They said they were YOUR officers…" Stan hits the dial tone before Dr. Cayden could finish his frantic sentence.

"We weren't done making our report yet." Stan says.

"I wasn't talking to anyone. It went straight to voicemail." Dr. Cayden protests.

"Now, if it went straight to voicemail why did it sound more like a response and less like a call me back sort of message?" Stan asks sarcastically.

Dr. Cayden is scared and looking for the correct response on Gus and Stan's faces.

"Sir, we aren't gonna hurt you but I need you to explain to me. Beginning to end. What happened, how did the bodies get in your possession?" Gus asks.

Dr. Cayden was too shocked to respond.

"Ok…have it your way." Stan says impatiently. He slowly begins to push papers off Dr. Cayden's desk.

"What no kids, that's a shame?" Stan says before swiping a picture frame of Dr. Cayden and his wife to the ground. Breaking it.

"Stan! What are you doing!?" Gus yells.

"Shut up Gus!"

"The chief specifically told me not to share the details except to the officers HE sent." Dr. Cayden got more upset.

"We are the officers HE sent!" Stan says begrudgingly.

Stan grabs him by the shirt collar.

"Tell me! Who gave you the bodies!" Stan shouts.

Gus puts his hand on Stan's forearm.

"Stop Stan!" Gus shouts.

"No, I won't stop. Gus, this is how you get answers!" Stan says gritting his teeth.

"Maybe to some asshole at a bar, I would be less likely to protest but Stan, this is a doctor with a good reputation with the police department." Gus says.

Stan just looks at Gus then back at Dr. Cayden still gritting his teeth. Seeing the fear in Caydens eyes. Stan let him go. Stan storms out of the office.

"I'll be sure to bring your names up to the chief when you leave." Dr. Cayden is still shaking.

"Do what you have to do, doctor. I'm sorry for the trouble." Gus leaves in fear of what is about to happen.

In fear of what was to become of his job and his life. Large amounts of bodies appear, a partner who is willing to go outside of, not just training but the law itself, to get what he wants. An estranged mystery having to do with his boss. Gus found himself in a world of uncertainty. He wanted to do real police work and knew of the grit required. But to experience a truly difficult case with so much carnage and no real leads was a different beast all on its own.

Gus gets in the passenger side of the police cruiser. Stan is waiting for him standing outside the car with a cigarette. After the car door slams Stan gets in the car with his cigarette visibly upset and silent.

"Could you please put that out, it's giving me a headache." Gus says as he is about to take a sip from his coffee cup.

Stan takes the cup, removes the lid and throws his cigarette into it and puts the lid back on the cup and hands it back to Gus.

"That better for ya?" Stan says, still angry.

Gus stares into his cup for a second and throws it out the window. Disgusted and unsurprised as Stan sits with a small grin on his face.

"I should write you up for littering among insubordination." Stan says smirking and thinking very highly of himself.

"I should turn you in, for abuse of power and assault!" Gus tries to stand his ground.

Stan slaps Gus upside the back of the head.

"May as well make it two counts." Stan slaps him again.

"Want to make it three, how about four Gus!" Stan shouts, short of losing his temper again.

"You and I both know it'd only be one individual count of assault two counting me. Not each individual hit counts as a case. Asshole…" Gus mutters.

"What was that! Speak up! Something is going on and I'm gonna find out what it is! You want to stop me! You want to go to the chief! Go ahead!"

Gus thought to himself for a moment. He solemnly sunk into his seat. Stan pulls the car over.

"Here's your chance. Make sure to say hi to your wife for me." Stan said fully aware that Gus had no idea what his wife was up to.

Gus decided it was best to let Stan cool off. So he got out of the car and decided to walk back to the station. Stan angrily drove off to clear his head. In retrospect, Stan knew he could have handled the entire situation better. His anger always got the best of him. Ever since his wife had left him for a much softer man. Stan felt the world owed him a win. So taking the wife of someone whom Stan deemed lesser was a worthy prize in his eyes. And Stan did feel Gus was lesser. Gus was larger and slower than Stan, definitely more inexperienced in police work. Gus was a more meek man. Just a pushover and a yes man. Stan however was a more willful and head strong man. He knew what he wanted and didn't care how others viewed him. He had been on the force long enough to know when he was pushing his bounds. Stan was in way over his head and with no one to trust he just needed some comfort to get his head straight. Nothing, a drink and some company wouldn't fix.

Gus walked down the street still in uniform. He hoped Stan would turn around but knew he wouldn't. Gus didn't want to walk but for his safety and to avoid Stan's wrath he decided it was better for both of them. Gus, for the life of him, couldn't figure out why Stan hated him so much. Gus chalked it up to Stan being an old cop who's been there too long. An old cop who got stuck with the rookie.

After looking up from the ground and escaping his thought process Gus realized he was nearby the grocery store, where this all started. He got towards the entrance. The doors slid open like they always did. Another one of the strangest things about this case was the fact the grocery store spent no time opening back up. A few of their employees and customers are slaughtered and not even a public apology. To Gus, the community had been acting strangely. But not in the way you would think. A small town where multiple people have been chopped up and not even a missing persons report. No vigils, no funeral plans. The call itself said shots fired but there was no bullet damage on the bodies. There were numerous people here and yet no one heard anything. From the looks of it, nothing had been followed up on. Things like this just don't go unnoticed. Maybe Stan was on to something. And maybe the Chief knew about it.

A woman at a desk shouts to Gus as he enters the grocery store.

"Hi, welcome. How can I help you today?" The young lady at the customer service desk asks.

"Yes um, I came to ask a few questions to some of the employees. On account of some other employees here having gone missing? You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would ya?" The less Gus gave away the more she could tell him Gus thought.

"No, everyone was here today. But if you do find them, maybe tell them to show up for work. We have several open shifts and I'm tired of covering my manager's mistakes." the cashier complained.

"Is your manager in today?" Gus asked.

Her face turned white. "No?" she hesitated.

"I'm not tryna get you in trouble. I'm trying to make sure everyone's ok." Gus nodded consolingly.

"Yeah, she's in the office. Just over there" she points.

"If you go to the end of the registers, pass by the restrooms, down that hallway is her office."

Gus followed the directions and came to a door labeled managers office. He knocked twice.

"C'mon on in." The manager hollered with a chipper tone.

A name plate sat on her desk, Jennifer Winnifred She was a red haired woman with a heavy southern accent. Wearing a green collared shirt unlike the vests the other employees wear. She has a boombox sitting on the filing cabinet. She was singing along to Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson. Gus only recognized it because his mother used to sing it while she cleaned.

"Yes hi,ya ma'am." He hesitated. "I'm officer Gus Stein. I'm sorry to bother you."

She looked puzzled. "Okay? How can I help you?" she continued bobbing her head and humming along.

"Ma'am do you know Harry Bennette?"

"No, but with how todays going I could have lost my brain and don't know it." she giggled to herself.

"What's wrong with your brain?" Gus jokes.

"Well to start I got this nasty cut on the back of my head with no clue of how I got it. I left a whole shift open, with no coverage. Now my other employees and I are working doubles all week. Ya ever feel like you're missing a day? She said in her strong southern accent.

"Man, got to hate that!" Gus said awkwardly while making mental notes about needing the coverage.

"Yeah, is there anything else I can help you with? I'm sorry I'm really busy." The manager exclaimed.

"Ma'am were you here on June sixth of this year?" Gus asked.

"Uh let me check the schedule. June sixth?" She stopped.

She paused.

And almost as if she was in a trance. She began to mouth the June sixth as if she was having trouble finding it on the calendar. She started to whisper it to herself and repeat it faster. She stopped. Her voice began to crackle and pop. The lights above Gus's head started to fizzle. Her face snapped and looked at Gus with a wicked smile. She began to whisper it again.

"Ma'am are you ok?" Gus asked.

"June sixth…June sixth…June sixth…"

Jennifer Winnifred began to get louder and louder till she was practically screaming. Gus is shocked and too scared to move from his chair.

JUNE SIXTH! JUNE SIXTH! JUNE SIXTH!

People started to gather outside her office to see the commotion. She stood up. She took one big breath. It sounded like all of the air was taken out of her lungs, followed by a croaking sound. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She collapsed back in her chair with her head on the desk, eyes wide open. Bleeding from the mark on her skull and her eyes and ears.

"Someone call an ambulance!" Gus yelled frantically before checking her pulse.

She was already dead…

As someone dialed 911 Gus decided it was best to leave. If Chief Fields were involved and Stan was right. He did not want the Chief thinking he was poking around in his business. And he didn't want to listen to Stan holler at him for letting the Chief know what he had been up to. If Stan were wrong then Gus had just left the scene where he could have been easily identified. Possibly even helped. Gus decided to go home and make a drink to calm his nerves. He told no one what he had witnessed.

Stan made it back to the precinct. He headed straight for the chief's office to confront him about his emails. He saw Misty Stein. In the chief's office, talking to him, smiling and twirling her hair. She had that same look on her face the other night. She saw Stan and her smile instantly fell. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Stan would say they looked guilty but he knew their encounter could have been anything. Could've been about Gus, or him. If she was fooling around with Stan who was to say it was only him. She certainly wasn't fooling around with her husband. Confronting her there and then would wreak havoc on Stan's life.

Stan decided to turn in the squad car and head to the bar not even out of uniform. He sat alone. He had a rum and coke. Irritated about his day. Chief had it out for Stan and he knew it. Every advance Stan made, Chief Randy Fields was two steps ahead of him. Stunting his career. Stan believed him to be a half ass chief and even more of a half assed cop. Stan saw him as a suck up until he was able to get comfy. It was bad enough that Stan went to high school with Randy. They were on the same football team. No one was supposed to know it, but the coaches used play positions as tokens for their card games. Randy's father was the elementary gym teacher and flag football coach. He was also Stan's Co-Coach Stan was seen to just have natural talent for the game. Stan's coach (who's name Stan couldn't remember.) would acknowledge that. Too bad Stan's high school coach had a bad poker face. If the bet wasn't evident, Randy's father bet that if he won the draw Randy would be quarterback. If he lost he would owe the coach bears tickets. Randy's father called a good bluff and won the hand. Randy was announced to be the quarterback. Stan became the running back. That was only the beginning of Chief Randy Fields getting ahead of Stan.

As Stan continued his drink. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Misty enter the bar. He pretended not to notice her behind him as he waved the bar for another drink.

"Stan…" Misty said sheepishly.

"Yes? Can I help you ma'am." Stan said mockingly.

"First off it wasn't like that." Misty said.

"And what was it like?" he said, slightly inebriated.

"I was looking for Gus, when Randy stopped me. I was hoping you'd come find and rescue me."

"Oh so you and Fields are on a first name basis?"

"Don't do that Stan."

By this point Stan had a few. And was finding it hard to filter his tone. He liked Misty. He wasn't sure if he could trust her and he didn't. She's cheating on her husband with his patrol partner. For Stan to believe that it couldn't happen to him (again) was ludicrous.

"Stan, I'm putting my life on the line even being here now, if that's not showing I'm dedicated to you. I don't know what to do." Misty protested.

"That's manipulative. Even the construction of your sentences sounds like a lie. I'd bet you'd say those similar sentences to your husband." Stan says.

"What sentences?!" Misty responded.

"Oh Stan, what you saw couldn't possibly be what you saw. You only saw it with your own two eyes!" Stan gritted.

"Oh fuck off Stan!" Misty walks away.

"Sure. Walk away. Thank you." He tips his drink.

She can be heard sobbing as she leaves the bar. Stan sits by himself with his thoughts till the bar closes.