Night crawled upon the city, yellow lanterns lighting the grey cobblestone streets. It was raining again. Always seemed to in Saddlebrook. Good old Pluvicael at work. Jack was thankful it was light, barely a sprinkle, and that his day was over. He’d looked around the apartment building again, a red mass of brick taller than the buildings next to it, but there weren’t any spots they could have escaped from. Not unless they jumped, but that was for tomorrow, not today. Today was over.
The rain began to pick up in earnest as he entered his own building, momentarily turning back and offering a half-hearted prayer of thanks. He closed the door and challenged the stairs, each step straining his sore legs as he half pulled himself up with the side railing. His office was on the second floor of five, but he still felt it was too much. He wanted a ground office, or an elevator.
He opened the door to his office, seeing only the reflection of rain drops coming from the window. Night had come faster than he thought, and so he removed his shoes at the doorway, tossing his coat to the floor as he headed to his room. He removed his clothes and crawled into bed, barely bothering to cover himself with a blanket despite the chill in the air. It didn’t matter much to him. He was quick to sleep.
---
White clouds filled the streets, obscuring the view of everything in sight. It had come in from the sea, almost tasting of salt. Black street lights could barely be seen, their lights only just cutting through. It was dense, more so than usual, as if the sky itself had descended.
There we no people, no figures to be seen. Just empty street. Cobbled road, buildings to each side so obscured as to be shadows, dull light permeating the area. They passed by, the cobbled bricks below, the buildings, the lights. Each one fell out of view, seen and forgotten in an instant.
The lanterns transformed, one after another, each one in succession changing in shape, each ever more bent until finally they bent at the top, forming two straight perpendicular lines, and in the distance, a shadowed form hovering above the ground. As it drew closer the shadow grew more detailed, revealing itself. A hanged figure. Man, woman, child, it was none of those things. It was only human, and hanging from the street lights, a thick black rope around its neck.
---
Jack had recalled the dream again and again throughout the day. He recalled it even now as he stared up at the apartment building. He stood upon the rooftop of an adjacent building, staring up a bit at the third floor. The structure of the two buildings was uneven, the windows of the second floor of the apartment building starting below and ending above the roof. They couldn’t have jumped from there, it was too low, especially for children. No, they’d have to have done it from the third floor.
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They could have done it on the building on the opposite side, but they didn’t. The apartments on the opposite side were rented out, while the ones on the third floor were unoccupied and, upon inspection, unlocked. That, and Jack noticed the stained blood on the rooftop when he looked out the third floor window earlier. Someone must have broken a leg, bone piercing through the skin. It wasn’t much blood, but it was blood. The luminol proved that. He knew what dried blood looked like, but proof was nice.
Reddish-brown stains lead from the rooftop edge to the entrance he’d come up from. “Of course it’s wood,” he whispered to himself. The door handle was wood, which meant no fingerprints. That left him with only suspicion. Walking down the stairwell provided little help. A few drops of blood went down, but they stopped after the first flight.
They borrowed money from a shark, escaped onto the roof of the next building when they saw they were being watched, and made there way out. Out of Saddlebrook or just around the corner, he couldn’t know.
He left the building and made his way to the nearest phone booth. He took deep breaths as he stood in front of it, preparing himself. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long.
He entered and made his call, counting the rings as he waited. On the third he got an answer. “Hey Bob, it’s Jack. Just checking in.”
“So what’d you find?”
“It’s about what I expected. They took a loan from a local shark and they sent some guys to watch them. Say they last saw’em on the 18th. Family probably got spooked and tried to escape, since there’s blood on the roof of the building next to them. Probably jumped from an unoccupied apartment on the third floor, from what I can tell.”
“Lead anywhere?”
“Nah, just down the stairs a little. After that there’s nothing.”
“I’ll send out a notice then, see if anyone’s seen someone hobbling around the area. If we don’t get anything after that, the case is done.”
“Good to know. I’ll be seeing you, Bob.”
“Yeah, see you later Jack.” He hung up the phone, taking deep breaths as he left the booth. He swore it was getting worse. He walked away as sweat dripped lightly down his back despite the chill of wind from the sea. No sooner after he left, it started to rain.
Detective Notes
Current date: May 3rd.
Crime: Missing family. Reported April 23rd, possibly missing since April 16th 18th.
Victims: Marlow Family. The father Joseph (42), mother Maylene (38), and two children, Sarah (13) and Charlie (8).
Address: 67 Broker St.
Additional Notes: No signs of struggle according to police. Neighbors might know more. Neighbor not present during prime disappearance window, reports no activity. No evidence found in apartment. Possibly borrowed from loan sharks and left town. Mother not seen leaving by sharks. Third floor apartments unoccupied and unlocked, has good view of adjacent roof. Blood found on rooftop of next door building, leads down stairwell.