"Clear those reporters out!" Detective Mjölby ordered the police officers who were setting up police tape. The city park had turned into a chaotic scene.
A swarm of television news vans had descended, cameras capturing every angle. What made matters worse was the presence of freelance bloggers armed with drones, broadcasting the unfolding events in real-time.
"I wish I could shoot those drones down," Detective Mjölby muttered, his frustration palpable. The situation was straightforward:
A landlord brutally torn apart by his tenant, though witnesses claimed the assailant had vanished into the property during the assault. Some speculated about an invisible dog being responsible. Remnants of dogs, along with evidence of a makeshift dog kennel, were discovered on the premises, hinting at the possibility of a trained dog attack. However, a neighbor had seen no dog, and the tenant remained tight-lipped.
The following morning, an FBI agent named Clayman fell victim to a savage attack while smoking by her vehicle in the same park. This was the very spot where another woman's body, along with her dog, was discovered the next morning. Yet, human involvement was suggested, given that the culprits had returned to the crime scene. Clayman's attacker had broken into her car unnoticed by a nearby officer, subsequently attacking and killing a female jogger and her German Shepherd.
The officer had heard the car alarm - and then it went off. Then the sound of barking - that was cut short and the brief shriek of a whistle, but the officer failed to intervene. An odd detail: the attacker chewed up the metal 'rape whistle'.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Earlier that same day, a clown slashed his wrist in front of children at a birthday party, only to be taken to the hospital and stabilized. He was in a psychiatric ward and his doctors were delaying the interview with police. Rumors circulated about an incredibly realistic portrayal of an invisible dog attack. Almost too realistic to be staged.
Now, a fourth victim—the body count was growing. Forensic analysis suggested the marks resembled those of a dog attack or a highly trained attack dog. However, peculiar clues emerged, including a wire tool, a broken dog tooth, and the investigation of Clayman's vehicle where dog hairs and paw prints were found inside. Oddly, the break-in of the FBI vehicle occurred in front of a patrol car's camera, which recorded nothing substantial. Neither the dog nor the assailant appeared on camera, somehow avoiding detection. The opening of the vehicle door had slipped past the officer on guard, a vigilance per Detective Mjölby's instructions.
Detective Mjölby was certain that, regardless of the method, human hands were orchestrating these murders using an attack dog. He needed to decipher the pattern of these animal-like assaults. There was something more to this grim puzzle.
Each passing day brought more attacks, and the pattern seemed to become both clearer and more elusive. Detective Mjölby accumulated a growing list of victims, with a forensics lab and a workspace resembling a somber, interconnected network of chambers. Within these chambers of darkness, he paced, pondering the terror that was unfolding. The death toll mounted relentlessly. Was there no way to halt this unseen menace?
"I don't believe in you," Detective Mjölby stated, eyeing the composite sketch of the invisible dog. It was a figment of imagination, a boogeyman. Beneath the notion of this monstrous phantom lay a human being, a human mind—the true wellspring of the murders. This was no mere work of a typical animal.
Alone in the shadows of his study on this malevolence, Detective Mjölby deliberated.
An invisible dog? Impossible...