Sheriff Norton was not acustomed to Murder Cases. He’d been Sheriff in Acaster for three years, and in all that time he’d only dealt with two homicides. So it was quite a shock to him, when, lugging his not insubstantial frame up the Baxtor manor staircase, he encountered the dead body of a woman he had never seen, lying on the ground in the foyer, with her head almost severed clean.. well no, it could hardly be called clean, but it was nearly severed off of her body nevertheless.

Jesus, he thought, turning his face away in shock. It would be easier to look at, he supposed, if it wasn’t so messy.

Sheriff Norton looked back towards the dead body and felt his breakfast rise back up to the top of his throat. He struggled to swallow it back down. Upon reflection, it probably wouldn't have been any easier if it wasn't so messy.

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“Jack, could you pack those over there, please?” Felix gestured towards a pile of boxes ready to be filled with Halloween candy.

“Sure thing, Paster Drover.” Jack was Union church’s only youth pastor, and as Felix went to fetch a cup from the water cooler he mused that one day Jack would replace him in the pulpit. If God sees fit, he thought. If God sees fit.

“Dad, have you seen Micheal?” Kyle asked from behind his father.

Felix turned around. “Not since breakfast, why?”

“Well, he was supposed to help me move some of my stuff into the apartment this afternoon, but he’s not at the house and he hasn't seen my texts.”

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“Well, have you tried Bev’s?”

Yeah, I have. She doesn't know where he is either.” Kyle sighed. “The carnival looks like it's coming together.”

“It really is. Y'know, I was a little worried at first that we wouldn't be able to make it as big as we usually do, especially after having to postpone it two years in a row. But by the grace of god, this year it’s lookin’ to be bigger than ever before.”

“By the grace of God.” Kyle smiled.

“Amen.” Felix patted his son on the shoulder.

Kyle shuffled around for a bit “I should go, got boxes to pack up at the house.”

“Alright. I’ll let you know if Mike shows up.”

“Thanks.”

--------------

Jack climbed into the moving van, carrying a box full of peanut butter chocolate bars. As he set the box down he noticed something, a small, thick, dark blue tuft of hair next to the box. He reached down to pick it up, and hesitated. It was probably teeming with germs, it could even be carrying rabies. Those thoughts and a dozen others swam around in his head as he went to the janitors closet to fetch a pair of latex gloves.

The closet was right opposite the entrance to the men's bathroom, and Jack could hear someone hacking up something awful.

“Hrek. Gulh. Cough, cough.”

Someone must have one hell of a cold, he thought, pulling a white latex glove over his hand.

As he left the janitor’s closet, he almost crashed into Micheal Drover, or at least, Micheal almost crashed into him.

“Oh, hey, you alright?”

Micheal backed up slightly, his clothes disheveled, an unsure look on his face.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just got some bad allergies.” He eyed Jack’s hands. “What you got those on for?”

“There's this bit of.. animal fur in the moving van. A good handful of it, all dark blue and matted. Weird, eh?”

Jack backed away a little. Micheal had become keenly alert, and he sensed something strange in the pastor’s son's eyes.

“Yeah, he muttered. “Weird. Look, I gotta go, I told my brother I'd help him move some of his stuff.”

“Okay. Be seein’ ya.”

Micheal jogged down the hall towards the main section of the church.