Snake's CD Project - #2

Note: I've had a hard time finding time to write. I had this piece down for awhile. So I did another edit and decided this was better than nothing. I think I need to try to cut down the lenght of my sections. I dont know how I could write 38 chapters of this lenght.


Disc 1
Track 4
House of Doom
Black Label Society
Hangover Music Vol. IV

Once you step inside, no one gets out alive.

Pete had to slow down to a crawl as they neared the home. On-lookers crowded the street corner. The police line was in full force needing to cover twice the area with a corner lot. They managed to break the crowd enough for Pete to pull the blue Ford up to the curb in front of the manor.

Justin scanned the crowd. Expression of concern and shock ruled the sea of faces. Things like this don’t happen in this neighborhood. He looked around the corner to see the news van already in place. Regret for his late arrival crept into him, even though being first on the scene wouldn’t have helped anyway.

The patrol sergeant, Grimly was etched into his shield, met Justin and Pete as they exited the car. Pete grabbed a box labeled ‘crime scene kit’ out of the back seat.

“The scene’s been secure since patrol arrived, detectives. The responding officer found the front door to be unlocked.” The three of them began to walk up the sidewalk. “He reported going straight upstairs, then immediately back out the way he came when he saw the body. No one else has been in.” Grimly looked up from the notepad he was reading the report from.

“Good,” Justin replied nodding his head in approval. “Tell your man he did a good job. Now, just hold that line and we’ll take care of it from here.”

The coroner was standing over on the other street leaning against his vehicle. He saw them and just pointed to his watch. Justin smiled the biggest fake grin he could muster and waved. He turned to Pete now, “You can check the doors, windows and the perimeter.”

“And you get the body, of course.” Pete opened the crime scene kit. Justin reached in and grabbed a pair of white latex gloves, a flashlight and some collection bags.

As they opened the front door, Pete checked it over while Justin placed covers over his shoes. “Front door looks normal,” Pete reported.

“I know this is a nice neighborhood, but I don’t believe someone leaves their front door unlocked.” Justin looked back towards the ever growing crowd. “Go around the house and look for other points of entry.”

Pete turned and went off around the side of the house. Justin stepped inside the house. Even in the early morning, the house was still dark. Most of the curtains were drawn, but there was sunlight through the hallway from the kitchen. He turned on his flashlight doing a quick sweep of the area. The carpet was clean, railings dusted, the curtains looked freshly steamed. In the living room, there were decorative pillows placed perfectly on the couch. Candles sat on the coffee table, coasters in their holders. The desk in the study wasn’t as orderly. A calculator was still on and some glasses were tossed on top of it.

Justin proceeded up the stairs to find the body. His nostril caught the sweet smell of blood, a lot of it. The flashlight spotted the legs sticking out from the bedroom doorway. As he walked closer, he could see the carpet was a deep red now and the man’s shirt was pulled out in the back.

As he lifted the shirt tail, a lightening bolt hit him in the chest. His hand caught the door jamb stopping his fall to the floor. His breath was gone. It wasn’t the smell, it wasn’t the sight of the blood and entrails, it was the X carved into the back. “Impossible,” he whispered to himself.

“Looks like the back door lock was picked. Real amateur job, too!” Pete’s voice startled Justin out of his shock. The air finally returned to his lungs. “You alright?” Pete asked as he hurried over.

“Look,” Justin lifted the shirt tail pointing to the knife marks.

“What the? Didn’t you catch the X man years ago?”

“Yeah, took me two years.” He would lay awake at night trying to figure out the psycho’s next move. He dedicated his life to catching him. It was his first big case as a detective and it had made him a legend in the city. The sight flashed back into his brain, the X man being walked into a room. The room where no one gets out alive.

“Copycat?”

“I dunno. It has been awhile. Usually they surface shortly after you nab the real killer. But it definitely seems familiar.” Justin pulled the wallet from the back pocket to confirm what he already knew. Ed Henley’s name and picture stared back at him. Sadness filled Justin’s heart as the questions filled his head: why kill him, why come here, and why do it like this?

“The X man preferred women,” Justin continued on. “Although, they were usually wealthy spending nights alone while their husband worked. Did you see if anyone contacted the wife?”

“I’ll go check that.” Pete started for the stairs.

“We need to find the maid, too!”

“How do you know that?” Pete retorted.

Justin took the index and middle finger of his right hand and pointed them back at his eyes. Then, he pointed towards the downstairs and made a circular motion with his finger.

“Of course,” Pete sounded disappointed in himself. “I’ll go let the coroner in.” With that, he was back down the stairs and out the door.

Justin’s mind raced through the crime scenes of the past. The X on the back meant even if Justin hadn’t been on the scene, he would have been called later. It was a perfect replica. It was the only thing that was a good copy. The X man worked the neck. Justin couldn’t remember the last time he had ever seen a gutting.

He had gone to Ed years earlier in need of a loan for their house and had continued a friendly relationship since. No threats to his life came to Justin’s mind. He was sure that being president of the largest bank in town probably brought some kind of danger, but that still didn’t feel right. He knew Ed fairly well, he knew the X man even better.