Kenzie had received the news two days ago. She’d been in her private office at the police station when her boss, Elliott Warren, had come in and informed her that she’d been asked by the Bridgeport police to help solve a string of crimes.
This was no surprise to Kenzie. She was always being asked to solve various cases, but she genuinely enjoyed doing it. Ever since she was a young teenager and saw her first crime show on TV, she knew she wanted to be a detective. Her specialty was finding evidence and putting criminals away. At the age of 23, she was one of the youngest investigators, but also one of the best.
“What’s the case in Bridgeport?” Kenzie had asked Elliott.
“Something very creepy, and downright unbelievable, but the chief thinks you might be able to figure out what’s going on.”
“Well, what exactly is going on?”
“Bodies have been found drained of their blood, and strange puncture wounds have been found in their necks. Crazy rumors are flying around about vampires, but of course that can’t be right. Vampires don’t exist.”
“Sir, I’m a detective, not a vampire hunter.”
“I’m aware of that, and I even told Bridgeport’s police chief that. But he was adamant that someone figure out what’s going on. He doesn’t think it’s a vampire, either. For all anyone knows, it could be a wild animal doing all this. Or it could be some crazy teenagers who have been watching too much TV. Either way, it seems like some sort of serial killer is on the loose, and they need a good detective to figure out who’s doing it and why.”
Kenzie leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. She’d never turned down a case, but vampires weren’t exactly her specialty. Even if they didn’t exist.
Elliott broke into her thoughts by saying, “This police chief called up asking about you because he heard all about you from the newspaper. Obviously he thinks you’re the only one capable of getting to the bottom of this.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it; I just don’t know how well this will work out. But I’ll do my best.”
“So you accept the case?”
“Yes, sir.”
“All right then. Should I call the chief back or do you want to?”
“I’ll do it myself. It will better if he hears it from me.”
“Your call.”
Elliott wrote the Bridgeport chief’s phone number on a nearby notepad and left Kenzie’s office, closing the door behind him. Kenzie picked up the phone and called Chief Carson Tobias.
Now, Kenzie was turning into the Bridgeport public services office, which held the city hall, military base, and police station, and parking her plum colored Requiescence. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, stepped out, locked the car, and walked up the stairs to the entrance. Inside, there were signs pointing visitors in the appropriate directions. Kenzie followed the path to the right, where signs informed her was the direction of the police station.
Once she passed through a door, a check-in desk was waiting for her.
“Can I help you?” the middle-aged woman in uniform asked.
“Yes, I’m Kenzie Howell, and I’m here to see Carson Tobias.”
“Is he expecting you?”
“Yes, he is.”
“One moment please while I let him know you’re here.”
Kenzie nodded and the woman picked up the phone and dialed an extension.
“Yes chief, I have a woman here named Kenzie Howell. She says you’re expecting her.”
The chief said something inaudible on the phone. The woman nodded and hung up. “Right this way please,” she said as she stood up.
Kenzie followed the woman down a hallway until she stopped at the fourth door on the left. After knocking, they were both invited inside.
A man who appeared to be in his 50s stood up from behind a big wooden desk and extended his hand.
“You must be Kenzie Howell. I’m Chief Carson Tobias.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kenzie said, placing her hand in the chief’s.
“That’ll be all, Allison,” Carson said to the middle-aged woman. She nodded and stepped back out into the hallway as the door clicked shut.
“Please, sit down,” Carson invited. Kenzie complied. Carson sat down behind his desk and withdrew a file from a nearby cabinet, obviously ready to get down to business.
“I know we spoke on the phone, but perhaps we should go over a few more things with some pictures,” he said.
“All right, what do you have?”
Carson handed over the file folder. “There are photos of the victims in there. As you can see, the bodies look pretty grotesque. They’re very pale and look dried up, which is what happens if there are no fluids inside.”
“You’re right, this is pretty gross.”
“Also note the puncture marks on the necks. The coroner noted that the bite radius was similar to a human’s mouth, but she didn’t rule out a wild animal.”
“Cause of death?”
“The coroner confirmed that all victims died from loss of blood.”
“If the victims died from loss of blood, that means they were alive as their blood was being, er, withdrawn.”
“Yeah, but there are plenty of tools available that could have made those puncture wounds. I highly doubt it was some mythical creature. Still, I have to ask myself, what would anyone want with all that blood?”
“There could be a number of rational explanations. Cheap medical care like blood transfusions, or even insanity from all the vampire hype in the media.”
“Well, we’ve had some other people on this case but no one’s been able to turn up anything. One day I was reading the newspaper and came across an article about you. The publishers were kind enough to leave the number for the police station in Riverview. So I gave your boss a call. I should go ahead and thank you for even coming here.”
“You’re welcome, and I promise to do my best to catch this criminal. It seems like you’ve got a blood-crazed serial killer on the loose.”
“Yeah, just what the world needs.”
Finally, Kenzie thanked Carson for his time and promised to keep him updated on any findings regarding the case. The chief gave her his email address and phone number. As she exited the police station, she saw that the sky was already dark. She surveyed the area and the street looked normal. Several people were just getting off work while others were enjoying the crisp night air and taking romantic strolls. Dogs barked and kids played. It was hard to believe that a serial killer was on the loose in this city. A serial killer who was mercilessly draining the victims of their blood.
Kenzie heaved a shudder as she sidled up to her car. She got in and locked the doors before putting on her seatbelt. She’d dealt with a lot of sociopaths during her career, but never one with this kind of delirium. She only hoped she’d be able to solve this case before any more bodies turned up.
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