Legacy of Darkness (2 page)

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Unconfirmed it may be, but Summer couldn

Shaking those thoughts aside Summer continued with the task at hand, checking the body for the course of death. But she couldn’t find anything, no obvious bruising, cuts or contusions, there didn

“Every thing ok Ma’am?” The Officer asked seeing the confused look on his superiors face.

“Fine. I think” Summer responded as she shook her head. “It’s just, well I’m not sure this is a murder investigation”

“How so?” The Officer asked looking a little lost himself

“Well there’s just no sign of an attack, no bruises, marks or anything. If I had to guess I would say the course of death was a medical issue. Heart attack, aneurism, or maybe something drug related. I will have to wait for the coroner to perform a full autopsy before I know any more” Summer sighed as she climbed to her feet, she looked as her watch and then gave the uniformed officer a grave look.

“When forensics get here tell them that DI Richards wants a full report on her desk Asap.” she told him sternly

“Yes Ma’am” the Officer replied without hesitation.

“Thank you” Summer said as she gave him a flirtatious smile before turning on her heels and walking back to her car.

It had been a long forty eight hours and Summer was still waiting for the coroners report on her dead victim, who had now been confirmed as missing teenager Jessica Folds. It was a distracting and pressured time as there were so many people demanding answers, the poor girls family, the media and not to mention her boss. With nothing to go on the case couldn’t proceed until she had a course of death and hopefully some kind of evidence in the form of some DNA.

Summer was just about to go and get a another coffee her third of the day and it was still only nine thirty, when the phone at her desk began ringing.

As Summer answered the phone she heard the distinctive German tones of head coroner Dr Eric Von Wolf.

“Hello, Eric Von Wolf here” The Doctor greeted in his thick German accent. The man had lived in England for over three decades yet he still retained a heavy German accent

“Is this the desk of DI Summer Richards”

“It certainly is” Replied a cheery Summer.

“You may not sound so enthusiastic when you hear what I have to tell you”

The Doctor said all too gravely.

“What did you find” Summer queried as all the energy drained from her voice.

“I think its best you come down to my office, I need to show you something and speak to you in person.”

“Ok that’s no problem” Summer told the Doctor “I will be down there right away”

“Very well” The Doctor responded as Summer hung up, she was in no mood to wait she wanted answers and she wanted them now.

Death is an art we make it with our hands. So his master had told him. But he had never bought into that. Nonsense he called it, arrogant ramblings of a narcissistic mad man trying to justify his need to murder and his ever evolving God complex.

But after killing the young student he had started to see his masters point. The power it gave him holding the young girls life in his hands, knowing he could end her existence whenever he chose. It felt magnificent. He also shuddered with pleasure as he thought about the young girls white flesh, how it felt so silky and smooth when he ran his hands over her dieing body. Her sweet red lip

Yes he had delivered her from mediocrity and saved her from a fate far worse than death, the ancient curse of ageing.

Summer arrived at the coroner

As Summer entered the building she could see the tall well dressed figure of Eric Von Wolf waiting for her in the lobby.

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The sixty three year old mortician looked extremely dapper and much younger than his years suggested in a grey Italian suit, black designer shoes and his greying hair slicked back with product.

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Dr Von Wolf led Summer down a cold and empty grey corridor to a heavy metal door, the Doctor took out a huge set of key

“What did you want to show me” asked a bemused Summer as she scanned the room realising she was in Dr Von Wolfs autopsy room. The room was a steel grey colour with tables and desks all adorned with various medical equipment. Some of which Summer recognised like scalpels and scissors and some implements that she had never seen before. Von Wolf walked over to one of his desks and pulled out two pairs of surgical gloves from a small rectangle box, handing one pair to Summer and placing the other pair on his own hands. Summer pulled the tight latex gloves over her hands as she followed the pathologist to his metal autopsy table, where a body covered by a single white sheet lay in wait. The Doctor didn’t say a word as he walked over to the table and slowly pulled the sheet off the body.

“There are a number of interesting things that I discovered during my examination” Von Wolf started to explain. “The most notable of which was the fact the victim had been drained of over eighty percent of her blood.”

“But how?” Summer interjected “There was no blood at all at the crime scene and the body was clean there were not cuts or wounds at all let alone one large enough for such blood loss.”

“No wounds apart from the ones on the victims neck” Von Wolf explained

“On her neck” Summer said as she furrowed her brow in confusion

“Yes, they are small wounds easy to miss for the untrained eye, but if you look here along the jugular you will see two small puncture wounds”

As Summer lent in for a closer look she saw the two tiny wounds on the victims neck, she took a step back in horror as visions of Vampires invaded her mind.

“Yes” Von Wolf said matter of factly “That was my reaction also. I have never seen anything like this in over thirty years of doing this job and against all my best judgement only one explanation came to mind…”

“Vampire!” Summer cut in her voice laced with doubt and disbelief. “But that’s just impossible Vampires don’t exist there just stories”

“Well if you can offer me another explanation I am all ears, believe me”

“there must be” Summer said as she desperately tried to think of another way the victim could of lost so much blood, but almost inevitably she came up with nothing.”

“I keep telling myself the same thing” Von Wolf told Summer “ But there is nothing I know of that could take so much blood via two small holes in the victims neck, its just impossible and as the great Sherlock Holmes once said. If you eliminate the impossible. Then whatever is left no matter how improbable must be the truth.

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“That doesn’t mean our Perp is a Vampire though” Summer said sternly trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince Von Wolf.

“Agreed but it’s a remarkable coincidence you have to agree”

“Perhaps” Summer sighed “But I still don’t buy this Vampire theory and if I go back to my boss with that he will hang me out to dry and probably have me committed while he’s at it”

“You will have my report and full backing” Von Wolf tried to ensure the young detective

“I stand Corrected he will hand us both up to dry” Summer said without a hint of humour in her voice.

“You will have to tell him something” Von Wolf told her

“And I will” Summer said confidently “I have a name Oliver Bloom and that is what I will tell him.”

“Before you go there is one more thing you should know, the victim had died her hair, her natural colour was red.”

“Lots of kids dye their hair to hide colours they don’t like, I don’t see why that is important.”

“When I ran a trace I found this particular shade of red to be very rare and extremely unique. So unique in fact only members of a certain family sport that particular shade of red, your family” Von Wolf said as he looked Summer in the eye.

“Your saying I’m related to this girl” Summer asked getting more ever confused as she was certain she had never met this girl in her life.

“Are you sure. I mean I don’t know this girl”

“I’m sure” Von Wolf said his tone stern and grave “I ran a blood test and there’s a ninety eight percent chance that you are related to Jessica folds.”

“Well if that’s the case it is definitely something I will look into” Summer admitted

“But for now I have to concentrate on the case in hand and work out how I am going to track down a man who has remained hidden for nearly twelve months.”

Doctor Von Wolf smiled at Summer as he carefully placed the sheet back over the body before pulling off his latex gloves. Summer followed suit removing her gloves and throwing them into a nearby waste bin. With her hands free Summer extended her arm and shook the Doctors hand before leaving the autopsy room.

Not sure what to make of the Doctors comment’s about being related to the victim or indeed any of the information she had received in the autopsy room. Summer left the coroners office none the wiser and unable to shake the preposterous theory that her Perp could be a Vampire. There had to be some other explanation, there just had to be. Vampires are just fictional characters that belong in teen romance novels and in the movies. Summer was determined to get to the bottom of this investigation one way or another and Oliver Bloom was the only clue she had. She just had to work out how and where to find him and maybe the best place to start would be the collage Jessica had attended; Maybe someone had seen Oliver the night the she had died perhaps someone even new the man. There was only one way to find out….

Back at the station Summer had been summoned to her superiors office, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Greenhorn. Adam was an extremely driven and intelligent man who was in his early forties, he was clean cut in good shape thanks to frequent trips to the gym and Summer had to admit not bad looking. His greying hair giving him a rather distinguished George Clooney look.

Summer tentatively knocked on Adams door before walking in and closing the door behind her. The DCI looked up from his paperwork and smiled at Summer, motioning at her to sit down with his hand. The pretty young detective sat her self down opposite her superior officer and waited for him to speak.

“So what do you know” Adam asked calmly

“Not much I’m afraid” Summer admitted. “Victim died of extreme blood loss..”

“Blood loss?” repeated a surprised Adam. “I was led to believe the crime scene was clean”

“It was Sir” Summer confirmed

“So what happened to all the blood?”

“We are working on it Sir. But in the meantime I do have a name, Oliver Bloom.”

“And what do we know about him”

“Again not much” Summer said to her bosses exasperation.

She watched the Detective Chief Inspector as he sighed, followed by an impatient look that slowly crept across his face. Hoping to avoid a rollicking Summer quickly relayed what she did know about her prime suspect.

“Oliver Bloom is a thirty four year old petty criminal, cautioned and fined for minor theft and GBH but was reported missing by his family twelve months ago”

“So he resurfaces a year later to kill some random teenage girl” Queried an unconvinced Adam Greenhorn.

“I know” Summer agreed “It doesn’t make much sense but it’s the only lead we have.”

“Well you better follow it up then” Adam told her “Because we are going to need answers on this one and fast”

“I understand” Summer said as she leaned back on her chair. “I’m hoping our suspect was spotted at some point during the night Jessica was murdered. So I am going to contact the collage and arrange some interviews with the kids who attended the party maybe someone will have something useful to tell us.”

“Maybe” Adam said “But most likely they were all too drunk or high to remember anything that may help us”

“Shall I not bother then”

“No, no conduct your interview we need to follow every avenue we have.”

“Yes sir” Summer responded dutifully as she climbed to her feet ready to leave Adams office.

The following morning Summer woke up a good hour early she wanted time to shower, have some breakfast and prepare her notes for the impending interviews, she knew Jessica’s murder would still be raw in the poor kids minds. So she wanted her questions to be few and straight to the point. For the sake of the kids and her own sanity Summer wanted to get the interviews over as quickly as possible.

Summer stepped into the shower and closed her eyes as the warm water saturated her naked body. She closed her eyes as she washed her luscious red locks, working the shampoo and conditioner slowly into her blazon hair. Summer let the shower wash the conditioner out of her long hair before grabbing the soap and lathering her soft silky skin.

Summer climbed out of the shower and began drying herself off when her phone suddenly began ringing. Thanks to the specially allocated ring tone Summer knew instantly that it was her boyfriend Steven calling. No doubt desperate to hear Summers voice as she hadn’t seen him for a couple of days now.

It was the one major downside of the job, it sometimes gave very little time for family and relationships many of those in the police force had suffered broken romances and shattered marriages thanks to the job. Many husbands and wives were simply unable cope with the danger of the job and the sheer amount of time that they lost with their loved ones. Summer herself had seen several relationships disappear down the drain because of her commitment to the force. But Steve seemed different he seemed more laid back and understanding than previous boyfriends, he was certainly good looking and sexy as hell and Summer really hoped that she could make this one work.

She could barley hold back her smile as she answered the phone looking forward to hearing Steve’s warm and sexy voice and the comfort it gave her.

The conversation was short but sweet as Summer didn’t have much time that morning. Steve asked how she was and how things were going and if he could see her soon. Summer assured him that she would be able to see him in the next couple of days come hell or high water, they both told one another that they were being missed and exchanged I love you’s before reluctantly hanging up.

Summer got herself dressed as she thought longingly about Steve’s gorgeous face, his bright blue eyes, his cropped brown hair and chiselled jaw line perfectly framed by his five O’ clock shadow. She then allowed herself to think about his bulging biceps and abb’s, while she squeezed herself into a pair of figure hugging blue jeans and pulled on a white knitted crew neck jumper. She left the en-suite bathroom and picked up her brown leather boots as she walked through the bedroom and into the main living room. She placed the boots by her white leather couch and opened the door that led to the kitchen. Inside the apartments immaculate and ultra modern kitchen, Summer made her self a hot cup of instant coffee, she much preferred ground but she was usually too pushed for time to bother, she sipped the coffee as she poured herself a bowl of cereal. Summer then made sure her notes and photo’s of the suspect were all in order Before putting on her boots and full length rain coat. She left the flat and made her way to the car park and her Audi TT.

Summer wasn’t surprised to see a large memorial of flowers and messages for young Jessica Folds building steadily around the collage gates. By all accounts he had been a popular girl and her fellow students had taken her sudden death hard. She drove slowly and carefully through the entrance and found a place to park, she took her folder containing her notes and made her way to the collage building.

Summer Entered the collage through the main entrance and made her way to reception. As she walked through the corridor she couldn