Song for this chapter is
Blood//Water by Grandson

-00-

-Present Day-

Delmore Police Station
14 November, 2019
8:30 pm

Detective Gomez chewed on the last bite of his tuna sandwich and wiped his hands. His eyes went back to studying the suspect board that had made the station it's home for the past couple of days. His eyes narrowed at the smiling portrait of the case's victim at the centre of the board.

' Where did you go, Alishka?', he asked to no one in particular.

As if on cue, one of the younger officials barged in through the door and reported,

"Sir, something happened!"

The detective turned to him and asked,

" What's going on, Ravi?"

"Sir, they......some visitors.....they...they found a body near Oakmoor beach. They are claiming it's a girl."

" What? Are you sure? What did they say?"

"A lady called. She was frantic and was speaking in French. I asked Nirav to handle the call since he can understand French. He ended the call and told me that the lady and some of her friends were just out sightseeing and found a hand sticking out of the sand on the beach."

"Did they touch the body?"

"No, Nirav asked them not to until the police arrived. Maybe it is her. We need to rush, sir.

And without another word, Detective Gomez grabbed his gun and rushed out of the station with the other officers at his heels.

___________

The Oakwood beach had once been home to warm summers, purple pink sunsets and a cluster of families, now was a sight of caution tapes and red and blue lights.

Detective Gomez shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat before racing forward. Ravi trailed behind him. It almost seemed like the whole town wanted to see a dead body.

It's hers. I heard it's her body. It's definitely hers. He shook his head at their insensitivity and made his way towards the lifeguards who were hovering over what seemed like a long piece of human flesh. As he got to them and looked at the body, his eyes widened.

He immediately covered his mouth as raw vomit traveled up his throat. He gagged at the monstrosity in front of him.

Her eyes were wide open, almost lifelike. It almost seemed like she was looking at him. But the most disturbing part of the whole ordeal was that whoever killed her had first cut off her tongue and then slashed her neck.

Whoever killed her must've hated her guts.

But who could do something so evil and terrible to a 17 year old? And why? How could a petty personal vendetta against someone turn into murder?

Many questions clouded his mind as he watched the paramedics put her body in a bag, when suddenly, his eyes fell on her hand. A small piece of what looked like paper was being held hostage in the clutches of her fist. He stopped the paramedic who was closing the bag and started undoing her tightened fist. Once he got a hold of the note, he indicated the paramedic to continue with his job. As they took off with the body, he looked around to see if anybody was near, and finding nobody, he slowly opened the note. And as he did that, his blood ran cold.

The note read: 'Dead girls can't smile, can they, detective?'

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