Chapter 705: Thorn And Malone

“M-Mh-Hmmm~ A little bit of intestine here. Oh! Your eyeball can act as a focal point over here~ Shove that up there~ And now for me to take a bite of your kidney~ Mmhh~ Dewicious!”

Keyla stepped back from her work, squatted down and angled her fingers as a picture frame. “Perfection!”

Keyla went to check the time and her eyes widened in surprise. ’Oh wow, an hour and a half? I really am out of practice. Yikes. Good think he cleared the floor for statutory. This could have been awkward.’

Covered head to toe in blood, Keyla skipped to the adjoining bathroom and took a quick shower. She then picked up all her DNA before changing into a spare set of clothes. She then returned to the bedroom and looked at her overall work, so satisfied. ’I hope Apollo likes this… I wonder if it will turn him on? I doubt it, but a gal can dream.’

Keyla then reached out for something on the desk next to her. Axel’s communication crystal. A proper secure one at that so she could pull a shenanigan. With a wicked grin, she coughed, picking up her old accent she used to use, as she called a number she knew by heart.

Ecumenopolis 1: Major Galactic Crimes Headquarters:

“This is the major crimes tip line, how can I be of assistance?” A woman spoke and a moment later her face drained of colour. “Oh my days! Margie Marge! Is that you! I thought you would be a bit further along than a receptionist at this point, but hey ho. I-”

“Aaahhhhhhh!” The woman screamed and threw the communicator in her hand across the room. It was, however caught by a man. Her boss. “Marge? What’s wrong?” He asked, confused, looking at the communicator.

“It’s her! She’s back! I would recognise that voice anywhere!” The woman was shaking, prompting her boss to look at her confused. Putting the communicator to his ear he asked. “Who is this?”

“Well spank my ass and call me a kitten, is that Sterling Thorn I hear? My my, your voice has gotten deeper. Did your balls finally drop? Hehe~”

Sterling’s hair stood on end immediately and spoke with open malice. “Butcher…”

…

Twelve hours later…

“I’ve seen some fucked up shit, but nothing like this…” A man said to his colleague. “You’re telling me? I’m just glad I haven’t had anything to eat today. The scene would be tampered with.”

“Who do you think could have done such a thing?” The first man asked his colleague, but his response came from the door to the room.

“A monster in human clothing.”

A moment after that was said, all colour escaped from the room, leaving only black and white. Well almost every colour. The bloody red entrails all over the room were now more obvious than ever. Being the first thing your eyes were now attracted to.

“Whoa! Who are you buddy? What have you done to my crime scene?”

The man in the door was wearing a long black trench coat and a Fedora covered the top half of his face. He then took the last drag of his cigarette before putting it out on his own hand and stepped forward. “The Names Thorn. Detective Sterling Thorn. Apologise for the change in scenery, a side effect of my powers. I am here on the authority of Ecumenopolis 1. You should be expecting a call any second from your boss. This here is my crime scene now.”

The first man then frowned hearing that. “Excuse me? Sir, our planet’s Archon has just been murdered and you think you are going to-” The man’s communicator cut him off, looking at it, he turned to his partner before answering.

“Sir? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. But sir- Uh-huh. Understood.”

The man then put his communicator down and turned to his partner. “Come on. The boss said this is above our paygrade. Good luck, detective.”

Thorn stayed silent as the two departed. His eyes drawn to the newest instalment of the butcher’s handiwork.

“It never gets easier, does it Thorn?” A voice called from behind him. Standing in the doorway was a man in a getup near identical to his.

“Malone.” Thorn said with a simple head not.

“Thanks for the call Thorne, though I wish we never had to meet again under these circumstances.”

“Feelings mutual, Malone, but she is back and I thought you would want to be brought back in.”

The two shared a solemn nod before Malone turned to the remains of the former Archon of this world.

“You positive it’s her Sterling? Could be a copycat?” Malone asked, he was right to do so.

Thorn shook his head.” Unfortunately It’s the real deal. She called the tip line like she used to do. Plus look there.” He pointed to a discarded kidney. “One large bite and cast away from the rest of her mural.”

“Well shit.” Malone said as the two of them entered into a silence as they began examining the room.

Thorn took out a data pad and began jotting down key points while Malone reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and paper, causing Thorn to chuckle. “You still don’t trust tech, Dean?”

Malone gave Thorn a look and a soft chuckle. “After what happened back then? You bet your ass I don’t. Hey, look here. Footprints.”

Thorn walked over and examined. “High Heels? Well well, looks like our butcher has grown up a little bit huh? No more sneakers for her.”

The duo followed the prints into the bathroom, they ended at the shower. They would check for DNA later, but she was always good at cleaning up. The duo continued working in the monochrome for quite some time, but as they continued to examine the remains of the Archon, they realised something.

“Something is different.”

They could both feel it, the energy in the room. The way she displayed her work. It was different. In the past the butcher would commit these acts randomly, violently. But this, it seemed. Prepared.

“This was a targeted assassination, not a random murder. She is sending someone a message.” Thorn said, prompting Malone to follow up.

“So what? You think the butcher has fallen in with a guild?”

Thorne sucked his teeth. “It’s a possibility, but I don’t think so. No, I am getting a vibe more personal than that. I think our butcher found herself a partner and this…” He pointed around the room. “It was an act of love.”

Malone felt chills run down his spine. “By the stars…” He squatted down taking that in. “What sort of twisted individual would fall for someone who does this for fun? I- Huh?”

“Malone?” Thorne asked, as his former partner looked upwards and maintained a surprised expression.

“I think I found an anamorphic display?”

“A what?” Thorne asked as he walked towards Malone.

“My daughter’s an art major, I’ll show you some of her stuff later, it’s really good. I digress. Anamorphic art or Anamorphosis is a technique where a piece of art is only able to be viewed from a specific angle, or it just looks like random crap. Now, come squat here and look towards that eyeball dangling from the ceiling as the centrepiece. Is it me or does the stuff surrounding it look like a face?

Malone moved slightly and allowed Thorn to look up from where he was just. Thorn had a moment trying to adjust to the display. He looked at the eye and struggled for a moment before he realised. “That looks like no face I’ve ever seen. Alien?”

“Possibly… What is our next move, Thorn?”

Thorn stayed in that spot for a moment. Looking at the odd face in front of him. ’What are you up to, butcher?’

Thorn deactivated his Psionic power and the room’s colour returned as he stood up. “We consolidate. Gather every scrap of information we can on this Archon. There is a reason he was targeted and we will find out why. Have Lab do a full sweep. I doubt they will find anything, but make them do it. I’ll go check security footage and make a call to Olympus to give us full authority on the matter. It’s not just speculation now, so they can’t just give me a FTL fast lane to shut me up. We will have full utilities. We failed in the past Dean, but we won’t fail this time. We are catching our quarry.

…

Two Days Later:

“With a Hmm Hmm~ Here and a Hmm Hmm~ there.”

Keyla was humming a familiar tune while waiting in line. She was on planet whatchamacallit? It was irrelevant and not worth remembering. She was waiting her turn to be seen and was in a good mood thinking about how her former stalker was probably working extra hard to find her ’Bet you won’t expect this move, detective. Hehe~’

“Next!” She suddenly heard. It was her turn, finally.

Walking forward she approached the person that yelled and said in a cheery tone.

“Hi, I’m Denise, I’m here to join the army under a Psionic regiment! Where do I sign up?”

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