Autumn tales

Everything was calm in the early morning streets of Hythe 1880. The first workers started clearing the roads of horse manure. The stack seemed bigger than the day before. When suddenly, one of the workers found the body of young woman, dead. Once the crime scene was sealed by the police, the inspector, Mr Autumn, with his sidekick Louis arrived and started looking for clues. The medical examiner gave them time of death: one o'clock. Autumn asked Louis to take shots of the crime scene. Then they both went back to the office.

When arrived to the station, the sergeant chef said that a mysterious couple of men came and left an envelope for him. He opened it and a lock of long brown hair help by a blue bow was placed inside it with a note written "blue eyed Emily". Louis and Autumn looked at each other confused; and left instantly for the morgue. Because that envelope help a precious clue. Autumn stormed into the room and yelled :

"Has the victim got long brown hair?

-why yes.

-does she have blue eyes?

-well yes.

-have you identified her?"

The medical examiner was going to answer when Autumn interrupted :

"Do not tell me her name is Emily!

-yes, how do you know all this? You did not inspect the victim. Did you know her?"

Louis saw the worry on Autumn's face and replied a simple "no".

Autumn ran back to the station and began looking for old files. He was looking for the "one o'clock twins" case. Louis looked at him and asked:

"You don't think they came back from the dead? Do you? I mean, you killed them ten years ago.

-I know not what to think. Everything points to them. The two "mysterious men" that left me the letter, the time of the murder..."

He got interrupted by his wife Sophie, who came in to bring him his lunch. Before she left she told him: "the other police men are asking for you. They said that they found a new envelope and a body." He stood up, gave her a kiss then left with Louis.

The new body was found in the local park pond and the envelope on a bench not far away. Louis went to the bench to take pictures. And sat on it. Looking up he calls: "hum, Mr Autumn I think you should see this." The inspector came, sat and looked up.

"I can't see anything.

-look closer.

-still nothing, only trees.

-yes but there is a gap and threw the trees you can see...

- My house! You can see my house! That is the only thing you can see apart from the trees!

-yes exactly and that's what worries me...

-and the envelope, give it to me!"

Louis executed the order and gave it to him. It was the same type of envelope as before, with Mr Autumn's name on it. He opened it only to find a lock of blond hair this time held by a blue and green bow. The note was written "blue and green should never be seen, Melody. Tick tock tick tock ". He immediately dropped everything and went to go talk to the medical examiner.

"do you know time of death?

-the body looks about three days old and according to the broken watch in her pocket she died exactly at one o'clock.

-and the colour of her eyes?

-very unusual... one blue eye and one green one.

-thank you. To identify her start looking at women named Melody.

-how do you know?

-just trust me."

Three days passed and more and more bodies were found closer to Mr Autumn's house. Each time found with a letter for Mr Autumn. All died at the same time: one o'clock. All had a lock of hair tied with a ribbon of the victim's eye colour. Louis and Autumn haven't left the station since the beginning of the murder series. Sophie came every day to ensure her husband ate and had a minimum of sleep. But that day she did not come. The captain told Autumn to go back home to his wife, that he needed some rest. And gave the same order to Louis. Autumn asked Louis to stay at his house so that they could still continue working on the case.

It was three o'clock when the two men arrived in front of the door. Everything was silent. The door was left slightly open. They pushed it. Autumn was calling Sophie all through the house. They dashed upstairs into Autumn and Sophie's room, to see if maybe she went up for a rest. But what was there, was something they weren't waiting for.

Autumn came closer to the bed, only to find an envelope with his name on it. He opened it and took out a lock of ginger hair held by a red and green bow. A note was placed in there as well. He read it out loud. "Sophie with those green eyes your husband can recognise, have now turned red. That spring flower bloomed in the wrong season. Time is up. You have passed the one o'clock."

The end for now....