Chapter 1
The sun crept up from the horizon on a cold autumn morning as police covered the corpse of a young woman on the bank of the Stetley River. An unmarked police cruiser pulled up to the scene. A tall older man with a police badge hanging from his neck exited the driver’s side door while a short gray tabby colored feline humanoid in a black pea coat exited the passenger’s side.
The officer in charge of maintaining the perimeter around of the scene lifted the yellow barricade tape for the man.
“Brace yourself Kaleb, this one is pretty bad.” The officer suggested to the man as he passed under the police barricade before stopping his tabby companion from crossing the line.
“Sorry short stuff, this is an official crime scene. We can’t have to wandering around looking for loose change.” The officer waved his hand dismissing the feline humanoid.
“Let him through, he’s with me. This is Kovar Amorea, he’s the Hound the city requested.” Kaleb placed a hand on the officer’s shoulder as Kovar lifted the tape himself and walked past the confused officer.
“You’re kidding? That moggy is a Hound?” The officer whispered.
“He came with full credentials, and we confirmed with the College. I could hardly believe it myself, but the paperwork doesn’t lie. Just deal with it if we’re lucky we won’t need his help.” Kaleb reassured the office with a pat on the back before turning to following Kovar to the riverbank.
The two walked down to where the corpse rested just out of reach of the rising and falling waters.
“We got the report of the body washing ashore earlier this morning. A dock hand from the nearby shipping harbor noticed it on his way home from work. There was no identification on the body, and we don’t have missing persons matching it. The only thing we found was a corner of a what we think is a business card.” The Kaleb explained as Kovar slipped on a pair of disposable gloves and knelt to examine the body further.
“This is the third one in the past two months. It can’t be coincidence due to the fact all the bodies have similar damage, but we’re worried what’s responsible for all this is something we can’t handle.”
Kovar pulled back the tarp covering the body, revealing the fresh upper torso of a young woman. Most of her internal organs were missing along with everything below the waist. Her skin didn’t show any sign of being in the waterlog or decay indicating she had died very recently. He pulled back what little skin was hanging over the open chest cavity and examined the internals for any clue to what killed her. Kaleb sneered at the sight and turned away.
“So, what do you think? Is it something we can handle, or do I need to tell the chief you’ll be working with us for a while?” Kaleb asked. Kovar covered the body with the tarp again and removed his gloves.
“It looks like you’ll be needing my assistance with this.” Kovar answered as he tossed his used gloves into a plastic bag. Kaleb sighed in disappointment and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I was hoping we wouldn’t need it. What do you think is doing this?” Kaleb asked.
“I don’t know yet. All I can said is the damage I see on the body was not made by human hands. If I had to guess, whatever killed her and probably the other victims had talon or claw like appendages, even possibly large fangs.” Kovar walked along the shore looking down at the muddy ground for any signs of foot traffic that wasn’t made by the police.
“What are you looking for?” Kaleb asked following behind Kovar.
“Anything that might give me a clue to what killed her. By the state the body, I’m guessing she didn’t wash ashore but was killed nearby and dragged here to be eaten.” Kovar answered “But I’m not seeing anything useful.” He continued.
There’s no signs of a struggle on the shore. Even with the waters rising and falling, there should still be some sort of sign of a fight if she died here. It’s possible the victim was killed somewhere else and dragged here to be eaten. But if that were true, the thing would have had to hunt somewhere adjacent to the river. Kovar pondered, scratching his chin.
“Kaleb, you mentioned a nearby shipping harbor. Where is it?” Kovar asked.
“Umm, that would be docks 157 and 159 just south of where we are.” Kaleb recalled. “The man who found the victim, a mister Victor McKeown, works for Zynwinn Imports and Trading on dock 157.”
“I’m assuming that the docks operate 24 hours a day.”
“Yes, Zynwinn is one of the large trading companies here Lewes. They’re responsible for shipping almost all the crops and goods produced by the surround farms to the rest of the country. Lewes and the rest of Datimi produce almost a quarter of the Citria’s domestic agricultural products.” Kaleb rattled.
“Interesting, do you have the card fragment?”
Kaleb nodded and walked back the police line. A moment later he returned with a plastic bag with a one-inch wide tan paper fragment. The fragment had the last few digits of an address and the bottom part of a company logo.
“Does the logo look like anything you or the other officers recognize?” Kovar asked while examining the fragment.
“The boys talked over amongst themselves, some of guys say it looked like the Zynwinn Imports logo while others say it looks like the Tarote Investments logo. I wish these bigger businesses didn’t use such minimalistic designs; they all look the same after a while.” Kaleb answered.
“Alright, my next stop is the docks. This card may have been simply dropped by our witness or coincidentally washed ashore from the docks. Either way it’s best I investigate further as it’s my best bet to finding any further clues. But before I can investigate any further, I’ll need to gather my tools just in case I find something.” Kovar explained making his way back to the police line. “I left most of them in my car at police station after I arrived, so it probably be best we head back.” Kaleb nodded and the two walked back the cruiser.
The thing that killed our victim didn’t leave me anything to work with. The marking suggest one creature but the behavior suggest another. I’ll need to call back to the office and get either Xune or Syl to do some digging. Kovar pondered on the ride back to the station.
Kovar and Kaleb arrived back at the Lewes police station, where a group of teenagers gathered to take pictures of Kovar’s car. The two exchanged contact information and parted ways as Kaleb entered the station to report on the crime scene and inform the police chief that Kovar would be staying to help them.
“Kaleb.” Kovar called out before the officer could enter the building. “If you do figure you the victim’s identity or any of the other victim’s identities, please relay that information to me. It would be helpful to know who this thing is targeting.” Kovar requested. Kaleb gave a quick nod in affirmation and head into the police station.
Kovar walked over to his car, a smaller black cherry colored sports coup. Its small size made it ideal for speeding through the tight alleyways of big cities. While large enough to store all of his supplies making his job much easier during long trips away from the office. With a press of the remote key, the car sounded off, startling the group taking photos. The teens dispersed with hushed murmurs and wary glances when they realized the car’s owner arrived. Kovar hopped into the driver seat and pulled out his phone and called the office back in Springbell. After a few rings and sensual voice answered the phone with the practiced line.
“Thank you for calling The Velvet Swan, what can we do for you?” The voice cooed.
“Syl, it’s Kovar. Tell the group that I’m going staying in Lewes for a while. It looks like they something lurking around or in the river. Could you or Xune do some digging about any endemic monsters have larger talons or fangs that eat internal organs?” Kovar asked
“Sure thing Boss. Do you need me to ship anything over to you while you’re there?” Syl replied.
“Yes, have Tessa send a fresh med kit to the Summer Blossom Hotel. My last two assignments caused me to use up most of the salves and bandages. Address the package to Oakenvale.” Kovar requested.
“No problem Boss. I’ll tell her to whip up a new kit and ship it asap.” Syl said with a happy ring in her voice. The two finished their conversation, before Kovar started the car and headed out to dock 157
