Max froze and quickly pulled his hand back. They say curiosity kills the cat, and during his years as a forensic examiner, that saying had stuck with him.
Larry stepped up beside Max with a solemn expression. The four large green-painted crates were old iron boxes.
Together, they were about the size of a standard double bed, only a bit taller.
That was what struck him as odd.
Larry pulled on the anchor-shaped ring from the concave side of one crate and twisted it hard. With a click, the lock snapped open. He lifted it, and the crate swung wide.
Inside, the box was filled with kitchen rollers and knives, many of them rusted. Jane opened another crate next to her. It was full of old women's clothing.
The clothes were moldy and wrinkled, crammed into the entire chest.
Max pointed to the two crates in front of him. "Can I open these two?"
Larry ignored him and stepped forward to open the crate before him.
The whole garage gasped. Inside the box lay a skeleton.
Pebbles and sand, both large and small, were piled around the skeleton, forming a complete humanoid figure. Two round stones with Norse symbols sat beside the skull. Though the paint was badly worn, the runes were still clear—identical to those found in the sewer.
"Another one? This goes far beyond any criminal in recent months. How many victims does this killer have?"
Larry didn't answer Max's question. Instead, he opened the crate beside him.
All of them were desensitized to crime scenes, but their eyes widened when they saw the scattered bones inside.
A quick estimate suggested the remains of at least three people, with severe cuts and some bones broken into several pieces.
These remains had been skeletonized for a long time—at least eight to ten years.
"Send everything to the lab. We need to examine and identify these four unknowns."
"We also need to find Mr. Alan Bowen's daughter. She seems to be his closest living relative." Jane then received a report confirming that the closest relative was Laria Bowen, Alan's daughter, who could clarify many things.
"Where is she?" Larry knew Laria didn't live in Alan's house—after all, no trace of a woman had been found there.
"She lives at the nearest university. That says a lot," Jane replied, clearly worried.
"Well, we've got the whole family here. This decorated skeleton must be Alan's wife, whom he offered as a sacrifice." After saying this, Larry placed his hand on the first crate.
"Also, send the six bags of meat from Alan's freezer for examination. Each piece needs DNA testing. There might be something mixed in…" Larry hadn't finished speaking when Max rushed off to work, ignoring his words.
If the meat in those bags was human, then the burritos and tacos he'd eaten that day were made from human flesh.
Everyone hurried to get to work.
Jane personally went to the university to find Alan's daughter, while Larry handled transporting all the crates back to the center.
That night, everyone on Larry's team stayed together to perform autopsies on the remains. Though his technique wasn't particularly skilled, all of the victims had been killed by a single decapitation.
All the physical evidence recovered was also sent for analysis. The volume of evidence required in this case was staggering. Larry and the entire lab department worked overtime.
After a sleepless night, Jane arrived early the next morning at Larry's office and brought breakfast for everyone.
Larry had already classified all the evidence in his hands.
Jane sat next to him and looked at the computer screen with him.
Minutes later, once Jack arrived in the meeting room, an emergency meeting began, calling in all agents involved.
"Let's start with the three identified deceased, A, B, and C. After all, there are too many victims in this case, and several don't appear in the missing persons database."
"First, let's begin with the first two identified victims so far. Victim A, Amber, was killed in her home, but her body was extracted and taken to the warehouse, where it was later cut into pieces. No murder weapon was found at the first crime scene, so we had little information."
"However, in the suspect Alan's garage, Amber's DNA was extracted from the knife and cutting board. A bloody fingerprint on the door belonged to Amber, and the print itself matched Anna, the second victim we found."
"This is clearly the second dismemberment scene, and Anna was also dismembered here."
"Dismembered?"
"Don't be surprised—just listen, it'll all be explained later."
"Deceased B, Amber, and deceased C, Anna, were killed very recently. Blood was found on the cutting board and knives on the wall. Fragments of muscle tissue from deceased A, B, and C were found in Alan's freezer."
"After analyzing the four skeletons from the garage, it was discovered that the one stored separately belonged to Alan's missing wife, Margaret."
"Studies indicate she was about thirty years old when she died. According to her civil records and another box of clothing, the estimated time of death was between December 2004 and March 2005."
"Of the other three skeletons, one has been identified as a woman who disappeared four years earlier. The victim's name was Maria."
"The other two did not match anything in the database. The three ages at death ranged from twenty-five to twenty-eight years old. However, it's certain that all four were killed in the garage. The painted walls and floors had been scrubbed, and all bloodstains matched the DNA of the four people."
"In the past ten years, seven people have been murdered one after another. All of this points to Alan, who we now have in custody. Although not all identities have been determined, four of the seven appear to have been prostitutes."
"Everything indicates the killer harbors a deep hatred for prostitutes. Perhaps Alan was involved in that business. You can interrogate him from that angle."
"Great, that's enough evidence. I'll go question him again now."
"Seven murders!"
"I never imagined that guy, with such an honest face, was such a cruel criminal!"
Jane gathered all the reports and crime scene photos and left.
The others were exhausted, and Jack was unusually kind this time, telling them to go home and rest immediately and to report any new developments as soon as possible.
…
Larry walked down the hallways, where he saw Jane speaking with Laria, the daughter of the cruelest killer yet discovered by Larry's newly formed team, which was under direct orders from the department captain.
Now that Will had joined his group, all cases would be assigned to him until Larry could catch the murderer who had kidnapped the rookie agent.
Larry had to focus now—not only was Dexter coming, but he also needed to prepare his next show.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes, I need some rest. Want me to give you a ride?" Larry knew that being kind, especially to Jane, could bring him plenty of trouble, but he wanted to take the risk.