Declan
"Your new desk will be in by this afternoon," Jason smiled as he sat down on one of the chairs by the spare cubicles that I was temporarily occupying.
"Thank you," I sighed as I paged through the crime statistics of the town.
So far everything seemed a little off. Coming from New York to Enen was a big jump. The murder statistics in New York were far too high and some murders extremely gruesome. We saw shit that could leave you in a mental ward if you weren't careful.
However Enen was nothing like that. In such a tight knit community crime wasn't an everyday occurrence and even if it was, it wasn't as news breaking as you would have thought. However the latest crime statistics were worrying. Missing reports were increasing and murder.
"When was the last murder report?" I looked up at Jason.
"A few days ago. A man was killed by his ranch out close to Lake Ontario. Apparently it was a passerby," he leaned back in his seat, his eyebrows furrowed.
"And what do you think it was?" I raised my eyebrows.
"I'm still trying to figure it out myself," he ran his hand over his short hair. "We've been getting a lot of murders like this."
"Out of town?"
"Yes and the outskirts of the town. Very quiet isolated areas," he rubbed his chin, "I think in the past three months we've had two murders and in the past year about fifteen."
"You think it could be a serial killer?" It wouldn't be the first I had come across a small town being tormented by someone with a sick mind. Small towns were easy kills for a textbook serial killer and they loved the thrill. The fact they were spreading fear throughout the community.
"I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a serial killer. There hasn't been a pattern yet. All killings seem a bit random and the victims as well."
"Any sign of DNA on the bodies?"
He shook his head, "most times no and if there were most killings happen outside. With the amount of rain we have here, even something as simple as tire tracks or shoe prints disappear. It makes investigation difficult to impossible."
I let out a heavy exhale and rubbed my chin with my index finger and thumb. My city experience instantly told me to look for cameras throughout the town and within the radius of the murders, however I knew that Enen barely had cameras outside of downtown and industrial areas.
Residential cameras were zero to none. It was truthfully the type of town you went to sleep without locking your door. Mal was a prime example of that. Even when I tried to speak to him about that, he shrugged me off with a laugh and told me that nothing would happen.
I only had faith because his clinic was at the ranch.
Eye witnesses would also be extremely less if it was so far out of town. That ruled out another possibility.
"Is the body at the coroners?"
He nodded, "Yes, I think they've started to look into it."
"Maybe we should head out there and take a look. It's best to handle a case as soon as possible before leads die out."
"Oh," he looked surprised but pleased, "you haven't even been in the office for three hours yet."
"It's my job," I gave him a small grin, "as long as I have my badge and gun what more do I need?"
"I'll let Boggs know that we're heading out and grab the file," he quickly went to his desk to grab his coat, phone and note book. "Meet you outback by the cruisers?"
"No problem." I packed up my things and grabbed a few files for me to go over when I got back home. With a brisk walk I dropped them off by the Jeep before I waited for Jason by the white Dodge cruisers. I was glad to see that they at least had some more muscle cars than old outdated sedans.
He eventually came out and showed me his dedicated cruiser before we climbed in. "Boggs said they're waiting for your new cruiser to come in from the armory."
"New cruiser?"
He chuckled, "we can't get a New York detective and give him one of our old cars. You're getting new wheels. I think it's Boggs' way of trying to make you stay."
I let out a chuckle and shook my head as Jason put the car in reverse then drove out the parking. "If there isn't anymore murder after this then I won't be needed."
"Well you never know," he grinned, "Enen might just rub off you. Trust me I was only supposed to be here for three months. I've been here now for a year. There's something about this place that you just can't get enough of."
I looked at the buildings we passed and half understood what he was talking about. The quirky antique buildings and the busy sidewalks with people actually taking the time to acknowledge each other was refreshing.
However the sooner I could get my shit together, the better it was for me. This was only a stepping stone to what I was running away from. If I stayed here too long, I was afraid I would grow attached.
Luckily Jason didn't do much talking as the radio of the cruiser clicked in.
"What the hell is a Canary-19-Wood?" My eyebrows furrowed as I listened to the dispatcher.
"Oh someone probably lost one of their cows."
"Isn't that the game rangers job to deal with?"
"Not after the last time. One cow broke into a high school gym room at night. Damaged a few of the stands," he laughed. "Since then all of us are on guard."
"Ah," I smacked my lips together and for the hundredth time wondered what in the world I was doing here. "Let's bet ducks once broke into the police station."
"Actually we had a few horses," he grinned. "Boggs was very pleased about that one."