Page 20 of Death is Familiar

“The bodies were not exsanguinated.” Fawzy leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “The autopsies showed four of the five victims died from cardiac arrest, one burst aneurysm. But all of their adrenaline levels were extremely high. Two to three times acceptable levels during the autopsy. Likely even higher at time of death.”

Jack nodded. “Medical examiner suggests they were overdosed with epinephrine.”

“Awful way to go.” Kaatz spoke mostly to herself, shaking her head.

“Rug fibers in the victims’ hair suggests that the murders took place outside the graveyard. The bodies were transported to create the… tableau.” Thruppy pointed to Jack, and the image on the screen changed to a layout of the cemetery and highlighted points of interest. “I’ve spent the last few days looking into potential routes in or out. The designated entrances all have security cameras. Though the system is mostly used for tracking cars-in and cars-out. They use it to make a count so no one is left in the cemetery when they lock up for the night. The best we get is make and model. No license plates.”

Thruppy pointed again and the screen changed showing a series of blurry screenshots of fences. “Spring Grove is also entirely fenced. Though it’s inconsistent, some fence is chain link with barbed wire, some stone, some short, some tall. Very unlikely that anyone brought the bodies in without the use of a vehicle.”

“What about a hearse?” Fawzy flipped the ever-present errant hair out of the way. “People expect to find the dead in a hearse.”

“I thought so too,” Thruppy agreed. “But an unscheduled hearse would draw attention from staff. They know who, where, and when someone is going to be buried.”

“Then who else would go to a cemetery and not draw attention?”

From what Jack and Thruppy had shared on the screen, Spring Grove was one of the largest cemeteries I had ever seen. It was more than likely a point of interest for many reasons, beyond those who had family laid to rest there. “Do you have access to visitor numbers? Spring Grove might be popular with tombstone tourists. And anyone could drive in during business hours.”

The room was silent. Apparently, they were not familiar with the concept of visiting cemeteries for any other reason than remembering a loved one.

“Tombstone… tourists?” Kaatz looked like she ate a fist-sized bug.

“I’ve heard of them,” Todd offered, but as always, his words only held meaning for Jack and me. “People like to visit famous graves. Look at tombs. Walk in nature.”

Jack nodded. “People leave ‘I voted’ stickers on the grave of Susan B. Anthony. Some draw Xs on the tomb of Marie Laveau.” Jack must have done his research when taking on the ritual abuse task force. People left Xs on Marie Laveau’s tomb, accompanied by spinning, knocking, and shouting, in various combinations in order to have their wishes granted. Though the practice, and acts of vandalism, were only done by tourists. Those with ties to religion or the occult knew better than to desecrate her grave.

Zhou typed something into her phone, her face dropped. “Spring Grove has tens of thousands of visitors per year.”

That was some sort of vindication, even if it didn’t narrow things down.

“Over three hundred cars went in the day before the bodies were discovered. Another fifty or so day of.” Thruppy then clarified, “Prior to discovery.”

“The victims were dead for at least twenty-four hours before they were found. But it doesn’t narrow down when they were moved,” Fawzy added.

“Three hundred and fifty cars…”

“With no license plates.”

Which meant it could be anyone. The room let out a collective exhale. The motivation in the room was dropping, and my bladder was already full. I needed to keep this moving. There was more than one way to track down who was responsible.

“The puncture wounds—the ones on their necks—were they the same on each of the victims?” I asked, crossing my legs.

“Placement was the same.” Fawzy was trying to read into my question. “But no, they are not identical. Why?”

“Because if those marks are bite marks, then we are looking at five people who would have been in contact with the victims prior to their death.” I was careful with my word choice.

“You don’t think the people who did the biting, if it is biting, did the killing?” Zhou looked at me with unabashed skepticism.

“Vampires thrive on secrets and exclusion. They wouldn’t want to draw attention to themselves this way.”

Zhou opened her mouth, perhaps in protest, but Jack took charge of the conversation. “What else have we dug up on this?”

“I found a few local and national ‘vampire interest’ groups on social.” Zhou changed gears. “But from what I gather they’re all talk. Most of the conversations are about movies, books, TV shows, fantasy encounters, that sort of thing. It’s disturbing how many highschoolers are still into this stuff.” I held my tongue. Vampires, the ones that mattered, wouldn’t be caught dead posting on social media. It was word-of-mouth only.

Fawzy jumped in next. “We worked with cyber to track down ‘vampires’ and their related behaviors on the dark web. So far, all we have been able to find are people selling their own blood for cash. But blood does not appear to be part of this ritual. Cybercrimes is still tracking activities related to vampirism, they will let us know if they find anything of use.”

“Good. Alright, anything else before we head to the Queen of the West?” Jack surveyed the team. Thruppy made to raise his hand. “And before you ask, Thruppy, yes, Cincinnati is the Queen of the West.”

Thruppy’s hand faltered, then lowered.