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"Wait," Jake interrupted, rubbing his eyes. "You're waking me up to talk about bugs?”
"Jake, just hear me out," Fiona pleaded. "In my dream, I saw Joslyn. She was... dead, but she wasn't just dead. She was decomposing like the victims we found, eaten by those same insects."
"Sounds like a nightmare," he said, concern creasing his brow. "But what does that have to do with our case?"
"Maybe nothing," Fiona admitted, her fingers twisting nervously in the sheets. "But it got me thinking: why would our killer want the bodies to decompose so quickly? It didn't make sense at first, but now... what if it's symbolic?"
"Symbolic how?" Jake asked, finally sitting up and giving her his full attention.
Fiona hesitated for a moment before answering, her thoughts racing as she tried to piece together the puzzle. "I'm not sure yet," she confessed. "But we need to look into it. There has to be some connection, some reason the killer is using these insects to speed up the decomposition process. It wasn’t like he was trying hard to hide the bodies, so that tells me that wasn’t his motivation. What if the corpse fauna were put there intentionally? What if the killer planted them to speed up the decomposition process?"
"Intentionally?" Jake repeated, sitting up with a start. "That's... that's actually a possibility. We need to get to the lab and look into this."
"Exactly," Fiona agreed, already slipping out of bed and hurriedly pulling on her clothes.
***
The sterile white walls of the lab seemed to close in around Fiona as she and Jake stood over the secure containers holding the samples of corpse fauna they had extracted from the victims. In the harsh light of the laboratory, the insects appeared even more sinister, a chilling reminder of the gruesome scene they had discovered just days earlier.
"Alright," Jake said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "Let's go over what we know so far. The victims were heavily decomposed, even though they'd only been dead for two weeks at most. And now we suspect that someone intentionally placed these bugs on the bodies to speed up the process."
"Right," Fiona confirmed, her eyes scanning the containers intently. "It's an unusual technique, but it could be the key to understanding our killer's motives."
"Have you ever come across anything like this before?" Jake asked, watching her closely.
"Never," Fiona admitted, her fingers tapping restlessly on the table. "But it's possible that there have been other cases out there with similar MOs. We just haven't connected the dots yet."
In her mind, she could see the insects crawling over Joslyn's lifeless body, a sickening blend of reality and nightmare. She shook her head, trying to clear the image from her thoughts. This wasn't about her sister; this was about finding justice for those who had lost their lives at the hands of a twisted killer.
"Let's start by analyzing the samples," she suggested, her voice steady despite the turmoil inside her. "We need to determine if these were native to the area where the bodies were found or if they were brought in from somewhere else."
"Good idea," Jake agreed, nodding as he donned a pair of latex gloves. "If we can trace the origin of the insects, it might give us a lead on our suspect."
With a deep breath, Fiona carefully opened one of the containers holding the corpse fauna samples. The insects crawled around inside, seemingly undisturbed by their new environment. She couldn't help but admire the efficiency with which they carried out their grim task; they were nature's ultimate recyclers.
"Ugh," Jake muttered, grimacing as he peered over her shoulder. "I still don't get how you can be so into these things. They're disgusting."
Fiona smirked, playfully elbowing him in the ribs. "They're fascinating, Jake. They're an essential part of our ecosystem. You've just got to look past the ick factor."
"Easy for you to say," he grumbled, taking a reluctant step back from the container. "You're not the one who almost threw up at the crime scene."
"True," she conceded, her focus already shifting back to the specimens. As she examined each sample under her microscope, she made meticulous notes on her findings. The same species appeared on both Nadine and Harry's bodies: blow flies, flesh flies, carrion beetles, and rove beetles.
It seemed too coincidental for this to have occurred naturally and so quickly.
"Jake, I think we've got something," she said excitedly, beckoning him closer. "The species found on both bodies are identical. This supports my theory that the killer planted them there intentionally to accelerate decomposition."
He leaned in, his face a mixture of fascination and revulsion. "So, what does this mean? Why would the killer do this if it wasn’t to hide evidence?”
Fiona pursed her lips, deep in thought. "There could be several reasons. Maybe they wanted to make it harder for us to determine the time of death. Or perhaps there's a more symbolic meaning behind it. We'll need to keep digging."
Fiona stared at the sterile, white lab wall, her brow furrowed in concentration. The lingering scent of formaldehyde mixed with the faint hum of the fluorescent lights above them, creating an atmosphere that should have been calming but instead only fueled her frustration. She couldn't shake the nagging question that tugged at her mind: why? Why would the killer go through such lengths to accelerate decomposition, yet leave the bodies so easily discovered?
"Jake," she began, turning to face her partner, "think about it. If the killer wanted to obscure evidence by speeding up decomposition, why not just better conceal the bodies? They didn't even bother to hide the victims' IDs." Her voice trailed off, the weight of her own words settling heavily on her shoulders.
"Good point," Jake agreed, rubbing the back of his neck as he pondered the situation. "Maybe there's something we're missing."
Fiona's heart pounded in her chest, a mixture of excitement and dread coursing through her. Was she on the verge of unraveling the mystery behind these gruesome crimes? Or was she simply grasping at straws? There was only one way to find out.
