AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She looked at him, his unwavering determination a small comfort amidst the chaos of the case. Despite everything they had been through – her imprisonment, the lies, and the blackmail – he was still her partner. As much as her trust in him had been destroyed, in that moment, she felt strangely grateful to have him there.
Morgan mentally chastised herself for even having the thought. She couldn't trust Derik again.
She wouldn't let herself.
***
Some time later, Morgan paced the briefing room, her mind racing with the implications of the untraceable teeth. The fluorescent lights above cast a sterile glow over the scattered files and half-empty coffee cups that littered the table. She clenched her fists and tried to focus on the task at hand, but they'd been brainstorming for the last hour, and still hadn't come up with any concrete leads.
"Okay, let's assume for a moment that our killer did murder someone else to get those teeth," Morgan said, stopping in her tracks and turning to face Derik. "But without dental records, we have no way of identifying who that other victim could be."
Derik leaned back in his chair, pushing his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose. Morgan rarely saw Derik with his glasses on, but they gave him a more calm look than what he usually had, masking the bags under his green eyes. "The team still hasn't found any reports of suspicious elderly deaths or deaths in general where people's teeth have gone missing."
Morgan's mind continued to race. There must have been another answer. Then, it hit her: "Maybe we're looking at this wrong. Maybe he didn't kill someone else yet, but got the teeth somewhere else."
"Well, there isn't exactly a human tooth shop you can stop at," Derik said. "What are you thinking?"
Morgan furrowed her brow as she considered this. "Let's think about it for a second," she suggested, pressing her palms down on the table. "Who would have access to human teeth? Dentists, oral surgeons... maybe morticians?"
"True," Derik agreed, his eyes narrowing in thought. "But Dallas is a big city. There are countless professionals who could fit that profile."
Morgan paused and sighed deeply. "Yeah. Maybe we're grasping at straws here."
"Maybe so," Derik admitted, "but it's a start. And right now, it's all we've got."
Morgan nodded, her determination returning. "Alright, let's split the list. You take dentists and oral surgeons, I'll look into the morticians. We need to dig deep into their backgrounds, see if anything stands out."
"Sounds like a plan," Derik replied, already pulling up a list of local dental professionals on his laptop. "Let's get to work."
As they dove into their research, Morgan couldn't shake the feeling that they were running out of time. The killer was still out there, and with every passing moment, the likelihood of another gruesome murder grew. But even in the face of such darkness, she knew they had no choice but to press on – for Mary, for the unknown victims, and for the people who still had a chance at being saved.
***
Morgan's fingers hovered over her laptop's keyboard, her eyes locked on the blinking cursor as a sudden thought interrupted her. So far, she had a long list of people in professions who could have access to human teeth, but none going through and checking them for criminal records or other suspicious activity would be a whole other task. But as Morgan was working, another thought struck her; there was something else odd about Mary's death, aside from the teeth. And that was where the killer had chosen to move her body.
A sandbox. He could have left her in bed or taken her literally anywhere else... and yet he'd chosen a sandbox. Morgan realized that she hadn't asked nearly enough about that.
She glanced up at Derik, who was already absorbed in his search for dentists and oral surgeons.
"Derik," she said, her voice low and uncertain. "There's something else that's been bothering me about this case."
He looked up from his computer screen, raising an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Why did the killer put Mary's body in a sandbox? Why not just leave her at home? It's like he wanted us to find her... and maybe that means he'll strike again."
Derik considered her words, his brow furrowing in thought. Finally, he nodded slowly. "You might be onto something. That could be part of his MO – leaving the bodies in public places, almost like a twisted calling card."
"But why a sandbox, specifically? Could it be some sort of commentary? Mary was elderly, but sandboxes are associated with youth... childhood, specifically."
Derik leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. "Perhaps it's a statement on the fleeting nature of life. Childhood memories are often seen as the happiest times of one's life, and yet they are so brief. Maybe the killer is trying to say something about how all of our lives, no matter how long, are ultimately just fleeting moments in the grand scheme of things."
Morgan felt a shiver run down her spine. "That's... disturbingly philosophical. But it could be a clue. A hint about who we're looking for."
The problem was, Morgan didn't know what to do with that information. It didn't exactly help her narrow down her list of suspects.
"Alright," Derik said, his voice steady despite the gravity of their conversation. "Let's stay focused and keep digging into these leads. We'll find him, Morgan."
Silently, they turned back to their laptops, each diving into their respective searches. Morgan began pulling up information on morticians in the Dallas area. Her heart pounded in her chest as she scrolled through endless lists of names, trying to discern any sign of a connection to the gruesome murders.
