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Ignoring the unease, I kept walking with determination. I walked into the crowded park, and it felt like whoever it was had suddenly disappeared and they were no longer following me. When I was sure it was safe, I returned to the police station.
***
I looked at the board with pictures, notes, and strings connecting leads. The victims' faces stared at me, urging for a resolution. My eyes searched for a connection, something we had missed.
With a sigh, I walked to the middle of the room and cleared my throat to get the attention of the rest of the task force team.
“Why don’t we open a tip line? Someone might have seen something or knows someone who is being weird. Our killer seeming like a perfectionist to us is because we are the only ones looking. When we have the whole city looking for him, it becomes harder to cover his tracks,” I announced, and I watched the reaction from the rest of the team closely.
“What if that makes him even more elusive?” Jacobs, one of the police officers on the task force, asked, and I shook my head. In my years of dealing with serial killers, tip lines always worked. Because they are either too relaxed about their pro abilities and forget they are leaving clues, or they start to panic and mess up.
Sheriff Callum asked skeptically, "You think this will work, Evelyn?"
"People talk, Sheriff. We just need to give them a platform," I replied confidently.
He grunted but nodded in approval. Officers set up the tip line, the anticipation of potential leads mixing with uncertainty. I had no idea what to expect, but I was still sure we should try this method.
"Attention, residents of Harmony Grove," Sheriff Callum announced through the intercom. "We're starting a tip line to gather information about the recent murders. If you've seenor heard anything suspicious, please come forward. Your anonymity is guaranteed, and your cooperation could help solve this case."
I nodded in approval when he was done; his own people would trust him more than me, a total stranger. Now, it was time to sit back and see if we would get anything tangible and if I was right about the tip line.
Hours passed, and the station buzzed with activity. Phones rang, each call a potential clue. Multiple officers at different tables, taking down tips whether they were useful or not. We had yet to get anything tangible, and I was starting to feel like this wouldn’t work.
One officer raised his hands to draw my attention, and I was out of my seat in a flash. I put on the headset and opened my notes.
“Hi, could you please repeat yourself?” The officer asked, and I waited.
"Hello, this is Brenda Simmons," the voice quivered. "I... I think I saw something strange behind my house."
The room fell silent as Brenda continued, shaky but determined. "There's a man who shows up every night behind the trees. He wears this weird animal costume, like a bear or something. I don't know him, and he just seems... weird. This has been going on for weeks."
“Miss Brenda, I would like your address,” I replied and wrote it down when she said it. I thanked her, and I turned to the Sheriff with a smile. A tip line always works, even if this one hasn’t been proven true yet.
Her descriptions fit into everything on our suspect board. The Sheriff and I assembled a team of officers, and we got into the patrol van and headed toward Brenda’s house. It was still early evening, so he wouldn’t be out yet.
But if it was him, we could be lucky to get something tangible or at least foil his plans for tonight.
Arriving at Brenda’s place, we spoke to her, and she led us to the spot where she said she had seen the man. I made sure to thank her and make her realize how much she was helping us.
"There, behind those trees," she whispered.
We moved carefully, looking for any signs of movement in the near darkness. And then, we saw it—a bear costume carefully hidden, blending with the surroundings. The strange discovery made everyone uneasy. We approached cautiously, and the officers secured the area.
I examined the costume carefully, focusing on the oversized feet. They matched the peculiar footprints we found at the crime scenes. It was a revelation, a piece of the puzzle falling into place. The strange connection between the animal outfit and the murders became clear.
"Bag it and tag it," I told one of the officers, pointing at the bear costume. "We need to send this to the lab for testing and see if we can find any DNA on it."
The night air was tense as we finished up at the scene. The team returned to the station, a mix of tiredness and cautious hope on our faces. The mysterious killer was no longer just an idea. If we got a hit on the DNA, we could be on our way to finding the killer and getting the victims justice.
***
Returning to the police station was exhausting, and I decided to go to Alexei’s office. I knew he would have gone to work, and it was too late to grab anything. I figured we could go out for dinner or something. I just wantedto cheer him up.
I knew how much his sister’s situation was affecting him, coupled with the fact that he was losing people he had been around for centuries, which was hard, too.
I wanted to tell him about my fear of being followed earlier today, but I also knew how full his plate already was. I could imagine him telling me I shouldn’t be out walking alone. A soft smile made its way to my face. In just a short time of being here, Alexei was starting to feel like my friend, which was strange, considering I rarely made connections with people.
I wouldn’t tell him about the glowing necklace and everything in the Luminara Coven though, that was a secret I would be holding onto for now. Telling him would mean shifting his focus from everything else. I couldn’t afford that, and neither could he. At least not now that we were closer to finding our killer.
