‘Good day Ma’am’ he smiled.
‘Sir, I noticed that you had to brake suddenly to stop for the light….any reason why?’
‘My windscreen had misted and I was trying to clean it…..good, the snow….the snow stopped me braking in time…..and with the snow, well I guess my brakes just took a bit longer to respond’.
‘Okay, just make sure next time you approach the lights with less speed, and if you can’t see it would be wise to leave a window open slightly’.
‘Thank you…..I will’. He smiled as the light turned green, the van rolled steadily as his heart paced in a rapid rhythm.
***
Jack could hear the whispers between the members of the team. He chose to ignore the mumbles and carried on with his speech. The room fell silent as he began talking.
‘Right, where were we………yeah, the recent finds will be added to the updated case file, I suggest you all take a thorough read of it. What I require now is a detailed listing of the finds the three teams made yesterday…..we are getting closer to catching this bastard so I need one hundred and ten per cent from every one of you’. He headed towards Nathans office and tapped on the door.
Nathan opened it and smiled.
‘I’m calm’ he assured.
‘Good, we’re about to go through the results from the school checks. I need you to run them through the full moon idea of yours’
‘No dramas’
They walked to the front of the class together and Nathan began to explain his idea to the room. He delved into the reasons behind his assumption and that if the results showed that both victims were in fact executed on a full moon night, then they prepare in advance for the next kill. He assigned two female officers the task of retrieving the information once the briefing had finished, asking for the results once they were discovered.
‘Okay. Team one, run us through the search from the first victims school’.
The two man team stood and made their way to face their colleagues. The tall constable had been chosen as the talker, the youngest of the two felt awkward giving a speech to the room.
‘We conducted a routine questioning at the Trinity Primary school in which the first victim, Jenny Marsch attended. We took along the identification of Mr Oliver Breen and spoke with every teacher at that school. Each one confirmed that the image was Mr Oliver Breen. To this end we accepted the evidence and gathered other pieces of information about the man in question. His address was also confirmed as number seven Ellen Garth, the location in which the surveillance team have been in position observing’.
Jack nodded as the officers looked at him for his approval. He turned and placed a small tick symbol on the board.
‘Good work, team two please!’
Once again the team positioned themselves in front of the class. The female officer had been delegated to speak.
‘PC Shields and me were assigned the school of the second victim, Abby Clough. We questioned all members of staff at St Michaels Primary School apart from Miss Carrigot, who was the teacher replaced by Mr Oliver Breen. Her where a bouts are yet to be confirmed. The teachers all confirmed that the photograph was Mr Oliver Breen. We then decided to visit Miss Carrigot’s home to see if we could speak with her. There was nobody at the location and after speaking with several neighbours, whose names are in the case file, we were informed that she had not been seen for several days’.
‘Excellent work’ another tick was placed on the board. The third team had already climbed to their feet and moved to the front. They nodded once ready.
‘I PC Gunter and my colleague PC Campbell were assigned to St Paul’s Primary School. This school had recommended Mr Oliver Breen to the Trinity Primary School when questioned about his performance and suitability for hiring. We spoke to all the teachers individually and every one of them denied that the picture was Mr Oliver Breen’
Nathan stood confused. The statement took him by surprise; he looked to Jack who was now smiling.
‘Denied?’ he asked
‘Yes Sir…..they denied that the picture was of the man in question. They gave us a school photo which shows Mr Oliver Breen. The section had been blown up as before so all could see. The face they starred at was a large round shape, the nose was slightly squashed and his cheeks resembled a hamster when stuffed with treats.
‘This is Mr Breen’ the officers confirmed.
‘Well who’s this?’ he was becoming more confused.
‘This, my friend……is the Wolf!’ Jack spoke softly, the words sounded powerful and had stunned Nathan. He starred into the eyes of the killer. They knew his face, they just needed a name.
***
The van was parked in its usual position, hidden by the brick wall of the house. The recent scenario that he had encountered caused a surge of mixed emotions to coarse through him, fear…..doubt and anxiety were the ones that hit him hard. Fear of being caught, doubts of completing his tasks and claiming the new girl…..anxiety that he would no longer become the creature he longed to be. He climbed down from the van and headed quickly to the kitchen door. His heart still raced as he pondered over the police woman and how close she came to catching him. He decided to leave the watching sessions until night time, when the streets would be less busy. The house remained dark and he allowed his sight to adjust. Moving cautiously he headed for the bathroom to freshen up, the stairs absorbed his large boots as he ascended. The water was cooling, revitalising; he starred into the eyes of the mirror, the mask he wore looked tired. He prodded the skin around his mouth, creating small indentations as he forced his cheeks between his teeth. He contemplated when the mask he wore would finally crumble away, revealing his true self…….the Wolf he longed to be.
Like before, he opened his mouth to reveal his normal teeth. They disappointed him, he noticed no change to their shape. That can be fixed. He moved with speed down the stairs and left through the door he had entered. The large garage was set back into the trees and bush, partially hidden from the overgrowing foliage. He approached the double doors and removed the small key from his trouser pocket; it glimmered as he turned it under the sun’s rays. The lock clunked as the teeth were aligned and it sprung open. He slid it from the hole and pulled one door ajar, slipping into the building. The small of damp saw-dust filled his nose as he entered, he could hear the tapping of the little feet scurrying to hide. He searched for the cord that dangled from the roof, finding the knot in the end he pulled down and activated the lighting.
The hutches were stacked upon each other, the walls that ran to his left and right were hidden by the wooden cells. With three stacked on top of each other and nine running along the walls; he had enough to hold his occupants, their eyes glowing as they peered from the straw beds. He walked ahead, listening to the small animals as they darted in and out of their safe place. The tool box lay under the table at the rear, upon the self-made structure sat several pieces of plastic scattered in all directions, curled strands of black lay upon the floor. They crunched as he stepped on them. He had made his claw here…..he remembered it fondly. The large box was dragged forward and he flipped the catches open, revealing his collection of tools.
‘Where oh where are youuuuuuuu?’
His fingers searched through the vast collection as he attempted to locate his desired item.
‘Helloooooooo……I seeeeeeeee youuuuuuuu’ he whispered as the file was seen.