Chapter 6 - Ritual Killings?

The brisk Café was considered one of the best cafes in the area. They had great coffee and pastries that caused many to leave and return there happily. Just passing by one could smell the absolute glorious smell of freshly baked pastries and coffee. The outside of the café had about 20 five-seat spots, 12 two-seat spots and 5 single seat spots. The inside was reserved for those who were waiting for their orders to go, so it was not large compared to the outside.

James walked to the Café and picked one of the two-seater spots. It was already late morning on a weekday so most of the seats were empty since the busiest times were mornings and afternoon lunch breaks. He was there to meet someone, but he had a feeling he might receive other guests as well. The receptionist on the outside smartly walked to the new customer with a menu in hand. "Hi James." She happily greeted. James was a regular at their place so most of their workers already knew him.

"Hi Jenny. You look lovely as always." James smiled in return to the blushing young lady before him. She kept smiling shyly until she remembered what she needed to do. "Um, would you like a menu or will it be the usual?" Snapping out of her dazed moment, she asked James.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to wait a bit. I'm expecting someone so we'll order when they arrive." Jenny nodded before reluctantly leaving James alone. James sat there playing with his phone when a tall red-haired woman walked towards him.

The woman sat herself tiredly in front of James, "Did you wait long?" She massaged her shoulders while asking. James shook his head to indicate not long. "You look tired." Seeing how she was acting; James couldn't help but comment.

"Right? They leave all the tiring work to me. Aah I need a vacation." She exaggeratedly stated. James chuckled at her remark. "Knowing you, you probably do need it but won't take it." He knew her very well. She complained about being tired so much, but she was a workaholic through and through.

"You know me so well." She smiled flirtatiously at him. The waitress Jenny walked to the at that moment to take their orders which they did. In a short time, their orders arrived. "So, what's up? It's rare for you to call me out so sudden." The red-haired woman finally decided to get to business.

Before he began to speak, he looked behind him subtly, but enough for the red-haired woman to notice the two customers siting a few tables away. "This morning my old man received a missing-person case. Woman said her husband did not come home last night." The woman hearing this frowned slightly.

"Last night? I don't think that is long enough to consider someone missing." The red-haired woman continued to frown. "Maybe the man has found a new mistress? Happens all the time after all." She had seen too many of these to be surprised about the situation.

"Maybe. But the woman swore her husband was not the type. He always came home straight from work. It might seem like the ramblings of a woman in denial, but something about the situation seems off." James stayed silent in thought while the woman stayed silent as well, waiting for James to be done. "Anyway, I need you to look into it for me, Mabel." The red-haired woman called Mabel looked quite reluctant, but she knew she could not refuse.

"Fine. What is his office address? I'll pop by." James smiled; happy he didn't have to negotiate for too long. He pulled out a pen and wrote down the office address of Mr. Greggory. When Mabel picked up the napkin, she could not help but raise an eyebrow in thought.

"This is on Martins Street near Martin's Park." She began to look interested. "Is something the matter?" James not knowing what was going on asked in confusion. "You don't know?" Seeing James continue to hold his confusion she continued, "There was an incident at the park last night. A young man and woman were killed in quite the gruesome way." The Martin's park was a lover's park. Young couples usually went there to take care of their business. Even though the mayor had hired police officers to patrol the place, the officers were usually bribed to look the other way.

"It's not the gruesome deaths that's interesting. Their deaths seem almost ritualistic." Mabel smiled wide which made James roll his eyes at her. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to James. Pulling out a few pictures, James looked at the pictures and frowned. The young girl had her clothes torn and looked to have been raped in the most brutal way. She had been stabbed multiple times all over including her eyes, ears, nose and even her vagina. The young man had his face nailed to the tree as if to force him to watch what was happening to the girl. The guy had his head separated from his body with the body facing downwards in a kneeling position towards the head as if in worship to the head that was nailed to the tree. It was not a good sight to witness.

"How did something like this not alert the police or the other couples in the area?" It did not look to James that the person who did this did all that somewhere else first. From the looks of all the blood splatter, it told him that the assailant did everything at the park.

"That's just it. No one heard or saw anything. They did not look gaged or anything so its safe to say they were left to scream as much as they wanted, yet, in a dark and quiet park, no one heard a single scream. I even interrogated a couple who swore to have passed by that tree but did not see a single thing. Well, the police are keeping it quiet to not spook the public, but if it happens again, I doubt they can keep a lid on it." Mabel shrugged.

"That means?" James looked up at Mabel who nodded her head in seriousness. James sighed tiredly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I doubt whoever did this would repeat it with this much heat on the case now. Look into it but don't move alone." James handed the envelope back to Mabel who looked absolutely exasperated. The thought of having to work with a partner was vexing to her especially when she knew she could more than protect herself, but she also knew it was best to be safe when dealing with the unknown. At least for now.

She nodded in understanding although reluctantly, "Also." James turned back to the now empty seats behind him. The two people that filled it earlier had disappeared. "Look into that as well. Let me know whatever you find." Mabel turned to look there as well and nodded to indicate she understood. It seemed they were listening in on their conversation earlier. What they did not know was while they were listening in, they were being observed as well. They did not show any reaction to the missing person, but they seemed to know about the ritual killing at the park. The two immediately left when they got the full details.