note: Totally not my style of writing.
The second I walked into the room, the stench infiltrated my nostrils.
"What is this?" I asked my companion.
"From what I can tell, sir, it's formaldehyde."
And it was. The body was soaked through with the liquid in the tub. Parts of the body were preserved to show the damage the killer had done. A finger nail here, a finger there, torn flesh floated to the bottom. A damned display of human grotesque.
"How is the corpse keeping that awful grimace?" I asked. The officer shrugged.
"The techs didn't say anything to us."
I moved in closer, nearly fainting from the smell. It was a dark morning, one of those before a big storm. This murder sure would stir one up. Newspaper scoundrel would twist it, hype it up. Next thing you know, the station gets calls from every neighbor and their grandmother about their strange neighbor. Chances are, I thought, this was some rich bastard with power and control issues.
I grabbed a cigarette pack from my coat, "Flammable?"
The man shook his head and I lit one up. The burning tobacco eased the attack my nose felt and quieted my mind.
There hasn't been a murder like this in Lanken City in years. Nothing of this caliber. I've been around long enough to have seen the disturbing things a human mind can accomplish but it didn't make me feel better about what I was seeing.
I looked closer at the woman's face, finally seeing small metal rods penetrating her jaw twisting her face into a mask of fear.
"And the other one?"
The officer lead me to the second room. I couldn't see it at first but then the officer pointed upward. The corpse had been nailed to the ceiling. Five big nails into each arm. Fifteen in the torso. Ten in each leg. And finally one big spike through the mouth and out the bag of the throat.
I threw up right then and there. Nearly hitting the cop's shoes.
"Did the same, most of the cops that have been here did the same."
"What kind of sick and twisted mind could have done this?"
"Well, that's your job. Not mine," he replied.
"I grabbed my notepad and started writing down all the details. Who knows what might come in handy.