Second Disappearance: Sammy Kiln. Age: 22. Job: Unemployed. Priors: DUI, Possessing Controlled Substances, Petty Theft. Last Seen: Arguing with her ex-boyfriend at his home. Security footage from the Ring doorbell showed Sammy arriving and leaving the scene; her ex-boyfriend, Karl Neech, was not seen leaving after her. Karl has a very strong alibi since the report of Sammy’s disappearance, having gone out of town with his parents for a small vacation.

  “Listen, I’ve already told you all a dozen times, I don’t know what happened to Sammy! We argued, she left, I left with my parents the next day, end of story.” Karl groaned. Angelica let out a small grunt as Detective Joan nodded.

  “I understand, but with the sudden appearance of Mr. Blan’s… remains, we find it important that we go over everything again–especially now that these missing persons cases are more than likely murder.” Joan responded. Karl, a young man himself with long blonde hair, a bit of an underbite, and slightly overweight, nodded begrudgingly. Angelica tapped Joan’s shoulder.

  “Let me ask some questions.” She stated curtly.

  “You sure? I’m pretty sure that you’ll get the same stuff I would get.” Joan responded, but stood up from the folding chair anyway.

  “Maybe, but I want to be the one asking. Not watching.” Angelica replied back, turning to face Karl. Hel looked to be a bit intimidated by the new face, she could use that.

  “Listen Mr. Neech, I understand that you have strong alibis. However, you are the ex. The amount of cases I come across where the ex did it are far more common than the ones they didn’t. So, I’m going to ask bluntly: did you kidnap and/or kill Sammy Kiln?” Angelica asked. Karl shook his head violently.

  “No! Why would I? Sure, she was a cheating bitch who fucked anyone with a little bit of money, but I don’t have a killing bone in me! She used me for my parents’ money, got bored, and dumped me. I texted her asking why, she came to my door and we argued over it! She told me to die and left! The next day, my parents decided to take me to the big city for a break! That’s it! I wasn’t in town when she was reported missing!” Karl stated. Angelica nodded, writing it all down. At this point, with how Blan was found, anything could be important.

  “What exactly is your living situation?” Angelica asked. Karl, seemingly surprised at the question, took a moment to respond.

  “Uh, well, I couldn’t exactly get into the college I wanted, so I sort of just… been bumming with my parents until I can get into a college of some kind? My parents own the local bar here, and given the drinking culture here, well, they make enough money to take care of everything plus me…” Karl stated.

  “The Rusted Anchor–that’s your parent’s bar then?”

  “Y-yes? Why?”

  Angelica sighed. Rolling her eyes, she slid a group of pictures towards Karl.

  “Pulled these off a couple Instagram and Twitter feeds. Mr. Blan, Ms. Kiln, and pretty much everyone who’s missing has been to that bar. And before you say anything, no I am not framing you or your parents for these cases. They have the same alibi as you do. My question is this: who frequents that bar that may have been connected to them?” Angelica asked. Karl shrugged.

  “As I said, pretty much everyone in town goes. I honestly might be the only person that doesn’t. I know how I look, but I really can't handle my alcohol, so I don’t even go inside. The most I do for the Anchor is a bit of press on my streams, which only get about twelve viewers.” Karl replied. Angelica, still writing, nodded and the interview was over.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Walking back up the stairs into the main offices of the department, Chief Sam Colby waved her over. As she approached, Angelica slowed to a stop. Another white letter, with an identical green wax seal.

  The original letter hadn’t been opened, as it was still being tested for fingerprints. Given how long that might take, the appearance of another letter was… both morbidly intriguing and deafeningly horrifying.

  “It seems that our perpetrator has figured out we found Blan.” Colby muttered grimly.

  “Well… at least we know he’s still in town. Hasn’t jumped ship or anything.” The two looked at the letter, sitting there, menacingly. More than likely, they would need to send this down for testing as well… or…

  “We should open the letters.” Angelica said, looking over at Colby. The chief glared back in response to such a request.

  “You know exactly why we can’t do that. These need processing, as for all we know there’s multiple killers.” Colby replied. Angelica shook her head, rolling her eyes.

  “The likelihood of there being more than one kidnapping killer is severely unlikely. The fact we didn’t open the first one is ludicrous enough, but now we have another, meaning another body might be found. For all we know, there’s a timer of some sort and we’re wasting time.” Angelica reasoned. Colby just grunted.

  “We have procedures for a reason, Ms. Gedz. I can’t just…”

  “Procedures aren’t rules. They aren’t laws. They are there to make life easier, and sometimes you have to take the hard route.” Angelica cut him off. Colby dragged his hand over his face in exasperation.

  “That… makes so little sense that it has something to it. Fine. But wear gloves.” Colby said, opening a nearby drawer and tossing her a latex glove box. Angelica smiled, having won the small debate, as she opened it and pulled on the gloves. Approaching the letter, she got a better look at the wax seal. It was embellished with a simple dagger–probably something cheap from an art store. Cracking open the seal, the scent of rust wafted into the air. Angelica scoffed as she pulled out the letter. Whoever was committing these murders had watched too much television, as the letter itself was a collage of newspaper and magazine letters. The printer paper was heavy with glue, the folding messy and childish. An elusive murderer they may have been, but good with their hands? That was out of the question. The letter itself stated:

  APD,

  Congratulations! You’ve found Sam! I apologize for her condition, but as you may see, she’s far better this way. Not as noisy, not as belligerent. Karly-warly will have to thank me later! Anyways, you’ll be looking for the next masterpiece, yes? I would sure hope so! Keep on lookin’ as I won’t be so giving for the remainder of our time together! Toodles!

  Your Local Artist,

  Azrael

  “Did the letter arrive with anything?” Angelica asked, cringing at such a cliche name. Colby nodded.

  “Yes. It’s being held in evidence for the time being, as we wait for testing. Can’t be too safe.” Colby replied.

  “We need to open it, right now.” The two of them quickly walked downstairs, past the holding cells, past the interrogation chamber, and into evidence. A quick conversation later and the two of them were looking over a fairly large package. It was similar in dimensions to a painting delivered by Amazon, which was leading into Angelica’s theory. Silently, Angelica pried the package open, barely being careful of what was inside.

  It was indeed a framed painting. The frame itself was some kind of red aluminum, a strange choice of material, but these were strange circumstances. The painting itself depicted a grotesque pig covered in warts and peeling skin, exposing muscle underneath. In its mouth was a rotting apple, the rot itself forming a skull-like pattern, not too dissimilar from the poison apple in Disney’s Snow White. All around the pig was what seemed to be living mud, screaming faces and hands reaching out, grasping at the fat of the pig.

  “Get me some Luminol…” Angelica said, and within the minute Colby returned with some. Taking a small dab, she rubbed a bit of it on the muscle of the pig painting. A fluorescent light was given to her and the lights were turned off.

  And as she expected, the painting glowed the signature pale blue.