“A smart guy would be to hell and gone from here by now,” Jimmy said.
“Lucky for us they are rarely smart.”
Renee got up from crouching over the body and walked toward the woman and her little dog. The poodle yapped at her as she approached. Renee bent to pet him, gingerly at first in case he wasn’t friendly, but then more enthusiastically when he proved to be social.
“What a beautiful dog,” she said to the owner. “What’s his name?”
The owner stopped talking to the cop in front of her and looked down at Renee. Her mouth curved into a smile.
“She’s a girl. And her name is Roxy.”
“Well, she’s a beautiful picture of her breed.”
“Oh, thank you!” The woman’s smile grew. “Do you know much about poodles?”
“Not poodles, but breeding. My dad is a breeder upstate. We breed Labs and German shepherds for the blind and for the police to train.”
“Oh, what a fulfilling career that must be for your dad. Does he show his dogs? Roxy has been in a couple of shows.”
“He does but not often. He’d much rather train them for other things. So,” Renee said rising to her full height, “was it you or was it Roxy who first noticed our victim, Ms….?”
“Anna Sophia. It was me. I saw them struggling and thought something was wrong almost immediately. I was afraid but I got closer…and I saw one man biting the other man on the back of his neck. It was such an odd thing but I knew it was bad because of the expression on the man…your victim. Oh, that poor man! And then suddenly the attacker noticed me watching and disengaged from the man’s neck and snarled at me. He had fangs! It was a vampire! I couldn’t believe it!”
Renee resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the woman’s dramatic interpretation of the attack. The woman’s mind was obviously filtering what she had seen in a way that she could cope with it. She had probably read one too many paranormal romance novels.
“Can you describe this…attacker?” Renee asked, avoiding the word “vampire” though she was tempted.
“He was tall…had dark hair…black, I guess you could say. Overall he was a very handsome fellow—if not for those eyes. They were like staring into evil.”
“Do you think you could describe the man in greater detail to a sketch artist?” Renee asked.
“Oh yes. I’m never going to forget that face.”
Well, that was something, Renee supposed. She seemed like a solid eyewitness, once you filtered through the drama. Renee turned to look at the crowd that had gathered. “You don’t see him here do you?” she asked the woman.
“Well…nooo,” the woman said as she craned her neck and looked around. “He leaped away, moving like a cat. Down the alleyway and over the fence. He’s probably long gone by now. And good riddance, I say. I never want to be that close to him again! My life was in danger! He could have killed me! Then what would happen to Roxy?”
“Thank you, ma’am. Please go with this officer,” Renee said, pulling aside one of the beat cops. “He’ll take you down to the precinct and we’ll get you together with our sketch artist.”
“Whatever you need. I hope you catch him. But be careful. He’s dangerous!”
“I’ll be fine. And you’ve been a big help, Ms. Sophia. We’ll get him.”
Renee stepped away from the woman and flipped open the notebook she carried with her to every scene. She quickly jotted down everything the woman had told her, initially leaving out the part about vampires. But then she got that itch, the one that told her she shouldn’t discount anything. She walked back toward the body, where the coroner was preparing to wrap it in a body bag.
“Hey, Stella. Could you do me a favor?” Renee asked.
“Sure thing, chica. What do you need?”
“Bend him forward and let me get a look at the back of his neck.”
“Okay. Why?”
“Something the witness said.”
Stella Hargrove, one of the best MEs Renee had ever worked with, took the request in stride. She was squatting next to the body, and she moved to gently lean him forward. She and Renee both peered at the back of the victim’s neck. Sure enough, there were two very large puncture wounds at the top of his spine, almost hidden by his short hairline, and two runnels of blood running down the back of his neck and into the collar of his coat.
“What the hell?” Stella asked.
“I’m hoping you can tell me. And keep it quiet. The last thing I need is a story breaking about a psychotic vampire.”
“Gotcha. Although, it’s not unheard of for people to have the delusion that they are vampires and alter their teeth accordingly. I’ll check the wound for saliva and get an idea as to the depth of the punctures. These look pretty deep. Deeper than you’d expect from someone with your average dental implant.”
“I thought vampires bit their victims on the side of the neck. It certainly would be easier. You’d have to reach around—hey, that means our attacker had to be quite tall and strong to wrestle with our victim. This guy is pretty fit. He’d have to put up a good fight.”
“Unless there was a gun or something and he felt threatened.”
“No. No mention of a weapon other than a killer set of fangs,” Renee said with amusement teasing at her voice.
“Well, I’ll let you know what I find. Although today seems to be a good day to die. We’re a little backlogged. Might take a day or two.”
“Maybe longer with this blizzard coming?”
“Nah. Shouldn’t affect me. I’m set to camp out at the morgue. Ray and the girls are visiting his mom in Toledo and I’m all alone. Figure it’s a good time to catch up on the backlog at work. The dead have me all to themselves.”
“Cool. But get some sleep in there somewhere. This guy isn’t going anywhere and I want you to do a really good job. I have a feeling we have a good chance at catching this perp, even if the eyewitness is a little…colorful.”
“I would be colorful too if I saw a vampire,” Stella said with a snicker.
“Enough about the vampire business. What we have is your run-of-the-mill sicko murderer who happens to have a biting fetish. Let’s catch this guy, Stella. Preferably before it hits the papers and we get every crazy person in New York City calling in and swearing they saw a vampire too.”
“Lucky for us they are rarely smart.”
Renee got up from crouching over the body and walked toward the woman and her little dog. The poodle yapped at her as she approached. Renee bent to pet him, gingerly at first in case he wasn’t friendly, but then more enthusiastically when he proved to be social.
“What a beautiful dog,” she said to the owner. “What’s his name?”
The owner stopped talking to the cop in front of her and looked down at Renee. Her mouth curved into a smile.
“She’s a girl. And her name is Roxy.”
“Well, she’s a beautiful picture of her breed.”
“Oh, thank you!” The woman’s smile grew. “Do you know much about poodles?”
“Not poodles, but breeding. My dad is a breeder upstate. We breed Labs and German shepherds for the blind and for the police to train.”
“Oh, what a fulfilling career that must be for your dad. Does he show his dogs? Roxy has been in a couple of shows.”
“He does but not often. He’d much rather train them for other things. So,” Renee said rising to her full height, “was it you or was it Roxy who first noticed our victim, Ms….?”
“Anna Sophia. It was me. I saw them struggling and thought something was wrong almost immediately. I was afraid but I got closer…and I saw one man biting the other man on the back of his neck. It was such an odd thing but I knew it was bad because of the expression on the man…your victim. Oh, that poor man! And then suddenly the attacker noticed me watching and disengaged from the man’s neck and snarled at me. He had fangs! It was a vampire! I couldn’t believe it!”
Renee resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the woman’s dramatic interpretation of the attack. The woman’s mind was obviously filtering what she had seen in a way that she could cope with it. She had probably read one too many paranormal romance novels.
“Can you describe this…attacker?” Renee asked, avoiding the word “vampire” though she was tempted.
“He was tall…had dark hair…black, I guess you could say. Overall he was a very handsome fellow—if not for those eyes. They were like staring into evil.”
“Do you think you could describe the man in greater detail to a sketch artist?” Renee asked.
“Oh yes. I’m never going to forget that face.”
Well, that was something, Renee supposed. She seemed like a solid eyewitness, once you filtered through the drama. Renee turned to look at the crowd that had gathered. “You don’t see him here do you?” she asked the woman.
“Well…nooo,” the woman said as she craned her neck and looked around. “He leaped away, moving like a cat. Down the alleyway and over the fence. He’s probably long gone by now. And good riddance, I say. I never want to be that close to him again! My life was in danger! He could have killed me! Then what would happen to Roxy?”
“Thank you, ma’am. Please go with this officer,” Renee said, pulling aside one of the beat cops. “He’ll take you down to the precinct and we’ll get you together with our sketch artist.”
“Whatever you need. I hope you catch him. But be careful. He’s dangerous!”
“I’ll be fine. And you’ve been a big help, Ms. Sophia. We’ll get him.”
Renee stepped away from the woman and flipped open the notebook she carried with her to every scene. She quickly jotted down everything the woman had told her, initially leaving out the part about vampires. But then she got that itch, the one that told her she shouldn’t discount anything. She walked back toward the body, where the coroner was preparing to wrap it in a body bag.
“Hey, Stella. Could you do me a favor?” Renee asked.
“Sure thing, chica. What do you need?”
“Bend him forward and let me get a look at the back of his neck.”
“Okay. Why?”
“Something the witness said.”
Stella Hargrove, one of the best MEs Renee had ever worked with, took the request in stride. She was squatting next to the body, and she moved to gently lean him forward. She and Renee both peered at the back of the victim’s neck. Sure enough, there were two very large puncture wounds at the top of his spine, almost hidden by his short hairline, and two runnels of blood running down the back of his neck and into the collar of his coat.
“What the hell?” Stella asked.
“I’m hoping you can tell me. And keep it quiet. The last thing I need is a story breaking about a psychotic vampire.”
“Gotcha. Although, it’s not unheard of for people to have the delusion that they are vampires and alter their teeth accordingly. I’ll check the wound for saliva and get an idea as to the depth of the punctures. These look pretty deep. Deeper than you’d expect from someone with your average dental implant.”
“I thought vampires bit their victims on the side of the neck. It certainly would be easier. You’d have to reach around—hey, that means our attacker had to be quite tall and strong to wrestle with our victim. This guy is pretty fit. He’d have to put up a good fight.”
“Unless there was a gun or something and he felt threatened.”
“No. No mention of a weapon other than a killer set of fangs,” Renee said with amusement teasing at her voice.
“Well, I’ll let you know what I find. Although today seems to be a good day to die. We’re a little backlogged. Might take a day or two.”
“Maybe longer with this blizzard coming?”
“Nah. Shouldn’t affect me. I’m set to camp out at the morgue. Ray and the girls are visiting his mom in Toledo and I’m all alone. Figure it’s a good time to catch up on the backlog at work. The dead have me all to themselves.”
“Cool. But get some sleep in there somewhere. This guy isn’t going anywhere and I want you to do a really good job. I have a feeling we have a good chance at catching this perp, even if the eyewitness is a little…colorful.”
“I would be colorful too if I saw a vampire,” Stella said with a snicker.
“Enough about the vampire business. What we have is your run-of-the-mill sicko murderer who happens to have a biting fetish. Let’s catch this guy, Stella. Preferably before it hits the papers and we get every crazy person in New York City calling in and swearing they saw a vampire too.”
