Third Disappearance: Garrett H. Keller. Age: 73. Job: Retired. Priors: Domestic Abuse, Animal Abuse, Destruction of Property. Last Seen: No one has seen Mr. Keller since his last scandal, which was the destruction of the Stokes’s Black History Month display, a whole three months ago. Garrett accused the grocery store of blocking his path with the display, saying it was his preferred method of entering the store. Since then, no one had seen him, with his disappearance being called into question until he didn’t make it to the local BINGO night for the fourth time in a row.
ABD,
Took you long enough! Blanny had been waiting ages for you to discover him! He stank, so I placed him in the bath, but he still had questions! What a busy body, so obsessed with cleanliness. Perhaps some time burning off a bit of steam will do him some good! I’m sure Johnny will be so glad when he does! I will stay in touch, officers! See you soon!
Your Local Artist
Azrael
Angelica sighed, looking between the two letters. Officers ran around her, the Azrael case taking precedence over all others. She had been given an empty desk for the investigation, her place in the whole debacle a staple. Testing had found no fingerprints, no signs of blood, no dandruff, nothing. It was pristine as far as human evidence was concerned. Not even the glue underneath any of the letters had signs of life. All that the department knew now of this “Local Artist Azrael” was: familiar with the town and its people, a morbid sense of humor, good at painting, and watched one too many detective and true crime shows. That last one was more of a hunch, but given the form the letters had taken, it wouldn’t have surprised her if that was the case.
“Any ideas?” Colby asked as he and Joan approached, the young detective holding two coffee mugs. She handed one of them to Angelica.
“Nothing groundbreaking. They’re certainly a character. They write like a child, but use words of a decently educated adult. Their humor suggests they know how twisted their actions are, but find it… artistic? They have a basic understanding of Islamic angels, Azrael being the Angel of Death, but other than that, I got nothing. Blan’s body had nothing abnormal, other than the obvious, and we can’t really tell what Kiln went through. All we can hope for is that, whatever they had to go through, it was painless.” Angelica said, leaning back in her chair, slumping down in defeat. The chief and detective frowned and Joan was about to say something when Dr. Amaros rushed up to the three of them, a live phone in hand.
“It’s for you, Ms. Gedz…” He said, handing the phone to her. Colby ran quickly, gathering the tracing equipment. Angelica waited until she saw Colby approach and she put the phone to her ear. But instead of silence or background noise, she was bombarded with a wall of words.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“-And I, Azrael, will reveal my divine self to you upon the fifth! I shall pronounce myself and they will see my perfect absolution! Oh how giddy I am to see you all, how happy for my exhibit to be close to fruition! Yes, oh yes, how happy I am, how joyful! I am so-”
“Hey blabbermouth, you mind stopping?” Angelica tried to cut in, but the voice just continued to talk over her. The mess was so incoherent and nonsensical, that when Colby shook his head at the ineffectiveness of the trace, Angelica ended the call.
“Figures. Somehow he can’t be traced.” Angelica grunted.
“Well, at least we know he’s a man now, correct?” Joan asked. Angelica nodded and twirled in her chair to look at Amaros. The coroner was a fairly aged man himself, nearing his 60s. He looked a lot like a mad scientist, with the only hair being the bushy moustache and small beard. His bulbous nose and wrinkles just reinforced how old the man was. His eyes were a sickly green color, complementing his ugly green tie and leather shoes. The white lab coat did little to help the atrocities that were this man’s attire, the plaid pink blazer over a white Sunday-best shirt and tan jeans. Angelica disliked the man, but he personally had hired her to help with this case, so she had to respect his tenacity to get the job done.
“What was he saying before you rushed up here?” She asked.
“I… I can’t exactly recall… something about a grand reveal with his next ‘piece’ and something about his simplest yet…” Amaros said, twiddling his skeletal fingers. Angelica rolled her eyes in disbelief. These townsfolk were certainly special. Just as she was about to question Amaros more, an officer ran into the building.
“Chief! Chief! Chief!” He cried out, clearly out of breath.
“What is it, Doe?” Colby asked, rushing over to the man. Doe, panting, regained his breath before he spoke. He looked at Colby with fear in his eyes.
“It’s Mr. Keller… we found him…” Doe stated. Angelica got out of her chair and, with Joan in tow, the three followed Doe out into the parking lot, where another officer waited for them outside. As Colby and the other officer quickly talked, Doe gave the address to Joan and Angelica. The address was a small ways away, and they all soon were in their respective cars, sirens wailing, as they rushed to the scene.
“According to Officer Nolan, the scene was under construction and had been finished last week. It was at the christening and pulling away of a massive tarp that the body was found. We might be finally getting closer to whoever this killer is.” Colby radioed in, informing everyone of the circumstances.
They arrived at the crime scene within minutes, and Angelica was soon disgusted with the killer’s choice in location: a local Catholic church. Upon its now-stained steeple was Mr. Garrett H. Keller. The poor old man had been stripped of everything other than a pair of humiliating boxers. His chest had been tied to the steeple with rope, a rough wooden cross behind him, to which his corpse was nailed. The word ‘Karen’ had been carved into his corpse’s chest, its eyes gouged out, and its mouth open, filled with what looked to be applesauce. And as with every corpse, Angelica could see a letter, seemingly taped to its hand, that signature green seal visible even from the ground.
