1 Chapter 01

Homicide detective Gustav Johren stepped out into the chilly night.

Gazing at the sea of men and women in uniform, slowly he made his way towards the neon-bright yellow tape.

It was another night for the veteran homicide detective of the 24th precinct.

The officer clad in a dark-blue uniform lifted the tape, allowing him to pass to the scene of the crime.

Around the crime scene, bystanders gathered. It wouldn't be long until reporters came around too. Very soon this would make the evening or early morning headlines. Exploiting the crime for views and ratings.

For Gustav it was better to move fast and get as much as he could from the crime scene uninterrupted.

There, near the trees of the local park was the coroner kneeling in front of a body covered with a plastic sheet.

"They called you too, Mila." Gustav mused.

The coroner, a woman in her early thirties and piercing blue eyes scoffed at him. "If you're here, it means we're in for a long night."

"What makes you say that?" Gustav replied. "Maybe this one won't be as complicated as the last one."

Mila sighed and jotted on her notebook.

"I wish."

"What can you tell me about this one?"

Mila carefully removed the plastic sheet covering the body of the victim.

A young woman, perhaps in her mid 20's lay on the concrete floor of the park. There was nothing out of the ordinary until you looked at her stomach. It had all the signs of being ripped apart by some wild beast.

Gustav was rather unfazed at the grisly sight.

Having served for almost 20 years at the 24th precinct, Gustav had witnessed a lot of gruesome murders. Years had steeled his nerves and stomach. But in this moment, he was at a loss for what it could've been responsible for such a grisly wound.

However, he still felt a pang in his heart. Every death chipped away at his emotions, but not his resolve to bring the victim justice.

"I might not be able to tell you what exactly caused this wound," Mila said, almost as if she had read his mind. "Until I get her on the table."

A case like this one was going to be complicated.

Gustav stood up, gazed at the body of the girl, looked around the scene of the crime.

"Was she found like that?" He asked.

Mila looked over her notes. "The one that found her body, stated that he found her lying on the ground. At first, he thought she was sleeping until he discovered the gaping wound on her abdomen.

Gustav noticed there were drops of blood leading from the girl to the woods.

"Where are you going?" Mila asked.

"Following the blood trail," replied Gustav as he stepped into the woods.

The crime scene was one of the largest parks in the city with a huge forest. A small patch of nature, surrounded by steel and concrete.

Drawing out a flashlight, Gustav examined the forest where the trail of blood lead. At this hour of the night, it was very hard to see, but the scent of fresh blood was pungent and hard to mistaken.

Reaching a small clearing, the beam from the flashlight landed on a translucent white material, spattered in blood, lay in the middle of the clearing like a freshly hatched cocoon.

It gave no signs of life. Still, Gustav approached it carefully.

"Hey guys, you missed something here." He called out to the CSU crew.

Mila and two CSU assistants came over and were aghast at the strange discovery.

"How did we miss that?" Mila observed.

"It wasn't there when we did our initial sweep," replied the CSU assistant.

"Well? Start baggin' and taggin'!" Mila chided.

"Right away!"

Gustav noticed the strange material had a faint luminescence.

This would not be a normal case after all.

****

An hour later, Gustav was paying Mila a visit at the morgue. This was a place he had become closely familiar. It's hallways, its employees and even the number of dead that had been a temporary resident.

Mila was at her desk on the other side of the examining table. Her headphones were on, and the body of the girl on the examining table behind her.

Gustav in his line of work had become really familiar with death, but Mila was even more so. But he wondered if listening to music was her way of keeping her sanity.

Tapping her on the shoulder was the only way to get her attention once she had her headphones on.

"Didn't hear you come in." She said as she took off her headphones.

"Are you allowed to wear headphones at work?" He jokingly asked.

"At this hour of the night, I'm allowed to do whatever I want." Mila replied puffing her chest. "Besides, I don't she'll mind."

Gustav glanced at the girl on the examining table. The gruesome new murder he was tasked to investigate.

"What can you tell me about her?"

Mila reached for the autopsy report and handed over to Gustav.

"Other than the huge hole in her stomach, there's nothing else I can tell you." Mila sighed. "She was a perfectly healthy woman, all medical records came back clean."

"Perfectly healthy women don't end up in an examiner's table." Gustav replied as he flipped through the report. It was very thorough, Mila was a dedicated to her craft.

"What about that thing we found in the woods a few steps from where she was found?"

"I didn't have the equipment to analyze it, so a colleague from Mist University to pick it up for analysis." Mila replied.

"Somehow I don't like evidence ending up in the hands of third parties."

"That's why you have to sign this," Mila handed over an authorization form.

Gustav was still hesitant to sign an authorization form to hand over a piece of evidence to a third party, even if they belonged to the prestigious Mist University. A heavily funded institution, the spearhead of innovation, where the most brilliant minds gathered to impart their wisdom.

Neither Gustav or Mila had ever attended there. But their reputation was spotless. However, for this case in particular, he couldn't rely on the other crime labs sanctioned by the city.

Gustav wasn't the type to trust someone by reputation alone.

As he finished signing the authorization form, the door opened and a thin silhouette stepped in. It was a man in his late 30's wearing a worn-down jacket and disheveled hair. It didn't give the appearance of a scholar of a highly prestigious university.

"Didn't expect you until much later," mused Mila.

"When you told me what you found, I couldn't wait." The man flashed a nervous smile.

"Who is this guy?" Gustav asked.

"You're right. Detective, this Eiker Lihse. Head of the Genetic and Geobiology departments at Mist university."

"Pleasure to meet you," Lihse stretched out his hand.

Lihse was a friendly guy, but Mila looked at him strangely.

Gustav shook Lihse's hand. Something struck him as rather odd, but he quite couldn't determine why. His eyes had a hazy quality to them, and his hand was oddly cold.

A quite shake of the hands and Lihse turned to Mila.

"Enough pleasantries. Can you show me the sample?"

Mila handed Lihse a small plastic box.

"Excellent."

"How long would it take you to determine what's inside?" Gustav inquired.

Lihse examined the box as it were a present he couldn't wait to unwrap.

"48 hours once I get to the lab."

"Make it 12 if you can," Gustav retorted. "It's part of a murder investigation."

Lihse grimaced at Gustav. "You can't rush science, detective."

"Lihse is one of the best in the field," Mila interjected. "And he works fast."

That being said, Lihse tucked the box under his arm.

"I'll call you once I examined the sample you gave me."

Disappearing behind the door, Gustav couldn't feel like he just made a tremeandous breach of protocol. But this was a tough case, and some extra help would come in handy.

"I'll be going as well," Gustav said as he headed for the door. "I have some phone calls to make."

"Alright, I'll be calling you soon." Mila waved him goodbye.

As Gustav stepped outside the forensic lab, he breathed in the cool night air. Something about it just invigorated him, or maybe it was the stillness of the city at such late hours of the night.

Picking up his phone to call the chief on the developments of the case, a car parked on the side-way caught his eye.

Enforcing the laws of the city, no matter how minor was also part of his job. Though, he considered minor infractions something that could be resolved with a quick warning. However, a car parked in the middle of the night, meant trouble most of the time.

Drawing out his flashlight, Gustav examined the interior of the car.

"What the hell?"

Gustav opened the door and Lihse plopped onto the street like a rag-doll.

"Hey! Wake up!"

Lihse mumbled some words.

Good, for a second there, Gustav thought he would have another murder to solve.

Immediately Gustav examined the inside of the car for the only thing he truly cared for.

The plastic box with the sample.

He searched for furiously inside the car, among the stacks of paper and folios Lihse had inside. It was nowhere to be found.

"Lihse, where's the box!?" He yelled.

"Ugh... What box? Who are you?"