Special Victims Unit/Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Look at what isn't there
Carola looked at her aides triumphantly, but their questioning faces told her they needed more explanation.
“What do you mean, the hints were missing? They were there! We have them all here!”
“Come on, do I really need to explain? It's obvi …”
But then Carola interrupted herself.
“Oh, no. Wait. I'm sorry. It's obvious now, now that I see it. It wasn't at first.”
“So, what is obvious, Carola. Help us out!”
“All the time we were looking at what the rapist left for us. That was our mistake. We were looking at the wrong thing. The hint was not what the rapist left. It was what he didn't leave. We have to look at what isn't there.”
“Look at what isn't there?”
“Yes. Here, take the first victim. What did the rapist leave?”
“Tickets for a trip to Orlando.”
“Yes, indeed. Fully arranged. Here's the envelope with all he left. Look carefully. Spot what's missing.”
Stephen mumbled as he leafed through the vouchers.
“Restaurant vouchers. Entrance to the Universal Orgies Theme Park. Hotel room. Entrance to Disneyworld All Ages Magic World of Sex. Seems compl …”
But Indra interrupted him.
“And how should they get there?”
“Why? By plane, of course … oh shit, that's it! There are no plane tickets included!”
“Exactly!” Carola praised, “and that is the hint we were missing all the time. It's not about the trip. It's about the missing flight.”
“So, the second rape … the handcuffs. What's missing there?”
Stephen looked as enthusiastic as a school boy learning a new sex variation.
“The keys,” Indra immediately responded, “obviously. The cuffs were PlayDom X38. Those have the keys attached with an unbreakable cord. It must have taken effort to get them removed.”
“Yes, makes sense.”
“How about the third?” Carola asked, her lips curled in a way that betrayed she knew the answer already.
“Hmmm, what did we find. Parchment. And ink. But … aha, no pen!”
“Pen? Nobody writes with pen on parchment. I'm sure the rapist wrote in style, using a real quill.”
“Exactly!”
“How about your missed breakfast?” Indra asked Carola, who cringed a bit at the memory.
“Good question. Let's check the photographs.”
“It really didn't help that you …” Stephen started, but Indra hushed him. There were more important things now.
“So there was coffee and orange juice. Toast. Jam. Plastic plates and cups, cheap hotel style. Toast. And bacon strips.”
“And some sausages, look here!”
“Anything more?”
“No, I don't think so. So, what's missing?”
“Eggs? That must be it! Every hotel serves scrambled eggs with their bacon and toast.”
“Ah, yes. So scrambled eggs are missing here.”
“And that leaves us with the restroom signs. What's missing there?”
“Order,” Stephen mumbled, “it was a chaotic mess, not neatly stacked up as I would have expected based on the other crime scenes.”
“Ha, ha, funny,” Indra sneered, then proceeded to proclaim, “but what's actually missing is the men's room sign. We have ladies room signs, disabled toilet, a gender-neutral sign, and a whole stack of generic WC signs, but not a single men's room.”
“Bingo! That must be it.”
And then the room fell silent again. After about a minute, Indra gave a hesitant recap.
“So then the actual hints are … plane tickets; keys; quill; scrambled eggs; and a men's room sign?”
“Looks like it. And that last note quite literally told us so.”
“As if he wants to get caught.”
“Yes. In fact, I think he expected me to catch him after miss Hepburn already.”
“Why?”
“The two-day break. The hasty way in which the bathroom signs were collected. And of course the simple fact that the note almost literally tells us where to look, instead of just vaguely pointing at the hints as previous notes did.”
“And yet,” Indra mumbled, as she reviewed the list of hints that she had scribbled on the wall, “yet I don't see how this helps.”
The three fell silent for a long time as they stared at the wall, trying to connect the new clues in their heads, trying to find a pattern in the clues.
“Wait,” Stephen suddenly mumbled, “I think I see a pattern between the clues. Well, some of them.”
“What?” Indra prodded.
“The quill. Quills are always bird's feathers, right?”
“Yes.”
“And the eggs. Birds lay eggs.”
“So … two of the hints refer to birds?”
“Three,” Carola intervened, as she nodded approvingly in Stephen's direction, “the tickets too. We phrased it as missing plane tickets, but many would say that there was no flight booked. Flight refers to birds too.”
“So … birds? And how are the men's room and a key related to birds?”
“Perhaps they aren't? The first clue refers to birds. The second clue … well, a key, no idea what. And then when we got nowhere, the rapist left more bird-related clues?”
“Because he had expected us to get it after one clue?”
“No. I'm sure the first four rapes – and clues! – were planned in advance. It's only the last one, the rape of Iris White, that feels like a hasty afterthought.”
“Agreed.”
Indra had been remarkably silent during the last exchange. Once Carola and Stephen fell silent, she slowly, carefully, as if afraid to hurt someone, opened her mouth.
“Carola, I'm afraid we're wrong. These are not clues. These are just further insults to you.”
“Not clues? Well, I am fairly sure … No, let's hear your theory first. Why do you think these are not clues?”
“Because the bird literally is you.”
“Huh?”
“What was the most commonly used bird for quills?”
“Uhm? A goose, I think?”
“Yes. Indeed. A goose. And the Latin word for goose is anser. Literally your name. We're treating these as hints. But they are just …”
She could not finish her sentence. Suddenly, Carola froze all over. She interrupted Indra, whispering hoarsely: “Get out. Both of you.”
“What?”
“I said get out! NOW!!!!”
Two seconds of silence. Then Indra and Stephen got up, left the office, and closed the door behind them. As soon as the door was shut, they heard the smashing sounds of stuff being thrown against the wall, banging sounds as if someone was hitting a fist or even a head against the wall, and what could only be described as a primal cry, filled with anger and frustration.
Indra and Stephen looked at each other. They had witnessed outbursts of their boss before. But never like this. Never this loud. And never this long. It lasted a full three minutes before finally the sounds behind the door faded.
Silence followed.
Then they heard Carola's voice, seemingly calm and collected.
“Sorry about that. You can come in again.”
The office was totally wrecked. All clues were torn from the wall and thrown around, nothing that had been standing on a desk was still there, the floor was littered with clues, smashed down computers, and shattered photo frames that had been on Stephen's and Indra's desk, showing their partners and children. But neither said anything. They had just one question on their mind.
“So … what was that about, Carola? Related to the case, I guess?”
“I know who did it.”
Carola's voice sounded bland, carefully controlled. She still fought to control her emotions, and only barely succeeded.
“He even signed his notes, yet I missed it. Heck, it's all my fault!”
She sobbed, then regained control as she pushed the intercom button.
“Dispatch? Please send an arrest team to my house. You will find my husband there, waiting for you. He will not resist. Please bring him to me first, before doing the paperwork.”
“What? Your husband? Clemens?”
“Yes. That's what CA in the notes actually stands for. Clemens Anser. He signed them, and we were too fixated on my so-called fame to even see!”
“But … why him?”
“The remaining clues. The key. Key in French is clé. A reference to his first name, just as clear as the Latin reference to his last name that you decoded, Indra. And the other references. And then, when we didn't get it, even when he expected us, he added the rest of his name: men's room. Clé … men's. Clemens.”
“Okay. Now that you say it, it's obvious indeed. But still … why him? What's his motive?”
“I am,” Carola said, sounding depressed, “I am the motive. He told me so. He dry-humping told me so, and I was too dumb to see. I left him no choice.”
Her voice trailed off and she started to sob. Stephen and Indra exchanged a quick glance, then Stephen left the office and closed the door. They both knew that Indra would have more chance to help Carola regain her balance.
Impressions of a new world
Evgeni Vorobyov sits himself down on the first available bench near the Uber pickup stand. He checks his phone to confirm that his driver is still ten minutes away. Time to open …
His thoughts are interrupted by a cheerful “Hey, Evgeni!”. He looks up to see the twin boy and girl that he encountered on the flight, and that made this flight one to remember for him. They have fallen behind at the airport when their parents ushered them into a public restroom/shower to wash off his sperm, that was still running down their little legs. But apparently they have now caught up with him again.
“Do you want a ride? We have our car parked here. It will be a tight squeeze to fit you between our little brats, but if you want …”
“Thanks for the offer, but I think you're heading for Seattle, right? My hotel is in Tacoma.”
“Ah, okay. Well, then enjoy your stay here. And thanks once more for keeping our children busy.”
“No problem at all, the pleasure was entirely mine.”
Evgeni waves and looks as the family disappears behind a corner. Then he takes out his phone to check the Uber app. Still eight minutes. Time to open FindR. He adjusts his location from the airport to Tacoma, sets the time for the evening, and starts the search.
The first profile comes up. Kevin, aged 12. His deep blue eyes truly stand out in his portrait photo. He has short dark blond hair, and his ears stand somewhat off of his head. The full body photo shows an average looking boy, slightly chubby. The last picture is a close up of a hard boy dick, standing straight up from a bed of early pubic hair.
Evgeni smiles at the gorgeous pictures. But then, after some hesitation, swipes right. He returns to the preferences and switches from bi to straight. The boy on the plane was fun, but for tonight he wants to have straight sex.
Next profile. Lily, aged 46. Her portrait photo reveals a warm smiling face, with curly hair, dyed orange. The little wrinkles in the corners of her head make her look sympathetic rather than old, and the broad smile of her fleshy lips completes the picture of a warm and loving motherly woman. Evgeni looks at the full body picture, surprised to see a very slender woman, with firm C-cup size tits that despite her age still stand proud without support. A quick look at the profile reveals that she does indeed love to work out. He quickly scrolls to her preferences. A strong preference for one on one sex, no gender preference, loves spending a full night with the same partner but likes a quick fuck too. Prefers her partner to take the lead and be dominant, but no bondage or SM.
He flicks back to the last picture to see a beautiful shaved pussy with thick outer lips. Nodding approvingly, Evgeni swipes left.
Next. Dolores, aged 13. No portrait photo, but a picture of her upper body from the chest up, taken from the side to make her eye-catching long blonde hair stand out. The photo also reveals two very delicious looking budding breasts on her chest, that Evgeni just knows to be insanely suckable. The next picture is a close up of her ass, as she bends over and parts her cheeks to reveal her tight asshole. Beneath that, between her closed legs, are her labia, visibly wet. The last picture is a full body picture of Dolores sitting down, her legs spread, a dildo shoved deep inside her cunt. Evgeni zooms in to confirm that she is still completely hairless down there.
Excited, he looks at her profile. Loves to be used endlessly, by men and boys of all ages. Loves gangbangs. Loves to be filled in all holes. The badges next to her name reveal that her profile is six years old, so she must have made her account when she turned seven, the minimum age for a personal FindR profile. She has already found over 400 partners through FindR, and has an average rating of 4.8 stars.
Evgeni sighs and swipes right.
“What? Why?” a woman says. Evgeni was too engrossed in the FindR app to notice her sitting down next to him. But apparently she is watching his screen.
“She looks awesome to me. I am sure she would give you a very good time!”
Evgeni smiles at the woman.
“Yes, I am sure she would. But after reading her profile … You know, I just came off a flight where two children took turns riding my cock. And I am jet-lagged. I just need a nice fuck after dinner, and then sleep in each other's arms. This girl needs more. If I had my friends here, I would've swiped left in an instance, and we would have partied all night, as this girl deserves. But I'm on a business trip.”
“Oh, I understand. Great to see that you put her needs before yours. Yes, you are right, I don't think a single man would be enough for her. But I am very much in the same spot as you. Perhaps we can share dinner, fuck each other to sleep, and be a warm pillow for each other?”
“Are you heading to Tacoma?”
The woman nods.
“Done. My name is Evgeni, by the way.”
“Claire. Nice to meet you.”
Continue to: >> Epilogue | Return to: << Chapter 6: Funny how I missed that << Table Of Contents << P.D. Vile's stories