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THE MOMENT HE HAD BEEN dreading was here. The sky was inundated with heavy layers of dark, ominous clouds rolling in. Brilliant bolts of lightning streaked across the black sky, followed moments later by thunder crackling in the distance.
By the time Landry arrived at the crime scene, forensics was finishing up. The smell of death permeated the air. There was nothing as foul as the smell of death.
The crime scene photographer was busy taking pictures of the scene. The bulb flashed like a strobe light as he tried to capture every possible angle of the crime scene and the victim.
Dr. Renault was getting ready to prepare the body to be moved. Landry looked over the dead man’s body. His skin had turned a stark, ashen shade. His eyes were open wide, staring into a vast nothingness. He died with a gasp on his lips, as he struggled for that last bit of air.
“Looks like we have another victim, doesn’t it doc?”
“Sure does. Everything seems identical to the previous crime scenes.”
The MO and the signature match. The victim had only been dead for a few hours. Rigor mortis had yet to set in. As with the other victims, housekeeping found the body. They thought the victim merely forgot to turn in his key when he left. Landry wondered if the housekeepers here were starting to worry about opening room doors now. If he were in their shoes, he would hate to walk into a room wondering if a dead body would be lying on the bed.
Taking out his tablet, he began taking notes of everything he saw, recording every detail of the scene. Landry made sure forensics dusted for prints on every smooth surface. He wanted to leave no stone unturned. He was determined to nail this killer, and fast.
As with the other scenes, very little evidence had been collected. They were releasing very little information to the media. The less the public knew, the better off they would be, or at least that was Landry’s opinion.
There was a woman preying on men in this town. All but two of the men were not married. They did locate a wedding band in one of those rooms, but the man’s secretary had informed Landry that her boss wore the wedding band to prevent women from hitting on him. Unfortunately for him, the killer didn’t know the wedding band was just a prop.