SALVATION chapter 12

Salvation
chapter 12

Los Angeles, California

The forensic team assigned to the case were
flown in by helicopter touching down in the middle of a
high school football field a mile south west of North
Stanley Street. At the request of Lieutenant Harrington,
Officers Silversmith and Carson were dispatched to transport
the three member team from the school to the crime scene.
The arrival of a police helicopter was a grateful distraction
for the facility and staff at Union High as the teenage children
held there for their protection were bored and impatient
complaining they now felt like hostages.
Normal bus transportation had been canceled and no child
was allowed to leave the school grounds with out a parent
or guardian personally picking them up.
The school had been designated a local emergency shelter
facility. Both F.E.M.A. and the Red Cross where currently on site
busy converting the multipurpose room into a receiving center.
More persons were arriving at the school then departing.
It was just after 4:00 PM and for many in Los Angeles this
Wednesday had already become a very long day.

Forensics scowered apartment 12 taking photos, gathering
evidence, examining the bodies, and searching for identifications.
Hal had found the third victim where Lieutenant De La Cruz
indicated he would, in the kitchen.
The third victim was not wedged behind a door, or hanging
face down from the ceiling. Victim number 3 was sitting on
a chair at the kitchen table with a half eaten bowl of
wheaties in front of him..Hal surmised the reason
the man hadn't finished his breakfast of champions wasn't
due to the fact he'd been a picky eater. His professional
opinion was the guy had been "fat dumb and happy"
moments before his demise.
Besides he still clutched a stainless steel table spoon in
his right hand..Not the little tea spoon size either..It was a
manly man's size spoon.
Nope, the guy hadn't scooped up the last few remaining bites
at the bottom of the stoneware cereal bowl simply because he
no longer had place to stick the spoon. His head was missing.
Mystery solved..
Hal looked for it though..Under the table, in the trash, behind the
couch, in the shower, generally peeking here and there. All the
while a little tune playing in the back of his mind..
"Come out, come out, where ever you are"..
Only so much he could do with no gloves, but now
that forensics had arrived even with the clear latex slapped
over his hands allowing a more thorough search without the
concern of disturbing fingerprints or evidence, the head was
not to be found.

He was in the single bedroom of the apartment now. The
only room in the place seemingly undisturbed by the violence
that had transpired.
It smelled of stale sweat and dirty laundry..Like soiled socks
left fermenting under a bed. He found personals in the dresser
and was busy categorizing evidence when something Samantha
said earlier struck him.."Like somebody painted the walls with
them."..She'd been referring to the blood stains and gore smeared
over the walls of the living room..
Hal walked back to the living room staring at the walls confirming
what had sprung aware to him while still in the bedroom..

The opposite walls of the room some twelve feet apart had
identical patterns left there etched in blood..
Hand prints..
Not the impressions of human hands as one would expect.
These were distinctively of a creature previously unknown
to Hal. Four individual three foot appendages attached to a
hand the approximate palm size of the fourteen by twenty
shattered picture frame lying on the living room carpet.
He shuttered.."Impossible..It can't be."
The ends of the appendages were what can only be described
as talons. Two inch wide sickles rugged and serrated
the inside line of which appeared would tear like a rough
cut saw blade.
Hal realized these were the weapons used on the first
two victims. Victims now identified as Leroy Shepard and
Jason Blackwell..Both members of the band 'MENACE'.
The third victim wasn't carrying any identification.
Maybe it had been taken, or maybe he just didn't carry
a wallet with him today.
It was concluded however the third victim's body was
not that of one Herman Gilespie, the man the SWAT
operation was intended to apprehend.

Photos of Herman Gilespie proved him to be of far
slighter build than the two hundred fifty pound man
(not including his head) sitting at the breakfast table.
Process of elimination suggest the victim to be
Winston Mckeen the fourth member of the band.

Previous to Hal's discovery of the strange prints left
over the living room walls, both he and Lieutenant
Harrington were leaning in the direction of a basic
prejudgment that Herman Gilespie committed the
murders in an attempt to silence loose ends.
Probably some time shortly after 10 AM when
results of the radio aired contaminated music began
hitting the news.

No murder weapons had been found however and
Lieutenant Harrington was somewhat hesitant to draw
concrete conclusions.
"It's possible Gilespie wasn't even present at the time
of the murders and his absence may have simply spared
him the same fate."..
Hal had to admit looking at the 8x10 colored glossy promotion
photo of Gilespie it seemed improbable, perhaps even impossible
for the skinny framed speed freak to do this kind of damage
all by his lonesome.
He hadn't ruled out the fact the three victims had been
converted to grinners however..Two smashed up Apple
Ipods with headphones were found and sealed in evidence
bags. The headless drummer might in fact still be wearing
his headphones with the Ipod neatly stuffed inside his mouth..
As with the kitchen butcher knives Hal kept having recurring
brain references to Thanksgiving Day turkeys.

If Gilespie had somehow managed to infect his companions
with the song and remain uninfected himself.
It could explain how he so conveniently got the drop on them.
Grinners were like cattle to the slaughter as long as pacified
by the continuous play of the music.
Hal's theory didn't explain how skinny little Herman could
have managed the enormous strength it would require to
crucify the one hundred seventy five pound Jason Blackwell
to the bathroom ceiling.
Standing in the living room trying to make some kind of
logic of his findings on the walls, he thought maybe
he was viewing evidence of what did.

Samantha De La Cruz was currently in communication with
division headquarters cooperating with the coordination
of another SWAT operation. A situation had developed
in the North Hollywood area and Lieutenant De La Cruz's
team was ordered to conduct yet another mission.
She finished with headquarters and stepped through the
doorway of apartment 12 watching Hal as he stood
perplexed before the hand prints.
Her movement caught his attention and as he turned to
face her they both switched their radios to channel 5.
"Tell me your not considering this as an art form."
She said pointing at the right wall.
He smiled.."No..But there is something here that
deserves contemplation."
She considered this and raised her perfect brown
eyebrows.
"Are you leaving?" Hal asked.
She nodded.."North Hollywood..We've got another call."
He felt a sense of panic tug at his gut and wondered if
the surface worry for her safety wasn't a emotion rooted
deeper in his own self protection. An ingrained response
warning him that he was going to hurt bad if something
happened to her..
"What was it earlier about the guy in the bathroom you
wanted me to see?"
Her words brought his thoughts back to the present.
"Oh that..It was just a tattoo on his arm that spelt
MENACE..Linking him to the band is all."
"How's the investigation coming?"
"There are APB's out on Gilespie now." He said..
Samantha nodded and spoke.
" Probably not much chance he's gotten far with the
airports closed and the freeways a mess."
Hal shook his head.."That's what worries me."
The pretty eyebrows raised again.
Hal continued." Two of the victims brought their own set
of wheels..The guy in the bathroom?..Name's Blackwell.
We were able to contact Mister Blackwell's girlfriend.
Turns out he's a diehard biker..Got a fancy custom chopper
he takes everywhere he goes.
We found Mister Shepard's keys on him and his firebird
it sitting outside on the street."
Samantha finished for him.."So, where is Blackwell's
fancy motorcycle?"
"That's what worries me." Hal nodded.."If I am Herman
Gilespie and I want to get out of town fast...
What better way through those freeways out there.."
"Then on a bike!"..She finished for him again..

Officer Silversmith appeared at the front door and Hal
held up three fingers..He and Samantha tuned to
Silversmith's frequency.
"Lieutenant their looking for you outside."
"Thanks Silversmith Samantha answered." She switch
to 5 again and Hal followed..
"Got to go..I just wanted to wish you good
luck on the case."
"Thanks, I appreciate that." Hal said..
She started to turn toward the door and Hal heard
himself speak.."Listen,..Sam...Would you do me
a favor?..I mean after the SWAT op is clear..
Could you patch over? Just let me know how
things went."
She stopped and turned back to him.
"Why detective..Are you asking me to call you
and let you know I am ok?"
He didn't hesitate. "Yes I am."
She pushed the transmitter button.
"Tell you what..I'll bet you dinner at my
place we both will be just fine at the
end of the day."
Hal smiled.."That's a bet I'd love to lose."