Vampire Shift - By Tim O'Rourke Page 0,15

but after quickly examining it in the torchlight, I could see that the first half inch of the hair leading from the root was black. Therefore the hair was more than likely to have come from the female. It’s not often that a male would have dyed his hair peroxide blonde. And that’s about it,” I finished.

“That’s about it?” Luke whistled through his teeth. “You noticed all of that in the short space of time that you were there?”

“It just happens,” I told him. “I just see stuff.”

“That’s spooky,” Luke said.

“No, it’s good police work,” and I smiled. “I haven’t told you anything that forensics wouldn’t find.”

“Forensics,” Luke said, and his voice sounded kind of flat.

“I know this town is like at the end of the Earth, but you must have forensic officers?” I asked him.

“Yeah, we do have a forensic officer,” he said, sounding as if he were trying to hide something from me.

“Who?” I asked.

“Potter,” he said and looked away as if he were ashamed.

“That cretin?”’ I exclaimed. “He couldn’t find his way out of an elevator!”

“He’s been on a course and everything,” Luke tried to assure me.

“A course?” I said in disbelief. “No wonder the killers haven’t been caught, if he’s responsible for examining the crime scenes.”

“He seems to do a thorough job,” Luke tried to assure me. “I’ve seen him gathering up evidence and bagging and tagging it for forensics to examine.”

“You have forensic officers posted out here?” I asked, hoping that he would say yes.

“No,” he said. “But Potter puts the stuff in the freezer back at the station and they either come and collect or he sends it to them via post.”

“And what have been the results so far?” I asked him.

“Not much I guess, or we would have the killers locked up by now,” Luke said.

“What about those teeth marks you told me about?”

“They’re not even sure what type of creature they belong to. The teeth don’t appear to be that of a human, more like some kind of wild dog,” Luke said.

“There wasn’t any dog or any other type of wild animal involved in the death of Henry Blake,” I insisted.

“But even with your great powers of observation,” Luke said, “you still don’t know how the killers got to and from the crime scene?”

He looked at me and I pictured the broken branches in the trees above the boy’s mutilated body.

“Well?” he asked, sounding impatient.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, the only possibility left after examining the scene was that the killers had entered the scene from above. But I didn’t want to say that – because it would have been impossible.

“Look Kiera, we’ve lived with these murders for the last few years – and yeah we might not be super-cops from headquarters – but we’ve done our best with the limited resources that we have,” he said, getting up from the edge of the bed.

Holding out my good hand towards him, I said, “Luke, I wasn’t trying to knock you or your team – it’s just…”

“Just what?” he asked. “None of us are as switched on as you? Is that it?”

I shook my head and looked away from him.

“You’ve been in The Ragged Cove five minutes and you think you know this case better than us,” he said. “Well let me tell you something for nothing, this ain’t a normal town and the murders ain’t normal either. Whoever or whatever is carrying out these killings will be caught – one way or another – we’ll catch them.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone.”

“Just take some time to get to know this town and its people before you go jumping to any conclusions,” he said and his voice had softened. Then coming towards me and taking me by the hand, he looked into my eyes and said, “I hope you last longer than the other recruits they sent.”

“Why?” I said, looking into his pale green eyes.

“Cos’ I like having you around,” he smiled, then headed towards the door.

“Is that all?” I called after him.

“And you seem like a pretty good cop,” he said.

“Just good?” I grinned.

“If you really want to impress me,” he said, “tell me the name of the hooded guy who’s been following you and then explain how those killers got to and from that crime scene. Do that and you won’t just be good – you’ll be amazing!” Snatching up his sweatshirt covered in my blood, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

I went to