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Chapter 6: Unwelcome Revelations

Jason hurried up to the trash can. He recognized the putrid smell of rotting flesh and

didn't want Ellie to get the full brunt of it. She finds the smell of fresh meat unpleasant enough.

However, even he wasn't prepared for the overwhelming wave of stench, not to mention the

swarm of flies, that burst forth when he pulled off the lid.

"Gak!" he covered his mouth and fell back in surprise and disgust. "I wouldn't get too

close if I were you, Ellie," he warned. "Some bounder has thrown away a load of meat and left it

to rot here where anyone might stumble upon it. Damned inconsiderate!"

Despite his warning, Ellie continued to approach the trash can. Her eyes went wide with

horror when she looked in, and she quickly sprinted from the can, putting a tree between herself

and Jason. He winced as he heard her retching. After a few moments, she emerged wiping her

mouth with her left hand. To Jason's surprise, she snatched a stick off of the ground and went

back to the can.

"What is it, Ellie? Is there something else in there?"

Ellie didn't respond but started digging around in the trash can with the stick. Jason

watched with a growing sense of dread. He hadn't gotten a good look at the contents because

his view had been obscured by the thick swarm of flies. Surely, Ellie would only be digging

through such a foul mess if she thought it was relevant to the case. He began to get light

headed as he thought about the gruesome implications. Jason started when Ellie wrenched

something light blue out on the end of the stick.

"I think we found Danny," she uttered hoarsely.

Fangs of Cerberus, no! Jason felt himself plunging into a deep pit. He fought against it,

struggling to his feet, and stumbled over to the trash can. It was filled with the dismembered

pieces of a rabbit. He tore his eyes away from the horrifying sight to look at what Ellie had on

the end of the stick. He now recognized it as Danny's soccer jersey. He turned his eyes to

Ellie's; her face was grim.

"This is out of our hands. We have to call the police. They have to investigate now," she

growled.

Jason nodded and offered his left hand gesturing back towards the car and Ellie's tablet,

which had cell service. Ellie dropped the stick and jersey back in the can and took Jason's hand.

They walked in grim silence. The woods, which had seemed warm and inviting a few minutes

ago, now seemed bleak. They reached the car, and Ellie pulled up the phone on her tablet.

"Let me take that," he suggested.

Ellie thrust the tablet at him angrily. Taking it carefully, he dialed, not the police station,

but Lily Schulz's personal number.

Lily's annoyed voice answered, "Yes? Who is this?"

"Hi, Lily, this is Jason. We need-"

"Zeus smite you, Jason!" she roared back, "I told you I'm not sending my forensic team

on your wild goose chase. Now don't call me again!"

Hurriedly, "Wait, Lily, don't hang up! We found the missing rabbit."

"Oh, so did you just call to gloat then?" she rejoined snidely. "Or did you call to admit I

was right after you found him boinking his girlfriend under a bridge?"

"I called because we still need your forensic team and, and the coroner. He's dead, Lily.

We found him cut to pieces in a garbage can."

"Shit," she hissed. The slipping into her professional tone, "I'll send them over right

away. Can I get your location?"

"We're at the soccer field on West Coriander Parkway just past the intersection with

South 57th Street."

"Got it. And Jason, I'm sorry. It's never easy to find something like that."

"Yeah. Thanks for your help, Lily."

He hung up and handed the tablet back to Ellie. She glared at him as she took it.

"You should have let her have it," she seethed. "All of that shit she gave us, and we

found the kid murdered! That negligent piece of shit, I'll see her sacked if I have to go to the

Mayor's office and force her to sign the termination papers."

"Believe me: I would have liked to, but we need her to let them talk to us so that we can

learn what they find out. Someone has to break the news to Mrs. Planter, and I'd rather not let it

be some nameless police officer."

"I'm not sure I do believe you on the first part, but I suppose you're right." She grimaced.

"Fucking Tartarus, I am not looking forward to being the bearer of that news!"

"Of course not, but if someone has to tell her her life is over, at least it shouldn't be a

complete stranger."

Ellie nodded somberly then grimaced again. "Let's not mention the trash can though."

When the police finally arrived, Jason and Ellie led them back to the trash can. They

stood back while a uniformed marmot started organizing the search teams. A few minutes later,

Jason noticed a sable ferret dressed head to foot in light blue disposable scrubs bounding

through the woods to catch up to the main party.

"Hey, Fitzie!" he called, giving him a wave.

The ferret slightly changed course to stop beside Ellie and Jason.

"Hi, Brown, how's the private inspector life been treating you?" Fitzie greeted.

Jason frowned, "Not so well, as you might expect."

"Er, right. Awful business this." He glanced at Ellie. "Who's this little lady?"

Ellie's eyes narrowed dangerously. Bad choice of words, Fitzie. "Sorry, let me introduce

you. Ellie, this is the coroner, Tom Fitzgerald. Fitzie, this is my partner, Ellie Bennett."

"A pleasure to meet you," Fitzie said cheerfully with a wide grin that showed his

oversized fangs.

Ellie nodded perfunctorily, eyes still narrow. Fitzie seemed not to take any notice of her

expression.

The abrupt yowl from a uniformed black cat startled the three of them. "I found a pile of

vomit over by this tree!"

"Sorry, that was me!" Ellie yelled back.

Several of the officers turned to look at her, and Jason noticed her nose and ears go red.

Fitzie gave her a sympathetic look.

"Well, I'd better take a look at the body," Fitzie remarked. Walking the short distance to

the trash can, he peered in. "You were being literal when you told Schulz you found him cut to

pieces. What makes you think this is your missing rabbit?"

"That's his soccer jersey there on top," Ellie responded.

"Right, well, I'll see if I can make a more positive identification before calling in his

parents, but I doubt we have two missing gray rabbits with the same soccer jersey."

"About that," Jason put in. "His mother is our client, and she doesn't know he's dead yet.

We were hoping you'd let us tell her."

Fitzie shrugged. "Better you than me."

"Also if we stop by the lab this afternoon, can you let us know what you've found out?"

Fitzie gave him a dubious look. "Schulz wouldn't be happy about it. She doesn't like

civilians getting involved at the best of times, and you know she particularly doesn't like you."

"Please, Fitzie. We're already involved, and we want to help catch the scumbag who did

this."

"Okay, Brown, but not at the lab; I don't want it getting back to Schulz. Meet me at

Miniati's at 7 pm, and I'll fill you in."

"Thanks, Fitzie. We'll see you then." He looked at Ellie. "Let's go get the worst part over

with."

She nodded, and with a wave to Fitzie, they headed back to the car. As they trudged

through the woods, a thought occurred to Jason.

"Uh, Ellie, you are all right continuing on this case, aren't you? I just realized I told Fitzie

we wanted to help without asking you about it."

"Of course I want to stay on this case! You saw Danny's remains, how they carved him

up. Who could do something like that? Especially to a kid! We have to help catch this monster!"

Jason nodded, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

When they reached the car, Ellie slumped into the driver's seat. "Oh Zeus, this is going

to be a hard visit to handle. Maybe we should have let the police tell Ms. Planter after all."

"I can do the talking if you want," Jason suggested.

Ellie gave him a grateful look, "Thanks, Jason. I don't even know how I'd start a

conversation like that."

Neither do I.

The drive to 315 Maplewood Drive was somber. Jason suspected it was the slowest Ellie

had ever driven him anywhere. He wished he could enjoy the gentle drive through the sunny

suburb with its sweet-smelling flowers and trees, but instead he was filled with heart-wrenching

dread. As they pulled up in front of the pale gray house with pink shutters and door and a small

vegetable garden in the front yard, Jason felt a lump rising in his throat. He swallowed and took

a deep breath to try to force it back down. Then he got out of the car and plodded toward the

door. Ellie followed a couple feet behind him. Reaching the door, he pressed the doorbell and

waited, heart palpitating. He could hear the chimes ringing inside the house followed by

someone scrambling about. Their claws clicked against the floor as they hastily approached the

door. The door swung open to reveal Mrs. Planter dressed in a short, pleated, sleeveless

lavender dress.

"Inspectors Brown and Bennett," she said in a surprised tone. "What is it? Have you

turned up something in your search for Danny?"

Jason swallowed and took another deep breath. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Planter. Danny is

dead. We found him this morning."

Mrs. Planter's nose and ears went completely white. "No," she whispered.

Only Jason's quick reflexes saved her from collapsing on the floor. He caught the falling

rabbit under the arms then hefted her with one arm under her back and the other under her

knees. With Ellie following, he carried her inside and laid her on the yellow sofa, propping her

feet on a matching throw pillow. He picked up a magazine from the white marble coffee table in

front of the sofa and began to fan her while Ellie went to the kitchen and came back with a glass

of water.

Shortly, Mrs. Planter began to regain consciousness. At first, she seemed confused,

giving both of them a puzzled look.

"What am I-," she started to murmur before her eyes shot wide open. "Danny! You said

Danny is dead!" She struggled to get up.

"Easy," Jason chided softly. He moved the pillow from under her feet and tried to use it

to help prop her into a sitting position. She pushed his arm away and forced herself up against

the arm of the couch.

"You're sure about this?" she asked intensely.

"He still had his soccer jersey with him," Jason replied.

"I want to see him," she demanded.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea at the moment. The coroner is still examining his

body. I'm sure they'll phone you when they're ready."

Furiously, "I want to see him now."

Jason looked at Ellie; she nodded.

"Alright, we'll take you to the coroner's lab."

The drive to the coroner's lab was even more uncomfortable than the drive to Mrs.

Planter's house. Mrs. Planter kept anxiously fidgeting in the front passenger's seat. Jason had

squeezed himself into the cramped back seat where he had to sit sideways, meaning the seat

belt wouldn't work. Ellie was driving relatively cautiously for her, but it was obvious that she

didn't want to spend any more time stuck in the car with the grief-stricken rabbit either.

"Can't you go any faster?" Mrs. Planter complained.

Ellie gave Jason an apologetic glance in the rearview mirror before punching the

accelerator. He gripped the back of Ellie's seat as well as his own trying to hold himself in place

as they flew down 275, merging in and out of lanes to pass the other cars. Jason gasped when

he saw they were merging into the middle lane at the same time as a black pickup truck from

the far lane. At the last moment, Ellie punched the gas and pulled in front of the truck, the

engine of the small car screaming. Jason groaned and shut his eyes, just focusing on holding

himself in place.

Finally, they pulled into the parking lot behind the coroner's office. Jason breathed a sigh

of relief. Opening the door, he nearly tumbled out of the car but caught himself on the door and

managed to extricate himself without flopping out onto the pavement. He stretched his cramped

limbs and tail. Maybe he should let Ellie take Mrs. Planter back by herself, but she probably

wouldn't thank him for the opportunity. He jumped as he saw Mrs. Planter dash by.

"Hey, just a minute!" Ellie yelled from the car.

Mrs. Planter paid her no heed, running directly into the building. Jason glanced at Ellie

who motioned for him to follow; he ran after Mrs. Planter. When he entered the office, he found

Mrs. Planter already engaged with the staff. An otter and a hare in scrubs were trying to block

her from entering the lab. She was pleading desperately while simultaneously jumping back and

forth, trying to find an opening to dash by.

"Let me through! I need to see my son!"

The lab door swung open, and the hare narrowly missed being hit by it by jumping to the

side. Mrs. Planter dashed for the opening, but Fitzie, who was exiting the door, blocked her.

"What's all this commotion?" Fitzie exclaimed. "Jason? I thought we agreed you weren't

going to come here! Schulz is going to have my pelt for this! And who is this?" he asked,

jumping to block Mrs. Planter from getting by him.

"This is Mrs. Planter, Danny's mother. She needed to come see him right away. Just

blame the break in procedure on me; I'm sure Lily will have no problem believing that."

Fitzie motioned for the hare to reclaim his place in front of the door and hurried over to

Jason.

Whispering under his breath, he continued, "Obviously, his mother has a right to see

him, but we just got back here. It's not a pretty sight in there, pieces all over the table. I would

have liked to piece him back together before I let the parents see."

"You can try convincing her to wait, but I don't think you'll have much luck," he murmured

back.

Fitzie turned back to Mrs. Planter. "Hello, Ma'am, I'm the coroner Dr. Fitzgerald.

Inspector Brown tells me that you're Danny's mother and that you want to see him right away."

"That's correct," she snapped. "Now let me through to see my son!"

"I can let you through, but before I do, I want to let you know what you are getting into.

We've just started examining Danny's remains, and if you go in now, you may be shocked by

what you see."

Mrs. Planter's eyes went even wider than they already were. "I need to see Danny now!"

she pleaded.

"Very well." Fitzie motioned for the otter and hare to let her through.

She bounded into the lab, and Fitzie, Jason, and Ellie, who Jason had been too

distracted to notice come in, hurried after her.

Mrs. Planter froze as she spotted the dismembered body on the table. "Oh Zeus! What

have you done to him?" she yelped.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Planter, this is how we found him," Jason replied.

"No!" she dashed the remaining distance to the body and stared as if willing it to be

someone, anyone else before she burst into tears. "If only I'd have contacted someone the night

he disappeared instead of waiting until morning!" she wailed.

Fitzie stepped forward. "Please don't blame yourself, Ma'am. We haven't fully examined

your son's body yet, but just from the state of decay, I think it's safe to say he was killed within

twelve hours of the time he was last seen. And we didn't find any evidence of a struggle where

he was last seen or where we found the body. It seems that whoever did this did it somewhere

else and then brought him back later."

"What?" Ellie gasped.

Fitzie turned to mouth "Later."

"My point is," he continued. "If you had gone to look for him that night, there would have

been nothing there to find. There was nothing you realistically could have done."

Mrs. Planter shook her head miserably. "You don't understand, Doctor. It was my job,

my most important job, to keep Danny safe, and I failed him. There will never be a day for the

rest of my life when I can forgive myself." She turned back to Danny's body and kissed him on

the forehead. "I'm so sorry, Danny," she whispered.

Looking down disconsolately with tears still streaming down her face, she turned and

slowly walked back toward the door.

Without looking up, she murmured to Jason and Ellie as she walked by, "I'll call my

husband to come pick me up. Thank you for doing what you could."

They left Mrs. Planter using the office's phone to call her husband and took the car back

to their office. Jason's mind was swirling with sorrow but also confusion at what Fitzie had said.

It was only a little after noon when they returned to the sweltering office. Jason tried to think of

what he could do for the next several hours before their appointment with Fitzie, not that he felt

like doing much of anything after the terrible events of the morning. And assuming Fitzie shows

up after what just happened. He tried flipping through the newspaper he had grabbed on the

way in this morning but was unable to focus.

"I hope what she said isn't true," Ellie muttered from her desk across the room.

"What?" Jason replied looking up from the paper.

"I just hope that Ms. Planter actually can forgive herself," Ellie said. "No one should have

to live like that, blaming themselves every day for something they couldn't prevent."

Jason shook his head helplessly. "I don't know, Ellie. Maybe one day she will be able to

accept that it wasn't her fault, and maybe she won't."

"But that just makes it all the worse!" Ellie cried angrily. "Not only did this murdering

piece of shit rob Danny of the entire rest of his life, but they also ruined the rest of his mother's

life!" She clenched her fists. Fuming, "We have to track down this monster. I want to see them

fry!" She glared at Jason. "And don't give me any of your anti-death penalty bullshit. Being

drawn and quartered is too good for this scum."

Jason figured it wasn't a good time to take the bait on that argument, so he just grunted

non-committally before replying, "Hopefully, Fitzie will have something to tell us that can put us

on the right track to bringing them to justice."

"'Fitzie'," Ellie repeated with a roll of her eyes. "Now I know where you got the idea of

calling people by just their last names. Why don't you call him 'Tom' if he's your friend?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. That's just how he addresses people, so I address him

the same way."

Ellie looked at him skeptically. "I suppose I can accept 'Bennett' from him, but if he tries

to turn it into some inane nickname like 'Bennie', I'm going to let him have it."

"If you ask him to call you Ellie, I'm sure he will. He's pretty easygoing."

Ellie nodded. "Where is it that we are meeting him again? Miniati's?"

"Yes, it's a Roman restaurant. I think it's Fitzie's favorite."

Ellie perked up slightly, "Neat, I like Roman food."

* * *

After an unproductive afternoon of trying to peruse the local and national news on her

tablet but mostly wondering or seething about the case, Ellie was ready to head to Miniati's to

find out what Tom and his team had learned. And also to have dinner; the hay and oat bars she

had grabbed hadn't made for a very exciting lunch. On the other hand, Jason had started sifting

through old papers and hadn't eaten anything. He must be even hungrier.

It turned out that Miniati's was only a few blocks away, so they decided to walk. I

wonder why I've never heard of this place.

Jason waved to the attendant. "Hi, we're here as part of a party of three, reservation

under Fitzgerald."

The whippet dressed in a black jacket and bow tie glanced at Ellie oddly before replying,

"Dr. Fitzgerald is already here. I'll show you to the table."

Ellie looked around the softly lit restaurant as they walked to the table: a wide

assortment of species were seated around the circular mahogany tables, but she was unable to

spot another herbivore. Not a good sign. Sniffing, she recognized the usual spices of a Roman

restaurant: garlic, rosemary, laurel, and oregano. However, the scents all had an undertone of

broiling meat.

Jason greeted Tom, who was now out of his scrubs and wearing a light grey dress shirt

with the top two buttons undone, as they arrived at the table, "Fitzie! Thanks so much for

coming. Ellie and I have been discussing how important it is to us to help bring this murderer to

justice."

"No problem, Brown. What are friends for, right? Anyway, it's been too long since I got to

have dinner with such a charming lady," the hob divulged with a toothy smile at Ellie.

She coughed uncomfortably and took refuge in carefully studying the menu. However,

the menu turned out to bring her little relief. She got to the end and scanned over it a second

time to make sure she hadn't missed anything; there was nothing on it except meat. Shit. "Uh,

who's our waiter?" she asked Tom.

He gestured to a gray tabby in a cornflower blue vest and black bow tie. She waved at

the cat, and he began to saunter to their table. About halfway over, he seemed to register what

species he was looking at and a look of surprise overtook his face. He walked a little faster the

rest of the way.

"Erm, can I help you, Miss?" he inquired.

"Yes, can you make anything that's plant-based?"

The cat gave her a worried look. "I'll see what we can do," he answered and quickly

headed off to the kitchen.

"Oh no, do they not even have a salad or something?" Jason asked.

"Their idea of a salad is a pile of cold meat and cheese."

"Oops, I guess I didn't even think about that when I suggested we come here," Tom

explained apologetically.

Ellie tried to hide her annoyance with a smile. "It's okay. I'm sure they'll be able to figure

out something." Hopefully, anyway. Her empty stomach grumbled.

Jason, at least, didn't appear convinced, giving her a worried glance before changing the

subject to one they'd come to discuss.

"So, Fitzie, what did you find out from the investigations? Any leads?"

"Some of it is pretty gruesome, Brown. I don't want to discuss our examination of the

body until after we eat, or you might not have much of an appetite. But I'll finish telling you what

the forensic team found in the woods. Like I said, they couldn't find any evidence of a struggle.

They searched the whole woods. There wasn't so much as a flattened patch of brush beyond

what you'd expect from a few people walking through it occasionally, and they couldn't find a

drop of blood anywhere outside of the trash can. I don't see any other explanation but that your

rabbit was taken rather easily from the woods and then brought back in the trash can

afterwards."

"Couldn't he have been attacked somewhere else entirely?" Jason inquired.

"It would be some coincidence if they just happened to bring him back to the last place

he was seen."

"And that wouldn't explain the voices the gray fox heard," Ellie added. "But why bring his

body back to where he was most likely to be found?"

Tom shrugged, "I can only assume they wanted it to be found."

"But isn't that the last thing they would want?" Ellie returned. "Surely, they would be far

more likely to get away with it if Danny had just disappeared without a trace. Now there is a

murder investigation underway, and there hasn't even been time for their trail to go cold."

Tom shook his head, "I'm no clinical psychiatrist, but I think we're dealing with deeply

disturbed individuals here. I think you'll understand after I tell you what we found when we

examined the body, but for now, let me just say that I believe they wanted to show off their work

while it was still fresh."

Ellie blanched at the thought. Show off their work? Was Danny's mutilated body some

kind of sick artwork to the monster who had murdered him? She exchanged a horrified look with

Jason. If that wasn't meant to make me lose my appetite, I'm not looking forward to what he has

to tell us after dinner. Her mind was reeling with images of framed lagomorphic limbs and

Danny's dismembered torso posed like a statue.

Ellie's macabre thoughts were interrupted when the gray tabby waiter came back to take

Tom's and Jason's orders. Tom ordered the sausage alla marinara, and Jason ordered the

salami stromboli.

"We're working on yours," the waiter assured Ellie before hurrying off again.

Ellie tried not to let her mind return to the appalling images. Unfortunately, every breath

she took was filled with the scent of broiling flesh, and whenever she happened to glance

beyond the water glasses and candle on their own table, she saw sharp fanged predators

ripping into great chunks of it. All grown in vats, she reminded herself, but she was still growing

increasingly uneasy and fidgety. She needed to take her mind off of it somehow. She looked

from Tom to Jason and back; they were sipping their water, unaware of her distress. Maybe she

could start a conversation on a different topic. But what? She went with the first thing that

popped into her head.

"So, uh, Tom, I guess you don't have a wife or girlfriend then?"

He looked at her, surprised, "No, I don't."

Damn it. Why did I go back to this topic? She went on awkwardly, "You're a doctor with a

good job, prestigious even, and handsome looks. Seems like you wouldn't have any trouble

finding someone."

"Unfortunately, all ferret marriages are arranged. It's a tradition derived from a medical

issue," he explained. "Jills can die if they go into heat and aren't able to have sex. It's treatable

now, but the tradition has stuck. Anyway, the marriages are arranged by the couples' parents,

usually for some social or business gain, but my parents died when I was very young. I was

actually raised by a cat couple. They were great parents to me, but they didn't know how to

navigate the ferret subculture. So that's the way it goes, I guess," he ended with a shrug.

Ellie fidgeted her feet under the table. She'd already learned more about ferret biology

than she cared to, but she had started the conversation: it would be rude to summarily end it

after he'd just divulged his life story. She smiled uncomfortably.

"That's too bad, but people do sometimes have interspecies relationships. I mean, you

can't have kids then, but maybe there is some nice cat or something who would like to date

you."

Jason sneezed loudly, "Excuse me!"

Tom ignored him, giving Ellie a curious look, "Yeah, maybe there is."

Ellie was saved from further awkwardness by the waiter who set Tom's sausages on the

table followed by Jason's stromboli. I've never been so happy to see a plate of meat in my life!

Finally, he set down Ellie's plate. She blinked with surprise: five carrots were haphazardly

arranged on the oblong platter. She poked at them with her fork: raw. She looked at the waiter

in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, Miss," he apologized. "The head chef said he couldn't cook anything plant-

based. The assistant manager had to run to the supermarket to get those. You do like carrots,

don't you?"

"Sure, I like them. It's not exactly something I need to go to a restaurant to get though."

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "If you like, I could bring you something with the meat left out."

He gestured to Jason's plate. "You could have what your friend is having with just the cheese

inside."

"No thanks, the carrots will have to do, I suppose."

"I really am terribly sorry," he apologized yet again before hurrying off.

Ellie sighed disappointedly.

"I'm sorry too," said Tom. "Next time you can pick the restaurant."

Next time? Fortunately, her utensils had come with a serrated knife. At least she

wouldn't have to conspicuously crunch on the carrots like some cartoon character stereotype.

She set about sawing off a bite-sized piece of the first carrot.

* * *

Jason paused from eating the stromboli and glanced sidelong at Ellie cutting up the

carrot. He felt guilty that he hadn't realized that Miniati's wouldn't have anything suitable for her.

If I had been thinking, I could have called Fitzie and suggested we go someplace else. More

than that though, he was wondering about what Ellie had said to Fitzie about interspecies

relationships. He had thought she was just trying to make conversation until she had suggested

that a "cat or something" might want to date him. Did she mean herself? Ellie was right that

interspecies relationships weren't that uncommon; after all, even he had been in one, but that

had still been between two cats. A relationship between a ferret and a rabbit wouldn't be nearly

as conventional. Not that being unconventional made it wrong; he was just surprised that Ellie

was into ferrets. They are similar in size, I guess. Fitzie's elongated body made up for his short

legs in comparison to Ellie's long legs. Jason supposed he'd hear about it if they did pursue a

relationship. He went back to eating the stromboli.

After they had finished eating, though Ellie had only eaten two of the carrots before

pushing her plate away with a sigh, Fitzie cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Well, I guess I can't delay this any longer," he muttered. "As I said earlier, this is going

to be very disturbing," he stated with a concerned glance at Ellie.

"I'll be fine," she replied curtly.

Fitzie nodded, still looking concerned. "You both, of course, saw how the body was

mutilated. We found that he had also received certain medical attentions. Several of his minor

wounds had been wrapped or bandaged, and we even found rudimentary sutures at the

amputations and in his abdomen."

Confused, "So someone tried to save him?" Jason asked.

Fitzie shook his head. "If he had sustained all of those injuries before someone else got

to him, he would have bled out much too quickly. And if someone had rescued him, why dispose

of the body like they did? It had to be the same individuals."

"Oh Zeus," Ellie groaned. "You mean they were trying to keep him alive longer? Fucking

Tartarus, 'disturbed individuals' doesn't say half of it."

Fitzie nodded grimly. "That was our conclusion. Someone wanted to keep him alive as

long as possible."

Jason's gut clenched; he felt as horrified and dismal as Ellie's wide-eyed, twisted

features suggested she did. Her face twitched, and her eyes shot back to Fitzie.

"Wait a minute, didn't you also say he had stitches in his abdomen?"

Fitzie sighed, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to explain that. Yes, his liver and one of his

kidneys had been removed. We found what was left of them in the bottom of the can."

Jason's stomach clenched with pain again, and Ellie wrapped her arms across her belly.

"Shit," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Other than that, the ultimate cause of death would have been blood loss, there's not

much more that I can tell you," Fitzie concluded apologetically.

Jason nodded. "Thanks, Fitzie. If we weren't already determined to catch whoever did

this, we certainly would be after hearing that." He remembered Mrs. Planter's reaction to

Danny's body, and his stomach tried to turn inside out again. What would her reaction have

been if she had known that not only had Danny been gruesomely murdered but also hideously

tortured before his death? He didn't want to imagine it any more than he wanted to imagine

Danny's last hours of life, but the horrifying, macabre thoughts kept creeping into his

consciousness. He glanced at Ellie: her features were hard as she stared at her clenched,

trembling fists.

"I'll let you know if I find out anything else," Fitzie promised.

Fitzie insisted on paying the bill, especially since he didn't want Ellie to have to pay five

times the retail price for a few carrots. After the waiter scanned his left hand, they wished him a

good night and headed back towards the office.

"I doubt I'll be able to sleep much tonight," Ellie admitted.

Jason nodded in agreement. "Fitzie must be made of a lot sterner stuff than it seems if

he deals with cases like that regularly."

They reached the parking garage, and Jason headed towards the stairs.

"Aren't you going home?" Ellie asked, surprised.

"There are a few more things I want to look at," Jason replied.

"Okay," she returned with a wave. "See you tomorrow."

Jason headed up the stairs to the office. The disturbing mutilation of Danny's body had

reminded him of research he had dug up whilst at the academy on the activity of various cults

that had been recorded throughout Vulpineva's millennia-long history. At least, it won't be the

carnivore cults this time. They didn't leave the bodies to rot; usually, nothing was ever found,

which was why so many people doubted their existence. He wondered what Ellie thought on the

matter. Prey were usually more open to the idea, but it was still considered a crazy conspiracy

amongst most. Maybe it's best not to bring it up. He didn't want the carnivore cults to ruin his

career and partnership a second time, but if he could find a link between Danny's murder and

another of the cults, that would give them a lead to investigate. Jason opened the door to the

office, flipped on the light, and began sifting through his boxes of papers again.