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Confessions of a Dragon: Chapter 3

The Shocking News:

Six months of researching human history went by well enough, though it got monotonous after a while. The imperial scientists choose me to travel to earth since my above average intelligence shined above the other volunteers. All the technology transfer coming from earth is changing the empire quite rapidly and the emperor is worried how it is effecting the people and the environment. So in order to prevent making the same mistakes, I along with a few others came to study earth's history. I can send periodic reports but can return to my home planet until the gateways fully operational again.

David and his whiz-bang team working hard on the problem but he indicated that it can talk many more months or even years before they are satisfied everything working top notch again. No one is allowed to go through the portal until then. What supposed to be a short 3 month trip turning out to be much longer than I bargained. So a lot of my free time ends up on the internet, which ironically I learn so much about the humans and their behavior since I don't get to meet many firsthand.

Ted got security wound up so tight, I rarely get to go outside. I guess I can't blame him as a dragon mingling among the general earth population not a good thing no matter how much I want to absorb the culture. I do get to stretch my wings and fly around as long as I am unseen. I can thank Sally to help convince Ted I need such exercise, bless her heart.

I guess Ted starting to feel sorry for me. Using his old law enforcement contacts, he brought me fresh police reports and the like to supplement my studies. There are so much better than the short (and often inaccurate) snippets in the newspaper. One particular report grabbed my attention. Well, a series of them actually.

In the lower south side, a spring of unsolved murders occurred over the last year the report states. They seemed to be linked and occurring more frequently now, almost every other month. What intrigued me is the utmost violence the victims were dispatched. The killer targets the homeless and prostitutes, which explain why the papers not putting much emphasis on the cases.

The reports goes into the grisly details of the murders. The most recent victim (only a week ago) had her uterus cut out and missing along with ten feet of her small intestine, heart, liver and a few other organs. The rest of her body mutilated beyond recognition. Her face entirely slashed off, teeth smashed in and her whole body burned to a crisp.

Only trace DNA evidence left to identify the victim. And that would take months to do if ever. She could very well remain one of the multitudes of unknowns in the morgue. The report contains several photographs of the crime scene as well as from the autopsy itself. Very gruesome I can tell you. As a dragon, I hunt and tore apart my prey many times, but this is something well beyond that, a senseless killing. And the report indicates a lot of struggling, pointing to the fact she was alive during most of the assault. What a horrible disgusting way to die.

Not only the crime going largely unreported in the major press, the investigators are having a hard time to get any wittinesses. Those few potential ones very uncooperative. They either too afraid to talk or just don't care as their miserable life on the streets harden them to such experiences. Plus they typically hate the "fuzz" and don't trust them. So the cases are at a standstill. All the detectives can so is to wait for the prep to strike again and hope he slips up and leaves behind some clues.

I pestered Ted for more information but he already gave me everything. Then an idea formed in my head. I did many interrogations back in the Demon Wars and in some operations afterwards. I got very good at it. When a dragon (especially a drooling one) wants information, he gets it one way or another. One of my favorite and effective technique is to prey species like a deer and messily eat it in front of the one being questioned. I also makes sure I eat very loudly. This has the desired effect and they tell me everything. I only be forced to take more drastic measures a few times... and even then I got the required information through the screams.

Of course I left the last part when I convinced Ted to arrange a meeting with the wittinesses. Ted made all the preparations, even the detectives didn't know who exactly I am, just an expert that could extract useful data. So they transported ten of the most promising to the remote facility. Ted escorted them one at a time to see me. And I got tons of information. Though most of it not related to the murders.

Learned a great deal about illegal gambling operations, drug rings, chop shops, fencing places and a other unlawful activities. I relayed all that to Ted and he in turn fed the investigators with the intel. I did gather three leads but are shaky at best. Better than nothing though. One witness particular seems to have more information than he is letting on (my previous experiences homing me on that).

This one going to take my special treatment. The hard part is talking Ted into getting something large for me to munch on. He relented and found a large side of beef from the kitchen. So big that he had to roll it on a cart into the interrogation room. The subject sat in his chair all cool like but I know deep inside he is sweating bullets. His street smarts served him well at this point but failing right now. All the others cracked almost right away when they first saw me. But this one very tight lipped. Something tells me he saw horrors that not even being near a dragon would shock him as much.

But I intent to change that, to show the full power of a dragon. I took the side of beef easily in my paws and torn off a huge chunk. I can see him wince, a good sign. "So, give me some information about these murders. I know you are hiding something." Long beads of sweat runs down the side of his head, soaking his shirt. Another long tear as I move closer, showing him each time I chew very near. The loud crunches echoing in his ears. I can feel him on the verge of breaking. Yes, almost there (plus the beef was tasty too just add to the scene). Finally he gave me what I need though sobs.