Discombobulate

Chapter Fifty-Four

Winston got the call as he was heading home. He had an hour break for supper and he planned on making the most of that time. He was going to swing by McDonald's and pick up a meal.

He still hadn't had any sleep. He dropped Mullen and Emily off at their motel. Another officer took over the search for Adeline Mullen. They didn't find anything. Nobody found a single thing. Her whereabouts were still unknown until recently.

Winston knew who the call was about when it came over the radio. He didn't want it to be true. Deep down, he knew the search for Adeline Mullen had come to a tragic end.

He took his time driving to the address that dispatch announced. He left his lights off. He didn't want it to be true. Mullen and Emily would be heartbroken all over again.

Caution tape lined the house when he pulled up. Red and blue lights reflected against the green siding of the house. A large American flag waved on the porch. A wave of sadness flooded through Winston. He parked his patrol car and made his way to a group of officers.

"What do we have here?" He asked.

Pounding footsteps made him turn his head. Deputy Pelton raced out of the front door. He disappeared behind the house. Winston wrinkled his nose at the sound of him retching.

Deputy Falcon turned away from the group of officers. "If you don't have a strong stomach, I don't advise going in there. If you just ate, I wouldn't go in either."

"Luckily, I haven't had a chance to eat yet." His stomach rumbled to prove his point.

"I don't think you're going to want to eat anything after you see this. It's pretty disturbing stuff."

"I'll be okay," he ignored her warning.

He stepped around the group and shuffled through the front door. The living room walls were bright yellow. The room was nearly empty. He forgot the house had a for sale sign out front.

Someone was taking photographs in the back half of the living room. Multiple bright white flashes kept going off. Winston couldn't see anything. He squinted his eyes and walked closer to the photographer.

Winston gasped as the photographer stepped back. The photographer glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah, this is easily the worst thing I've ever seen. I hope they figure out who did this."

Adeline Mullen was upside down. Her short red hair hung towards the ground. Winston stepped closer to get a better view. What looked to be tiny coins were in the palms of her hands. Her feet were crossed over each other. Another tiny coin was in them. He squinted and moved closer to her limbs.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" The photographer asked. "Those are nails, I think.'

Winston took a step away from her. He shook his head. "Who would do such a thing? She was just a child."

The photographer shrugged, "there's a lot of sick bastards out there. This one happened to make a pit stop in Brimington. We can only pray that he doesn't live in this town."

Winston stared at Adeline and took everything in. She was wearing nothing, but a diaper. Small nails were driven into the middle of each palm. Her feet were crossed over each other and held together by a nail. She hung upside-down on an upside-down wooden cross. Each hand had been nailed into one of the arms of the cross. Her feet were attached to the bottom.

Her empty blue eyes were wide open and staring at Winston. The blood had rushed towards her head and upper body. That was where it had settled. The whites of her eyes had blown blood vessels. Splotches of red had appeared along the eggy white.