An Intangible Pattern

Preparations

Jon Yates tossed the report on the table in front of Detective Howell. Howell blinked sleepily and scratched his unshaven face. He became suddenly alert as he recognised the layout of the DNA results and snatched the papers up.

“Finally!” He exclaimed.
Officer Yates dropped into the chair across the desk and began to fill a stained mug from the coffee jug he was carrying.

It had been nearly two weeks since the blood samples from the alley had been submitted to forensics. He was hoping the results might break the streak of dead ends they had encountered: there were no A&E admissions for stab wounds; the CCTV image was fuzzy due to years of grime on the lense and at any rate several people had used that parking space that morning; the fingerprints were held up in the backlog of forensics to be processed and their one witness insisted he did not see who attacked him and disappeared right after his injuries were treated. Howell was certain he’d given a fake name and was involved with the drugs they'd recovered from the boat.

He flicked through the pages and tutted.

“Male alphas, all three. I hate dealing with alphas, nothing sticks to them.”

“Do you think it was some kind of territory disagreement?” questioned Yates. 

“It could be anything, honestly. Any excuse for a fight.” He said and picked up the coffee jug, filling his own mug. He made a satisfied noise as he slipped the bitter liquid.

Yates took the report from Howell and skimmed the first few pages.

“Jeremey Cameron, Rees Johnson and unknown. So two were already in the system?”

“Both have priors for battery and assault, Cameron was arrested for dealing, and Johnson was suspected of being involved in a prostitution ring, but there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him. Nasty little shits the two of them, but too thick to run a major drug operation.”

“So who's our dead guy?” asked Yates.

“Johnson.”

Yates considered this for a moment and said, ” Don't tell me, Cameron was the one we took to hospital then.”

“Yep!” Howell confirmed sourly. Both men were thinking of the media onslaught that would fall on them when word of Cameron's escape reached the press.

“We better find Cameron and our John Doe quickly.” muttered Howell rubbing his temples.

“If he's not on the system, could he just be a bystander who went to help?” asked Yates curiously.

“Possibly, or he's just smart enough to have never been caught. Surely an innocent person would go to the hospital.”

“Or he's dead somewhere?”

“Well, we better find out. Where's the CCTV timeline? At least we know we're looking for a male now.”

***

“Can you add chocolate ice cream to the list? Oh, and grapes I want to do eyeballs,  and candles we need more candles,” fussed Cat. Alex looked up from the black and orange paper chain she was assembling. It was the night before Halloween and Cat was in full battle mode. Armed with a spray can of artificial cobwebs, she had spent the last two days making the house look spooky and abandoned which, as Arthur pointed out, it already did before she decorated it. Alex prudently stayed out of that conversation and abandoned Arthur to his fate as Cat pelted him with cushions and then covered him in cobwebs. Normally, she didn't mind her sister's obsession with decorating, but as the party drew nearer Cat became as intensely focussed as a military commander and Alex was growing weary of the barrage of orders. She had scrubbed, painted, airbrushed, unpacked, moved furniture, moved furniture again and inhaled more fumes than she had ever in her life. She sighed and added the items to the already extensive shopping list. At the very least, she had been kept distracted over the last two weeks. 

Across the kitchen, Jess pulled a face at Alex obviously not relishing the prospect of an evening spent peeling grapes either, she had only just eviscerated the last pumpkin and was washing the pulp off her hands. 

Cat wasn't paying attention, she was mentally ticking off a list of tasks aloud, “...spooky grotto, haunted maze, apple ducking, sugar-free treats for Leo, dress up station, treasure hunt…”

“Cat! It's one day! You have enough already!” Exclaimed Jess with a desperate look on her face.

“But it's our first Halloween with our family and friends in this house, I want it to be spectacular.”

“It is getting a tad excessive,” agreed Alex, “I'm sure Arthur doesn't want to spend his birthday cleaning cobwebs.”

“He won't, I'm taking him out for the day. We'll clean the cobwebs the day after, feel free to get a headstart while we're gone if you like,” Cat grinned mischievously. Alex and Jess shared a suffering glance.

Alex stapled the last strip of orange paper. “Done, where do you want this one?”

“In the living room, I'll help you,” replied Cat, picking up the other end of the chain and leading Alex out of the kitchen. Once the chain had been hung to her satisfaction she smiled and said. “There, I think we're about done. Just the last few odds and ends, we just need to run to the store…”

Alex couldn't hide the look of apprehension from her face. She had avoided Wisterlea as much as possible since the attack. The other man was still out there and she dreaded what he would do if he saw her again. Cat reached out a hand and stroked her sister's arm reassuringly, mistaking her sister's reaction for her usual fear of public spaces.

“It's ok, me and Jess will be there. We won't let anything bad happen to you. Besides you need a costume, and no you can't just go as a cereal killer this time.”

Alex flinched at her sister's joke. 

“Should we just go now? I could use a break from carving pumpkins, my hands are starting to ache,” called Jess from the doorway.

“Ok, two minutes while I get cleaned up,” agreed Cat. 

Almost half an hour later Alex was standing in the Halloween section at Wisterlea’s local supermarket.

“This will do,” she said, tossing a cheap plastic witch mask in the trolley in an attempt to get the shopping trip over as quickly as possible.

“Awww come on, that's boring!” Complained Cat.

“Can't I just throw a bed sheet over my head?”

“No! Come on, don't be a spoilsport. I've been working on my costume for weeks. “

“There you go, you'll be so dazzling everyone will be looking at you.”

Cat crossed her arms and gave her sister an irritated look.

Alex sighed wearily, “all right, let me see.”

She left Jess and Cat by the cart and began walking up and down the aisle, surveying her options. Most of the costumes were designed for children, all of it was cheap tacky plastic. She eyed a set of vampire teeth which proudly proclaimed “Glows in the dark.'' The picture on the box showed a cartoon vampire baring it's fangs and hovering over a woman’s exposed neck. With a wave of nausea, the sensation of that man's tongue sliding up her neck returned to her and she shuddered in disgust. Her eyes darted fearfully up and down the aisle: there was Cat and Jess examining a plastic skeleton; there was a frazzled looking couple explaining to an increasingly noisy child that they already had a costume and no they could not be a devil; there was an old woman piling bags of peanuts into her shopping trolley. There was no sign of the man who grabbed her and there were no police officers charging in to arrest her. She once again stifled her panic and tried to concentrate on finding a costume. She reached the end of the aisle and cautiously peered into the next one, also marked seasonal.

Yes, I can't think of anything more horrendous - she thought. 

Jess appeared at her side and followed her gaze. She laughed as she caught her friend's train of thought.

“You’re a shit, Alex!”