Black Christmas

Chapter 5

"We didn't think you were coming back." The chief of workshop security is relieved to see Greg's return. "We've held down the crime scene for you. It's all yours."

"Thanks, men. You won't be needed anymore. Go home, get some rest, try to enjoy Christmas with your families. We'll take care of the situation from here."

Security leaves the scene, and Greg leads his team into the hellish nightmare of Santa's office. He takes a quick look around, then one at his men. Brick and Bailey are standing shoulder to shoulder, horrified and completely serious. Alan, Eric, Drew, and Gavin are scattered, looking distraught but still reasonably thinking through what they're seeing. James just sits alone in the corner, scanning the bloodshed around him and appearing to be in deep concentration.

Brick is the first to open his mouth. "Well boss, it's your call." The ignorance and complete stupidity of Brick's earlier self has been replaced by a more serious tone.

"I wouldn't bother trying to clean up right now. But let's get all these body parts gathered up." Greg points around at the halves of the cadaver and all the insides strewn about the room. "I want to get the body to Dr. MacKellan. Maybe she'll want to stitch up the pieces or use the organs or something. After all this is over, we need a half-ass put-together body for the funeral anyway."

None of the elves have ever seen anything like this. They're surrounded by horror, and the last thing they want is to be covered in Santa's and Rudolph's blood. For the cause, though, they go for it. All seven men get down and dirty gathering up all the pieces they can find as Greg continues to examine the scene.

The job proves to be harder than they've thought. Pieces of organs lie everywhere from next to the body to stuck up in the air vents. It's clear that the kill was far more brutal than it needed to be.

James speaks on it briefly. "The murderer didn't just come in and get the job done. Half of this gore wouldn't be here if so. This man saw killing as an artform, and splattered his paint everywhere in this room."

Greg nods and tries to keep this in mind. If he can put together some sort of psychological profile, finding the killer may be easier. 'Killing as an artform' is a good start.

James is going on now. "This almost leads me to believe he might strike again on another. However, since he went for Santa first I doubt he's stuck around."

"It's finished." Alan's voice draws Greg out of the trance he's put himself into while thinking.

"Great job, guys," Greg tells the others after looking at the semi-reconstructed body of Santa Claus.

What lies in front of the task force is a lifeless man far too mangled to take any clues from. Everything on the body is hacked up, and they wouldn't even be able to tell it was Santa if they didn't know any better.

Dr. MacKellan enters the room now, clearly stunned by what she's walked into.

"I told you it was bad." Greg walks over and shakes the young woman's hand. "We were hoping you could try to examine the body for possible DNA of the killer, maybe even put it together enough for a funeral when all this is over."

Dr. MacKellan promises she'll do her best and walks over to take control of the cadaver. The rest of the elves head over to pull Rudolph out of the fireplace and take a look at his carcass.

It doesn't take long to make the next horrifying discovery, and Eric is the first to express his surprise. "Where the fuck is his face?"

James leans in and looks. "Art."

"Do explain," Greg orders. James may be a better addition to this team than he'd imagined.

"In wars between the natives, scalps were taken as a sort of prize. Look how cleanly Rudolph's face has been carved out. I believe our suspect has taken a prize of his own."

Greg ponders for a moment. "Well, guys, we haven't gathered a lot of clues from this scene. We know a little more about the killer, but nothing about how to find him. Let's get in Santa's sleigh and ride around the vicinity outside looking for some more clues."

The elves head out, hoping to find traces of an escape or virtually any signs that a killer was in the area. Any clues at this point are crucial.

***

Bailey throws open the door of the barn and leads in the other elves. Emptiness is seen.

"Where are the goddamn reindeer?" Eric is already getting frustrated and can't seem to understand why the deer are missing.

"He took them." Greg points at the blood spatters on the ground. "That's not enough to suggest dead reindeer. He's beaten them and taken the sleigh. He could be anywhere now."

Silence joins the emptiness now. It's almost midnight. Santa's dead. Rudolph's dead. Gordon's dead. The reindeer and sleigh have been stolen by a madman and could be literally anywhere he wanted to take them by now. Little to nothing is known about the identity of the killer, and the elves have no idea how to find him. Even the tactical genius James is baffled as they all wonder what to do next.

Greg looks down at the straw at his feet, just like his teammates. He's never led an investigation before. He has no idea how he's going to figure all this out. Who was he kidding? He will never find the killer and is just wasting everyone's time. Santa's dead, and Christmas is ruined. The man responsible will go free, and there's nothing he can do about it. Why did he think that a formal mental health patient like himself could do anything to help this situation?

Alan breaks the silence. "I think I need a fucking drink."

"Sure, why the hell not?" Greg knows the guys will be in the same exact position after their drinks as they are right now. They're as good as defeated. But the bar is as good a place as any to admit a loss.

Greg leads his men toward the bar, promising that after a quick drink, they'll find the killer. He knows this won't happen, but telling himself and the others this is the only thing that keeps him from blowing his own brains out right now.