doing something fun instead of gruntwork on a Saturday, and
when he saw her come in, he dropped his feet off the desk and stood
up as though he’d been waiting for her to arrive.
“Hey, Susan! What brings you here? Come to
keep me company?” He wrinkled his nose at the smell, but didn’t
lose his cheerful expression. “Or do you need some help with
something?”
“Hi, Brian, yeah, um, so remember how you
said if I needed investigation advice you’d be happy to help? Well,
I need it now, if that was a serious offer.” She set the box on the
edge of his desk. “I want to know how to investigate a murder.”
“Leave it to the cops,” he suggested. For the
first time, he looked less happy. “What are you involved in,
Susan?”
“I tried to figure this out on my own, but I
don’t know where to begin.” She lifted the lid.
Brian pressed the back of his hand against
his nose. She’d filled the box with most of the dirt the fey had
been buried in (it was a very shallow grave) in part to keep the
smell down, and in part so she didn’t have to look at it very
closely. She’d set the whole lump on top of an ice pack that she
was fairly sure she’d never use again. The bottom of the shoe box
was getting a little soggy from the condensation, so she slipped
the lid underneath it to keep it from ripping open.
Brian pulled open a desk drawer and pulled
out a pair of latex gloves. He slipped them on and began to pull
lumps of dirt out of the box, setting them on top of the scrap
lettuce and parchment paper from his sandwich. A moment later he
gasped, and brushed dirt away from the corpse’s face. “Is that what
I think it is?”
Did he see the same thing she saw? “What do
you think it is?”
“A gnosti. A magical creature.”
“Yeah,” Susan said. “I found it in my
backyard. I’m concerned, and I want to find out who killed him and
why. They don’t usually kill each other unless it’s one garden fey
eating another.”
“Usually? You see them all the time then?”
Brian gently lifted the corpse from the box. It was totally bloated
now, and the rigor mortis had worn off. The abdomen writhed as
though something were crawling around inside. “Did you take photos
of the place where the body was found?”
“No, I didn’t think of that. I looked for
clues, but I didn’t find any.”
Brian inspected the decaying body, moving it
back and forth, bending the legs and arms and brushing off the skin
as though looking for marks. She had to think of the fey as an ‘it’
or she didn’t think she’d be able to hold her lunch. It, the
corpse, seemed like a ghastly fleshy doll. Except for the size, it
looked like a dead human. The eyes were gone, and the side it had
been laying on was kind of purplish and flat, imbedded with bits of
dirt from where the flesh had pressed into the earth. The smell was
horribly strong, considering how small it was.
Brian didn’t seem terribly disturbed by it,
but then, he used to be a cop. He fetched a pair of tweezers in his
drawer, and calmly pulled a maggot out from the corpse’s mouth. He
pulled a small jar out of the same drawer and dropped the maggot
in, then sealed it and handed the jar to her. “This will be great
practice for you to learn firsthand about investigations. Did you
say there was another one?”
“No.”
“Well, if this was a one-off, you might never
find out who did it, on account of how you messed up the murder
scene.”
“Oh, sorry,” she mumbled.
He waved off her apology. “You didn’t know.
If it happens again, take photos, lots of photos, ten times as many
photos as you think you need. Take notes as to any smells, sights,
anything unusual. If you think you sense something, write it down
and figure out later on why you thought you sensed it. Call me, and
if I have a chance, I’ll come and investigate the body with you,
show you how to estimate time and cause of death, things like
that.”
“Thanks, Brian, that’s really nice of you.
when he saw her come in, he dropped his feet off the desk and stood
up as though he’d been waiting for her to arrive.
“Hey, Susan! What brings you here? Come to
keep me company?” He wrinkled his nose at the smell, but didn’t
lose his cheerful expression. “Or do you need some help with
something?”
“Hi, Brian, yeah, um, so remember how you
said if I needed investigation advice you’d be happy to help? Well,
I need it now, if that was a serious offer.” She set the box on the
edge of his desk. “I want to know how to investigate a murder.”
“Leave it to the cops,” he suggested. For the
first time, he looked less happy. “What are you involved in,
Susan?”
“I tried to figure this out on my own, but I
don’t know where to begin.” She lifted the lid.
Brian pressed the back of his hand against
his nose. She’d filled the box with most of the dirt the fey had
been buried in (it was a very shallow grave) in part to keep the
smell down, and in part so she didn’t have to look at it very
closely. She’d set the whole lump on top of an ice pack that she
was fairly sure she’d never use again. The bottom of the shoe box
was getting a little soggy from the condensation, so she slipped
the lid underneath it to keep it from ripping open.
Brian pulled open a desk drawer and pulled
out a pair of latex gloves. He slipped them on and began to pull
lumps of dirt out of the box, setting them on top of the scrap
lettuce and parchment paper from his sandwich. A moment later he
gasped, and brushed dirt away from the corpse’s face. “Is that what
I think it is?”
Did he see the same thing she saw? “What do
you think it is?”
“A gnosti. A magical creature.”
“Yeah,” Susan said. “I found it in my
backyard. I’m concerned, and I want to find out who killed him and
why. They don’t usually kill each other unless it’s one garden fey
eating another.”
“Usually? You see them all the time then?”
Brian gently lifted the corpse from the box. It was totally bloated
now, and the rigor mortis had worn off. The abdomen writhed as
though something were crawling around inside. “Did you take photos
of the place where the body was found?”
“No, I didn’t think of that. I looked for
clues, but I didn’t find any.”
Brian inspected the decaying body, moving it
back and forth, bending the legs and arms and brushing off the skin
as though looking for marks. She had to think of the fey as an ‘it’
or she didn’t think she’d be able to hold her lunch. It, the
corpse, seemed like a ghastly fleshy doll. Except for the size, it
looked like a dead human. The eyes were gone, and the side it had
been laying on was kind of purplish and flat, imbedded with bits of
dirt from where the flesh had pressed into the earth. The smell was
horribly strong, considering how small it was.
Brian didn’t seem terribly disturbed by it,
but then, he used to be a cop. He fetched a pair of tweezers in his
drawer, and calmly pulled a maggot out from the corpse’s mouth. He
pulled a small jar out of the same drawer and dropped the maggot
in, then sealed it and handed the jar to her. “This will be great
practice for you to learn firsthand about investigations. Did you
say there was another one?”
“No.”
“Well, if this was a one-off, you might never
find out who did it, on account of how you messed up the murder
scene.”
“Oh, sorry,” she mumbled.
He waved off her apology. “You didn’t know.
If it happens again, take photos, lots of photos, ten times as many
photos as you think you need. Take notes as to any smells, sights,
anything unusual. If you think you sense something, write it down
and figure out later on why you thought you sensed it. Call me, and
if I have a chance, I’ll come and investigate the body with you,
show you how to estimate time and cause of death, things like
that.”
“Thanks, Brian, that’s really nice of you.
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