D A Y 0 2

[founds]

CHAPTER 1

NOV 1ST | 58℉☂

▸ In a sad turn of events during last night's activities, local teenager Bela Gage was found dead at Gainsbourg Resort as festivities were wrapping up. Local authorities have opened up an investigation regarding the circumstances around her death.

▸ Several houses were egged in height of last night's events. Locals are offering a small reward to anyone with information that may lead to identification of the culprits.

▸ Now for the weather, expect light showers from late morning to mid afternoon. Blackwell is expecting the storm to keep rolling through overnight, so drive safe!

▸ That's the News In today. Now back to your regularly scheduled tunes. This one goes out to the Gages, may you find peace in these difficult times.

THE RISING IS NOT IN EFFECT

Comments

[avers]

Was. [ he interrupts her tirade, when she says "she's a person". she was a person. now she's dead. and the person who did it still is, so that's why the results are necessary. he doesn't engage in further conversation than that and walks over to the corpse, running fingers fingers through is hair. it is wet. from the light rain. ]

What didja get? [ and he points to his general chest area ] What was that triangle all 'bout?

[prizewinner]

I do believe my title is medical examiner, not a semiotician. [ wow, oliver seems to be slightly wet from the light rain. it wasn't raining earlier. maybe she'll need to find an umbrella to borrow when she takes a lunch break. ]

Whoever did it is extremely skilled with knives. The cuts were clean, precise. [ a pause. it's clear to the eye, that. no jagged cuts or markings to indicate the blade stopped in the middle of any line. ] She was alive when the triangle was carved, but deceased when the line down the middle was done. Cause of death was blood loss. [ chloe leans over to hold up bela's left wrist. ] There are marks like these on her other wrist and her ankles. She was bound by rope to something on a horizontal surface. Other marks on her forearms indicate signs of a struggle, so it's clear she was either on unfriendly terms or was a stranger to whoever did this to her.

[ she sets bela's arm down carefully back on the table. ] Then the typical markings you'd suspect from the impact of the car alongside her backside. [ another pause. ] It just sounds like some sort of loon got out. Maybe you could check on any local institutions, see if someone escaped custody.

[avers]

[ he doesn't look at chloe as she speaks, examining the body instead. he's staring, really, and doesn't look to be quite here as his mind wanders like static. he can picture delicate hands, bigger than hers, slice through the skin, can see the red of the blood trickling down. his eyes only move when chloe brings up the wrist, and he tilts his head slightly, wandering over to pinpoint the rest of the marks.

his hand comes up to smooth over his moustache and beard, grazing the back of his fingers against his chin. ]

Any markings of a gag? Leftover drugs in her system? [ if she was alive when the murderer cut her, surely she would have screamed. the music was not so loud screams couldn't have been heard. ] Bruisings along the jaw?

[prizewinner]

No drugs. No evidence of a gag, but that doesn't mean much. Something could have been shoved in her mouth or held over her.

[ a shrug of her shoulders. she leans against the table, crossing her arms over her chest. ]

Her face was kept pristine, almost if it was on purpose. The only bruising is on the back of her head from the impact, and I'm sure if our killer could have done something about it they would have prevented it.

[avers]

[ he looks at her slowly ] Like not killin' her. [ he looks down back to the little girl and pulls out his phone. he opens the photo gallery and compares the photos from the previous night. he stares at the blood triangle and turns it to chloe ]

It took a while to bleed through the dress. [ he swipes back and forth slowly through two pictures separated by minutes. one is a lot redder than the other ]

Ever saw this here symbol, doc?

[prizewinner]

She was probably redressed shortly before the fall and the blood loss would have made the flow a lot slower. [ yeah. that seems right. she tucks some hair behind her ear. ]

No, never. You think it means something?

[avers]

[ he nods; he had a theory that it was something like that and, regardless of how much oliver abolishes other's opinions, dr. strickland is one of the few he doesn't mind hearing out, even if she has the whole shaman vibe going. unproper for a christian place. the removal of the dress could be sick but thankfully she had given him no indications of forced sexual contact, so that is one less stomach-turning detail they have to deal with.

oliver turns the photo back to him and stares for a while, before sliding it back into his pocket ]

Pretty darn sure it does. These creeps never do nary without some fucked up meanin'. They's like to leave a message. [ he sniffles and stares at the corpse, before turning to chloe ] Beats the heck outta me what it is. For now.

[prizewinner]

[ she taps her fingers against her arm. ]

I'll keep an eye out for the symbol and let you know if I find anything, but if none of us recognize it I don't see how it can be any sort of message. Still think it's some sort of escaped mental case, though.

[avers]

[ he nods and finally seems to break over his "it's all professional" mask for a brief second, looking at bela with almost sadness. almost. he pushes a hair away from her pale face and sighs throatily. ]

Grim reaper don't see no age. [ more to himself. he straightens his jacket and looks up to her ] Thanks, doc.

[ and he's about to leave when he stops by the door and turns around for a second, hand against the wall ] Hey, didja got to the Samson's kid? Carla or Cathy, forget the name.

[prizewinner]

[ there was a brief moment where chloe thought that oliver had real feelings until-- ]

Kara.

[ you know, these are people. once again. and it's a small town. they don't get a lot of homicide cases for blackwell, this isn't exactly hard to remember. ]

Her body was so mangled I only had dental records to go on for a match. Was there anything you needed to know in particular?

[avers]

[ was a person. was. names are meaningless when you don't need them anymore, aren't they? oliver stares for a while, drumming his long fingers against the wall slowly. he looks at bela for a while and then back to chloe ]

Not yet.

[ he finally turns his back to her, calling out as he exits the room for a smoke ]

If ya see Gage, tell him I want to talk to him.

[prizewinner]

Let's hope for all of our sakes he doesn't come into work for a while.

[ bye oliver. ]