Undying Devotion

Masie had texted her, wanting to meet up for lunch. Though she wasn’t sure she could stomach anything. How did things turn out this way? She had spent weeks reassuring everyone that they were dealing with one killer and now, mockingly, there were two. Trying to explain the differences in the cases to these buffoons had very nearly driven her mad.

Instead, she had asked for help to visit a few places around town, Masie living here was a great choice. Her head was pounding as she pulled up to her usual café, their meeting point. It was the only place around where you could have a quiet conversation without yelling over other people to talk to one another. It was the best place to plan the afternoon and have a light meal.

Parking, Masie was bouncing toward her even before she could get out of the vehicle. She smiled, they’d hit it off pretty quickly. There’s nothing like bonding over dead bodies in this line of work. She jokily thought to herself.

Masie was far more womanly than she would ever be. Her bouncy red curls, low-cut blouse and mini skirt showed off her heavenly figure. All of which is usually covered by the sperm suits they had to wear on the job.

Masie linked her arm with Shannara’s and beamed, smiling widely at her. That bubbly personality always helped to hype her mood, though at times she did find the woman equally exhausting.

“I’m so glad you suggested this, I know it’s for work, but it’s going to be great fun!” Masie giggled, lightly pulling her along.

Shannara rolled her eyes. She hadn’t seen the need to get out of her uniform, after all she still had to flash the badge to have the store owner talk and divulge information. Novala just so happened to be one of the places on the list.

Entering the store the familiar ding of the bell sounded and the smell of baked goods and coffee flooded her sensors. She breathed it in, her muscles relaxing slightly beneath her tensed shoulders. She cut the line, something she’d never done before and held up her badge.

The lady behind the counter frowned. “That doesn’t mean you get served before the others.”

Masie laughed behind her. Shannara shot her a glare, she wasn’t helping the situation.

“Not cutting in for drinks, I need to speak to all the staff.” She glanced back at the man and two women in line waiting. “It won’t take a minute.”

The owner came to the counter letting the two girls behind. “I’ll rotate the server out, I assume this is about the women being murdered.” It was common news now for the size of the town. “Come on through.”

They were led to the kitchen out of earshot of the customers. Shannara took no time at all to explain her reason for approaching the shop owners.

She placed photos of all five victims, leaving Kayla in, on the tabletop. “Do any of you recall serving any of these women?”

“Are these all the ones that have been killed...? There’s so many!” One of the staff members commented.

“That’s why we are turning to the public to identify anything at all that may be linked to the killer picking his victims.” She explained.

A few pointed at three of the five saying they had served them, the owner did make it a point to state that they were one of the most popular cafes in town. There was a chance all five had been here at one stage or another. The serving staff were swapped out and one other girl was identified, making the grand total of four.

Leaving the kitchen she thanked the staff for their time and proceeded to move to the back of the line. But the staff member behind the counter stopped her.

“The gentlemen in front brought you ladies your drinks.” She slid two lattes to them, one being a chai, a small note folded next to it same as before.

Titling her head as she eyed it. “The same man?”

The waiter smiled. “Yeah, he was standing first in line when you guys came in.”

For the life of her, she couldn’t recall what he had looked like, though she was sure she had seen him. Shaking off the feeling she thanked the staff for the drinks and accepted the stranger’s generosity for a second time.

“Go find us some seats, I’ll order some cakes.” Masie commented.

Sitting not far from the front counter she unfolded the note, it was indeed the same handwriting as her first, an elegant cursive text. The note read:

I envy your dedication, I hope you find what you’re looking for.

She pocketed it not seeming to pay it too much mind.

“What an odd thing to write,” Masie commented from over her shoulder, before placing a cheesecake slice in front of her.

“How so?” She raised a brow.

“Well, why that and not something like; good luck catching the killer.”

“But we are trying to find how the killer finds his victims, that way we might catch a lead on the identity of this said person.” She stated plainly while picking up a fork and digging into the sweet.

“That’s my point, how would they know that?” Masie shrugged taking a bite of her own strawberry shortcake.

“It is pretty common knowledge for anyone with a brain, or they probably overheard us.”

“I think I’m spending too much time at crime scenes; everything is starting to look suspicious to me.” Masie laughed, not pushing the subject anymore.

But now that Masie had mentioned it, Shanarra couldn’t shake the feeling that something felt off about this man that she couldn’t remember. It set her a little on edge, to think that he had been watching so much, not only did he know what she was doing here today, but even her preferences in books.

She poked at her cake a few times, she started to feel like she could rub it off as a coincidence. They made a plan for the afternoon and plotted out a route to take hitting up all the spots. Of course, Masie wanted to try all the tea cakes at each. Where the petite woman stored all this food she would never know.

Finishing up their cakes Shannara smiled over the table at Masie who was eyeing a young gentleman who was nose-deep in a book. “We should get a move on and question the other owners.”

“So much meet candy here though!” She groaned in protest.

Shannara shook her head. “Yes, but we do have a job to do.”

“Okay, okay.” Masie stuffed a huge mouthful of cake into her mouth, emptying her plate.

Shannara couldn’t help the side of her mouth lifting into a half smile, Masie had that trait about her. Turning a dull afternoon of interviews into a fun outing for the two of them. Shannara was so glad to have befriended her.

The rest of the afternoon they visited the other places on the list, two other cafes, the museum, the library and the antique store. The cafés around the area had also seen three to four of the girls, casually having meet-ups with friends. But the antique shop and the museum had only mentioned Kayla, the other girls hadn’t been there. This only continued to concrete in her belief of two killers. But why had this second one shown up and why now? The first had a goal, he was taking them from the victims, she had yet to crack what it meant but she could feel herself getting closer. This new entry had thrown a spanner in the works for her, catching her completely off guard.

As she had expected Kayla was the odd one out as they gathered more and more information. The museum kindly offered the security camera footage, which they watched. On tape they could see her meeting with a man, though the footage wasn’t great maybe something could be extracted from it. Anything at this point was worth looking into. They’d forwarded a copy to Jessie to try to get an ID of the so-called boyfriend she was meeting.

“Hey, can I ask why you’re only now asking about notes being left now? You didn’t mention it at the first café.” Masie questioned as they left the fourth location.

“You’re rubbing off on me, I guess.“She glanced sideways at her friend.

Masie looked at her with a frown, clearly not believing her. Pulling Shannara to a stop she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot waiting for an explanation.

“Kayla was receiving notes from someone,” Shannara admitted.

Masie’s eyes bulged as her mouth fell open. “You can’t mean... like the one you received?”

“Different handwriting, don’t worry I already thought that too.”

“Could have fooled me, you seemed so unfazed.” Masie shook her head.

“There’s no need to lose your head over something like that, it may just be a coincidence.” She smirked at Masie. “But I also didn’t want to mention it when I knew notes were already being written to people. Just in case this is indeed someone copying...”

Masie’s eyes widened. “You think it’s Novalla?”

“It’s the one place that is standing out to me, but we aren’t done with the list yet. Kayla is the odd one out, she’s the only one that Novalla didn’t point out. But if the second killer is copying the first... I need to find out if the other girls were receiving notes too.”

Masie laughed. “This is why you’re the detective, and I’m a crime scene grunt.”

“Don’t underrate yourself, your eyes still see more than mine do, that’s what you’re trained for.” Shannara pointed out.

“Still in training.” Masie corrected with a light blush on her cheeks.

Getting back into Shannara’s retail Masie clicked on her belt. “So, what’s your plan?”

“I’ll keep going about my usual schedule, I visit Novala pretty much every day, I can check it out discretely while I’m there.” Starting the car, Shannara pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the station that was on the other side of town.

“It’s kinda scary that someone from around here is doing all this,” Masie muttered.

“They may not be from around here. We really can’t assume anything.” She pointed out.

“Then if not from around here, why pick this spot?”

“It’s small, the police force isn’t used to this sort of thing and maybe they think it’s an easy playground.”

Masie hunched her shoulder and sank back in her seat. “That’s an unsettling thought.”

“We’ll get him Masie, maybe not today or tomorrow. But we will.”