MurderVerse

Det. Palawant parked his unmarked off the road behind other squad cars.

Already at the scene

He popped two Excedrin, chased them with a couple swallows of Coke.

Self-medicating with OTC drugs and caffeinated soft drinks

Oh, thank heaven.

Lois Lane always gave Palawant the creeps

Repeat the Frost poem.

"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep"

But has mysteries it needs to keep.

He reads the poem to his grandkids on Christmas eve every year

Family tradition.

He follows the trail left by other officers and crime scene techs

Footprints into the woods contaminate the area.

Techs slowly, methodically move soft dirt away from the protruding hand

Slowly uncovering the body.

Crime scene photog snaps pics

Photos Palawant will have to look at 100 times during the investigation.

Images will be branded into his brain

Images he can't unsee.

***

The first ten years he couldn't wait to go to work every day.

Dedicated to service

Palawant made detective his nineth year.

Now patrolmen secured the scene until he arrived

The last 6 years a serial killer had been dumping bodies along Lois Lane.

All female

They were beaten, stabbed, tied up, assaulted, raped.

Finally murdered

Sent back to the angels where only God knew who they were.

Six unidentified women, six unsolved cases

Age range: 18 - 45.

***

He watched the unearthing.

A shadow appeared in the corner of his eye

A woman.

With dark hair,

Slender and scared.

He walked toward her but she ran

Into the woods.

He ran after her

She vanished.

A ghost

Not the first one he'd seen.

***

Palawant shook off the chill that ran down his spine.

Crime Scene techs finally dusted dirt away from her face

There she was, his ghost.

His girl

wrists and ankles fastened together with red duct tape.

Eyes still open.

Lips parted

There was a piece of paper neatly folded into a tiny square inside her mouth.

He carefully unwrapped the paper and found a verse

Evidence.

Bagged it

The poet titled each phrase, each sentence fragment the MurderVerse.

Six verses, now a seventh.

Palawant knew each one by heart.

Repeat Frost

Breathe it out.

"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep"

But has mysteries I must not let it keep.