Free The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles) by Jeremy Croston Page A

church, right before the
entrance to the cemetery. It was a big wooden door with an old
style lock on it. It looked like it hadn’t been used in
years.
    “ A door this thick would
definitely keep people out. Would you like the honors
ma’am?”
    “ I told you knock it out
with the ma’am nonsense.” That didn’t stop her from gabbing the
door and one good pull later, it was wide open. As soon as it
opened, I was blasted with the same musky smell that had been at
every scene. Elizabeth picked up on it right away too.
    I glared into the darkness.
“Let’s go tell Lawrence it’s going to be awhile. I think we are in
the right place.” 

Chapter 13

    The farther down we went,
the more concerned I became. Not long after walking in, we found a
staircase that led further down and it seemed to go on forever.
Elizabeth had a Zippo and I was currently holding it high so we
could see where we were going. I heard no other sounds besides us
and the musky scent was becoming worse.
    “ How many more steps do we
have to go down? These heels are killing my feet.”
    “ On our next investigation,
might I suggest some more appropriate attire?”
    “ How about on our next
investigation, I just send you down with a radio and you can relay
what you find?”
    Thankfully the stairs ended
not too much later so I didn’t have to endure anymore complaining.
At the bottom landing we came to a door that was much more modern.
Some dust had collected on the keypad, but this was certainly a new
edition to the original church.
    “ Any ideas on how we get
through this contraption?”
    In her seemingly endless
pockets, she pulled out a flash drive. I backed out of the way and
let her go to work. Computers weren’t my thing and I am sure
whatever she was doing would make no sense to me. I pulled out my
cell phone and saw there was no reception this deep. I wasn’t
surprised, but I should have sent Billy a text before coming down
here.
    “ We are in.” She turned
around and smiled brightly. The door cracked open and she gave it a
push.
    We walked in, but it was
really dark. Using the lighter I was able to find a switch on the
wall, so I flipped it. Bright lights filled the room and revealed
everything.
    “ Just what was happening
here?”
    I had no idea myself, but I
am pretty sure nothing humane was being conducted. Blood covered
the walls and surgical instruments were laying everywhere. Cages
and test tubes were also prevalent, a lot of them smashed open or
broken. The worst part though were the human bones lying in random
places. Someone had turned this basement into a butcher
shop.
    We split up and started
snapping pictures. The smell covered everything and it was hard to
pick out where it might be originating. I found copies of notes
that I think were written in Latin. I collected everything I could
and put them in evidence bags.
    “ Vic, you might want to
come over here.”
    She was at the far end of
this devil’s workshop, staring at the wall. I went over and she
motioned me to look at an engraving in the wall. It looked like a
hammer crudely chiseled it in with some more Latin underneath
it.
    “ Can you read what it
says?”
    “ I am quite fluent in Latin
actually. This is weird though, it says ‘The Hammer of Jehovah.’
Unfortunately, that means nothing to me.”
    I snapped a picture of that
as well. “Everything I have found is in Latin. I think you are
going to have your hands full when we get back partner.”
    She just rolled her eyes at
me, and we finished our search. I collected up some of the
instruments and hoped that Dr. Tello might be able to make some
sense from this.
    “ I think we got enough
here. Anything else jump out at you Elizabeth?”
    “ I have some suspicions,
but I will hold off on them until I read the notes. I do not need
to freak you out unless the situation warrants it.”
    “ I appreciate that, I
think.” I gave one last look around and nothing new seemed to be
here. “Well let’s head on back