Free Scraps & Chum by Ryan C. Thomas Page B

”
    “ Well thank God for that. ”
    “ No forced entry at Dumas ’ home. Lots of prints on her property, but she ’ s single so who knows how many guys she ’ s had over. We ’ re running them all through the system. So far nothing. Guy who fills a pit with rats, though? No way he left his prints. ”
    “ No shit. ”
    Ted flipped through more of his notes. “ Otherwise, nothing out of place, no signs of struggle. ”
    “ Guy cased her house, waited for her to come out? ”
    “ Neighbors have seen her jogging in the past. Makes sense. She goes out for a jog, the guy grabs her, hits her over the head, drags her into the trees — ”
    “ Feeds her to the rats. The sick fuck. Rape? ” George asked.
    “ Nope. ”
    “ Anything on the telephone pole lead? ”
    “ Nope. ”
    “ Missing persons reports from surrounding areas? ”
    “ Nope. ”
    “ They find anything else in the woods? Another pit? ”
    “ Nope. ”
    “ Say nope again. ”
    “ Nope. ”
     
    ***
     
    A press conference was scheduled for two o ’ clock in one of the meeting rooms at the station. A select group of media was invited to come hear what information was being released to the public. Mostly this would consist of a profile and a warning for people in the neighborhood.
    The rat angle had already made it out; the kids had seen to that.
    Ted was meeting with someone from animal control to get specifics about the rats, so George headed to the conference where the chief was already answering questions for the news cameras. He stood to the side and listened, played with his tie out of anxious habit.
    “ What about police presence? ” A young blonde female reporter from one of the local stations.
    “ We have units patrolling twenty-four-seven, ” the chief responded. “ But people are asked to not go near the woods alone, and to report any suspicious activity they see. We can ’ t be everywhere at once. ”
    “ Why not go near the woods? ” Another reporter, a young guy prematurely balding. “ The killer still lurking around? ”
    “ Not likely, but you know about the rats. We don ’ t know if any got out. We don ’ t need a rabies epidemic on our hands. ”
    “ What efforts are underway to find out who this guy is? ” A newspaper reporter with a tape recorder raised up. She ’ s cute, George thought. Maybe I should have waited to get married.
    “ We ’ ve got some leads. We ’ re checking them out. We ’ ll let you know what we find. ”
    “ And what if the guy left town? How do you find him then? And what if he ’ s planning on coming back? Can ’ t you tell us anything? ”
    “ We ’ re looking. Trust us. ”
    “ You can ’ t just tell the people you ’ ll find him when you ’ ve got nothing tangible to show them right now. ”
    Cuteness aside, George didn ’ t like this girl ’ s attitude, the way she was out to make the chief stumble so people would grumble about the ineptitude of the force. It was always the same song and dance. The media wanted to look like they were more concerned than the men who put their lives on the line every day, even though what they really wanted was a juicy story to lure advertisers with. “ Look, ” George said from the side of the room. Everyone turned to him. The chief was clearly annoyed at the interruption, but George and he went way back; he ’ d get over it. “ Look, ” he continued. “ You want some kind of pledge? I ’ m telling you. I ’ m gonna find this guy if he goes to the moon. So quit displacing anger. We ’ re gonna get him. And if I find him first…God help him. ” Just for good measure, he turned to the television cameras. “ Yeah, if you ’ re watching, I ’ m gonna get you. ”
    He walked out of the room. Someone behind him made a statement about cops watching too many movies.  The Chief apologized and tried to field more questions.
    There ’ d be hell to pay for that little stunt, but George didn ’ t care. All he wanted was a goddamn boat