Page 38 of Investigation of a Quest

“It’s Griffin. You have to take Cerberus out now. I doubt I’ll be home tonight. I think our killer found a way to leave us our next body.”

“We just saw him,” Olivia whispered. “He was just trying to scare us.”

“The killer’s M.O. has changed,” Bel said. “He’s killing during the haunted houses now.”

“Unless this wasn’t the same perpetrator,” Olivia said. “The scarecrow and tin man were killed elsewhere, dressed up, and missing an organ. This wizard was murdered in his own home, wearing his Halloween costume, and it looks like his neck was snapped. These deaths aren’t the same.”

“Oscar Diggs,” Bel said. “That’s his name. I mostly dealt with his wife when they applied for the contest, but both their names were on the application.”

“So, someone came into his home and murdered him while dozens of people were roaming through his house,” Olivia said.

“He certainly looks like part of the décor, though,” Dorothy said, finally arriving back at the scene. “In the dark, people probably thought this was an act.”

“Probably,” Olivia agreed. “But now we have two killers on our hands.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Lina Thum said from where she crouched by the homeowner’s body. “Look.” She gripped his jaw and pried his mouth open, and all three officers jerked backward.

“The killer ripped out his tongue,” Bel said, her mouth suddenly aching. “Not exactly an organ, but a missing part all the same. How did you notice that?”

“There were trace amounts of blood on his lips,” Lina said. “None on the body, though. We’ll have to wait for the autopsy, but I think you’re right. The killer probably came through the haunted house, dragged him into this back room, and then snapped his neck before ripping out his tongue.”

“Oh, God.” Dorothy heaved forward, gripping her knees for dear life.

“Hey.” Bel rubbed the woman’s back. “If you’re going to throw up, do it outside and not in my crime scene.”

“I’m okay…” Dorothy wheezed.

“You sure?” Bel asked.

“Yeah… I’m okay.” She stood up, pale and wide-eyed, and after a silent pause, Bel believed her.

“Who found Mr. Diggs?” Olivia asked.

“His wife,” Griffin said, finally joining the women. “She called 911 after she locked their doors and found him like this.”

“Poor woman,” Lina said.

“How did his death go unnoticed?” Dorothy asked. “We had officers everywhere, and this house was part of the contest. Judges and trick-or-treaters were in and out of this home all night.”

“Honestly?” Bel said. “It’s a haunted house. The killer could’ve dragged Diggs away with people watching. They would’ve assumed it was a skit. We’ve certainly seen far more morbid acts in the other houses.”

“This is getting out of control,” Griffin said. “Murdering a man in his own home while hundreds of people milled about. At least we have an approximate time of death since you two saw him alive.”

“But that was hours ago,” Olivia said. “Unless we find every person who toured this house and ask them if they saw Oscar Diggs, we won’t know when the killer came through here. Did his wife say when she saw him last?”

“She was part of the skit on the opposite end of the house. She didn’t see him all night,” Griffin said.

“Do they have security?” Bel asked. “All the competing houses have a camera at the front door, but are any inside?”

“You’d have to ask Mrs. Diggs,” Griffin said.

“We’ll talk to her,” Bel said, nodding for Dorothy to remain behind. Mrs. Diggs had been screaming when the cops arrived, and it was a sound more terrifying than any haunted house could conjure. They wouldn’t subject the already overwhelmed deputy to a hysterical widow.

“If we’re dealing with the same killer, what does the tongue mean?” Olivia asked as they left Lina to do her job.

“That he talks a lot?” Bel shrugged. “We should also keep an eye out for that yellow brick.”

The detectives entered the living room, interrupting the sudden widow crying on the couch with a neighbor. She still wore her flowing wizard costume, and her trembling voice kept asking her friend how she was supposed to tell her kids about their father.