“Go to hell!” Elizabeth spat as she pulled against the ropes binding her to the bed. She had been in total darkness for so long she thought she’d lose her mind, wishing someone would turn the light on. She wanted it back off now. What she saw literally stopped her heart.
“That’s not any way for a lady to talk,” he replied with a sneer.
The look made the scar stretch even more on his cheek. Elizabeth looked away with revulsion. The man saw her and smiled. Anything to add to their discomfort just made it all the more fun for him.
“If you aren’t going to act like a lady, I guess I don’t need to treat you like one, do I?” her captor said with a shake of his head as he turned to the table in the corner.
“What are you doing?” Elizabeth demanded. “No! Stay away!” She cried when the man picked up a butcher knife and walked slowly across the floor towards where she lay, captive and terrified.
***
The hospital was abuzz with the news of the latest of the ‘Barry County Butcher’s’ victims. The newspaper was saying the latest murder was the most gruesome of all. The victim, Elizabeth Connelly, was only twenty-seven years old. Her parents were devastated and police were no closer to catching the Butcher than before.
“How can there be no evidence?” the head nurse whispered to the orderly.
“It seems the killer knows what he’s doing. No finger prints, no semen, nothing for the cops to go on is ever left behind. He even washes the bodies before he burns them! He’s leaving nothing to chance,” replied the orderly with a shiver as he thought about the way the women died.
“He’ll slip up one day. Let’s just hope it’s before another woman dies,” said another nurse.
“I don’t know. The sheriff’s department is saying they’ve never saw anything like it. I’ve heard rumors they think it might even be a cop because of the lack of evidence,” the orderly offered.
“I haven’t heard that. Who told you they think it might be a cop?” the head nurse asked.
“Bob over in pathology. You know we’ve got every one of the bodies here for autopsy, right?” the orderly answered.
“Yes, I was aware of that. All the killings happened within ten miles of the hospital. Doesn’t exactly make me feel safe leaving here after dark, but what can I do about it?” The nurse shook her head. “I heard the hospital has performed more autopsies in the last three months than the rest of the year combined,” she informed the others.
“I hope it’s not a cop. You like to think you can trust the cops to protect you,” the other nurse said with a sigh.
“I wouldn’t trust a cop as far as I could throw him,” replied the orderly. He’d had some run-ins with the local cops in his younger days.
“It makes sense if you think about it,” he continued. “Who would know better than a cop how to destroy evidence and make it to where he’s never caught?”
“What do you think, Dr. Monroe? You think one of Barry County’s finest is the Butcher?” the orderly asked the only person standing at the nurses’ station yet to offer an opinion.
“Could be, Jackson. You never know what goes on in someone’s mind. It could even be someone here in the hospital,” he said with a frown.
The nurses all looked down. They respected Dr. Monroe, but it was hard to look at him. That scar put everyone off.
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