Standing Outside the Fire

48

Sam pointed to the chains. "So what about these?"

"That's actually chain mail."

"Seriously?"

The sheriff chuckled. "Yeah. We did find clear rope-burn on his wrists and ankles."

One of Ed's arms was on the floor, covered with a bloodstained cloth. Sam pulled back the cloth, revealing a black tree symbol. As Sam took a picture of it, he asked, "Huh. So, anything missing from the body?"

"You mean aside from the arms and legs? Uh..." he chuckled, "nope. All there -- twig and berries, too."

"What about the neighbors? Did they hear anything weird?"

"Uh, neighbor downstairs said she woke up in the middle of the night by the sound of horses stomping their feet and galloping. We didn't find any hoof prints. She probably heard a TV or was having a bad dream or she was high as balls. Fortunately, we got a real lead off his cell phone."

The sheriff, Sam walked back into the main room and the sheriff looked at his notebook. "According to the phone records, Ed's last call was from a guy called Lance Jacobsen..." Dean and Francesca came out of the kitchen and Sam looked at them questioningly, and they shook their heads, "...an accountant, also 30s, also lives alone."

"How is he a lead?" Sam asked.

"The two of them talked together for 15 minutes, and then Lance sent Ed here all kinds of angry texts. Some of them were your typical threat stuff, but some were a little weird."

"Weird how?"

"Like, uh..." the sheriff looked at his notebook, ""You shall bleed for your crimes against us", followed by the emoticon of a skull. And, uh, this beauty -- "I am a mage. I will destroy you." These kids today with their texting and murder. My men just brought Lance into the station for questioning."

"Well, we're gonna need to take first crack at the suspect."

"Like I said, Agent, it's your world."

The hunters made their way to the police station and met with Lance in an interview room. Sam, Dean and Francesca sat across the table from Lance.

"Lance Jacobsen?" Sam called. "We're with the FBI. We have a rookie with us today."

"The FBI?" Lance repeated. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe Ed's dead." He started crying.

"Lance?" Dean asked. "Lance, just -- just breathe. Just breathe. You're fine."

Lance stopped crying for a moment, then continued sobbing.

"We just need to ask you a few questions." Sam replied. "Try to calm down."

Lance wiped his eyes and Francesca handed him a tissue. He took it and smiled gratefully.

Sam offered a small smile. "We want to know about the, uh, the texts you sent Ed last night."

"I told them when they brought me in those texts weren't from me," Lance replied.

Francesca raised a brow. "Your phone and Ed's phone say otherwise."

"No, I mean, they were from me, but they weren't from me."

Sam, Dean and Francesca looked at each other before Dean frowned. "Did you really think that sentence was gonna clear things up?"

Lance sighed. "I'm sorry. This is all a big misunderstanding. Those text messages were from Greyfox the Mystic to Thargrim the Difficult." Dean and Francesca stared at him, uncomprehendingly. "Our characters in Moondoor. Moondoor is a game that Ed and I play. We're LARPers. Live-action-role-playing?"