Anonymous

4 - Investigation Begins

Harriet was gushing with pride as she sat on the golden throne, holding a jewel encrusted crown in her perfectly painted fingers. She was showing off in a pure white dress, with dainty red flowers attached along the off the shoulder sleeves. She looked just like a Queen. Glancing up, she saw a knight, down on one knee.

"Rise." She commanded, the knight slowly rising. "Reveal yourself." The knight carefully took off his gleaming helmet. Tom Hardy was standing in front of her, a real knight in shining armour. Harriet practically started drooling at the mouth. He smirked and offered his hand to her. She carefully took it and stood next to this gorgeous human specimen. He turned to her and opened his light pink lips but instead of a deep, husky voice, Harriet was met with a deep vibration sound. He quickly closed his mouth and then opened to try again. Again, all that came out was a vibration noise. Suddenly, the whole scene in front of Harriet began to fade, including her ideal man.

Squinting into the darkness, Harriet realised it had just been a dream. As if Tom Hardy would ever be interested in a plain Jane like her. But she could still hear the vibration sound. It took Harriet a while before she realised it was her phone on the bedside cabinet making that sound. She stretched out a delicate hand and grabbed her phone. It was Jason Murray.

"Detective Harriet King." She spoke loudly and clearly, trying to hide the sleep in her voice. She glanced over at her alarm clock to see it was only five o'clock in the morning. He really had to stop with these rude awakenings.

"Harriet, it's Jason. You're needed at the office, as soon as you can." He sounded panicked.

"Why? What's happened now?" She flung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched. Her room was still in complete darkness apart from the minimal light escaping around the edges of the curtains. "Did you misplace some evidence?"

Jason didn't laugh like Harriet expected him to. She always ridiculed him about the time he thought he 'lost' some evidence, when he had already handed it in to be inspected. He had been in such a panic, it was hilarious.

"No. There's been another murder and I have no doubt in my mind that it's our anonymous killer."

Harriet's face paled.

"I'm on my way."

***

Not even twenty minutes later, Harriet strode into her office to find Jason stood over a pile of papers. He looked tired, anxious and stressed. She walked over to him and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. He almost melted into her touch.

"What've we got Jason?" She spoke softly. If you ever heard a woman speak like that to a man, it was usually to calm them and show affection. Jason felt tingles as she spoke, but he pushed his feelings down, knowing there was other important things to deal with first.

He gestured to the pictures laid out on his desk. The first response team had taken the photos and sent them straight in to him. They showed the gruesome attack on another female. She was yet to be identified but Jason doubted that would take long. She had auburn hair, pale skin, green eyes and was of short height. No one would forget if they had seen her.

"Jane Doe, killed approximately 3 o'clock this morning. In her own bed. No sign of a break in or forced entry, front door was locked from the inside. Body is being identified right now. She's covered in bruises and cuts. But the killer went a bit more aggressive with this one." He pulled out another photograph as a close up on their body's chest area.

Harriet could just about see a glinting shard of something stuck in her chest. There was blood soaked into her clothing and all over her chest but she could definitely see something there, just above her heart.