Outliers and Misfits

The Unexpected Consequences of Inflation

One by one, D.I. Stringer slid the photographs across the table and lined them up in front of the suspect. He watched for a reaction, but the smug little git just kept smiling.

Stringer tapped the first image. “Kirsty Wilkins,” he said as steadily as he could. “Seven years old. Found by her mother on February 26th. She thought her daughter was just sleeping late. Until she pulled back the duvet.” In his twenty years on the force, Stringer had never seen anything like it. The suspect, though, seemed unmoved.

Stringer gritted his teeth and tapped the second picture. “Little Alex Fletcher. Six years old. Found by his mother on March 29th. She thought he was just sleeping late too. Until she drew back his sheet.” As the first officer on the scene, Stringer had been the one to prise Mrs Fletcher from her son’s body. The noises she’d made would haunt him forever; it had sounded like someone had taken a razorblade to her soul. The suspect, however, appeared unaffected.

Narrowing his eyes, Stringer nodded at the third photograph. “Hwyl Davies. Only eight years old. Found by his mother on April 28th. Same story. Until she rolled him onto his back. Until she saw what you’d done, what you’d taken.” Although the memories turned Stringer’s stomach, the suspect’s expression still remained unchanged. Stringer clenched his fists. Bloody immigrants. They didn’t give a crap about anyone but their own kind.

“Look!” He thumped the table. “Forensics puts you at all three scenes. Dust found on the windows matches dust we found on you. And the little tokens you left behind? Your fingerprints are all over them. I know you did it. I just don’t know why!”

Finally, the suspect’s smile faltered. “Kids these days,” he said. As he shrugged his shoulders, the tips of his wings fluttered. “Selfish. Each time they lose a tooth, they demand more and more money. But teeth don’t fetch what they used to.” He laughed. “Internal organs on the other hand …”

(This story was published in Yearning for Wonderland: Once Upon A Time Anthology.)