Rachael's POV

All through my drive back to the station, I kept wondering if hoarding information from Dolores was a good idea.

I mean, she was now interested in the cases and ready to give it her all.

But then.....

Something about her change was just too sudden. 

I shouldn't trust her just yet until she has proven that she had good intentions.

I'll send the blood samples to my grandfather for tests, to see if they matched

.

Before returning home today, I'll take the nail to the morgue where the bodies are and will check them out.

Even though this is nothing but a bleak lead, it's still something to me.

Who knows?

This might even lead me to something bigger.

I hid the bag under my seat before getting out of my car.

All the officers were busy, with files and cases; big and small ones.

I met Dolores at her door, so there was no need to knock.

" Ma'am." I saluted her before having my seat as she proposed.

" Anything?" She asked, very interested.

"Nothing ma'am but I noticed something." I said to her.

She drew her seat closer to the desk.

" I think whoever killed these women, had been planning this for a long time."

The interested look on her face twisted to a confused one.

" I meant, after investigating the house, I found no proof of self defence. It was like the victim had willingly allowed herself to be killed. Everything was in order, just like a normal house." I explained to her.

She nodded gently, humming.

" So you think the killer might have poisoned his victim?" Dolores asked.

" Well, I'm just saying. Tina's house was scattered when we found her dead, but it wasn't the same for the second victim. Although they had been killed the same way....Ugh! It's just so stressful and confusing." I sighed, raking my hands through my hair.

" Well, in that case, we should get autopsy done on the second body. The doctor called while you were away. He said the autopsy results for the first would be out tomorrow morning. I'll send someone to pick it up. If the results match, then you might just be right about the case of a serial killer."

" If this is truly the case of a serial killer, then there are more names on the killer's list." I said to Dolores.

" Yes, we should begin to build the profile of the killer as fast as we can. If we know the kind of person he is....."

Dolores was still talking when I interrupted her, taking away the words from her mouth; " we might know who his next victim is."

We both smiled at each other.

Profile building was one of the things I learned at the police academy.

" Anything else that you found suspicious?" Dolores asked me, arranging some papers on her desk.

" Yes. You remember the first death case, right? Tina's house."

" Yeah, what about it?" Dolores stopped what she was doing and gave me her attention.

" The door knob was bloody, just the the one in the second victim's apartment too." I said and Dolores closed her eyes, as if trying to remember what the door knob had looked like.

" Yes, yes! I remember that." She said, opening her eyes widely.

" Don't you find it weird? I mean, the killer was careful enough not to leave clues in the houses. Yet, he had let blood on the door knob of both houses?!" 

Why exactly was he doing that?

Is he trying to lead us to something?

" I'll get one of the medical team look into that." Dolores said.

" So, anything on where Tina worked?" I finally got the courage to ask her.

" Yes, I think this might be helpful." She said, light returning to her eyes.

" Yeah?" I rose up and took the papers from her side of the desk.

" Tina worked in one of the companies around Hermes street. They produced detergents. Tina chose to work there since it was really close to where she lived."

I listened to Dolores as I went through the reports.

" Did they also say the same thing Tina's neighbor's said?"

" Yes. According to them,Tina was the sweetest soul ever until a week before her death. And just like Tina's neighbors, they know nothing about her family. Her only friends were at the soap factory and they never visited each other." Dolores said, sighing heavily.

" But her CV should have something about her, right? We should check that out." I said, grabbing the other papers on her desk.

" Yes. According to her CV, she attended Brooklyn highschool,of course in Brooklyn and Blue Seal college which was a seven hour drive away from Brooklyn. It's just outside our own city." Dolores said, the exact same thing on the printed copy of Tina's CV

" Mr Steven?"

That was her father's name.

" Yes. We are going in an hour. We still have a pending case so we should speed up with Tina's." Dolores said, to my surprise.

I guess she's just as eager as I am, in catching the killer.

" And the the autopsy?" I asked, getting to my feet.

" We'll inform the doctor on our way out. The morgue is just few miles away from Brooklyn anyway."

Wait, we were going to the morgue. 

I could check out the nails too.

But how do I possibly get in without Dolores suspecting me?

Moreover, the nail I had picked up was still in the car. I need to get it before we leave.

" You had lunch already?" She asked, throwing her jacket over her shoulder.

Lunch!

That's it!

I left the croissants Christian had made in the car.

" Not yet but I have something to eat. It's in my car, I'll just get it." I said, exiting her office even before she could respond.

I walked briskly to my car and took out the nail, hiding it in my pocket. I took out my small lunch too.

Before I would return in, Dolores had come out of the building.

" You have anything inside you still want to pickup?" She asked loudly, from a distance.

" No."

We walked to her car and got in.

No one said anything to anyone. 

We just let ourselves drown in our individual thoughts.

I looked out the window, rubbing the nail through my trouser.

If this is wrong, does this mean we'll have to start over?

Probably wait for the killer to kill the third time, and make a mistake?

No.

I have to find this killer as soon as possible.

***

" We're here." Dolores said, honking.

" Oh." I hadn't even known when we arrived.

I got out of her car and together, we started walking to the morgue.

Being here made me feel nauseous. Anything that had to do with deaths, always reminded me of my mother.

" Are you okay?" I heard Dolores ask.

 I looked at her only to realize I was far behind her.

Did I get so lost in the past, I forgot the present?

" Hunh?" I looked around.

" Well, you stopped walking. Did you see something?" She asked, returning to me.

" No... I.. I.. just..." I closed my eyes and inhaled, like my therapist always told me to do.

" I'm fine." I said and plastererd the most fake smile I could create.

Saying nothing else, we resumed walking to the morgue.

Dolores said something to the nurse before she lead us to the doctor's office.

" He's right in." She said with a smile before walking away, her heels clicking down the hallway.

Dolores and I exchanged glances before knocking on the door.

" Come in." We heard a tiny voice from inside.

We went in.

There, behind the desk sat the youngest doctor I had ever seen. He looked eighteen.

" You must be detective Dolores?" He asked, gesturing for us to sit.

" Y..y..yes." Dolores stuttered, as surprised as I was to see what the doctor looked like.

" So, how can I help you?" He asked.

" Well, we came to ask that you conducted autopsy on the second body brought in here from Hagni police station." Dolores said politely, handing a police report to the doctor.

" Oh yes, the unidentified body. We'll do just that. By the way, the results for Miss Tina Steven's autopsy will be available tomorrow." He said, adjusting his spectacles.

" Yes, an officer will be here to receive it tomorrow morning." Dolores said to the doctor.

She stood up and passed the doctor a handshake.

" Thank you." She said.

I shook him too, just smiling.

" If the autopsies match and they were really poisoned, we will trace where poisons like that are sold." Dolores said once we had exited the doctor's office.

" Yes." Was all I said in response.

Early tomorrow morning, I will send the blood samples to grandfather. If they do not match, then the killer forgot to clean up his own flaw.

I will look through the hospital records of people in the city, to find out the ones with the same blood group as the Killer's.

The fact that there was no sign of self defence just made me feel discouraged.

It could have been the victim's blood.

Well, until the results are out, I guess I can only hope.

" Have you ever been outside the city?" Dolores asked me, igniting the engine of her car.

" No." 

I have lived all my life in Hagni. 

" Well, good thing you brought a jacket with. It's colder outside Hagni."