by Michael Baier

Created on: April 16, 2008

CHAPTER 1

When he received the call, Detective Michael Caine made sure he was among the first to arrive at the scene. Another child had been murdered, making a total of 8 in the last couple weeks, and he had to be at the scene before it was tampered with by the rookies on the force. He had to make sure that it was, indeed, the same killer and not a copycat.
He whipped his car around and sped down the one-mile stretch of road that led to the scene, wondering why he was, once again, within a mile of the crime scene, and why he had no recollection of what he had been doing or how he had got there. When he arrived at the scene, the first thing that he saw was the victim's mother kneeling next to her murdered son, screaming hysterically. There was nothing Michael hated more than seeing the victim's family, especially on the scene.

He got out of the car and walked over to the women, not even glancing at the mutilated body next to her, and tried unsuccessfully to get her to go inside. He decided he would give that job to the first rookies to arrive at the scene. In the meantime, he would do his best to keep her attention on him, instead of her son's body.
Within five minutes, a squad car came to a screeching halt on the road.
A young officer got out of the car and ran over to Michael, immediately seeing the boy's body. He nearly vomited and looked away.
"Get her back in the house," Michael ordered him as he noticed the rookie's reaction to the body.
"Yes, sir," the rookie replied, and followed the order right away, though he had to struggle to get the women away from her son's body.
Once she was back in the house, with the rookie trying his best to comfort her, Michael started examining the body. He could tell easily that it was the same killer. Once again, the victim's arms had been severed from the body and his neck was clearly broken. He also had a horrified expression on his face, like all the other children had. It was obvious that he, like all the others had seen the attack coming, but had been unable to do anything about it. The only comforting thought was that they had all died almost instantly, none having to suffer for more than a second or two.
By the time he finished the examination, several more officers and an ambulance had arrived on the scene, though it was clear from the moment the call was placed that it wouldn't be needed. A hearse would have been better.
"There's no doubt," Michael told the chief when asked. "It's the same killer. Couldn't have

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