The investigator finds a little girl on his doorstep quite late one evening, lost. She is very pretty with long curly blonde hair and dressed in an expensive dress.
Circumstances are such that the Investigator should have little choice but to allow her in and put her to bed for the night, in anticipation of sorting the problem out in the morning.
An hour after she is put to bed, the girl gets up and strips herself naked. She then proceeds to mutilate and torture herself, scattering blood around the Investigator’s home. Examples include: pulling her fingernails out, setting fire to her hair and burning herself, smashing her teeth and bones, tearing her face and ears off, putting fish-hooks into her flesh, and blinding herself or putting out an eye.
During the procedure, which is undertaken in complete silence, she is careful about the forensic evidence, trying to ensure that this is as incriminating as possible: for example, she may cut and slash (especially around the genitals), and eviscerate, herself using the Investigator’s kitchen knives, but being careful about fingerprints; similarly, she may hang herself by the heels, or even crucify herself (if she can do this without waking the Investigator) but being careful about the blood patterns.
Early the following morning, she leaves the Investigator’s house and staggers to a neighbour. She gasps out a story of torture at the Investigator’s hands and dies. The police soon arrive . . .
Possibilities
1 The little girl is a zombie, programmed and sent by an enemy of the Investigator. When she first arrives, she appears slightly cold and pale and, of course, has no pulse, although none of this is readily apparent (especially in poor light). The girl has swallowed two pints of blood which she later vomits out to provide a more horrific scene on discovery. This may not be the little girl’s blood group. (Note that there would be nothing logically wrong with the autopsy finding blood in the stomach if the girl tore or cut her tongue out.)
Inconsistencies would include a greater amount of blood than would be expected, anomalous blood-splatter patterns, and the fact that she appears actually to have been dead for four days prior to her ‘death’. However, with such an open-and -shut and disgusting case, the police are unlikely to pursue other leads unduly.
The Investigator’s previous career is suddenly under intense police scrutiny, which may well bring up previous offences and implicate other Investigators.
2 The girl really was lost and was everything she appeared to be. As she
slept, she was the victim of a spell directed at the Investigator.
Unfortunately, the Investigator is still a target.
3 The girl is a dreamer, and blundered into the dreamlands. There she attracted the attention of a minor dreamlands deity, Priebe (a god of suffering and pain), who followed her back to the waking world and, while she was still asleep, forced her to mutilate and kill herself. Her sacrifice provided enough psychic energy for the god to remain 24 hours - unless he can force someone else to do the same thing.
Following the Investigator to the police station, the god enters one of the officer’s dreams and kills him. (He may make the jailer unlock the Investigator’s cell - remember that this will be at night - and the Investigator, if he is awake, may or may not attempt to intervene or escape.)
On the third night, another officer is chosen. After five deaths, the god is strong enough to enter a conscious mind. At this stage, with complete control of a human, the killings increase rapidly as Priebe grows careless of his activities.
© Charles Ross
Circumstances are such that the Investigator should have little choice but to allow her in and put her to bed for the night, in anticipation of sorting the problem out in the morning.
An hour after she is put to bed, the girl gets up and strips herself naked. She then proceeds to mutilate and torture herself, scattering blood around the Investigator’s home. Examples include: pulling her fingernails out, setting fire to her hair and burning herself, smashing her teeth and bones, tearing her face and ears off, putting fish-hooks into her flesh, and blinding herself or putting out an eye.
During the procedure, which is undertaken in complete silence, she is careful about the forensic evidence, trying to ensure that this is as incriminating as possible: for example, she may cut and slash (especially around the genitals), and eviscerate, herself using the Investigator’s kitchen knives, but being careful about fingerprints; similarly, she may hang herself by the heels, or even crucify herself (if she can do this without waking the Investigator) but being careful about the blood patterns.
Early the following morning, she leaves the Investigator’s house and staggers to a neighbour. She gasps out a story of torture at the Investigator’s hands and dies. The police soon arrive . . .
Possibilities
1 The little girl is a zombie, programmed and sent by an enemy of the Investigator. When she first arrives, she appears slightly cold and pale and, of course, has no pulse, although none of this is readily apparent (especially in poor light). The girl has swallowed two pints of blood which she later vomits out to provide a more horrific scene on discovery. This may not be the little girl’s blood group. (Note that there would be nothing logically wrong with the autopsy finding blood in the stomach if the girl tore or cut her tongue out.)
Inconsistencies would include a greater amount of blood than would be expected, anomalous blood-splatter patterns, and the fact that she appears actually to have been dead for four days prior to her ‘death’. However, with such an open-and -shut and disgusting case, the police are unlikely to pursue other leads unduly.
The Investigator’s previous career is suddenly under intense police scrutiny, which may well bring up previous offences and implicate other Investigators.
2 The girl really was lost and was everything she appeared to be. As she
slept, she was the victim of a spell directed at the Investigator.
Unfortunately, the Investigator is still a target.
3 The girl is a dreamer, and blundered into the dreamlands. There she attracted the attention of a minor dreamlands deity, Priebe (a god of suffering and pain), who followed her back to the waking world and, while she was still asleep, forced her to mutilate and kill herself. Her sacrifice provided enough psychic energy for the god to remain 24 hours - unless he can force someone else to do the same thing.
Following the Investigator to the police station, the god enters one of the officer’s dreams and kills him. (He may make the jailer unlock the Investigator’s cell - remember that this will be at night - and the Investigator, if he is awake, may or may not attempt to intervene or escape.)
On the third night, another officer is chosen. After five deaths, the god is strong enough to enter a conscious mind. At this stage, with complete control of a human, the killings increase rapidly as Priebe grows careless of his activities.
© Charles Ross
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