Detective Sweeny parked his car outside of James' mother's house and got out. He was not sure if this visit would shed any light on the subject or not. As far as he was concerned, James was not yet in the clear. Sure, it seemed crazy for him to have blown up his own car, so that had most likely been done by somebody else. On the other hand, criminals were known to have done strange things in the past. It was impossible to rule anything out at this point. Since James could potentially still be considered a loony tune, taking a tip from him might not be the most lucrative thing to do.
Still, there was something about talking to James' mom that appealed to him. The more he thought about it, the more he began to get that familiar itch on the side of his face. He had a strange feeling that something would be revealed by a visit to see her. Sweeny scratched in his usual absent minded manner as he walked up to the front door and knocked.
The door was slightly ajar and moved away from his hand as he knocked. He didn't know if he should take that as a bad sign or not. It was possible that the nurse James had mentioned had been going in and out through the door and had simply forgotten to make sure that it shut. He turned and looked over his shoulder. The car that James had said the nurse drove was still parked along the sidewalk so she must still be here with his mother.
No sound came from within the home in response to his knock, so he rang the door bell instead. Still no sound of stirring came from inside. A chill ran through Sweeny as he waited. He tried to tell himself that he was simply being paranoid that his inclination to think of everything involving foul play came from too much time spent investigating murders. At the same time, however, it did not seem likely that a nurse as attentive as James had described would be taking a nap while she was supposed to be watching his mom.
He pushed the door a little further and called inside. There was still no response and Sweeny began to worry. He reached into his jacket and withdrew his handgun from his shoulder holster. Calling inside the house once more and announcing that he had a gun drawn still brought no answer. He kept his eyes peering inside as he called the office on his cell phone. He said that he needed a warrant and some backup.
While he was waiting, he decided to go ahead and have a look inside. He was afraid of what he might find, but he doubted he would encounter any danger to himself. He knew that stepping into the house before the warrant arrived was not really legal, but he just had to know if his suspicions were correct. Keeping the gun held out in front of him, he stepped into the house and moved forward with caution. The smell of death was overpowering and he was glad that he did not have a full stomach. His eyes darted back and forth, searching for either an outstanding clue or the sign of an aggressor.
After the entryway, he saw that he could either continue into the living room, or turn right into the kitchen. An initial glance in the living room showed him nothing, so he turned and pointed the gun into the kitchen. He nearly dropped his weapon at the sight that greeted him. A fat woman was slumped on her knees with her arms pinned to the counter behind her with knives. A frying pan hung out of her mouth by the handle. Her eyes were closed, but Sweeny doubted very much that she was merely sleeping. He had been around death on many occasions and he knew that this woman was definitely dead.
Just to validate what he already knew, he moved up next to her and knelt down. Keeping one hand on the gun, he reached out his right hand and felt for a pulse. He was not surprised at all to find that she did not have one. Even if he had not known from her appearance, the smell would have told him that she was no longer among the living. It was not just that she had emptied her bladder and bowels, which was rank in its own right, but the process of decay, had already started its slow advance.
This must have been the nurse. James had described her as being overweight. It was hard to imagine her as the cross, yet caring woman that James had told him about. This woman looked pitiful and desperate. Sweeny could only imagine what had run through her mind as she had been overcome by what was obviously a psychopathic killer. The bruises on her neck showed that there had been a struggle at the beginning. Sweeny closed his eyes and forced himself to move on. Sometimes he found himself feeling the same sort of feelings that he thought the victims must have experienced.
There was no point in lingering here as she was beyond help. Since she had obviously been dead for a while, Sweeny did not have much hope of finding James' mother in a better state. He did not believe for a single second that the killer had only come here to hurt the nurse. In fact, the nurse was probably only a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If she had not been here taking care of the sick woman, she probably would have lived a long and happy life.
Leaving the kitchen, he returned to the entryway and then turned into the living room. It was early evening and the living room was too dark for Sweeny to readily see anything too outstanding at first glance. At second glance, he realized that something seemed to be out of place on the far wall. He wanted to keep his distance until he was sure of what it was, so he risked turning the light on in order to see clearly. He knew that once the other officers arrived with a warrant, every light in the house would be on, but for the moment he was still not legally supposed to be in the house.
Once the light was on, he had to cock his head and look at the far wall for a moment while he ascertained what it was what he was looking at. When he did recognize what it was and why it was out of place, he nearly let his jaw drop in shock. On the other side of the living room, three-quarters of the way up the wall, two legs were protruding outward. They both stuck straight out as if they were mounted by a trophy hunter. The difference was that they were not mounted to a plaque, but rather it looked as though they had been shoved through the drywall from the other side.
Sweeny was not sure that he wanted to go into the adjoining room, but he knew that he had to. He slowly walked across the living room and paused before entering the bedroom on the other side. He had been involved in a large number of homicide cases, but he had never had to chase after somebody that seemed to enjoy killing as much as this particular individual. He had seen the men shortly after they had been found in the golf course bathroom, and had been shocked at the abuse that had been heaped on the bodies. This guy did not just kill people; he mutilated them. The manner in which the nurse had been displayed showed the same level of psychosis even though it was evident that she was not really his target.
He took a breath and then stepped into the room. He had not eaten anything for dinner yet, but the sight that met his eyes was still more than his stomach could bear. He ran to the bathroom and purged his stomach acid. He had barely been able to reach the toilet before he threw up. Sweeny knew that this would not sit well with crime scene investigators. They hated it when somebody contaminated a crime scene. He doubted, however, that he would be the only person to lose the contents of their stomach when they saw what waited in the bedroom.
Sweeny gathered himself and forced his stomach to cooperate. He returned to the bedroom to make a better observation of what he assumed was James' mother. When he re-entered the room, he was able to focus, and took in everything in detail. The naked woman hung upside down. She was suspended above the floor due to her legs that had been shoved through the wall. Her hands had been cut off and nailed over her mouth in a hushing manner. Sweeny realized that this had been done post mortem as a sign to those that would find her rather than to keep her quiet while she was being attacked.
Her stomach had been sliced open to let her guts spill out onto the ground below her head. Her intestines were still attached, so they gave the appearance of a rope hanging out of her cavity and ending in a sort of coil on the floor. Her blood had been used to paint a message on the wall around her. To her left was the word deceitful, and on her right was the word whore. Obviously the killer had been very upset with her.
The last disturbing detail was that her eyes had been gouged out and placed on the dresser opposite of where she was hanging. It seemed as if the killer liked the idea of the eyes watching the body in its exposed and violated state. It was like he wanted her to see what had resulted from what he obviously perceived as a betrayal. The whole scene was more than simply disturbing to him and he felt the need to leave the house immediately.
Sweeny almost forgot to shut the light off in the living room in his haste to get outside. He placed another call and said that he had a feeling they were going to need a forensics team to come as well. He was told that the warrant and additional officers were on their way and would be there soon. Sweeny had quit smoking a couple of years ago, but he had always kept a pack in his car just in case he needed it. Without even thinking about it, he went straight to the car and opened his glove box. He put a cigarette in his mouth and shakily raised a match up to light it.
As he stood beside his car in the cold evening air, only one thought came to his mind. He was going to get this sick son of a bitch if it was the last thing he did. In a few minutes, he heard the sound of sirens approaching. The hunt had started, and he was damned if he was let his quarry get away from him.