Emily was groggy when she was awoken that morning with a call from one of her co-workers. "God, do you know what time it is?"
"Oh, shut up, you love your job. Don't give me that. Anyways, he struck again. The parents and the kids are still alive, for now. We'll have to work around the paramedics onsite, but we've been cleared to look around. Up, now. We're set to leave in twenty minutes."
Her eyes widened, and she jumped out of bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. It took her five to get ready, five to grab a bite to eat, and ten to get to work.
When the team arrived at the house, Emily wasn't sure what they had expected, but it definitely wasn't… this. The bodies were brutalised, and it was truly a miracle that they were still alive. But by the blood still leaking out of their bodies.. they certainly wouldn't be for much longer, if they even were alive anymore. On the floor was a crucifix, covered in blood from the victims. He carefully picked it up with a gloved hand, and put it in an inspection bag. He'd look at it later, when he had better equipment.
For now, though, Emily told her co-worker, "Hey, I found this. I'll head back to work to analyse it. See what else you can find here, let me know if you get anything else."
When they ran it through the computer, the blood tested negative for any of the existing people in database, which made sense. It wasn't likely that the victims were criminals. But the question still was.. where did this crucifix come from? There was a label on the back, though, Emily noticed. It read the name of a local church, which.. was very close to the house she'd just left.
She picked up her phone: "You remember the crucifix I found? We have to go to the church. There may be something there."
Emily was good at his job. He knew that. But this was what, the fifth, sixth murder? He'd lost count at this point. And still, they were hunting this murderer down and he wasn't behind bars yet. God, it was infuriating.