After Allison and Andrew had visited the forensic lab to do shoe prints, they separated. It was approaching the evening and Andrew had to get back to his house. Andrew stood outside of his home, a large brick building with a pitch black door and the address 37 Foxhole Close. As he opened the door he flicked on the lights. His foyer is a large tall granular hallway. Below the waist about three feet, a delicate dark wood lined the walls. Above that. A deep blue wallpaper with abstract patterns. The floor was the same wood as the beginning portion of the wall in planks that stretched onwards. To the right of the foyer, stairs climbed upwards and a Navy blue carpet was unfurled onto harsh wood steps. Paintings lined the walls and a cabinet with patterned glass stood in the hallway holding ornaments and bottles and decanters of alcohol. Ahead of the hallway was a brown oak door with a gold door knob. As Andrew entered his home he closed the door behind him and placed his trench coat on the stair post.
Andrew let out a deep sigh and walked towards the door at the end of the hallway. The doorknob twisted and the door hinges squeaked. Andrew pressed on the lightswitch to the left of the door and a circular ceiling fan spun to life with a light bulb humming into reality. The room was of moderate size, a brown leather sofa was positioned in front of the door facing left, behind the sofa was a cupboard unit. To the left was a nice living room with a rug and peering into the room you could see the kitchen slightly to the left of the room. Andrew walked in and placed himself on the long brown leather sofa in front of the door, he exhaled a loud sigh before looking to the left then to the right. He picked up the TV remote and pressed the power button. Static filled the small screen towards the end of the room and slowly, noise filled the silence in the house. The noise of adverts about houses in the local area filled Andrews ears and before long his eyes slowly melted into the deep blue wall.
The chirps of crickets slowly woke him. As Andrew looked around he was standing in a forest. Pine trees scattered around the area like tall soldiers on guard fighting the endless war of the wind. He was holding a flashlight out in front of him. Andrew looked to the left and to the right, Something felt off. As he focused more and his eyes adjusted to the night he noticed something. Each direction was symmetrical within 90 degrees. The same line of trees with the exact same bark running on them. A large rock positioned next to a tree, all of it the same in each direction. Even stranger however, the breeze, the wind from each direction tore through the trees in mirrored angles. In a moment of thought Andrew turned to the only thing he could think of. He turned to face the moon, through one direction in the maze of trees he spotted it. The guiding light that hung, peering through the branches. He slowly walked forward carefully, making sure to not trip on any of the long reaching stumps.
As he slowly progressed, using the moon as a compass. The crickets slowly got louder and louder. The night was soon filled with not just the chirp of crickets but a scream of crickets. And just as he was reaching a clearing he staggered and jumped up, the noise of crickets was replaced by the eerily similar noise of a static channel on the television. Mulligan shook it off and before long he was back asleep again.
"So you are having nightmares Andrew?" The therapist spoke calmly with a sense of curiosity, tapping his notebook in a rhythmic beat to the pulse of the wall clock. "Yes," Andrew placed his hands over his head leaning forward then shot up. "I don't understand it" He said, shrugging his shoulders back, the leather jacket that caressed his shoulders flung up. "I have never had these dreams before, it creeped me out." "Andrew, are you letting your work interfere with your personal life?" Andrew looked up with a face full of annoyance. "It never will and I will not let it interfere with my work." Andrews therapist leant back in his chair with a straight face of no fear.
For a moment the clock was the only noise. The pen taps were abandoned with the moment of outrage. "Listen, I'm sorry doctor, I have just been extremely stressed and this is out of the ordinary for me." "I understand," the doctor said as he uncrossed his legs and placed his pen and paper on the chair. He stood up, making sure to pull down his suit trousers, then walked over to the shelf. "Do you understand this painting above my shelf?" Andrew's face adjusted and the confused look swiped across his face again. "No, not really" "This is a copy of Edvard Munch's The Scream" His hands folded into a tight knot across his chest in appreciation. "Some would see a man, screaming at something. Others see deeper." His head turned to Andrew "Existential angst is what I believe," His head turning back with a smile painted in a neat stroke. "The feeling that you will someday no longer exist. I wonder Andrew if that feeling ever applies to you" Andrew looked at him with angry confusion but the doctor just shook his head slowly with his smile turning straight. "Do you think the man in the scream photo was confused? The red sky is not necessarily harmful; however, those feelings of dread encased him." Andrew's face turned into curiosity and his hand gripped his chin. "I cannot fix these fillings for you but you can." The doctor stood up and adjusted his suit jacket before opening the door for Andrew to leave. "Thankyou doctor" The doctor nodded with a smile. Andrew stepped out into the cold unforgiving world he had known. The walk back to the office became a blur for him after a while. His body in full autonomous mode while walking and thinking, before long he had his head on the desk with his eyes closed.
Dark rings encased his eyes, providing a panda-like look. "Andrew," said Allison, raising her voice. As Andrew opened his eyes he saw a hand planted on his desk in front of his face with black nails, he slowly looked up and Allisons' presence became more apparent. "The toxicology report has come through for Summer you'll want to see this" she planted a file onto the desk in-front of Andrew with a bold font "SUMMER MYERS" Upon opening the case file the report was only half a page but the evidence was there. "Traces of Alcohol Positive." "Traces of convallatoxin Positive." "Lilly of the valley" said Andrew before placing the report back onto his desk. Allison tightened her lips in a straight mouth and nodded in agreement. "Seems our killer had an obsession with gardening." Andrew stared at Allison and his head twitched with confusion. "The vines at the apartment and the lilly of the valley traces, I reckon our killer poisoned his victim before making her into his own decoration." Spoke to Allison, Andrew looked away and stared into the distance. The facts that Allison had said were always there and staring him in the face but he never thought about them, to him this was just another killer, but to her the killer had a passion and a personality. A man entered the precinct and began speaking to everyone "New reports are coming out about Summers' last location. She was seen at the Grape Chain a day before the body was found." Andrew looked to Allison "That place is notorious for its plants and overwhelming nature, if you are right about this hunch then this is the best shot we have at finding the killer." Allison pulled a half smile and both partners rushed to the car and drove. After some time of Allison driving facing the road and Andrew pondering different theories, they arrived at the restaurant. Both investigators walked towards the entrance and were greeted kindly by a 30 to 40 year old server with black hair slicked the the side obviously by hair gel. The smell of plants and candles filled the air. "Hello sir and mam, are you looking for a table for two?" he smiled and picked up two menus from the server table smiling. "No, we are with the police, we are here concerning a case" His face lifted instantly and his eyes widened, not in an anxious way but more in a surprised, concerned manner. The server looked around to make sure not many people were looking and leaned over to talk to Andrew and Allison "No one was hurt by our food, right?" Allison shook her head and Andrew said "Look, we just need to look around… Confidential business you know" The server picked himself up from his leaning position and reset himself to his working manner. "Alright, feel free to look around, if you need any help just find me."
Andrew and Allison progressed through the restaurant, Andrew's eyes focused on all of the families, happy families. Children kicked their legs as they ate and mothers' eyes delicately placed themselves upon their husbands. Andrew had never understood relationships, he thought they were distractions from real world issues. Allison opened the swinging door to the kitchen and they walked in. Before the head chef could talk, Andrew pulled out a badge with the precincts logo and the chef's arms swung into his sides. Andrew took note of the kitchen's surroundings. An oven turned on with four stoves on top, pots bubbled, a food shelf with made meals stacked onto it and a chef with a burn mark over his left eye who stared into Andrew's eyes. Before Andrew could comprehend why the man looked at him, the man wielded his meat knife and sliced the neck of a chef in front of him before darting out of the kitchen. Allison sprinted to the man, picking up her radio "This is agent Cobara, Get medical at the grape chain down North street, one wounded." She placed her hand over the chef's neck covering the wound. Andrew pounced into action, withdrawing his M9 pistol. He ran out the exit door that almost closed before the man, "Stop!". Gone, the man had escaped somewhere in the alleyway. Andrew immediately walked back into the kitchen and sprung questions onto the head chef. "Who is that man? How long has he been working? Any phone numbers? Any family? Any house location?" The chef was in shock, and Allison was still crouched next to the man whose neck was spewing blood. Andrew grabbed the head chef's shoulders and moved himself between him and the bloodbath. "Listen to me, who is he?" The chef stuttered, "I I I don't know, he came in last week, he is a culinary expert. I hired him on the spot but he never told me a name."