“Sergeant, why are we back here? I thought we searched the whole place this morning?”

“Proof reading exists McLamb.”

Sergeant Leo and Constable McLamb walked back to the scene of the crime. They saw the stains of rotted blood painted on the concrete floor, the spot where the coroner showed them the recovered body parts. Even with the corpse removed the smell of human decay lingered. Not even the fumes of burnt wood and rusted metal could defeat it.

“You were first on the scene McLamb,” Leo would say as he looked around, a finger under his nose, “What happened here and how was the body reported?”

McLamb rubbed his neck as he recollected his thoughts, “The one who called was a man living in the old electronic plant, over there. A squatter. He would wander in the garbage zone, here, to try and find spare parts he can pawn or sell off for food and alcohol.” McLamb looked around, then he pointed to the entry way that connected to the highway. “There is one camera at the gate there, but it has been broken for a year. The factory owner didn’t bother to fix it and left it out to deter kids from vandalizing. The killer may have came during the night to dropped the body, no one saw anything three nights ago.”

“I don’t think this is where the murder took place,” Leo shook his head, then directed McLamb’s attention all over the surroundings. “Gravel, grass, rock, metal, rust, there’s junk everywhere but forensics confirmed she had none of the trace contaminates from this place. This mean the victim was killed elsewhere, stored in bags, and then brought here for disposal.”

“Then why here, Sergeant?” McLamb would look back and front of the factory ground, “I mean there is a pond about like 3 blocks down on the South of the road. Not to mention we passed by this construction site along the way, filling in the foundations. I mean, fresh concrete, big large building. It’s the perfect place to hide a buried body and no one would be the wiser.”

Leo took a moment to absorb the rookie’s words. He couldn’t resist touching his chin and rubbing out an itch where he shaved this morning. Then he wagged a finger with a thought.

“Look around.”

“S-Sir?”

Leo pushed at McLamb to make him walk in one direction as the detective went into another. “There is something we’re missing. Check around for anything we overlooked.”

With a confused expression McLamb would tug up his pant legs and put his hands on his knees to lean forward and inspect the ground. He would keep his face and nose away from the black ooze that was there before and try to examine closely at the floor. Leo did the same, crouching down and lifting up any loose newspapers or packaging that were left discarded down the alley.

“What are we looking for, Sergeant?”

“Jenny is already working with another team for missing people reports. Jackson is talking with the unit at Precinct 18 handling the Splitter to get any details on his M.O. So, it’s up to us to look for any breakthrough to speed up the investigations.”

“Isn’t this like a needle in a haystack, sir?”

Leo raised an eyebrow at his partner, “And?”

“...Yes sir. I will look harder sir. Sorry sir.” McLamb slumped his face aside to hide his embarrassment. He distracted himself by flipping over empty bottles with his shoe.

“McLamb,” Leo called out without glancing back, “Call me Leo. Never been a fan of formality.”

“Sir! Yes Sir!”

Leo resisted the urge to facepalm. His fingers were covered in dirt and wet newspaper bits.