Dark Meat by K.R. Kiehl

Terrance stared down the dark staircase and could smell the musk of
the damp basement. He saw the red eye staring up at him and blink
occasionally.

"I need more. Bring me more," the voice from the basement demanded,

"I'm trying. It's not easy".

"Try harder, or it's you."

"I'm trying…."

Detective Sergeant John "Paddy" O'Connor sat in the evidence
processing room and stared at the wall. It had been a long day
already. Sergeant O'Connor was smoking a cigarette, and the ash was
hanging long. Smoking was prohibited in the station, but he had been
with the department for over 30 years, and no one would hassle him
about smoking except maybe his wife. He could have been chief of
police but told the board of commissioners that he still wanted to
investigate crimes. "Well, maybe not today," O'Connor thought.

Sergeant O'Connor sat in the smoke-filled room with his assistant,
Corporal Michael Guileless, and began to process evidence from this
morning's crime scene.

"This is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen in my career," the
Sergeant said to nobody.

"Ok, Mike, let's start logging the evidence." Both officers put on
gloves to prepare for the task. All the items were taken from a house
during a search warrant earlier this morning.

Corporal Guileless began handling the items and exclaimed, "What a mess!"

"One-half head, three brains with skull caps, three without skull
caps, one whole heart."

Sergeant O'Connor quickly logged the items into the evidence record
and prepared containers to store the items in a special refrigerator
designed for such things. "Ok, give me a second to catch up. I can't
believe we are doing this…."

After a nod from the Sergeant, the Corporal began listing off additional items.

"One child mandible with teeth, one full female pelvis, one liver, two
kidneys, one piece of skin with a nipple, and four hands."

These items were in a specially packaged box marked "food items." The
warrant search team also found buckets full of spleens, fat, and
different hearts and kidneys.

The Sergeant had never seen anything like this, unsure of the motive.

The question that genuinely made him sweat was, "how" did the suspect
get all these items anyways?

Terrance opened the basement door slowly and peered down – the red eye
was blinking and looking up at him.

"I need more. Bring me more" the voice from the basement demanded
almost in a singsong humming manner.

"I'm trying. It's not easy".

"Try harder, or it's you."

"I'm trying…."

New Mail Message
To: soul_less@hotmail.com
From: Tammy Mayko
Date: Monday, January 7th, 09:15:33 EST
Subject: An order confirmation

Congratulations, Terrance! Your order to Die Körperteile Haus was
received and is currently being processed. Your order will be shipped
via FedEx and should arrive within 3-5 business days.

~ Thanks, Tammy

"Why is this taking so long?" the voice from the bottom of the stairs demanded.

"I'm sorry. These things take time. I'm trying as hard as I can".

"Try harder, or it's you."

"I understand."

New Text Message
January 9th, 4:44pm FedEx: fedex.com/t/2639727877/en_US from Die
Körperteile Haus delivered 1/9 at 4:42p. Reply HELP for help. STOP to
cancel.

Terrance slowly opened the basement door and momentarily listened to
see if it was awake.

"It's here" Terrance shouted down the steps.

"Bring it to me now!"

Terrance walked a few steps down and slowly tossed the package to the
bottom of the staircase. Terrance heard the ripping of the box
followed by loud moans.

"Bring me more. Or it's you."

"I can't get anything more right now. It takes time."

“I don't care. Bring me more, or it's you".

New Mail Message
To: soul_less@hotmail.com
From: Tammy Mayko
Date: January 11th, 09:15:33 EST
Subject: Rush Order Invoice

Thank you, Terrance, for your rush order to Die Körperteile Haus.
Your rush order includes the following:

1 x half head
1 x head, no skull cap
3 x brains with skull caps
1 x heart
1 x female pelvis
4 x hands

Your order will ship via FedEx and will be wrapped appropriately for shipment.

After logging all the evidence and placing it in a specialized
refrigerator for storing perishable items in the evidence room,
Sergeant O'Connor began reviewing the case notes and paperwork to this
point in the investigation.

It was one of the most shocking cases he had encountered as a cop. The
whole case started with a tip from FEDEX about suspicious packages
with odd odors emitting from them and some with red stains.

Some of Sergeant O'Connor's men interviewed the landlord at the
address where the packages were sent. Sergeant O'Connor read the
statement made by the landlord, Mr. Baker, who willingly cooperated
with the police.

In an official statement, Mr. Baker explained that he rented an
apartment to Terrance Jones, a man in his early 30s with tattoos on
his face, arms, neck, and piercings.

Mr. Baker called his tenant "a damn hippie who mostly kept to himself."

"I never had any problems with him but would hear him talking to
himself all the time and sometimes shouting inside the apartment,"
explained Baker to the O'Connor's detectives.

"Now, I don't know where the crazy guy is now. He owes me money" Baker
further explained to the detective.

"His momma keeps calling me and cries on the phone that her baby is gone."

"I need that rent money to fix the damn furnace. It has been on the
'fritz for over 6 months” Baker said matter-of-factly.

"All the damn thing does is hum, and the exterior light blinks over and over…."