Ratz

By Randy Nesbitt

Detective Zypher has been coming across some unbelievable murders over the years which has involved rats and roaches working in concert to murder Humans, and is beginning to believe that they are working together because they are being controlled by someone who is directing them towards Humans the culprit wants to die.   With Detective Quintar believing that the culprit is the twelve year old Son of his fellow Detective and Best Friend, but how can he prove the child's culpability in several murders in a court of law without ending up in an Insane Asylum himself!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Randy Nesbitt
• Release date: Apr 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9798989506040

Randy Nesbitt

Randy Nesbitt Sr., was born in Washington, D.C., and committed himself to a life of crime that ended up taking him through some of the roughest prisons in the United States over the last decades of his life.    A journey that only made him stronger, and wiser.    A man who has now written several fictional books for the enjoyment of the general public.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter One

It was a sunny spring day of early May in southeast Washington, D.C., which found a young blond-haired Caucasian woman walking down Good Hope Road, wearing a pink sundress as she held the hand of a four year old biracial boy in her left hand.    Her son!     A child she had given birth to, and started off loving very much, but the ridicule she had been forced to suffer through from her family, and friends, in her suburban life over having a child out of wedlock by a Black man had become too much for her, and she had begun to yearn for her old life.    A life she had been living before she had given birth to a bastard child.

I go school now, Mommy?     The little boy inquired.     Looking up at his mother with a smile of innocence on his face while his plastic red and blue square lunchbox bumped up against his left leg, as his little feet hurried to keep up with the taller adult.

Yes baby.    You go to school.     The mendacious woman responded uncomfortably, with an uneasy smile on her face.    Casting unsure glances at the unfamiliar buildings and homes in their vicinity, looking for something that she didn't even know she was looking for, as she did her best to avoid looking down at the innocent face of the little boy.

What school like, Mommy?     The inquisitive little boy asked, while wearing a pair of blue jeans shorts, a gray short-sleeved T-shirt, and a pair of white tennis shoes.     Beginning to breathe hard over his exertion at attempting to keep up with the fast pace of his mother as they walked down the unfamiliar street.

You're going to love it baby.     The woman uncomfortably replied before she turned down a long, garbage strewn, alley between two abandoned buildings after having found the place she had been unconsciously searching for.     There are going to be a lot of children your age there, and you were going to make lots of friends.

I want friends, Mommy.    The elated little boy told her.    Wrinkling up his nose over the foul smell of detritus, and defecation, which permeated the alley.

The woman started walking towards one of the large, rusting, garbage dumpsters in the middle of the alley, with a single tear of angst and trepidation beginning to fall from her right eye.     I need you to stay right here for a few minutes, okay?

Yes Mommy.    The unaware little boy replied with a smile of innocence on his face.    Standing next to the huge steel garbage dumpster while he cast an uncertain look up towards his mother.     I still go to school, mommy?

Yes baby.    But I have to get something from the store first, and I'll be right back.    So you just stay right here!     The flagitious woman exclaimed before she turned to walk out of the alley with only a little bit of remorse over what she was getting ready to do entering her mind.     Walking out of the alley with the same nonchalant attitude any other person would have, who had just discarded something they no longer wanted.     Hurrying to get back to her affluent lifestyle in the suburbs of Virginia.

The little boy stood next to the tall dumpster for the next hour as he waited for the return of his mother until he got tired enough to sit down on the urine stained, dirty, concrete as he continued to wait for a mother he would never see again.

Hours had passed the little boy by, and the darkness of night had befallen him, but he continued to wait by the dumpster for his mother without having any sort of understanding that all schools would have been closed by that time.    Doing exactly what she told him to do, so that he would not upset his mother any more than she had been over the last few months.     With his mother getting so mad at him a couple of times, that she had smacked him really hard on the right side of his face, and even after she had hurt him he never doubted that his mother had loved him.     So he waited for her to return.

With him  having finally gotten hungry enough to open his lunchbox in the darkness of the nine-thirty night, so he could reach for one of the sandwiches his mother had packed for him, in his attempt to quiet the rumblings of his tiny stomach, which was when he had begun to see a large dark brown rodent moving alongside the wall of the abandoned buildings towards him.      Quickly becoming scared after he saw the rodent coming in his direction, which caused him to really want to run out of the alley as fast as his little legs could carry him, but he stayed where his mother left him so that she would be able to find him once she returned.

The little boy began to break off little pieces of his sandwich to throw at the rodent in the hopes that the little bits of food would be enough to keep the rodent away from him, which seemed to work for a short period of time, but after awhile the rodent started to move towards him again.     Coming all of the way over to the little boy and allowed him to continue to feed it after it climbed onto the little boy's leg, and after a short while the little boy had even stopped being scared of the rodent.     Even becoming confident enough at one point to start running his fingers through the coarse, spiky, hairs on the animals back, which was when it had begun to rain.     Starting off with a deluge of a downpour that caused the rodent to move from its comfortable position on the little boy's leg and began to start running alongside the wall of the abandoned building in front of the little boy until it had gotten to one of the broken out windows, and started screeching towards the little boy.     Making a little boy begin to think that the rodent wanted him to follow it.

My Mommy come get me.     The little boy said to the rodent while water was falling off of his head as he was still sitting in the puddle of water in saturated clothes, with the rain continuing to pour down onto his body.    So I have to stay right here until she comes back.

The rodent didn’t seem to comprehend what the little boy was saying to it, and had begun to become insistent by sitting on its haunches while raising its front claws up as it started to screech louder at him than it had been doing before.

The little boy was still sitting in the puddle of water as it grew bigger around him when his young mind had began to understand that he would most likely drown if he continued to stay where he was, so he stood up and followed the rodent into the building.     Crawling through the same broken out window the rodent had just used to enter the building, and when the little boy entered the dark, musky, basement he was able to see a whole bunch of destroyed, discarded, furniture scattered throughout the basement after his eyesight had adjusted to the darkness.     With the rodents and roaches he could see in the enormous room, easily outnumbering the discarded furniture.

The little boy quickly became alarmed after seeing all of the other rodents in the basement, but after noticing the rodent he had been in the alley with screeching back and forth in its own language with other rodents surrounding it, he began to see some of the other rodents moving away from the rodent he had been outside with as if they had finally come to the agreement of it being okay for the little boy to be in the basement with them.

After the little boy's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the enormous room, he began to venture deeper inside of it.     Going deeper into the room, and coming across an overturned wooden cabinet he was able to lay down on, using the uncomfortable wooden backside of the cabinet as a bed.    But the little boy was so tired at that point, that he quickly fell asleep, without even realizing the huge rodent which had been outside with him, crawled up onto the cabinet and curled up in his arms to fall asleep also.

*     *     *

Chapter Two

Violet Harrison and her fiance Kenny Vickers were walking towards the same abandoned building on Good Hope Road six years later at ten o’clock in the morning, interested in acquiring one of the buildings in the downtrodden area so they could open a shelter to house some of the homeless people which permeated the shadowy areas of southeast Washington, D.C.     With both of them having grown up with kind hearts, and a need to help other people who had been less fortunate than they themselves had been in their lives.      Realizing that they were going to need something else to do after deciding to return to the United States from their missionary work in the African Country of Gabon due to Violet’s pregnancy, and the upcoming birth of their first child.     Forcing them to decide on another way to help people, which would not consist of the two of them leaving the United States again until after their child reached the age of five years old, which would then give them the opportunity to take their child with them wherever they went.

I don't know Violet.      A skeptical Kenny began.     Standing next to her in front of the four story red-bricked building, shaking his head in disbelief as he stared at a decrepit building that had most of its windows busted out thinking to himself that the building looked as if it was going to fall down of its own volition.    Didn't they say that this building has been abandoned for the last decade?

It does look bad Kenny, but let's not forget that the city is going to sell us the building for one dollar, as long as we agree to fix the building up to habitable levels.    The five foot six inch brown-haired woman replied.    Beginning to walk up the cracked concrete steps leading to the front door of the building, as she thought about how she was going to be able to get the nailed up wooden panel away from the front door, so they could open the door and enter the building.

What are you doing?     The six foot two inch tall black-haired Kenny asked.    Hurrying up the steps in his haste to catch up to his impulsive, pregnant, fiancee.     Wanting to do whatever he needed to do in order to keep the six month pregnant woman from getting hurt.

We are not going to know if this building is going to be worth our trouble, if we can't get inside of it to take a look around.    The audacious Violet replied.    Putting her hands on the rotten wooden panel covering the front door, only to see it easily fall to the ground.      Exposing the worn wooden door behind it.

Well.    That was easy!     A shocked Kenny exclaimed.    Being amazed at how easy it had been for the wooden panel to fall away from the door, but he had also been relieved to know that Violet did not get hurt in the process.

Try the key Kenny.    Violet directed.     Moving away from the door, after referring to the key the D.C. Governmental Official had given to them in order for them to have access to the abandoned building.

It’s already unlocked.     Kenny retorted a short while later, after turning the key in the lock.    Then shoved the door with his shoulder once he saw that the door wasn't going to open easily.    The door seems to be stuck.

Maybe it’s waterlogged, or something.

You're probably right.    He remarked.     Stepping back from the door so he could kick it a few times, until the door loudly squeaked open on rusted hinges, creating a small opening the couple used to squeeze their way into what had turned out to be a darkened vestibule at the front of the building.   Quickly seeing a long hallway and two sets of stairs that seemed to go up, and down, inside of the building.    The frame of the building seems to be made of concrete.    Leaving the outside of the building looking a whole lot worse than the interior does.

I agree.     But there is a whole lot of garbage in here, and it smells like quite a few people have been using the building as their own personal bathroom.     Violet told him.     Wrinkling her nose up in distaste behind Kenny, while she wiped her hands on her blue jean pants before she reached into her large black shoulder bag for a surgical mask and a powerful small flashlight.     Switching the flashlight on, which allowed her to push the darkness of the building further away from them.

You're right.    And it looks like we are going to have to get an Exterminator in here before we can do anything!     Kenny exclaimed once he had gotten an identical flashlight, and a surgical mask, out of the black backpack strapped to the shoulders of his dark brown sweatshirt, after seeing four very large rodents scurrying down the hallway in front of them.     Which was when he reached into the backpack for a large canister of tear gas.

Kenny and Violet spent the next thirty minutes going through the main floor of the decrepit building.     Seeing rodents, roaches, garbage, and defecation in almost every room they ventured into.     But they still remained impressed with the structure of the building, and we're beginning to think that they might have finally found a building which would suit their needs for creating a shelter for the homeless people in that area of southeast Washington, D.C., but they also knew that they were going to have to invest at least one hundred thousand dollars of their own money into the rehabilitation of the building in order to get the building into the condition of where humans could live in it.

Up or down?     Kenny asked after they walked out of the last room on the main floor.     Flashing his light in the direction of the two staircases.

Let's go down and check the basement out first, because I really don't think I'm ready to see how much damage the roof has suffered just yet.     Violet’s muffled voice could be heard as it came through the fabric of her light blue surgical mask.     With the nonchalant woman walking towards the stairs which would allow them to go down to the next level of the building, with her flashlight, and canister of tear gas, leading the way down the stairs.

The air in the basement was a mixture of damp, musky, and humid, in the beginning of June.     Not even to mention the fact that it smelled even worse in the basement of the building than it had been on the main floor, with Kenny and Violet having to step over and around several puddles of what they assumed was stagnant water on different parts of the floor as they checked out one darkened room after another, and there were even more rodents and roaches in the basement than there had been on the main level of the building.     But once they made it to the third door in the basement, they opened the door to the sight of the luminous reflection of hundreds of tiny eyes staring back at them.     With the rodents violently hissing back, as the rodents held their positions inside of the room.

Maybe we shouldn’t go in there Babe!     Kenny sibilated uncomfortably, moving the beam of his flashlight around the room at the growling faces of the angry vermin in the enormous room faced off against them.

Maybe you are right!     Violet uneasily discerned.    Standing behind Kenny as she peeked around his left side, and into the interior of the rodent infested room, but she quickly put her hand on his back to stop his retreating body before he could back all of the way out of the room.     What's that?

What's what?     He retorted uncomfortably, after stopping his retreat out of the room, and maneuvered his flashlight around at the faces of the angry rodents, without any understanding about what he was supposed to be looking for.

Over there.     She responded.     Directing the beam of her flashlight over towards the mound of rodents on the left side of the room.

Kenny turned his flashlight in the same direction.    Then took his time in looking at the area that his fiancee was interested in, before he replied:  I still don't see anything other than a bunch of rats.

Those rats over there are sitting on something, and I could swear that I saw a human face!     Violet exclaimed.     Emphasizing her point by stabbing her flashlight in the direction of the mound of rodents she was concerned with.

Kenny had known Violet for five years at that point, and knew she did not get squeamish over the first signs of any aggressive animals, after having had the opportunity to travel to several African Countries with her.     So he immediately believed what she said, and kept the beam of his flashlight pointed towards the area of the room she identified.    Finally being rewarded a few moments later when a large rodent slid forward off of a human head, exposing a human head which still had remnants of skin on it that had roaches roaming in and out of the vacant eye sockets of the head.

Oh God!    The despondent woman exclaimed.

I'm going to see if I can spray them off of the body with the teargas Babe.     With Kenny immediately starting to spray the mound of rodents on top of what had been left of the body before he even started to venture into the room.    Hearing the loud screeches from the rodents struck by the liquid as they ran away from the half-eaten body in their haste to get away from the noxious fumes.     While some of the other rodents on the other side of the room had not been hit by the tear gas and ran towards the rear of Kenny to attack him, but Violet saw some of them advancing towards Kenny's back, and ran far enough into the room to spray the rodents with her teargas canister before they could do any damage to her fiance.    Forcing the rodents to turn away in a cacophony of screeches, and growls, of agony as the rodents ran up the worn brick wall of the room towards the broken out windows for their escape.  That was when Violet had noticed a young half-naked child who was in the midst of the fleeing masses of rodents and roaches.     With the child trying to reach up towards one of the windows so he could escape the noxious fumes of the teargas himself.

Look Kenny!    The shocked Violet exclaimed.     Hitting him on his right arm with her hand before she ran into the room, in the direction of the young child.     Spraying the canister at the rodents still on the floor in front of her.     Doing her best to get to the child before he could get harmed by the rodents, without ever really stopping for a moment to wonder why the little boy had been in the room with the rodents in the first place, and reached upwards to grab the young boy around his waist once he'd gotten halfway out of the window, so she could begin to pull the struggling boy back into the room.

That was when the rodents which had made it out of the windows, and into the alley, began to screech out their anger even louder.     This was when she had begun to hear the struggling boy making the same sorts of screeching noises the rodents themselves had been making.     Sounding to her as if he was trying to call the rodents who had made it out of the basement back towards him, with the rodents going against their natural instincts to flee from any sort of conflict, and began to come back into the basement through the broken out windows.

Come on Violet.    Let's get out of here.    An anxious Kenny said to her after he had slung the struggling little boy over his shoulder, and pushed his fiancee out of the room so he could slam the door shut behind them.    Only to see more rodents out in the hallway of the basement, advancing towards them.

Can't you shut him up?     Violet nervously asked.     Jumping in front of Kenny so she could spray the advancing rodents with the teargas, forcing the rodents far enough away from the stairs, so they could quickly run up the stairs, and out of the building.    Feeling a little bit better once they made it back to where their dark blue Ford Explorer was parked in front of the building.

If I didn't know any better, I would swear that he was communicating with those rats.    A breathless Kenny said to her, after allowing the young boy to stand on the sidewalk in front of him while he kept a firm grip on the struggling boy’s right arm so he could not run away.    Quickly putting his left hand over the boy's mouth so that he could finally silence the screeching sounds which were coming out of his mouth, but his attempts to silence the boy seemed to be a little too late, because twenty huge rodents had just come out of the alley next to the building, running towards the Explorer.

You have got to be kidding me!      A frustrated Kenny exclaimed as he quickly opened the rear passenger’s side door of the Explorer in his haste to escape the rodents, and pushed the little boy inside of the vehicle before he shut the door behind them.     Being happy to see that Violet had quickly climbed to safety in the front passenger’s seat.    With the angry rodents violently throwing themselves against the underside of the SUV after Kenny and Violet slammed shut the doors of the vehicle.

This is really crazy.     The carking Violet shouted out.    Pressing her face against the window of her door as she looked at the angry rodents that were reaching up to violently bang, and scratch, against the underside of the Explorer.    Why are they attacking us instead of just running away?

He seems to be communicating with them.    The intuitive Kenny discerned.    Clamping his hand over the boy's mouth once more, in the hopes that the boy’s silence would cause the rodents to go away.     Call the police Violet.

I doubt very seriously if the police are going to be able to arrest a bunch of rats.     Violet jokingly replied, with a slightly uncomfortable chuckle in her voice, as she continued to look out of her window at the aggressive rodents still running around their Ford Explorer.

"We have to call the police Violet, because there is a body in that building, which makes it a crime scene, and we would be violating the law if we leave this 

building without calling the police."     Kenny retorted.    Still holding the struggling boy on his lap.

Violet quickly took her cell phone out of her pocket, and called the police.       Giving them the address to the building, and telling them about the dead body, then she told them about the rodents which were attacking their vehicle.     With the female police officer on the other end of the telephone line asking her if she was making a crank call.

I have never seen rats out in broad daylight like this before.     Violet said after she put her cell phone back into her pocket.

Yeah.    Me neither.     Kenny anxiously responded.     Beginning to feel a little bit more comfortable after seeing the rodents would not be able to make it into the Explorer.     That is really not a natural thing for them to do.

Violet got tired of hearing the scratches, and screeches, of the angry rodents outside of the Explorer after a few more minutes had passed them by.    Deciding to climb over into the driver seat in order to start the engine of the car, and to cut the radio on so she could use the music to drown out some of the sounds of the overly aggressive rodents who wanted to get inside of the vehicle to attack them.     With them still waiting inside of the Explorer for the police to respond to their call ten minutes later, when can Kenny began to feel something crawling up his right leg, which caused him to unconsciously smack at his leg with his hand, and crush whatever it was that had been inside of his pants, causing him to feel a patch of some sort of liquid on his leg that really made him uncomfortable.    Then the perplexed man looked down at the carpeted footwell in front of his seat only to see a large amount of roaches squeezing through the cracks in the door to the right of him, with several of the roaches quickly scurrying up his pants on their spindly legs.     Going under, and over, his pants, causing the anguished man to push the boy into the seat to the left of him so he could start swiping at the roaches.    Get us out of here Violet!

What's wrong?     The unaware woman asked from the front seat.    Turning around only to see her fiancee struggling to get a bunch of roaches off of his body, right before she began to feel some roaches crawling over her body also so she put the Explorer into gear and drove away from the building as quickly as she could while anxiously swiping at the roaches which were beginning to get into her shoulder-length brown hair.     With Violet feeling one of the roaches quickly scurrying into her left ear causing the distressed woman to accidentally press the accelerator pedal all of the way down to the floor in fear, as she stuck the pinky finger of her left hand into her ear canal while she attempted to destroy the roach before it could do any damage.     Doing her best to kill the bug which had been biting into the flesh of her eardrum, and was causing her great deal of pain, while the Explorer careened uncontrollably down Good Hope Road.    Crashing into the front of a responding police car at sixty miles per hour, which caused Violet’s head to crash through the front windshield; killing her instantly.  But the crash had only knocked Kenny and the young boy next to him into unconsciousness, with three of the roaches that had been on Kenny's body crawling 

up into his nose, only to begin eating the soft flesh of his brain:  killing the unaware man before he could ever regain consciousness again.

The Explorer had only been able to get two blocks away from the building before it crashed into the police car.    Skidding onto its right side as the roaches in the Explorer began to enter Violet and Kenny's dead bodies from their mouths, noses, ears, and anuses.     With the roaches never bothering the unconscious little boy while he lay slumped against Kenny's dead body.

Two other D.C. police cars quickly stopped by the crashed vehicles to see if they could render some sort of assistance to the occupants of the destroyed vehicles, only to see that the police officer who was in the patrol car, and two of the occupants of the Ford Explorer had quickly perished, leaving the little boy still alive after banging his head on the back of the seat in front of him.    With an ambulance quickly whisking the little boy away from the site of the crash, and over to Community Hospital on Southern Avenue in southeast Washington, D.C. for a medical evaluation.

It took another three hours for the police to collect their crime scene evidence, and to remove Violent and Kenny's dead bodies, but they never saw any of the roaches which had caused the crash, inside of the ruined Explorer and the police officers came to the conclusion that the woman who had been behind the steering wheel of the Explorer had to have most likely been under the influence of either alcohol, or some sort of narcotic.     With the police officers who arrived at the crime scene understanding that only an autopsy on the woman's body would be able to give them the reason for why the woman had crashed into the police car.    Killing herself, the man who had been in the car with her, and the police officer.

*         *     *

Chapter Three

Violet Harrison had called the police station to lodge a report about a human body they found in this building before they crashed their car.     D.C. Homicide Detective Frederick Zypher said to his assistant Detective six hours later, after they had allowed an Exterminator Company to go into the building to clear out the majority of rodents which had been inside.    Giving the two Detectives, and some of their supporting law enforcement agents, the chance to finally see one of the three human remains that they had been able to find in some of the rooms in the basement area of the building.    With both men standing over a half-eaten body with most of the meat missing from its legs.    I doubt very seriously if she had ever gotten the chance to see all three of these dead bodies before she and her boyfriend died, because of all the rats inside of here.

I agree Fred.    Detective Paul Quintar responded.     Kneeling down next to the body and using his ballpoint pen to move around some of the remnants of the tattered clothing which remained on the body, so he could see the rotten flesh.

But why did she drive away from the building after reporting the crime?    And why did she crash her car into the police car?    The confused Detective blurted out.

Those are very good questions Paul!    Detective Zypher retorted.   Kneeling down next to Detective Quintar, so he could get a closer look at the body himself.    Hopefully, we will be able to find some evidence helpful to us in answering those questions.

Look at this Fred.     Detective Quintar said.     Moving his pen up towards some of the bite wounds and what had been left on the left cheek of the face on the dead body.    Most of this man's face has been eaten off.

Yeah.     The rats seem to have had a field day with him.

Look at this.    The amazed Detective Quintar told him as he continued on.   Moving the pen down towards some bite marks on the man's left shoulder.     Bite marks which seemed to have been made by human teeth.     Rats might not have been the only thing eating on this body.

The sight of the human teeth marks caused the far-sighted Detective Zypher to reach into the inside pocket of his dark gray suit jacket to retrieve his black framed plastic glasses, so he could get a better look at the bite marks.   Those are most definitely human teeth marks.     They're small though.    Either made by a woman, or a child.

––––––––

You're right.    But how did they get there?    And who did it?

I don't know Paul.    But this is very strange, and I want you to be very careful with the evidence you retrieve from this body, in the hopes that we might be able to find out who’s teeth marks those are.    Detective Zypher retorted.   Turning his thoughts more in the direction of a crime being committed on the human remains.

The two Detectives spent the next hour obtaining evidence from the body, even finding more human teeth marks on it before they moved on to the other two bodies which had been found in the basement, with the two Detectives finding more human teeth marks on those two bodies also.    A discovery that perplexed the men even more so than they had been when they first saw the teeth marks on the first body, because it could only mean that there was at least one live human being who had been chewing on the three bodies either before, or after, the rodents had been chewing on them, and that really baffled the two Detectives because it meant that there had to have been someone who had been living in close proximity to the rodents during the time the three humans were used as party favors in some sort of shindig the rodents had been throwing inside of the building.

It took them another three hours to go through all four floors in the building, but they found no other nefarious acts of crime on any of the other floors so they kept the investigation focused on the basement area of the building, and the three human remains they had found there.     Collecting DNA samples from all of the bodies, in the hopes that they would be able to use the DNA samples to help them with identifying the bodies, or that they would be able to use the DNA samples to help them with identifying a suspect, and they even took their time in cutting off the pieces of skin which contained the human bite mark areas on the three bodies in the hopes they would be able to extract enough DNA evidence from the bodies that would help them in identifying who had been eating on the bodies.    Something that was puzzling the two Detectives even more so than the three deaths, because they had quickly begun to believe that the three men who had died in the basement had most likely been some of D.C.s homeless men who had attempted to use the abandoned building as some sort of refuge, with the men never realizing they had entered into a den of hungry rodents.

But the thought of some human eating on the three bodies, had really disturbed them because it meant that there was at least one person in Washington, D.C. who had been committing cannibalistic acts.    One person who had acquired the taste for human flesh.    And that left Detective Zypher with the thought in his mind of wondering if the individual would ever get the desire, to attempt to consume the meat of another human again, which was the prevalent thought making its way through his mind as he walked out of the crime scene of the building, and into the D.C. darkness at nine-thirty at night, while he began to feel his cell phone vibrating in his pants pocket.

Hello?    He said into the phone after he had pulled it out of his pocket.    Standing on the sidewalk in front of the building looking at the myriad of law enforcement vehicles, and personnel, who were looking as if they were in the process of putting their equipment away and leaving the area.

Detectives Zypher?    The Detective could hear a woman saying into his ear through the electronics of his cell phone.    This is Valerial Cardona.    The Medical Examiner downtown.

Yes Miss Cardona.    I remember you.    The Detective responded as he walked towards his government-issued black Ford Explorer.    What can I do for you?

I received some bodies from a car crash that occurred on Good Hope Road early this morning.     And I understand you are the Detective who is in charge of the investigation?

That is correct.    What can I do for you?

Detective Zypher.     I have been a Medical Examiner for the last twenty-five years, and I have just seen something today that I've never seen before in my entire life.     The woman divulged with a slight nervous chuckle emanating from her voice.

What did you see?     The curious Detective responded while getting into his vehicle.

I would rather show you what I'm talking about, if you could spare me a little bit of your time?

The unorthodox request left Detective Zypher even more curious than he had already been about what the woman was trying to tell him, so he started the engine of his car to running, then put the car into gear before he replied:  I'm on my way right now to Doctor Cardona.

It took Detective Zypher another twenty minutes to make the trip down to the Medical Examiner's Office, still thinking about what the woman could have possibly seen in her office which had perplexed her so.     Parking his car as quickly as he could, before he got out of his car to take the short walk over to the Medical Examiner's Office wondering about how some humans could have allowed themselves to fall so far from societal norms that they would have been eating the meat of other humans.    With the thought sticking in the Detective's mind as he traversed the short distance to the Government building he needed to enter.    

Detective Zypher walked into the building asking for directions to the Medical Examiner's Office.    Then found the woman sitting at her desk behind a computer monitor sipping from a red coffee cup.     Causing him to stop long enough to knock on the side of the opened wooden door, before he said:  Doctor Cardona.     How are you doing?

Detective Zypher.    The woman replied.   Walking around her desk in a white lab coat, to shake the Detective’s hand.     It's so nice to see you again.

It's good to see you too, Doctor Cardona.     The Detective replied.    Giving the older gray-haired woman a cursory glance and a smile, before he got down to business.     Why did you want me to meet with you?

Are you squeamish Detective?     She asked.    Crossing her arms under her small breasts before she bestowed a curious glance upon the man.

I've seen quite a few dead bodies in my career, Doctor, and I doubt very seriously if seeing a dead body is going to make me go crazy, if that is what you were trying to ask me.

The older woman took her time in unsurely glancing at the man once more, before she turned to walk out of her office.     That's good enough for me.

The Medical Examiner and the Detective walked out of her office and headed towards a bank of elevators, only to wait in silence for a few moments before the doors of one of the elevators opened in front of them allowing them to get onto the elevator for the short ride down to the basement area of the building.    With both of them walking off of the elevator, and heading towards one of the rooms used to perform autopsies on the dead bodies which came into the building.

Please put this on Detective.     Doctor Cardona told him after handing him a blue surgical mask to put on his face that would help him to breathe better in the room where some of the dead bodies had been located, then she put a similar mask on her face before she said:    We had to fumigate the room after our little accident, and it has left the strong stench of a chemical smell lingering in the air, that you really don’t want to ingest.

What sort of accident did you have down here?    The curious Detective asked her after walking into the room behind the woman, where he could see eight corpses on some aluminum gurneys covered with some white sheets.     Looking around the room for something different than he had seen in any of the other autopsy rooms he had visited during the last fifteen years of his career.

Doctor Cardona did not respond to the man's words and she continued to walk into the room, bypassing some of the other gurneys until she walked over to one of the gurneys at the rear of the room.    Pulling the white sheet off of a female body which was lying on the stretcher, and allowed the sheet to fall to the gray ceramic tiled floor.     This is the female from the car crash you are investigating.

Violet Harrison.     Detective Zypher replied as he nodded his head in confirmation.    Having only seen pictures of the victims of the crash that occurred on 

Good Hope Road, because the bodies were removed from the crime scene before he arrived.    The woman that called the police station to report a crime, before she rammed her Explorer into a police vehicle.

Do you know anything about her other than that?    The very curious Doctor Cardona eagerly retorted.     Looking at Detective Zypher’s face with a hopeful look that seemed to desire some more information about the woman she had been able to elicit from the Detective so far.

We're still in the infancy stage of the investigation.   Detective Zypher vaguely responded.     Falling back on his law enforcement training, after realizing he was now in a situation of where he needed to listen more and say less.    Hoping that the Medical Examiner was getting ready to give him a valuable piece of information about the female victim of the crash.     Do you know her?

No.     I've never seen the woman before in my life.

So, why are you so curious about her?

The Medical Examiner gave him a secretive smile before she moved to stand next to the woman's body, gesturing with her left hand for him to come and to stand near her.     Then the Doctor used her glove-covered hands to pull back the two large pieces of flesh covering the midsection of the body she had already cut open.     Exposing the empty interior of the victim's body to the Detective.     Do you see anything wrong here?

Of course.    You've already taken the organs out of the body that had been inside of it.      He dubiously replied.     Not really understanding what direction the Doctor's question was heading in.

I never got a chance to take any of her organs out of her body, because when I cut her open, a large volume of roaches began to pour out of it.