Blood on the Bayou: A Cafferty & Quinn Novella Read Online Free PDF

rougarou did the killing. Others claimed that he turned into the rougarou , that his head became the head of a vicious wolf-like monster with mammoth, ripping teeth. Supposedly, he used that cane to bash heads in.”
    “That cane is plastic, David. It’s just a display.”
    “Of course,” he murmured, laying his hand on Wolf’s head. “Let’s go talk to Julian about the weird guy who applied for a job. But from what he said, the guy wasn’t much of a rougarou. More like an idiot.”
    He started walking.
    She followed him, glancing back at her own display.
    Strange.
    It seemed like the smile on the mannequin of Count D’Oro had widened.
    Ever so slightly.
     
    * * * *
     
    The two cops from Pearl River seemed like solid guys. Hayden Beauchamp was young, fairly new to the force, slim, fit, and a bit in awe of the older Dirk Deerfield.
    Deerfield was a twenty-five-year vet with the force. Larue had told Quinn that he was planning his retirement in another five years. Before being with the Pearl River force, he’d spent five years with the LAPD. He was weathered, easy, and confident, and he’d heard about Quinn.
    In fact, he’d seen him play football.
    “There was a professional career out there for you,” he told Quinn after shaking his hand. “Can’t say as that I’d not have chosen football over police work or investigation.”
    Quinn shook his head. “Football honestly wasn’t that kind to me. I think I’m where I’m supposed to be now.”
    They’d met at the station and gone through the medical examiner’s initial notes. Then they looked at the crime scene photos.
    “Thing is, the bayou isn’t kind,” Deerfield said. “We had police and forensic crews out to the site within the hour. But all the blood and other matter had dispersed. A few creatures were already nibbling on the corpse. We’re lucky a hungry gator didn’t just take it down.”
    “Shall we see the site?” Larue asked.
    Deerfield nodded. “You can, but there’s nothing to find. Crews went over the area. Not a single piece of evidence. Not even litter thrown out by a passersby. But, sure, we can head to the site. All this harkens back to some bad stuff about twenty years ago.”
    “I remember,” Quinn said.
    “I even remember,” Beauchamp added. “I was just a kid back then, but I remember. I can’t believe that I’m working with a cop who was on that case. Sad and amazing. All that, and the killer got away.”
    “Still haunts me,” Deerfield said. “We never caught that guy. From what I understand, though, it wouldn’t make much sense for this to be the same perpetrator. From the classes they send us to, I understand that such a killer either gets worse, gets caught, or gets dead. He just doesn’t stop for twenty years. And that rougarou bull that goes around? What? Some wolf-headed, old Cajun legend hides out for twenty years without anyone catching sight of it? I don’t think so.”
    “You’re thinking some kind of a copycat killer?” Larue asked Deerfield.
    “Could be. Regardless, he needs to be caught. Three young women. Lovely, sweet girls. And we had nothing. Boyfriend of one was seen by dozens of people working. We checked out the local tours, the neighbors, you name it. We had no forensic evidence. It was a nightmare.”
    “Just like here,” Quinn asked. “The same. Down to the details?”
    “Same method of murder,” Deerfield said wearily. “But this time the victim was a man. Someone has been studying the past.”
    “Autopsy was first thing this morning,” Beauchamp said. “Rush on everything, and since so much of his skull was cracked in, throat all ripped up, and him in the water, the ID became a challenge. We can’t just put a picture of him out in the papers. No fingerprints matched anything we have, but we do have some dental charts in our missing persons report.”
    “Bring up the autopsy report, will you, Hayden?” Deerfield asked Beauchamp.
    Quinn lowered his head to hide a small