"I just don't see it," said the DCI. "How does this relate to our possible serial killings?"
We were all standing in the stark white tent that had been quickly erected over the crime scene in order to preserve the evidence. The DCI stared at the naked body of the man with long blonde hair lying face down on the ground.
"Where are the signature tiny footprints?" She asked pointing at the ground around the body.
The signature tiny footprints. I had forgotten about that detail when I'd made the call that there had been another killing. I had been in a state of shock when I'd phoned the DCI. I knew that this latest murder victim was connected to Stephanie DuPont because this was the man in my dream but in my haste to phone the DCI I hadn't thought about the serial killer's signature.
"They were there," I blurted out. "The rain was already washing them away as I arrived at the scene, but they were most definitely there."
I had never been any good at lying. My face would always betray me, whether it was a lie, embarrassment or humiliation, my face would inevitably turn red. This time I managed to keep composed.
The DCI, Jenny Marsden, DS Rioch and Tommy all looked at me. Even with four pairs of eyes scrutinising me I managed to maintain the illusion that I knew exactly what I'd seen and what I was talking about. It was all about confidence, and ever since having that erotic dream I seemed to have become more confident in myself.
"I couldn't tell what had been used to make the prints," I said, "but they started right next to his left hand and then continued down next to his leg ending at his foot."
"This is ridiculous," said the DCI running her fingers through her hair. "It's obviously a case of the lorry driver hitting this poor man who must have been drunk or on drugs or something. Why else would he be naked? And look at his body. Every bone has been broken by the look of it."
Jenny Marsden stepped forward and spoke with her usual eloquence.
"The lorry did not hit this man." said Jenny. "There is no external damage. No point of impact. There is no head trauma which is what one would expect and the body would be a lot further away if the lorry driver had hit him."
All eyes were now focused on the gorgeous Jenny Marsden, especially Tommy who couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her.
"Again, I would have to do a full autopsy, but from what I can see, it looks like this man was crushed slowly by something that completely surrounded him."
A shroud like silence descended upon us in the tent. It lasted for just a minute before DS Rioch opened his mouth.
"This is complete bollocks," he ranted. "How did the killer manage to stop the traffic, dump the body, paint fancy little footprints on the road and then slip away without being seen by a single person? I say we question the driver again."
DS Rioch had a point. All the pedestrians in the area had been interviewed and not one of them had seen anything. The driver was also sticking to his story. There had been no trace of drugs or alcohol in his system which left us with another headache of a death to solve.
The man's body had just appeared face down in the road in front of him.
The DCI sighed again.
"Okay, we're getting nowhere here," she said. "I'm not going to be able to keep this out of the papers now that half of bloody London saw this or rather didn't see this."
The DCI stomped towards the exit of the tent.
"It's late and we need to start fresh tomorrow morning," she said. "Let's call it a night. I want to see you all in bright and early tomorrow morning."
We all filed one by one out of the tent that reeked of death. The DCI stopped me as I exited.
"Not you Stewart," she said. "I need you to stay at home for a few days."
I was ready to explode. Before I could voice my opinions the DCI interrupted me.
"Don't say anything you might regret." she said. "The killer contacted you and now this dead body appears right on a road you happen to be driving along. There's something strange going on and I don't like it one little bit. Do yourself a favour and take a two day break. I'll see you back at work then."
Without even letting me get a reply in or voice my complete dissatisfaction with her decision, she turned round and marched back to her car which was bathed in blue flashing lights.
"Bitch!" I said under my breath.
"What was that all about?" Asked Tommy as he sidled up beside me. "Did I just hear that right? Did she tell you to take a couple of days off?"
"I'm beginning to think my days are numbered here," I said quietly.
To be honest I was glad to be given the time off. I needed to get my head round everything that was going on. I needed to scream and shout everything I knew at the top of my lungs so everybody would feel what I was feeling.
Tommy touched my arm. I wanted him to hug me. To caress me.
I wanted him.
"I need to tell you something," I said shaking my head. "I'm going to go insane if I don't tell somebody."
"Okay," said Tommy gently. "I'm listening."
I shook my head more violently. I could feel a pressure building up inside me.
"No not here," I said. "Can we go somewhere now, somewhere we can talk?"
I could see the look in Tommy's eyes instantly. He already had plans for tonight. Plans that couldn't be broken.
"I've got a date with Jenny tonight," he whispered.
"Okay. No problem." I said half stammering. "I shouldn't have asked."
Tommy turned and looked at Jenny who was standing just up the road waiting.
"How about I drop by tomorrow?" He said. "Tomorrow evening?"
Tomorrow. Tomorrow at my place. I smiled inside.
"Tomorrow would be good," I said smiling.
"Okay," he said touching my chin with his finger. "Tomorrow it is then."
He left his finger to linger slightly on my chin and then turned and walked towards Jenny Marsden.
I watched them walk up the road together and then get into Tommy's car. So, they'd obviously arrived at the crime scene together, I thought to myself. I boxed up any further jealous thoughts and put them to one side, after all, Tommy was coming to see me tomorrow.
With nothing else to keep me at the crime scene I got into my car and drove back to my flat via a late night store that sold everything from chocolate to gas fired barbecues.
The shop assistant behind the till looked at the items in my basket and smiled.
"Now that is a combination I have not seen before," he said. "Chocolate, two bottles of Shiraz and two extra heavy duty bolts for a front door."
I laughed.
"What can I say," I said. "Don't be fooled by the Shiraz, I live in a rough neighbourhood."
With a few exchanged pleasantries and my items from the shop all paid for I headed back home to my flat. The phone was ringing as I turned the key in the lock and opened the door.
Tommy?
"Hang on, hang on," I shouted to nobody as I rushed through the door, slammed it shut behind me and scrambled across the sofa to pick up the phone which was on my favourite table.
"Hello," I said, slightly breathless.
"Hello Detective Constable Stewart," said the electronically generated voice on the other end of the telephone.
I held my breath for a moment whilst I gathered my thoughts.
"I am looking at Giantess City and yet I do not see your profile." said the voice.
The killer was online on Giantess City right at this moment. I quietly sat down on the battered up brown leather sofa and fired up my laptop which was perched on the arm of the sofa.
"I've been sort of busy today sorting out yet another one of your murders," I said, trying to hide the disgust in my voice.
There was a snort of laughter.
"I think you will find that you killed him in a fit of passion Detective Constable Stewart," said the voice. "You squashed the life from him between your thighs whilst thinking solely of your pleasure."
I bit my lower lip. The internet explorer page exploded into life.
"That's impossible," I said, my voice barely a whisper.
"It is going to be interesting when they find your DNA all over his naked body," said the voice. "I do wonder how you will explain that to your colleagues."
"That's impossible," I said again with far more conviction this time.
I typed 'Giantess City' into the web browser.
"Okay then Detective Constable Stewart how about a hypothetical question," said the voice, "a question to test your agreement to join us."
"Hypothetical?"
The Giantess City page opened up. I needed a name.
"Let us say, hypothetically, that you were given the power to shrink somebody," said the voice. "Who would you choose?"
The voice sounded genuinely excited. I could sense a sexual lust as the question was asked, the breathing heightened, the voice lower and more sensitive.
Hypothetically speaking. A short list of names cascaded through my head whilst I thought of a name. I looked at the page and realised I also needed an email address. I couldn't use my own personal email address, I needed something personal to this website. Quickly I opened up Yahoo and created a new email account.
"Well?" Said the voice, sounding a little impatient.
A list of people I'd like to shrink? I'd been asked a lot of things in the past but this one was completely unique. My thoughts were on the DCI. I imagined shrinking her down to size and then tormenting her for trying to ruin my career. Or maybe Jenny Marsden although she seemed so nice. I'd have to shrink her to keep her away from Tommy but then keep her in a luxury dolls house so I wouldn't feel so guilty. DS Rioch? Uuugh no. I couldn't imagine touching his bloated, loathsome body even if he was tiny.
I flipped back to the Giantess City registration page and typed in my username, an email address and a password.
"This isn't easy," I said. "I'm just shortening the list down to one now."
"Interesting," said the voice, "that there is a list."
My Giantess City account was all set up, all I needed to do now was to go back to my email and activate the link. I double clicked on the Yahoo icon whilst concentrating on answering the killer's question. If I shrunk Tommy he would definitely be mine then. Not much chance of lying in his muscular arms though if he was the size of a doll. My rat of an ex-boyfriend maybe? God that would be good. I'd teach him a thing or two about leaving me for my best friend Jill. My best friend Jill. I'd certainly enjoy making her life hell. Shit, the list was getting longer the more I thought about it, not shorter.
"Pick one," said the voice.
I clicked on the link in my Yahoo account. I was in Giantess City and it felt strange stepping into this world of giantess fantasists. What would I find here?
"Pick one now!" Said the voice with more urgency.
I scanned the pages trying to pick out who was online.
"Pick one now or somebody else dies!" Hissed the voice.
I desperately searched for Stephanie DuPont’s profile to confirm if it was her on the telephone.
I picked a name without much thought.
"Paul Chapman," I said quickly. "My ex-boyfriend."
Click.
The phone went dead. The killer had hung up.
"Damn!" I muttered to myself as I browsed the Giantess City web site. I knew it was pointless now. If it was Stephanie DuPont, she would have logged off the same time as the phone call.
I looked at the clock. It was now nine thirty. I uploaded a picture of myself, which I doctored with Photoshop and then wrote a brief profile. This all seemed so strange, but it was the only clue I had to the killer and solving this crime was looking like the only way I was going to save my career.
By ten thirty I was all finished. I grabbed the two locks and the toolkit that my Dad had left me. The electric screwdriver made short work of fixing the two extra bolts to the top and bottom of my front door. Nobody, but nobody was going to come uninvited into my flat tonight. At eleven thirty I opened up one of my bottles of wine and settled back down onto the sofa with my laptop. It was now time to do some thorough research on Giantess City. There was no need for me to get up tomorrow morning, so I intended on spending my time getting to know this unknown world that I had stumbled upon. I was pleased with my user name Elle, French for 'she' and also when pronounced it was the initial letter of my name. I had written my profile carefully in the hope of attracting the same sort of men that Stephanie DuPont was targeting. I needed to get to know this woman as quickly as possible. I trawled through pages and pages of threads, making notes where relevant and highlighting any activity where I saw the name Mademoiselle Stephie. By two thirty in the morning and an empty bottle of wine I had a good idea of what was what in Giantess City. I yawned and then stretched out on the sofa. It was time for bed. The prospect of falling asleep and leaving myself vulnerable to another violation was playing on my mind. I double checked the front door and all the windows before undressing and falling wearily into bed.
My eyes drearily looked at the time on the bedside clock. It was ten past three. Slowly my eyes started to close and I fell asleep.
Five twenty five.
I looked at the clock for a brief moment, turned over and went back to sleep straight away.
Nine fifteen.
The doorbell was ringing.
I opened my eyes slowly and the room slowly came into focus.
Ding dong.
I rolled out of bed and put on my red silk robe which was hanging up on the back of the door. The bolts pulled back with a click and then I opened up the front door. There was nobody there. With my arms folded in front of me to keep my robe in place I looked down at the box that had been left in front of my doorway. It was only small, about the size of a shoebox.
"Bloody postmen," I said picking up the box then shutting the front door.
The combination of the bottle of wine and the late night was had left my head feeling groggy. I trudged into the lounge and slumped onto the sofa placing the box on my lap. I peeled off the brown packing tape, using my thumb nail to rip it off.
"I don't remember ordering anything," I mumbled as I opened the box.
The whole room spun as I stared at the contents of the box. I wanted to push the box away, to throw it onto the floor. I could feel my eyes bulging as I stared inside the box. I tried to talk but no sound would come from my mouth.
I was looking at the impossible. Huddled in the corner of the box, wrapped in a small washcloth, Paul Chapman's tiny face looked up at me and then he started to scream.