Dark Explorations

(Samantha POV)

The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office was finally calming down from today’s earlier frenzy. At eight in the morning, a chapter leader from West Virginia University’s chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi went to check on a few members who had stayed at the chapter’s house overnight and hadn’t communicated since midnight the previous day. One of the members had missed that morning’s exams which warranted the check-in. The three individuals were found dead in the house’s master bedroom having been killed in an extremely brutal fashion. I wasn’t called to the scene, but was asked to assist the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department with the task force created to investigate the gruesome crime along with a few other State Police and an assigned FBI agent.

The task force was called into its first briefing consisting of seven total individuals. The Monongalia County Sheriff and two deputies, three West Virginia State Police officers, myself being the junior of the three, and an FBI agent invited to assist with the investigation. For all intents and purposes, this was now an FBI-ran investigation. The bureau exercises its federal powers whenever possible and if you ask the FBI to assist in an investigation, you’re asking them to send someone to run it. This was my first time ever being part of an FBI-run investigation so I didn't exactly know what to expect. From what my seniors told me, it would either be the greatest display of professional competence or an exercise in wasting department resources.

The conference room we were in was exceedingly plain with painted white walls with no frames or decorations. We each sat at individual desks facing towards a projector and whiteboard. It felt very much like a classroom setting and I felt myself having academy flashbacks. Currently plugging a computer into the projector was a man in his early-50s in the classic blue FBI jacket. He had a five o’clock shadow of greying facial hair over a weathered tanned face of experience. He had a simple coffee mug that he drank from as his laptop booted up. I had been introduced to him earlier today as Agent Mitchell Zimmerman, a long time veteran of the bureau who had experience with various cases much like this. The laptop finally showed on the screen and the first thing I was met with was the exterior picture of the Alpha Sigma Phi house. Its front door was left open with two cars parked into the driveway. Agent Zimmerman set his coffee down and without introductions or explanation began explaining the facts of the case.

“Around midnight, an unknown individual was granted access to the fraternity house and lured one by one all three of the inhabitants, who had been drinking, into the master bedroom where they tortured and killed. They stayed for a while after to clean themselves before leaving as if nothing happened. We have no pictures, DNA, or residue that the perpetrator was ever there. We only know it happened thanks to bloody boot-prints at the scene which don’t match any of the victims.”

He flipped through a few more photos as he spoke. Multiple beer bottles in the trash, blood soaked sink, a bloody boot-print in the carpet, and various images of the crime scene. The three men had been completely destroyed with removed organs, entrails, and limbs covering the entire bed and one of the boys hanging by his neck from another’s intestines on the ceiling fan. It made my stomach sick. Agent Zimmerman only looked at the scene wistfully, a sadness behind his eyes far too used to scenes like this. He skipped off of the disturbing images and it now showed a powerpoint list.

“The bureau began building a profile for the suspect upon being contacted. Here’s what we can assume. The suspect who committed this crime was seeking sexual relief. The brutality is absurd, but evidence around the genitals show that the men had been having sex during or after their time of death and the suspect likely purposely attempted to keep them erect for a time after death. This is clearly someone with experience and we can assume this wasn’t their first crime. They’re likely transient as well, living without much. They’ll be similar enough in age to the young men in order to be able to gain their trust and lure them into dangerous positions. The best place to start would be among homeless populations who recently entered Morgantown or are actively leaving. It’s likely an attractive gay man who has a car or lives in motels to remain presentable and trustworthy.”

Everyone took notes as he spoke. He spoke with complete certainty and I was somewhat shocked at how quickly Agent Zimmerman created a criminal profile after seeing the crime scene once. Something about his description irked me however. I couldn’t help but question one of his last details and raised a hand. It felt like questioning a teacher about his knowledge of the material, but if I were to find the suspect I needed my questions answered. He noticed me and called out the name on my badge.

“Yes, Ms. Gartner?”

“Why do you think a gay man and not a woman?”

He looked behind him towards his notes and scratched his short facial hair before answering. His confidence for a moment seemed to shake at his analysis.

“There’s no reason it couldn’t be. Vaginal fluids weren’t found at the scene, but that could be explained away due to contamination from the amount of blood. The complete lack of any anal intrusion on the bodies does leave me to question whether it was a man. That being said, sexually motivated crimes of this brutal nature are nearly universally committed by men. For a variety of reasons, female sexual killers just don’t operate like this from the bureau’s opinion.”

He looked towards me pointedly as he reached for his mug of coffee.

“That being said, if you find a female suspect who matches our description and lacks an alibi, bring her in for questioning. I can’t rule it out and I would rather not let an exception slip through our fingers because of an overly strict profile. The profile is meant to be a guide for starting our search for suspects, it’s not gospel. We can’t use it to perfectly predict behavior like in Criminal Minds.”

I nodded and scratched out ‘gay man’ in my notes. I was the only woman in the room and while I didn’t consider myself an overtly strong feminist, I could imagine some women being crazy enough to do this type of thing. Then again, that would be considered a crime of passion rather than a sexually motivated crime. I made a small note to see if any of the young men had recently dumped a crazy ex. The homeless population in Morgantown urban area was less than two hundred and could be combed through within the next few days easily. I had met many of them in my time as an officer and none I knew could be capable of such a crime with a clean escape. There was not any consistent population of immigrating workers in the county either. This could prove difficult if we don’t find someone soon, especially if they might leave town as a transient would.

When I met Alan yesterday, he showed me his theory about Sofia Bercowisz. He said that she likely would commit this type of sexual violence as her killings developed. The idea that Sofia Bercowisz was alive was innately absurd and deserved no serious discussion, his statement about developed sexual brutality from multiple murders may have a point here. I raised my hand again. Agent Zimmerman had been discussing how we should begin our search and the necessary legal steps in our search when he noticed my question and acknowledged me.

“Another question, Ms. Gartner?”

“Yes sir, is it possible that this isn’t the suspect’s first murder. It’s so brutal that I can’t help but wonder?”

He thought for a moment before nodding. He searched up something on his laptop before turning back towards me.

“That’s a great point Ms. Gartner. If the Sheriff’s office could compile a list of known gay and female sexual predators in the county that could provide us with a list of possible subjects. If any transients also have active warrants or sexual offender registration, bring them into custody for questioning.”

The members of the Sheriff’s office took note to begin compiling the necessary list of suspects. Another idea came to me while thinking of Alan. He had seemed uncomfortable, or almost scared, when that ‘friend’ showed up at his place unannounced. He was clearly lying about her, but I didn’t question as he must have had a reason to. I had never seen her before and she was clearly older than most students at West Virginia University. If she had recently come to town, then maybe I should go ask about her…

No. No, of course she isn’t a suspect. She’s just a neighbor or old friend who was visiting and surprised Alan. There was no possible way she could have committed those murders. It's just not possible.