The Gruesome Christmas Murders of Calumet #ReedsyTwist

Trigger Warning: This story contains gore, fear, murder, disfiguration, violence, and suspense.

It was eerily frozen outside in Calumet this Christmas Eve, but Denis craved fresh air and opened his front door. No one stood outside. He was used to being alone, but there was a package, neatly wrapped, placed delicately on his stoop. He looked around again, finding no one, and picked up the gift. Did he have an admirer?

Dennis looked over the perfectly wrapped present in his hands. Open it, said his greedy eyes, and so he did. Dennis carefully untied the pretty bow and lifted the lid of the box. To Dennis’ surprise, the box contained nothing but an eye. Admirer indeed, he thought to himself. It was a human eye, lifeless yet staring up at the unsuspecting and lonely man.

Dennis’ phone rang, startling him from his staring contest with the eye. “Detective Long, this is Ralph at Calumet PD. We need you to come look at something over here. It looks like we’ve got a homicide. I’m sending you the address now,” the police officer said, sounding young and frightened.

 “I’m glad you called, Officer Ralph. I just received a package on my doorstep, hand delivered, and they must have run off. The package,” Dennis gulped, “it has a human eye in it.” Denis was thoroughly frightened. Nothing like this happened in Calumet. Especially, not during the holiday season.

Dennis overheard Ralph yell to another officer, “We may have found a piece! It’s an eye!”

Officer Ralph turned back to the phone and spoke to Dennis again. “You’re going to want to come see this. Oh, and bundle up. They’re saying this is the coldest day of the year.”

Dennis quickly found an evidence bag in his forensics kit and bagged the gift. His mind was racing, but he threw on his heaviest coat, warmest hat, two pairs of gloves, and his waterproof snow boots. At least I don’t have to spend the holiday alone, he thought.

Dennis started his all-wheel drive SUV and cleaned off the piled up snow from the rooftop as fast as he could. His heater was not blowing warm air until he was almost at the crime scene. The coldest day of the year was right, he thought. Even with all his layers, Dennis was still cold. He glanced at the temperature display on his dash. It was negative twenty-three degrees. The windchill must have been in the negative thirties, at least.

At last, he arrived at the scene. It was difficult to miss all the flashing lights and police tape. As cold as it was, police bustled around the crime scene, and the locals lined up around the taped area. This rural town did not see anything interesting, especially not murder!

As Dennis left his briefly warmed car, he spotted his partner across the parking lot doing the same. Package in hand, he made his way toward her. Gwen was a large woman. Although she was far from fat, she stood at least six foot two and was carved with muscle. Dennis was one of few people who never picked on her for her size, and she appreciated him for that.

“What have you got?” Gwen asked Dennis.

“Someone paid me a visit tonight. It’s a human eye. From what I’ve heard, it may belong to our victim,” Dennis answered as the two partners ducked under the police tape and headed toward the scene.

“You must be Dennis and Gwen, I’m Officer Ralph. Sorry we had to drag you out of the heat under these circumstances. You might want to prepare yourselves,” Ralph greeted.

“I can handle it,” was all Gwen said as she walked forward. Dennis knew she had recently come from the big city of Chicago. What she was doing in this country-bumpkin place was beyond him.

Dennis pulled out his flashlight and shown it toward what looked like the decimated remains of a young man. He looked like he was in his late teens, or early twenties, but it was hard to tell with all the blood. The pair of detectives crouched down to inspect the body. The left eye was missing all right, along with his entire right leg. His belly was cut open and his guts were spilling out of the gaping hole.

“I’m assuming the missing eye is what I have,” he said as he handed his gift to a young forensics officer.

Gwen pointed at the young man’s abdomen and added, “It looks like his liver and left kidney are also missing.”

“I wonder what the killer is doing with all these parts. I hope we don’t receive more presents,” then he yelled to Ralph, “Officer, please have surveillance posted at my address and Gwen’s. The killer may try to drop more gifts.”

“Yes, Detective. Right away,” Ralph replied and scurried away to do more work.

Dennis stood up to head toward the lead forensicist. Gwen was left alone with the young, mangled man before them.

Dennis spoke to the lead, “Make sure you photograph everything. Take note of our locals behind the tape as well. You can never be too thorough. Comb for any piece of evidence you can. Have we identified this young man yet?”

“We’re running his prints now. We should have an ID within the hour. I can meet you up at the station in thirty,” the seasoned forensics leader replied promptly.

“Sounds good. See you there.” Dennis said as he walked back over to Gwen who was still crouched over the body and asked, “Meet you at the station?”

Gwen nodded. She stood up, maintaining her gaze at the body, and finally left for her car.

Dennis was the first to the quiet station. All the lights were off in the office, so he flicked them on and made his way toward his desk. He shed his coat, hat, and frozen gloves and plunked down into his comfy office chair. Warmth at last. He closed his eyes and rolled what he had seen through his mind. Who could have committed such a heinous crime in their small, quiet town?

A few minutes passed and the office door opened. Gwen walked in with a shiver and stripped off her winter layers. Dennis noticed a necklace around her neck that he had never seen before. It was an ornate five-pointed star. In the center of the star was the head of a cat with emerald gems for eyes. He thought the necklace was peculiar but beautiful. Neat local art, he thought.

Gwen, too, plopped down in an office chair and sighed.

“Who could do something like this?” Dennis asked Gwen.

“Someone wants to make a point,” answered Gwen. Then, they both sat in silence for a moment. Both minds whirling about this murder and that poor young man.

Dennis thought he saw the green eyes on Gwen’s necklace glow for a second. Must be the lighting, he thought. The very moment his mind quieted the door slammed open; snow swirled through the door as Officer Ralph ran in.

He was frantic as he half-shouted, “There’s been another murder! Get out here, now!”

Denis and Gwen rushed to their feet dawning their winter gear once again. The team of three bumped into each other as they raced out the door to the parking lot.

“This way!” Ralph hollered at them and ran to the side of the lot by the dumpster.

Then, they all saw it. A body that had been sliced and severed in many places. The head, torso, two thighs, and lower legs were all separate and in a pile of pieces. The three crime fighters stood in shock and gawked at the mess.

“Did any of you see anything suspicious when you arrived?” asked Dennis.

Suddenly, Officer Ralph’s phone began to ring, and they all started. “Officer Ralph,” he answered then quieted, wide eyed. “Okay, thank you,” he said before adding, “You guys might want to wrap it up and come over to the station. We have another body.”

Ralph turned to Dennis and Gwen saying, “Prints just came back on John Doe. His name is Fredrick Starr, twenty-one years old. He was in the police academy nearby in Houghton. He was kicked out yesterday for insubordination. Apparently, he didn’t take orders well.”

“I knew he looked familiar,” said Ralph, nervousness in his voice. “I remember seeing him at the last ceremony. He seemed quiet. We never spoke. I didn’t want to say anything until we knew for sure. I’ve only seen him once.”

“Back to the question at hand,” announced Dennis. “Did any of you see anything unusual when you got here?”

Gwen shook her head, but Ralph said, “I heard a cat yowling, but I don’t think a cat could do this.”

“Never underestimate a cat with a grudge,” Gwen said as she stared at the stack of bloody body parts.

They all looked at Gwen with confusion and she smirked at them briefly. “I have four cats at home. If dinner isn’t on time, they get cranky,” she said, shrugging. She squatted down to assess the body, and she said, shocked, “It’s Doctor Sven, the lead forensicist. He was just at the crime scene and was supposed to meet us here,” she said and pointed to the name tag poking out of the bloody mess.

Dennis took a deep breath. He directed Gwen and Officer Ralph into the detective’s office at the station to retrieve the camera and forensics kit. They quickly got to it, and they followed his orders. Dennis took his time examining the body and surrounding areas for any potential evidence. He noted four large gouges in the pavement, ten feet from the body when he heard Gwen scream. He spun around and sprinted toward the station, readying his weapon.

He burst through the door to the office and saw Ralph’s mangled body, disemboweled and laying on the floor. Ralph’s right eye was missing. “Gwen!” Dennis yelled.

“I’m fine!” She came around the corner, gun drawn. “I left to get the camera and kit, and when I came back, I saw him. Just finished checking the rest of the station. The back door was cracked, but I saw no one,” she said panting.

Dennis rushed to the back door and ran out. “Call this in to the other units!” he yelled to Gwen. He was on high alert when he looked out at the snow. No footprints. Was Gwen lying? She couldn’t be. That scream sounded real. But why would she scream? She had to have plenty of experience with these things in Chicago. Wait! How did she know which organs were missing from the young man who was found earlier? Dennis slowly turned back toward the office as his suspicions overcame him. Gwen was standing right behind him grinning ear to ear. He raised his gun and pointed it directly at her.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out,” she said in a dark tone.

“What have you done?” he shouted. “Three people in one night?”

“Technically, it was only two people,” she said, looking wicked. “My Yule cat took care of the poor guy outside,” Gwen said as she kissed her necklace.

Of course, Dennis thought. He remembered a story from his childhood about Gryla and the Yule cat terrorizing and eating naughty children. His eyes widened as he realized what Gwen knew about his past.

“You all have been wonderfully devilish,” she said with a devious grin. “That poor boy you killed. Where did you find him?”

“Uh… Fred found him. I don’t know where. It was supposed to be a joke. We were only supposed to rough him up, but it got out of hand. Ralph and I didn’t know he was going to die. We all had to pretend we had never met. But why did you kill Doctor Sven?”

Gryla replied to Dennis’ frenzy of realization, “Do you not know? He helped make it look like the boy’s death was an accident so you three hooligans could get away.”

“I… I didn’t know,” Dennis cried. He knew what fate brought him. His death was delivered in a neatly wrapped, perfectly evidence-free, package.

Dennis screamed as Gryla ripped and tore his belly with claws that grew, jagged, from her fingers. She gutted him right there, and he died a gruesome death. She carefully removed a slice of meat from his thigh. She then vanished into the night, where she could cook and eat the savory treats tonight gifted her. Thank the gods for naughty people, she thought when her belly was full.