Bloody Roses

"Hell is other people" - Jean-Paul Sartre

Howard Jones lived in a small farmhouse just right outside a small town called Acton, just an hour's drive away from LA. It was another brilliantly blazing day, the sun was up as the gleaming black Chevrolet creeped up the cracked dirt road. The house was surrounded by a group of ruffling trees, their leaves fluttering against the gentle breeze Tyler was thankful for. Because, although it was still hot and humid, the heat was less intense and they were even welcomed with the luxury of a cool welcomed breeze.

Tyler gazed out the window as they parked outside the modest house, taking in it's crumbled pale brickwork and snake-like ivy entwining it's way through every gap and crack in the aged wall. It was a nice place. It was quiet. Tyler couldn't hear the hum of city traffic or the ringing of sirens. He could only hear the gentle breeze rustling the trees and the occasional call of a farm animal. It was beautifully isolated, away from the crime and drama. The house was enshrouded by a forest of trees, casting long shadows over the thatched roof and eroded walls. Closed off from the rest of society.

"You really think this is our guy?" Tyler asked as Banes cut the engine.
"Only one way to find out," Banes replied gruffly, climbing steadily out of the car.
Tyler did the same, surveying the area as he walked up to the front door and knocked on the rusty brass door handle. The knock was loud, disturbing the peaceful silence as the sound could be heard echoing through the house. Tyler and Banes waited, but there was no answer. Tyler looked at Banes, knocking again and waiting. But still no answer.

"Could he be at work?" Tyler asked himself, walking backwards from the front door and studying the house, seeing no movement in either of the windows or any indication that someone was at home.
Banes sighed, placing his hands on his hips, squinting in the blinding sunlight. "Possibly," He replied.
"But he may be back soon," Tyler pointed out hopefully.
Banes shook his head, rubbing his face and sleepy tired eyes.
"We can't count too much on that. Now we've got two choices, we can either sit here and wait for however many hours it takes for Howard to come back or we find his work place and take it from there. Which option do you want to take?" Banes asked.
Tyler paused, "Maybe he didn't hear us?"

Banes sighed, taking his hat off and running a hand through his dark grey hair before placing it back on his head. "I'll check round the back," He grumbled before spinning around on his heels and stalking off round the back of the house.
Tyler waited patiently for him to return, peeking into the cobweb infested windows to find nothing but a still and empty house. As beautiful as the house was, it still let off a creepy feeling. An eerie presence that made Tyler want to back away.
A few minutes later, Tyler heard the sound of footsteps on gravel as Banes returned. Though Banes didn't look tired or withdrawn anymore, he looked agitated and confused.
"Any luck?" Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow.
Banes let out a breath, adjusting his hat. "Maybe you should see for yourself," He replied stiffly, his voice sounding slightly off-put.

"The door's been kicked in," Tyler muttered to himself as he inspected the ruins of the former wooden back door.
The door lay on the floor, a huge crack split down the middle of the wood. The window was smashed, probably happened as the door thudded to the floor after being kicked down. Tyler prodded the door with his foot, noticing how the lock had also been busted. He looked up at Banes, bringing his jacket back to expose the gun clipped onto his belt. Banes nodded in agreement at him and Tyler brought out the .38 detective revolver, holding it above his head as the two nodded at each other before stepping over the splintered remains of the door and entering the house.

The house was silent inside. A house that should have been your everyday snug cosy home, but let off a dark and eerie feeling. It felt shut-off to the world. Not a bird nor the gentle rustle of trees could be heard inside these isolated walls. The sudden stillness had alerted Tyler, making him feel evermore agitated and ready for an attack. He kept his gun always pointed towards the ceiling, safety off and finger itching on the trigger. The only sound to be heard through the unnerving silence was the creaking of the wooden floorboards underneath the two detective's feet and an occasional grumble of the house settling. Otherwise the house was still. Still and silent.

The house didn't seem out of the ordinary furniture wise. It didn't look like the house of a murderer. The place was well furnitured, some things needed a little dusting here and there but there wasn't anything strange or intimidating. There were no guns, animals heads, strange photographs or baths filled with blood. The place smelt of old wood and dust. Not many decorative pictures were hung up on the stone walls and the inside of the pretty house seemed to be a little plain. The house wasn't too big nor too small. It seemed just the right size for someone Howard's age who had just started a new life.

The two approached the main room which was a little more warming than the rest of the house but still couldn't shake off the cold and intimidating feel to the house. An old frayed tartan rug lay across the worn out wooden floorboards, a dead cold stone fireplace and a colour faded couch with an old holey blanket thrown carelessly on top.

"I'll search up stairs," Banes told Tyler in a low voice. "If you hear gunshots, there's definitely someone up there," He stated bluntly before walking quietly out the room.
Tyler nodded, putting his gun away and examining the room. He picked up various things from off the mantelpiece before placing it back carefully. He could hear Banes' footsteps on the floor above him, walking about the upper room and the occasional tap of the foot. Tyler caught sight of a photograph on the other side of the mantel piece, a photo of Howard Jones himself.

He was a young lad, about 26 years old. He had short cropped hair and a soft face with smooth features. In the photo he was standing in front of a horse, stroking it's clipped mane while beaming proudly at the camera. A smile which caused creases around his eyes to form and flashed his set of straight teeth. He wasn't overly good looking neither was he ugly. He was just an average boy.

"Tyler, you might want to come and look at this," Bane's voice called from upstairs.
Tyler looked up, taking the hint that the house was obviously empty since Banes was no longer being quiet and sneaky. Tyler walked away from the mantelpiece, looking back at the picture of Howard Jones one last time before stepping forward. A cracking sound could suddenly be heard from beneath Tyler's foot. He looked down, lifting his foot up to reveal a fallen photo frame lying on the fall and a shower of broken glass scattered around it. Tyler's eyebrows creased as he picked up the broken photo frame, examining the picture inside. But it was empty. There was no photograph framed. And he certainly didn't knock it off himself so someone else must have done it.
"Tyler, I haven't got all day," Banes' impatient voice called from upstairs. "You're seriously going to want to come and see this, it solves everything."

Tyler sighed, putting the photo frame down before walking upstairs, taking the first bedroom he found Banes standing over a desk full of stacked paper work and a letters.
The room was small and bare, containing just a work desk and an old handsome wooden wardrobe that didn't seem to fit into place.
"Looks like Howard and Sally definitely weren't getting on well together during the past few weeks," Banes told Tyler as he handed him the letter he had been holding.
Tyler took it, unfolding the letter and scanning through it. He shook his head, looking up. "She broke up with him?"
Banes nodded, "And apparently never wanted to see him again either. I've been through the pile, unless he's got another one hidden somewhere, I'm guessing that's the most recent one. That's the last letter Sally Gardener sent to Howard Jones."
"And it was sent just a few days ago. There would have been enough time for Howard to send another back."
Banes shook his head, "The last letter Howard sent was last week. I took note of the dates on the letters at Sally's house. Unless we're missing something, Sally was the last one to send a letter."
"But he did have time to send another before her death?"
Banes nodded, "They would have had enough time to send one more."

More silence. Tyler ran through the letter once more before walking over to the desk and placing it back on the pile. Banes left the room as Tyler went through the desk, finding nothing but paperwork for bills and grocery store receipts. His eyes scanned the surface of the desk, estimating 20 or maybe more letters all stacked up in the middle. These were everything. Their whole relationship spoken only in words. The couple who could only contact each other in poems and letters.

Banes grunted, breaking the silence. Tyler spun round to find his partner leaning against the doorframe. Hands stuffed in pockets, eyes facing the floor. Banes sniffed, pursing his lips together.
"You might want to come and look at this," He told Tyler without looking at him.
Tyler eyed Banes carefully before walking past him and into the next bedroom. He froze at the door, his hands knotting together in fists.
"Bloody hell," Tyler breathed.
Two Words. Other than that he was speechless. This was big. This just everything. This just brought Howard Jones down.
"Knew it," Banes muttered. "I knew this was our guy."
"Why did he just leave it out like this?" Tyler asked curiously. "Wouldn't he think to at least clean it or hide it away?"
Banes shrugged, "Who cares? We've got this bum now and he's got no chance of getting out of this one. He's gotta have one hell of a good alibi to be able to escape this, we've got him good now Jack."

The axe was standing head down against the wall. The blade was still crusted with brown blood and there was even some parts of Sally's insides clinging to the rusting metal. The handle was smeared with dirt and blood and various other things were encrusted onto the blade by the sticky flaking blood. Tiny shards of glass could be seen glinting off the blunt side of the head and blades of grass were also clinging to the blood stained sanguinary weapon.

Tyler shook his head, backing out of the room. It was too easy. They had him. He had no way out of this one, her intestines were even still on the weapon! Howard couldn't talk himself out of this one. But it all seemed a little too obvious. Why would he leave the murder weapon out and unclean in the open like this? Had he not got round to cleaning it yet or did he think of it as more of a trophy?
"It's just too obvious," Tyler muttered slowly before looking up at Banes. "I don't believe it."
Banes sighed, removing his hat before rubbing his eyes. "The DA doesn't care about what you believe Jack, they just want someone to put behind bars."
"What? So this is it then? You're saying Howard Jones is definitely our guy?" Tyler blurted, his voice rising slightly.
Banes placed his hat back on his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's good enough for me," He replied firmly.
"Good enough for you," Tyler repeated in disbelief. "Does it not bother you that we entered this house through a broken back door and just the right evidence to put Howard Jones behind bars just-so-happened to be sitting right here right where we can see it? If it is him, why hasn't he bothered to clean up the evidence or at least fix the back door? And why is the back door even kicked in to start with? Or is he just plain stupid?" Tyler shook his head, placing his hands on his hips.

There was a sudden silence between them as Tyler realized Banes hadn't yet answered him back. He looked up at the senior detective, studying Banes' face as Banes looked down at his own polished beige shoes. He looked up at Tyler, raising his wiry eyebrows.
"Are you done?" He asked and Tyler nodded without speaking.
Banes sighed, sliding his hands into his pockets before pacing about the room.
"I'm not blind," He began. "And I'm certainly not dumb, so stop treating me like I'm below you Jack."
Banes approached the window, slowly tracing his hand across the dusting windowsill.
"Of course I know Howard Jones couldn't have committed such a brutal crime. As risky as this crime may seem, it's still too plotted and planned to have been committed by someone who has never murdered another man before. Howard Jones works at a grocery store for God's sake, he didn't even have the guts to let go of his girlfriend when their relationship was at its worst. The boy can't handle his drink and is barely just getting a start on life." Banes paused, "He's the most unlikely killer. It's clear what has happened Jack, this bum is playing around with us. He's lead us on a false trail and he'll be long gone by now."

Tyler looked up from his feet, gritting his jaw. "Then why are we still assuming Howard is the killer?" Tyler asked, "It's clear he isn't so why don't we just bring him in, question him and then leave him alone?"
Banes groaned, rubbing his tired old eyes again. "You're not getting the point." He shook his head, sighing. "No, of course you wouldn't understand. This is your first homicide case. I'm sorry Jack, they shouldn't have put your first case on something as horrific as this, it's not usually as extreme as a case like this."
Tyler cocked his head to the side, stepping towards Banes. "What are you saying? That I'm not ready for this kind of case yet?" He asked curiously, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.
"I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying you're not understanding the point I'm trying to get across. We can't all be heroes Tyler, we don't always get our guy. But when it comes to this, we have to be able to assure the public that they are safe and we are doing our job. If they thought they were still in any danger, all hell would break loose."
Tyler frowned, "So, you're saying we put Howard behind bars... Even if he isn't the murderer?"
Banes groaned, "No, of course not. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that we take him in for questioning and, obviously, we'll have to put him behind bars if he doesn't have a good enough alibi and we can't find anything to get the evidence away from him." Banes sighed, "Honestly, if we can't find another lead then it definitely isn't looking good for young Howard."

Tyler pursed his lips together, clenching and unclenching his fists. "What about the real killer?" Tyler asked, "He'll be still out there."
Banes nodded, "And we keep an eye out for him." Banes sighed, "You don't often see the homicides as precise and as planned as this. They don't leave their mark unless they're planning to do it again and again. What's worse, this seems to be a first time thing for this guy, it looks like he hasn't done anything like this before. He's murdered before, yeah, but he hasn't done anything as brutal as this."
Tyler frowned, "Worse?" He asked. "How can that be worse?"
Banes nodded. "When a killer knows what he's doing and everything is plotted out, all we have to do is break through that plot and find the source. Once we do that, it's all over. But these type of inexperienced killers are the ones you have to look out for. Because they don't have a plan or a plot. This guy might change his style in the next killing for all we know. What seems like a habit of mutilating his victims may turn out to be an ordinary stabbing and then what will we link his killings with? If he doesn't have a plan then anything could happen. If all he does is randomly walk into a bar and pick the first drunk woman he sees, then we've got a problem because we can't predict what he wants. The unpredictable ones are always the most dangerous."

Silence. Once more there was silence between them as Tyler took all this in. He didn't know what to say. Banes, completely unpredictable himself, had turned out to be much more than a retiring has-been. He was much more behind that tired, old and withered face. A fresh and still fast thinking mind. Tyler could practically see the cogs turning inside his brain as the old man gazed out of the window, his frail hands still stroking the chipped wooden surface of the windowsill.
"Speaking of the devil," Banes muttered, turning away from the window.
Tyler's eyebrows creased as he walked over to the window, looking down onto the driveway to see a young man walking up the driveway with a grocery crate tucked under one muscled arm. Tyler recognized him instantly from the photos. Howard Jones.
"Let's get him," Banes said as Howard looked up at the window and caught sight of the two detectives before dropping his crate and running down the drive.