The air inside the town hall's conference room was thick—not from the rich coffee or the scent of expensive leather chairs—but from the mounting pressure that clung to every word spoken and every unspoken fear hanging in the air.
Mayor Ronald Myers sat at the head of the long mahogany table, his face a mask of calm that only barely concealed the storm in his chest. He had barely slept the night before, and now the weight of another bloodstained report rested in the manila folder before him.
The town's chief of police, Detective Harrold, adjusted his tie awkwardly as he stood, laying out the latest findings.
"The first victim was found just off the East trail, not far from the back lot behind Heldale High and happened to be a police officer around 8:48pm." He paused. " The second victims were two youngsters found near the town's old mill bridge. Same pattern as the others: no witnesses, slit throats, and no clear motive. It's like the murderer strikes with surgical precision and disappears into the shadows."
Murmurs spread across the room. Councilwoman Rayden clenched her jaw. "This is the seventh one in the last six months—and worst of all, around festival periods. Are we dealing with some kind of ritualistic killer or a lunatic who loves a crowd?"
Detective Harrold glanced at his partner before responding. "We don't have evidence suggesting it's ritualistic yet. But yes—the killer is active when the town's attention is elsewhere. It's always when the streets are flooded, distractions high, and identities are harder to track."
Mayor Ronald leaned forward. His voice was steady, but cold. "And yet, you've brought me nothing concrete."
Everyone fell quiet.
He looked up from the table, his steely eyes cutting across the room. "Do any of you know what it would do to this town's image if the people and outsiders knew a serial murderer has been haunting our streets?"
Councilman Ridge cleared his throat nervously. "We've tried to keep it curb the incidents Mayor… but it's really getting out of hand."
"They always do but that is why you're here and that is why you were assigned your jobs in the first place," Ronald replied harshly .
He turned to Harrold. "I want officers deployed near the town center for the rest of this week. I want curfews enforced subtly for everyone, and I want every damn alleyway from west quarter to eastern lot patrolled from dusk."
Harrold nodded. "Understood."
He looked each official in the eye. "If another dead body shows up again under my watch—during this administration—make sure you leave no traces or residues of the incident."
A grave silence settled in the room. The meeting ended not with a gavel, but with the suffocating awareness that Heldale wasn't safe anymore, and someone perhaps also living in the town was behind all this.