When I first saw the shadow that he had become, I didn’t know whether to pity or fear Agent MacLennan.  We arrived on the scene to find him raving about immortals and homicide, and had to forcibly remove him.  He was unhelpful at first, speaking in fragmented sentences, refusing to fully answer any direct questions in a manner as which could help us piece together what had happened.  Only after taking him back to the hotel, and immersing him into a formal debriefing did he begin to calm down, and explain the events of the previous days.

“Agent MacLennan, we know about the body in your hotel room, you explained that over the phone.  Why don’t you start at the beginning for us, it might help to give us a better picture of what’s happened here.”

He paused for a long period, as though he were unsure of something, chuckled under his breath, and let out a deep sigh.  “You’re not going to believe me.  I dno’t even know if I believe me… or what should be believed.”

“Why don’t you let us decide that, Lyle?”  I hoped that the lack of formality would help put him at ease.  It seemed to, and he sagged slightly in his chair, and began to talk.

“I dno’t know how much they’ve filled yo in on, so stop me anytime you like.”  He shifted slightly, lowered his eyes, and continued.  “Myself and agent Petersen were sent to investigate the likelihood of a possible serial homicide.  There’d been a similar case in Oregon a few months ago, and the details seemed to be important enough to send me.  I was excited of course, my first case back on the job, and thoughI was to be nothing more than an advisor to the local area jusridiction at first, I was detemined to prove that I was ready to be back on cases.

“Petersen was along to actually perform the examination of the body, as there were no local area professionals who felt qualified for the task, and I of course was fully prepared to investigat on my own, without the aid of the locals.

“I’ll summarize the details, since this is all in the paperwork…  The girl was Sarah Gilmore, found on the beach.  All that had been determined is that all the blood had been drained rom her body, none of it visible at the scene.  Petersen started in on the body, and after finding out less than nothing from the sheriff, I proceeded out to the boardwalk to investigate further.