Chapter 2Our Dark Obsession

What?

A person?

But it looked exactly like a pig!

Even cut in half, how could a human torso be that… fat?

And the limbs… so thick and short, you couldn't make out fingers or toes. How could that possibly be human?

But Jake, despite his lack of street experience, had a reputation from his training. Supposedly, he’d impressed some big names in forensics. His specialty was spotting human bone fragments mixed in with other remains, fast.

So, I didn't doubt his conclusion. I immediately radioed HQ. This just became a homicide investigation.

The slaughterhouse owner was now our prime suspect.

But he swore up and down the delivery came from a pig farm, same as always. He hadn't even looked closely; just moved them down the line.

This… victim… was the last one. It had struggled violently, refusing to cooperate, so they left it for the end.

Of course, it struggled. It wasn't a pig. It had a human brain. Why would it walk willingly onto the kill floor?

"The victim's tongue was cut out," Jake reported grimly, his eyes blazing with anger. "And the limbs… they were surgically altered. Excess parts removed to match pig proportions, then pig trotters were sewn on. As for the head…" Jake sighed heavily. "It's mostly filler material. Where they couldn't fill it, they grafted pig tissue, just like the limbs."

He paused, his voice trembling with rage. "And all of this… all of this was done while the victim was still alive."

Hearing that, I stared at the butchered remains on the floor. I couldn't even begin to imagine the agony someone would endure going through that while conscious.

My hands clenched into fists. I swore to myself I'd catch the monster responsible, and fast.

HQ sent a team out right away. Their reaction, when they learned the remains were human, was the same as mine: shock and disgust.

Back at the precinct, the Captain made this case top priority.

The Medical Examiner confirmed Jake's initial findings. The victim was female, approximately 25 years old.

In the prime of her life. How could something like this happen?

"Anyone report a missing person matching that description recently?"

The answer kept coming back negative.

Based on the slaughterhouse owner's statement, we focused on the delivery driver.

His name was Gary. His regular job was hauling pigs from the farm to the slaughterhouse. He'd been working with the owner for years, considered reliable.

"You think maybe the driver wanted to kill someone and used this method?" Jake frowned, looking over the initial report.

I stayed silent, not jumping to conclusions. I just told them to bring Gary in for questioning.

This case was full of holes. It felt like something too elaborate for one person to pull off alone.

Soon, Gary was brought in.

Facing me, he looked terrified.

"I don't know anything about that, Officer! Honest to God, I don't know!" Gary blurted out before I even asked a question, desperate to proclaim his innocence.

Jake, taking notes beside me, shot me a look. We both turned to Gary simultaneously. "How did you know it was a person," I asked quietly, "and not a pig?"