The Truth in the Tale

"There have been many tales tainted by truth, twisted by time. Some choose to forget, yet it still weaves webs in their minds."~ The Hanging Tree

Chapter 1:

Detective Nick Burkhardt looked down at the scene. He had never seen anything so strange, and for him that was saying something. Ever since his Aunt Marie came to him right before her death to tell him that he descended from the Brothers Grimm, and that he had to hunt down fairytale creatures that had gone bad, he didn't think anything could shock him. It seemed he just lost that bet.

He looked up to catch his partner's eye. Detective Hank Griffin was already walking away looking shaken. Nick understood. This wasn't going to be an easy case to deal with. Not that any of them were, but some were worse than others.

The victim was a beautiful blonde woman, laid out as if asleep. Her face was serine. It betrayed no hint of suffering that she might have experienced before death. This alone would be horrible enough, but it was the rest of the scene that shoved it completely into the realm of the bizarre. She was dressed in a silver chainmail dress with a sword lying on top of her. It reminded Nick of those old tombs of medieval knights that he use to read about as a kid. A silver circlet fashioned to look like rose vines were wrapped around her head. Around her was a perfect circle that had been burnt into the ground.

Hank stood beside him, "This guy wanted us to find her. Why else would you light a circle of fire around your victim? Unfortunately he's good as well as bold. There are no tracks that leads to or from the body. It looks like the body just floated here. Also forensics can't find anything. The body is clean."

Nick frowned, "Seriously? Not even on the dress. What is it made of anyway?"

Hank answered, "Silver, or that's what one of the guys are saying. Seems the tech makes jewelry in his spare time."

Nick raised his eyebrows, "Really? I didn't know you could get a silver dress. How much do you think that would cost?"

Hank laughed, "More than the settlement from my last divorce. He also says that something like this would be a custom job. So, either we get really lucky and the perp ordered it, or we strike out because he's crafty."

Nick shakes his head, "Not really. If the killer made it, he would need a lot of silver to pull it off. We might be able to track that. If she ordered it, then we're fucked."

Hank asked, "So, are you getting any vibes off of this?"

Nick sighed, "Not this time. She's posed. That's obvious. The set up is what is important to the killer. I don't think the victim mattered. It could have been anyone. Other than that, I'm drawing a blank."

Hank nodded, "Well, that's more than we had a few minutes ago. Press is going to be all over this one."

Nick snorted, "What did you expect? The killer displayed her in the middle of the amphitheater at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I'm surprised we got here first."

Hank laughed, "Thank the fire for that. No one wants to chance being turned into barbeque. Everyone was nice enough to stay far away."

Nick asked, "You don't think that's why he did it? To preserve the scene. That would fit with the theory that the setup is what's important."

Hank said, "That doesn't help us, if we don't know what it means. And don't look at me, I sucked at history."

Nick shakes his head, "Granted, she does look medieval. Don't assume the perp is basing this off of history. For all we know, the killer could be obsessed with latest videogame craze."

Hank nodded, "That would be Skyrim. Sweet game. Graphics are mind blowing, and the dragon is….shutting up now."

Nick stared at him in shock, "I didn't know you were into that stuff."

Hank shrugged, "Well, some of us need something to do when we're off the clock. We all don't have lovely fiancés to go home to."

Nick asked, "So, is this like that game?"

Hank answered, "Can't really say. She does look like an elf though."

Nick sighed, "Well, I think that's it. Let's get back to the station and report to the captain. Hopefully Harper will have something for us after the autopsy."

Hank sighed, "Let the fun begin."

The meeting with Captain Renard went as well as they expected, which was painful, but short. The usual speech about how they needed to catch the killer quickly and what they knew about him, which was really jack shit. Nick and Hank arrived at the M.E.'s hoping for some kind of break.

Dr. Harper looked like a soccer mom that spent more of her time baking cookies than cutting up bodies. She also scared the crap out of every cop in the precinct, including Renard. She was also one of the best in her field. So, she could pull it off.

Before they could even greet her, she turned and said, "Well, you have someone who likes the classics."

Nick asked, "Classics?"

Harper opened one of the victim's eyelid and said, "See how the pupils are dilated. That is a good sign that her nervous system was affected. The other big clue was this in her stomach."

Nick and Hank looked to see a metal bowl filled with about thirty dark berries. Both looked back at her confused.

She smiled and said, "What you have here is Atropa belladonna."

Nick raised an eyebrow, "She ate Belladonna?"

She nodded, "Looks like. From the quantity I'd say enough to kill a large mammal."

Hank asked, "Why did you say it was a classic?"

Harper smirked, "Belladonna is also known as Deadly Nightshade. Rumored to be the poison of choice for royal wives and witches. I guess you boys don't read a lot of fairytales. Other than that all I can tell you is that our victim was cleaned and dolled up before she made her débuted."

Hank asked, "This guy bathed and put makeup on her AFTER he killed her? How can you tell?"

Harper answered, "I can tell the body was cleaned after death because the only evidence on her is from where she was placed. Her fingernail and even her ears are squeaky clean. The makeup because it's too perfect. I know you boys probably don't have a clue about applying makeup, but check out her lipstick and eyeliner. I don't care how steady your hand is. There is no way you could get those lines that straight putting it on yourself. It was put on for her."

Nick asked, "Could she have mistaken the belladonna for something else?"

She snorted, "Yeah, if she was in Europe. The plant doesn't grow wild in the States. People grow them for medicinal reason, but other than that you'd have a hard time stumbling upon it."

After that Harper didn't have anything. They went back to their desks and started on paperwork. They avoided eye contact. The silence hung heavy, but neither wanted to be the first to break it. So, Sergeant Wu did it for them.

He said, "So, I heard this one is pretty freaky."

Hank shrugged, "Well, we have a have a guy, who likes to kill people with a plant that witches use, dress them in silver dresses, and leave them out in public. Did I leave anything out?"

Nick pointed, "Umm you forgot about the ring of fire."

Hank sighed, "Ah yes. How could I forget that? Thanks Nick."

Nick grinned, "No problem. What are partners for? Wait? Harper said that the plant was used by witches in stories, right?"

Hank shrugged, "Technically, she said it was rumored, but I guess a rumor is just a story."

Nick rolled his eyes, "My point is the killer used something in stories as his weapon. Maybe how the victim was displayed is also based on stories."

Hank groaned, "Great. I guess we'd better start reading, unless either one of you know about women in silver dresses that hang out in rings of fire."

Sergeant Wu piped up, "I don't, but I know someone, who might."

Hank looked at him, "What? Dated a Folklorist or something?"

Sgt. Wu snorted, "No, but there was one that went to the same trivia night as me. Man, if she was on your team, it was guaranteed that you'd win. Unfortunately, the powers that be banned her."

Nick frowned, "How do you get banned from trivia night?"

Sgt. Wu sighed, "It seemed they thought she was too smart and that wasn't fair to everyone else. First time I'd ever heard that a person was cheating by being themselves. She knows some of the weirdest things. If there's a story like your set up, she'd know."

Nick nodded, "So, got a name to go with that information?"

He goes back to his desk, shuffling papers and comes back with a card. He hands it to Nick, "Her name is Rosaleen Deage. She's the professor of folklore at Pacific University-Oregon in Forest Grove. Just be careful what you ask her. Like I said she knows some weird stuff. I still cringe when I hear Thomas Granger or 1642."

Hank frowned, "Why?"

Sgt. Wu winced, "Let's just say the topic was the history of human sexuality and the subtopic was kinks. Any more than that, you get to look up yourself."

Hank nodded, "Ooookay…Well, let's see what Professor Deage has to say."