a present for the FBI. a cardboard box with a bloodstain the looks remarkably like the word Lucy. if tested, it would match the face from the bayou. inside, the gift. gloves... but not ordinary gloves. skin turned into gloves. the palm of the glove was the palm of a hand, the top of the glove was the back of the hand, it had a strip of skin between the back and front of the hand, probably to make it so another hand could slip down inside, thus making them gloves. they were perfectly clean.

if printed, they would come up Danny Ward, a man who moved a lot and had some minor run-ins with the law.

beneath the gloves, a letter. written identical to the one the Lucy Killer had sent in before.

"Sorry to have thrown you off, fuckers. It wasn't fair of me, was it? Of course not, you can't help but be stupid fucks. Bunch of fucking idiots, the whole lot. I've talked with Lucy and she agrees.

She also said she wants me to come home, so our game is going to have to take some time off. Have a good day, Claire."

-------------------------------------

*Her phone rang, and with a sigh, she lifted the handset.*

Yes?

~Ms. McKay. There's a package for you out front. You need to see this.~

*She could feel her stomach turn. What had the nutjob sent her now? She arrived out front and circled the box the agent pointed at. A cardboard box with blood calligraphy reading Lucy. Without saying another word, Claire put on her gloves, bent, and opened the box. It was another pair of gloves, these made of human flesh. Flesh that appeared almost leatherlike. There was a great deal of skill involved in making these, for they were no crude hand coverings. Were it not for their gruesome beginning, they would sell quite nicely. As she lifted the gloves, she noticed the letter.

It was obviously written by the same individual who wrote the first one. Placing everything back in the box, she thanked the agent, and took the box to Annie's lab.*

~Hey Claire. You don't usually come to see me, especially bringing gifts.~

It's not from me Annie, but the nutjob.

~Really? Lemme see.~ *Claire handed Annie the box, and began pacing. Annie let out a whistle as she extracted the gloves from the box.* ~These are nice. What are they--that's human skin isn't it? More precisely, human hands.~

Exactly, Annie. Now we need to know who the hands belonged to. *Annie nodded, taking careful prints from the tips of the gloves and scanning the image for the purposes of comparison. While the test ran, Annie read over the letter.* ~It's a gift for you Claire. If he didn't talk about Lucy and going home, I'd think he was trying to impress you. Course, he also calls you, me, and Tim all idiots, along with the rest of the FBI.~ *Claire had to chuckle, just a little bit.*

Just between you, me, and the spying devices, some FBI people are idiots. *Now, it was Annie's turn to laugh, but hers was full and rich. It wasn't often Claire broke into moments of levity, and Annie found them quite amusing. However, the moment was interrupted by a series of beeps.*

~The prints have been identified by a 10-point match to a Mr. Danny Ward.~

How can that be, Annie? Danny's the killer.

~Not according to this, Claire. Hmm...~ *Annie's hands flew over the keyboard repeatedly and it responded in trills of beeping. An hourglass spun, and stopped.* ~Shit!~ *Annie hung her head, shaking it sadly for a moment before looking at Claire.* ~The Lucy killer isn't Danny.~ *Pressing a few more keys, two images sat side-by-side on the screen.* ~On the left, we've got the video from that school in New Orleans. On the right, Danny Ward's mugshot. *A bright red bar featuring the word 'No Match' flashed on the screen.* ~They're not the same, they just look similar. Since the prints matched the face, I didn't run the supplemental tests. I should have, Claire.~ *Annie slammed her hand hard into her desk.*

It's all right, Annie. It was an honest mistake given how hard we've all been working. *Unfortunately, it meant that the BOLOs were probably useless, and there was no way of knowing where this Lucy killer was going to strike next, or who Lucy was.* I want you searching -all- the databases for information on who the guy in the school was. We -have- to find him. Military records, FBI, CIA, cops, teachers, Interpol, prison records, whatever it takes! *Annie nodded. She had connections that Claire didn't know about, shady, possibly illegal ones. If the information was out there, Annie would find it given enough time. It appeared that time was all they had right now.*

~I bet this guy's a goth. The whole blood fetish, the creepy vibe. The upside-down girl on a cross seems kinda satanic to me.~

What does the whole performance art aspect of the later crimes indicate?

~He's an attention-seeker. He wants people to know who he is, what he's done and why. It's all part of some plan, I just know it. Wanna piss him off, close the scenes. No reporter, no story. No story, no coverage. No coverage, and people go back to reading Marmaduke and the sports page. People only watch and read because it is so damn shocking.~

That's not a bad idea, Annie. May have to try that.

~Where's Tim?~

Trying to figure out who Lucy is. With all the information online, it's like searching for a needle in a haystack the size of the Grand Canyon, but I'm really out of ideas.

*Annie nodded.*

~*~Back~*~