"... Forensic analysis of DNA samples and facial recognition systems reveal that the three husks of skin belonging to the face found last week near the Mariatorget in Stockholm, Sweden are what remains of three of the world's most notorious thieves. This trio was wanted for their most recent heist at the Haringe Castle where the stolen goods exceed a value of 180 million krona, more than 21 million USD. This morbid crime may be in relation to the three mummified corpses missing their faces found near Thorildspan Subway Station earlier this year..."
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| Thorildspan Station, Stockholm, Sweden |
She turns off the TV and the attractive news woman slowly fades to black. Twenty years on the force and hundreds of investigations, she had never been this dumbfounded by a case before. Earlier in the week she had received an anonymous call on her landline from a man with a very shrill voice, telling her to investigate a Dr. Zetterlund, a plastic surgeon that specializes in skin grafting. Could it be a coincidence, or what if her contact was right? The bodies of the thieves were never found... and the three faces of the mummified corpses are also missing.
She shook her head and surveyed the mess of her apartment, case files covered the walls and old fast food containers covered the floor. The only light in the room was a small LED lamp that caused the wisps of smoke that filled the room look as if they were dancing. "I really need to clean up and kick this habit," she thought aloud. She had quit smoking for a while, but ever since being promoted to detective, she'd go through at least a pack a day whenever she was stressed about a case. She closed her eyes and thought reviewed the details pertaining to the case.
Startled awake by a high pitched ringing from her landline, she groggily stumbling through her apartment, stepping on a pizza in the process. She snatches the phone off the hook and places it to her ear. "Turn on the TV." It was the same shrill voice as her mystery caller.
"... This just in! Police confirm two dead and thousands of krona stolen from a local convenient store. Security cameras reveal a trio of thieves with faces wrapped in gauze holding the owners of the shop at gun point demanding money before shooting them and fleeing the crime scene..."
This was all the motivation she needed to pursue her contact's lead. Shaking with excitement, she leaves her apartment and jumps into her car racing to Dr. Zetterlund's office which coincidently is in Mariatorget square not far from where the husks were found. Entering Dr. Zetterlund's office she is greeted by a man with tight, flawless skin, a shrill voice and an understanding twinkle in his eyes. "I've cleared her schedule just for you, right this way..."
"... In a rather peculiar turn of events, the three thieves thought dead were actually hiding in plain sight thanks to the work of plastic surgeon Dr. Zetterlund. She is a mistress of the thieves and willing performed face transplants to help conceal their identities. She will be found guilty along with the thieves for manslaughter, grand theft, and larceny. We can rest easy tonight knowing our valuables are safe thanks to a detective who wishes to remain unnamed..."
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Author's Note: This story based of two stories, the first is a chapter from the Twenty-Two Goblins book translated by Ryder. In this chapter, a woman's husband and brother commit suicide by cutting off their heads inside a temple. Grieving the wife and sister prays to the deity to return them to life, she is given the chance to do so by putting their heads back onto their bodies, only she mistakenly puts the heads on the wrong body. The other book that this story is based of is called The Crow Girl by Erik Axl Sund, the idea for mummified corpses, names, and locations all come from this book. I also tried to mimic the writing style of this book.
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| Cover of The Crow Girl. I recommend checking out the trailer associated with this novel. |
Bibliography:
"The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother" Twenty-Two Goblins. Trans. Arthur Ryder
"The Crow Girl" Erik Axl Sund
Alec,
ReplyDeleteMy little sister actually just read The Crow Girl, so I was somewhat familiar with the book before I began reading your story. Twenty-Two Goblins, however, was new to me. You certainly chose two dark pieces of writing as your inspiration this week. I enjoyed reading your story, and I look forward to reading more of your work.
Andrew
Alec,
ReplyDeleteHaha, I'm sitting here imagining how I'd react if someone with a face wrapped in gauze tried to rob me. Is it gauze from the face transplant surgery, or "gauze" because the faces were from mummies? Either way, that's pretty terrifying. I like that this story was brief but descriptive; I was excited to see where it would go! Keep up the good work.
Your writing makes it seem like I’m watching a movie more than just reading. Your descriptions really work well and the story seems like it could actually be what she was thinking. Also I love your use of dialog. It makes the characters so much more realistic. I can’t imagine being that eager to die that I’d try to chop off my own head. It was really interesting that the evil mastermind was a plastic surgeon.
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