Kanchana Sutharshan

EWC4U
Mrs. Sobiera
December 13th 2015

Sutharshan 1

Ryler Falls

The rain against the window echoed through my motel room. The street light on the
adjacent street illuminating each droplet, thunder vibrating my bones from miles
away. I could hardly hear the buzz of the T.V. and I turned my head just in time to
read the headline flashing across the bottom of the screen. 5 murders occur across
Ryler Falls, police continue to investigate, was written across in jet black letters, I
couldnt believe I got dragged into this mess, after the murders went unsolved for
months, they called me in a detective from hours away. The thing about this
stereotype of a town was that it was overflowing with deadbeat cops, I was
surprised it could function. But even with me and three other out of town cops on
the case, it still went unsolved. I had been jumping from motel to motel, visiting
crime scene after crime scene, but nothing. The killer left no trace, I dont think
there was a single person in this town I hadnt questioned. I didnt know if we were
looking in the wrong places, or if we were looking for a ghost. We had no leads, all
we had was the bodies piled up in the morgue. After my chief made me relocate, I
was assigned a partner, John. He was a mellow, unmotivated rookie cop. Eventually,
that night I hoped that the buzz of the T.V would put me to sleep.
The next morning I awoke to the uproar of a vacuum in the room in front of me.
Almost simultaneously my phone buzzed on the nightstand next to me, and I picked
it up to read a text with half my eye open. It was John, informing me to meet him at
an address with no other context. I got up and got ready, for another day in cop
hell.

Sutharshan 3
As I followed the GPS, towards the crime scene, the acres of forest suddenly
stopped as I pulled up to a rotting yellow sign that said Ryler Falls. The town was
just over a deep hill and all I could see were a few low rise buildings, and rows of
houses. I had to drive twenty minutes out of town for a place to sleep. I kept driving,
and it felt like hours before I reached the centre of the town. The old broken down
buildings vibrant in history, I felt thirty years older just being here. People were
afraid to even leave their homes, so there were hardly any people in sight. The rows
of trees were browning and dead, and the quiet was almost too loud. The amount of
tragedy this town experienced was unimaginable, and it created a dark aura, even
though the sun shone bright.
I pulled up to the crime scene, news vehicles lined up, all reading a different
station. As I walked up, I heard snippets of conversations. Apparently her name was
Beverley Delgado, she was only 18. I eventually reached John, leaning against him
car, near the crime scene flipping through some papers. I asked you to be here
three hours ago, Lacy. He said sternly. I ripped my eyes away from the still body
that laid underneath the blanket surrounded by cops. Do you know what
happened? I asked ignoring his statement. pushed my way past the local cops, and
reached OCallaghan. What happened? A local walking her dog found her, shes
been here for at last 3 days, and we think its him. I looked him in the eyes and I
knew what would happen next. I would inform the victims family, take the body to
the morgue, and I would return to my two-star hotel room. It was practically
clockwork.
After the body was delivered to the morgue, and I questioned every person in a 2
mile radius, I headed back to the hotel. We had come up with nothing. Again. I sat
on my bed, my eyes red and burning from reading case files. I examined every

Sutharshan 3
murder case that had ever occurred in Ryler Falls, hoping to find some sort of
connection. Apparently there had been two serial killers, in the last century. I kept
reading the gruesome files over and over again, but one of the files caught my eye.
It was from 1980, and it was called The Fields Fire. A clique of teenagers set a house
on fire claiming it was a joke that got out of hand, and killed a family of five. They
pleaded in front of court and never got sentenced. As I started reading the names of
the group, suddenly something clicked. The five victims were all children of the
group that started the fire. As I was about to call John, I saw I had a text from Olivia,
the corner, telling me to get the morgue immediately.
What do you have for me, Liv? I said walking in to the morgue. The steel encased
room was lit by a single green light that flooded the room. Olivia sat in front of the
body, the glasses perched on her nose threatening to fall. You know Beverley put
up a fight and there were skin fragments underneath her fingernails. She said her
voice quiet, avoiding my eyes. My heart dropped. After weeks on this case, the
murderer never left a trace behind. After studying traffic cams and surveillance
tapes at every crime scene, we got nothing. It was as if he wiped his existence, as if
he was invisible. It felt too good to be true. Did you run the DNA?
Yes. She said her voice breaking.
Its Timothy Fields.
Who? I asked.
See thats where it doesnt make sense, you know unless our victim is a grave
robber which doesnt make sense because her clothes were clean, they were
couture, who goes grave digging in couture

Sutharshan 2
OLIVIA!
Hes dead Lace. He died in the Fields fire. It was thirty years ago, hes underground
theres no way-
Suddenly I felt as if my brain shut down, and everything I once believed was fading.
No. I said.
But see thats the thing, his body was burned beyond recognition, so I had to
search for pictures, I had to really search for pictures of this guy. She passed her
laptop to me. And, I was staring at a picture of John, 30 years ago, the same age.
This cant
Ladies, ladies. Lets not speculate. Said John behind me. Olivia let out a blood
curdling scream, and before I could unholster my gun, I