The chief inspector didn’t like the sound of it.
It was his case and he didn’t need any help from the top brass, especially the latest idea of bringing in some sort of seer. He wasn’t even sure that he knew what a seer was. When he looked it up on the quiet and found that it meant a person reputed to have special powers of divination and therefore the ability to see, he was incensed. They weren’t even talking about a profiler, but some sort of medium with a crystal ball no doubt. But if this thing came from the top, past experience told him that there was nothing he could do about it. In fact, he had to go carefully if he wanted to avoid trouble.
The police investigation had been going on for nearly a year. To date, five murders had taken place, all within a radius of six city blocks. The victims had all been middle-aged men, and all of them died as a result of being garrotted in their place of work late at night. Being dubbed the office killer by the press, there had been a lot of publicity. The lack of progress being made by the chief inspector and his specially formed task force was obviously the reason for this unusual directive. It would see such a person coming on board to provide assistance on the case. Reluctantly, he agreed to have an office available and made ready for their visitor.
Two days later the seer arrived. She turned out to be a small woman in her late sixties or more. She came dressed in a cloak covered with all manner of mystical signs. She must have turned up early, because well before any of the task force arrived she had set herself up in the empty office. She had blacked out the windows with heavy cloth, making the room quite dark. On the desk she put a large, very ornate crystal ball, with one or two candles burning beside it.
As people arrived she met them and introduced herself. They were all taken aback by her witch-like appearance. The CI was beside himself with rage and embarrassment but somehow managed to hide it. When all eight members of the task force had arrived she explained that she had found the empty office down the hall and had already moved in. She said she was now ready to assist, and in fact had already started on the case. She announced that she had already made some progress. She said she would share that with them, but first she wanted to invite them all to see her room before she told them what she had found out.
Obediently, they all trouped behind her down the long hallway with the CI leading them. They all crowded in and stood agog for a few moments in the candlelight when she closed the door. Nobody spoke. She switched the light on and the group all moved around a little, looking relieved. She explained that she had used her powers already and what she saw was the fact that the killer was going to strike again. At this, the group of officers all held their breath, saying nothing, as instructed by their boss. The CI had stressed that they should all hold their own council regarding their visitor, bearing in mind that the order had come down from command. The door opened and they all quietly filed out. Many of them were silently shaking their heads, including the chief.
They had only arrived back at their desks for a minute or two, when the shout came. “Sir, there’s been another one!”
The old lady opened her door and called up the hallway.
“See? I told you!”