Chapter 2 - THE ROOM WITH THE METAL TABLE
Three hours before Michael’s abduction, a man stood over a stainless-steel table in a hidden room.
Heavy cleaver.
Black gloves.
Methodical movement.
Chunks of raw meat.
No gore beyond butchered food.
He chopped each piece into uniform blocks.
A television beside him reported Hannah Cole’s disappearance.
“Another person vanished tonight.”
The man stopped.
Looked at the screen.
Then turned off the television.
He packed the meat into plastic containers.
Labeled them by date.
Not names.
Dates.
Later, investigators would assume the room belonged to a butcher.
It did not.
The meat came from a wholesale restaurant supplier.
Beef.
Pork.
Lamb.
Purchased in cash.
Why?
Scent contamination.
The kidnapper understood search dogs.
Understood how police processed vehicles.
Understood how quickly investigators formed a theory when they smelled what they expected to smell.
He used butchered meat to create:
blood-protein traces from animals,
strong organic odor,
false transport impressions.
Enough to complicate scent work.
Not enough to fool a laboratory forever.
He did not need forever.
He needed hours.
Time was his real weapon.
Then he checked his phone.
Message:
REED WILL BE WITH WALKER.
He replied:
GOOD.
Not Michael Reed alone.
Michael with Ryan.
May you like
That was important.
The kidnapping was designed to be witnessed.
