Evelyn West

Chapter Twenty

When Mitchel needs to find out some information about a particular person, whether victim, suspect or witness who had a car, he always turns to this DETRAN acquaintance for that information... of course, if he gives him a "little gift", like money. But this time, he had no "little gift". Detective Sánchez was with him and showed his badge. The DETRAN employee was forced to locate the owner of the car, took it and gave him everything he needed, kind of begrudgingly. Mitchel only saw him give him a hostile look, as if to say that if there is a next time, he will have to give him his "little gift" in double.

_ Great, we have the guy's data... Gregório Mendes, IML employee. It's a big coincidence, isn't it? _ Mitchel commented when he saw that the guy he saw this morning works at the morgue.

_ But that does not mean that he is an accomplice of Dr. Evelyn. _ Said the detective Sánchez still in doubt.

_ If not for him, he must know who he is... otherwise he wouldn't have done what he did with his girlfriend.

**********

They went back to IML. It was still full, but not as full as yesterday, so maybe this time it would be easier to get inside. And in the midst of that crowd, they overheard a conversation between some people waiting for news and the release of the bodies.

_ Still not found?

_ No ... none of those bodies is hers.

_ Maybe she was taken to another hospital...

_ But we already called almost all the hospitals and no Natalia Santos entered them!

_ She may have survived...

She _ she survived and didn't come into contact with any of us why?

_ And if she survived, she must be very injured. Did you see the state of the car? It was totally destroyed. And she can't have gone very far...

Does _ Greg know something? Doesn't he work here?

_ All that's missing is that bastard have done something with her...

Among the dead and wounded was one missing. Yesterday a girl arrived unconscious carried by someone and this morning she was walking with him. Mitchel was pretty sure she was the same person they were talking about. He went to talk to the group, which must have been the girl's family. Meanwhile, Detective Sánchez went to see if he could talk to the undertakers.

_ Hi, good afternoon, sorry, but I didn't want to hear the conversation... it's about a relative of yours who has disappeared.

To be on the safe side, he didn't count the scenes he saw yesterday and today, so as not to cause panic.

Everyone there looked at him suspiciously. In an attempt to gain the trust of the girl's family, Mitchel introduced himself, explained the situation, and offered to help find her. Realizing they didn't have much choice, a young woman with reddish-blond hair introduced herself while Julia spoke for the family.

_ Natalia is my younger sister. She lives in another city and came to spend the weekend with us. And unfortunately there was that horrible accident on the highway. But the worst thing is that she disappeared.

_ How did she disappear? Mitchel asked starting to put the pieces of that puzzle together.

_ The last time I spoke to her, she said that she was on the highway and that the traffic was very intense. That's why it took her so long to get home. Right after we heard about the accident, I called her to see if everything was okay and she didn't answer. We've called almost every hospital we know... and no sign of her. Thinking the worst and we came here, but she's not here either. Now I ask you, where is my sister? If she's alive, why hasn't she gone to any of us yet?

A short horror movie began to roll in Mitchel's mind. Natalia died in the highway accident and this Greg, who works at the morgue, went to do his job, which is to collect the bodies. He saw the dead girl, snatched her body, brought it here and as there was a lot of turmoil at the time, no one must have seen him enter...

And, of course, with the help of Doctor Re-Animator, he revived her. But why would he do that? He wouldn't have all that work unless...

_ His sister had a boyfriend? _ I asked to be sure.

_ Some time ago she dated Gregório, but she called him Greg and works here at IML. It was an abusive relationship, he was very jealous, he was constantly controlling her steps and sabotaging her. No longer able to stand that toxic relationship, she broke up with him.

_ Let me guess, this Greg never accepted the separation?

_ Exactly, she needed to change city to escape him.

He deciphered the riddle. There was an accident on the highway and Greg went to work. When he saw that among the dead was his ex-girlfriend, he took the opportunity to kidnap the poor girl, revived her to finally have her all to himself.

And, of course, for him to accomplish such a feat, he really must be Dr. Evelyn's accomplice. Maybe she was the one who applied the reagent to the corpse.

Suddenly he saw Detective Sánchez leaving IML. She asked Julia's permission and went to talk to him. She hoped he had some news. But from the way the expression on his face looked, he didn't get the information they needed.

_ In fact, our friend Greg works right here as a gravedigger. The last time he was seen was in a highway accident. According to other officials, he simply disappeared, leaving his job. And today he didn't come to work.

And Mitchel already knew why he disappeared. He was hiding with his zombie girlfriend somewhere. Probably not in your house, which would be too obvious... But the most interesting part was when the detective told about Dr. West's visits to the scene.

_ I asked if anyone knew her and everyone denied it. Obviously they didn't know her by name, but when I asked about a pretty girl and described her beauty, most of them quickly remembered. And do you know what the best part is?

_ That Greg is your accomplice. I knew it!

_ In fact, it is not.

_ No?

For this fact, Mitchel did not expect. He was pretty sure Dr. Evelyn's accomplice was Greg, even more so after what he saw. It's probably someone Gregory knows or he knows the scientist herself...or maybe there are more people involved in this story.

_ If it's not him, who is it?

_ The employees have seen her a few times around here talking to Afonso Mendes, Greg's cousin. It was he who provided this service for him. And guess what, this guy fills his mouth to say that Dr. West is his girlfriend.

_ Poor thing ... but gossip aside, is he here?

_ No, for our misfortune, he is on vacation and will only return next month.

_ Damn it. The way is to go after this Greg and...

_ Wait, are you going after Greg? _ a voice behind Mitchel asked hopefully. It was Julia: _ Because I'm going too!

At the time, Mitchel didn't even know what to say, neither to Julia nor to Detective Sánchez. First of all, they introduced themselves and told about the missing sister, who is in Greg's hands. The journalist just motioned for the detective not to talk about what happened to his sister.

_ Sorry, but you won't be able to go with us...

_ What do you mean I can't go? It's my sister's life at stake! Who knows what that i***t is doing to her? So please let me go with you!

Unfortunately they knew what that demented man is doing to the poor girl... they even had a name for it, which they prefer not to think about...

As Julia returned to talk to her family, the two wondered how she would react when she found out what Greg had done to her sister. Of course you're going to freak out, and so will they. But since she was determined to go with them and there was no way to convince her to stay, they agreed not to say anything, at least for the time being.