A local officer in the town of Merrish by the name of Ben Carpenter was known for thinking outside the box, and even believed in the unatural or mystic ways even more so. Ben is a stalky man at about five feet nine inches and weighed a little over 180 lbs. For his size the man could cover some ground very quickly. He has brown eyes, red hair, and a bit of a baby face. For his build he was still very attractive, and had a very pleasant demeanor but always knew when it was time not to be nice. Some people said he was crazy for believing in such things. More than once these things helped him come to a realistic conclusion of why and how things happened in cases that he had solved.

Since Ben is not a detective it made it hard for him to be involved in most cases. Fprtinately a couple of detectives liked his methods and often referred to him for help. For Ben, the morning had started out normal, going out and getting his coffee and doughnuts. He then made his way to the station and carried on to his desk. He started working on some of his reports he had piled on his desk for the minor traffic stops and calls he had been on. His normal job as a patrol officer always took second fiddle anytime he got to help on a detective case. As Ben began to head to the parking lot to begin his patrols, his chief called him in to his office. Ben could not fathom why the chief would have the mayor in there to lecture him about paperwork, maybe he was getting fired. Ben now sat nervously in a chair in his chief's office. 

"Ben we know that you have been getting behind on your paperwork," the mayor began "We also know that it is because you are busy helping a selext few detectives with their cases." His chief then chimed in, "the actual detective load for this department has nearly doubled since I have been chief, but we are still only employing the same number of detectives. The mayor feels that we should hire a few more detectives." Now Ben was almost certain that he is getting a promotion when the mayor starts in again. "The problem is the fact that to do so we have to let go of some officers in order to hire detectives. The departments budget is nowhere near high enough to just hire some detectives off the street." 

  Ben's heart nearly sank when he heard that and assumed he was being fired for not keeping up with his case load, and that someone else would be getting the job he was gunning for. The mayor, after seeing the look on his face, stopped and asked, "What did I say? I figured you would be filled with joy at the fact you are getting this promotion." 

Ben's eyes enlarged, his heart stopped, and he paused and waited for the ha,ha got you or to wake up from this, as if it were a dream. A second later with his heart still in his throat he managed to say, "Ye-ye-yes s-sir... I-It's just at the beginning. I th-thought you were going to fire me." The chief looked over and shot him a glare and says in a not really impressed tone, "Yes, but you still have to pass a field test and you'll be on probation for at least your first assignment. Depending on how well you wrap the case up for the Distric Attorney." The mayor looks at Ben and says the one thing to put a smile on his face. "The case you are put on is your choice, but there must be a conviction and it must be an active case. To keep yourself from being demoted as terms of your probation you must solve the case with the evidence you collect." Ben stood up and thanked them for the opportunity. "I will finish my reports from patrol officer and then I will begin going through and start looking for an active case. Ben is then excused from the chief's office. 

He searched through the bog while being extra careful of where he stepped. He came upon a fox that looked as if the disease had just set in. The fox looked to be in pain. but had no yet started to decompose, Dan hoped that the pain of the creature would help keep it immobilized while he made his way back quickly to where he had left his ATV. He had to take the chance, So he picked up the fox carefully to try and avoid being attacked. He then mas his way quickly as he could back through the bog, with only incident. Where he almost became a victim to a sink hole but, only his shoe was lost.He finally made his way to his ATV. he loaded the fox into the bed of it. As set the fox down he noticed that the feet and tail of the creature had started decomposing. The pain the fox had been felling finally become unbearable and out of fear of more he lashed out and bit Dan. The fox's bite had not only broken skin, but had also left a few of the foxes teeth embedded in Dan's arm. Dan grabbed his arm in pain. He then quickly began pulling teeth out of his arm in agonizing pain. he then pulled a old rag from the back of his seat and wrapped his arm with it to help control the bleeding. He then pulled himself into the ATV , started it and made his way to the town of Merrish.  

      The night air was damp, the ground was soggy, from the rain that had just pasted, and the heat had finally set in. Scotland moors where no place to be in the summer, but Dan loves to be in the moor, he especially loved to be near the bogs of the moor and  to watch life as it should be. Not in the since of the butter fly is beautiful, but what he liked to watch is more the food chain and the practicality of the pecking order. The thing that was strange about today was the fact that there was a growing absence of life especially in the bogs of the moor. Plant and moss were dying right in front of in a matter of minutes. Animals that were alive and well the day before were now in great pain and decomposing.

       Dan was never one to be scared of abnormalities, but this one was just to bizarre to let go. He knew he would need to proof before anyone would believe him or even begin to investigate what he was seeing. That in its self posed a problem, for he wondered if the animals would attack if he tried to move them. or even worse what if what ever was going on was contagious, what if he had already caught whatever disease was causing this if so he would perish in the same manner as they were. This idea lit a fire in Dan which made him throw caution to the wind. He decide he needed to pick up a animal large enough that it wouldn't be dead before he made it to the? Well he wasn't sure were to take the animal but he would deal with that after he figured out what he was going to take.