From Dead to Worse

their inability to discover anyone who saw any of the missing people after ten o’clock on Wednesday night.
    “We can’t find anything they had in common,” said Detective Willie Cromwell.
    Among the missing is a Shreveport police detective, Cal Myers; Amanda Whatley, owner of a bar in the central Shreveport area; Patrick Furnan, owner of the local Harley-Davidson dealership, and his wife, Libby; Christine Larrabee, widow of John Larrabee, retired school superintendent; and Julio Martinez, an airman from Barksdale Air Force Base. Neighbors of the Furnans say they hadn’t seen Libby Furnan for a day prior to Patrick Furnan’s disappearance, and Christine Larrabee’s cousin says she had not been able to contact Larrabee by phone for three days, so police speculate that the two women may have met with foul play prior to the disappearance of the others.
    The disappearance of Detective Cal Myers has the force on edge. His partner, Detective Mike Loughlin, said, “Myers was one of the newly promoted detectives, and we hadn’t had time to get to know each other well. I have no idea what could have happened to him.” Myers, 29, had been with the Shreveport force for seven years. He was not married.
    “If they are all dead, you would think at least one body would have turned up by now,” Detective Cromwell said yesterday. “We have searched all their residences and businesses for clues, and so far we have come up with nothing.”
    To add to the mystery, on Monday another Shreveport area resident was murdered. Maria-Star Cooper, photographer’s assistant, was slain in her apartment on Highway 3. “The apartment was like a butcher shop,” said Cooper’s landlord, among the first on the scene. No suspects have been reported in the slaying. “Everyone loved Maria-Star,” said her mother, Anita Cooper. “She was so talented and pretty.”
    Police do not yet know if Cooper’s death is related to the disappearances.
    In other news, Don Dominica, owner of Don’s RV Park, reported the absence of the owners of three RVs parked on his property for a week. “I’m not sure how many people were in each trailer,” he said. “They all arrived together and rented the spaces for a month. The name on the rental is Priscilla Hebert. I think at least six people were in each RV. They all seemed pretty normal to me.”
    Asked if all their belongings were still in place, Dominica replied, “I don’t know; I haven’t been checking. I ain’t got time for that. But I haven’t seen hide nor hair of them for days.”
    Other residents of the RV park had not met the new-comers. “They kept to themselves,” said a neighbor.
    Police Chief Parfit Graham said, “I’m sure we’ll solve these crimes. The right piece of information will surface. In the meantime, if anyone has knowledge of the whereabouts of any of these people, call the Tipster Hotline.”
    I considered it. I imagined the phone call. “All of these people died as a result of the werewolf war,” I would say. “They were all Weres, and a displaced and hungry pack from south Louisiana decided the dissension in the ranks in Shreveport created an opening for them.”
    I didn’t think I’d get much of a hearing.
    “So they haven’t found the site yet,” Sam said very quietly.
    “I guess that really was a good place for the meeting.”
    “Sooner or later, though...”
    “Yeah. I wonder what’s left?”
    “Alcide’s crew’s had plenty of time now,” Sam said. “So, not much. They probably burned the bodies somewhere out in the sticks. Or buried them on someone’s land.”
    I shuddered. Thank God I hadn’t had to be part of that; and at least I really didn’t know where the bodies were buried. After checking my tables and serving some more drinks, I went back to the paper and flipped it open to the obituaries. Reading down the column headed “State Deaths,” I got an awful shock.
    SOPHIE-ANNE LECLERQ, prominent businesswoman, residing in Baton Rouge since Katrina, died of Sino-AIDS in her home. Leclerq, a vampire, had extensive holdings in New Orleans and in many places in the state. Sources close to Leclerq say she had lived in Louisiana for a hundred years or more.
    I’d never seen an obituary for a vampire. This one was a complete fabrication. Sophie-Anne had not had Sino-AIDS, the only disease that could cross from humans to vampires. Sophie-Anne had probably had an acute attack of Mr. Stake. Sino-AIDS was dreaded among vampires, of course,