An Eye for an Eye

They found Sadie Smith stuffed into the old dusty rug where Mack had left her lifeless body, not fine like her family had so diligently prayed. More sophisticated investigators may have taken care in preserving the foot prints in the thick dust coating the floor, but this was small town Iowa after all. Homicides were no more frequent than once a year. The conditions for murder were ripe for the reaping, whether by a clever cultivator or by an opportunistic psychotic, it didn't really matter. The facts were the facts, a girl of six was dead, left like a discarded doll in a deserted old house. An uncomfortable yet familiar routine would play out: Hearts would break for the family, vigils would be held, prayers would be said, time would pass, and he would watch it all unfold. The ending predictable from the beginning.