“Good lord, how am I going to get a good lead when all I ever get are dead ends..?!” cried Paige Lavinia, who pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, sweeping the rest of the items occupying her desk to descend on the floor. It was the dead of night, and only the skies above bore witness to what seemed to be a fruitless endeavor for a case. Looking down were stacks upon stacks of manila folders containing images of dismembered bodies that each resembled some body part of a Giraffe in some way, whether it be the spots, or the tufted tails, but one thing all victims who met the same fate of these unfortunate events - They all had been surgically altered in some way, with the ossicones of a giraffe all drilled bloodily in the forehead, in in the name of resembling a Giraffe, deeply disturbing Paige to her core in her years of being a cop.

Staring back at her wall with pins and tacks holding each trail of newspaper clippings and images in place with red strings connecting one piece of evidence to another, Paige breathed out a sigh as she traced over the outline of her police badge. She had been on this cold case for years, determined to get to the bottom of this specific case, the one known ominously throughout her town as the Giraffe Killer. Paige felt a sense of duty, an urgency to unmask who was behind this monstrosity of cases wreaking havoc upon innocents in their wake. Eyebags had left her typically energetic eyes full of life sunken inside with exhaustion, taking a swig of her 5th coffee for the night in a row. 

To anyone else, they would’ve thrown in the towel, but Paige had a bone to pick with someone, something to prove. In her mind, she needed to clear this cold case to prove she was better than the star in her office, the golden girl: Zacharina Leto, the ultimate bane of her existence, who she perceived as better than her in every way, making her grit her teeth in frustration. She felt her vision get cloudy and blurry, realizing that her body was failing on her, and so, she begrudgingly rested her head against her arm, slumping over her desk. And so, Paige allowed herself to bask in the welcoming embrace of sleep, exhaustion completely encompassing her body. It wasn’t until another officer knocked on her office door and silently entered, gazing at her with pitying eyes and throwing over a makeshift blanket over her as she slept, dead to the world, until the setting sun peeked through her window and would come to a shocking surprise. 

José Zaray, the police chief in her station, sighed in annoyance as he entered her office. Glancing around, Zarary noted how detailed and utterly encompassing her apparent obsession had run with solving this case, making him gaze at Lavinia with eyes swimming in pity and annoyance. He then walked right up to her desk and decided to drop a heavy stack of paperwork and a big box that had to be filed and signed away on her desk, the loud thud rousing Lavinia from her deep slumber. 

“Morning, Lavinia! Did you have a good night’s rest? Good, cause you’ll need it, especially since you have three days to crack this case, or you can say goodbye to the badge.” Jose stated sternly, gaze boring deep into her eyes, provoking Lavinia to gulp nervously. Lavinia grimaced as she quickly went to fix her messed up hair and the drool that dribbled down her chin, indicative of her previously sleeping state earlier. 

Lavinia nodded, swallowing a harsh lump in her throat before clenching her jaw, careful not to irritate her superior further than already provoked. As if the badge before her was going to disappear once out of sight, she retraced the outline of it before darting her gaze up to her superior again. 

Paige then returned the stern gaze of her superior, sternly asserting, “I swear, sir, I’ll get it done. You have my word. This town won’t have to know what it’s like to let the Giraffe Killer roam free, rest assured.” This response pleased Zaray, and he nodded, curtly leaving her office, closing the door behind him, but before he did, Paige stole a glance at the girl to who she had spent her entire career as an officer comparing herself in terms of her abilities. Still, reassurance quickly soothed over her as her gaze fell on the picture frames depicting her very first day as a rookie cop, young and proud to finally make her dreams come true, holding up the badge that served as the pinnacle of the determination and resilience within her. She briefly got up to her desk with self-assurance and decisiveness suddenly surging throughout her body. She ripped off the newspaper clipping that covered the latest location of the Giraffe Killer, thumbing over it before an idea grabbed hold of her brain at that moment; grabbing the keys of her car, making sure to pocket her gun and badge as she set off, and drove to the last location as described in the clipping.