Scene 1: Nighttime on a busy city street

Detective

He’d been dead for almost a year, and it still felt like I’d just lost him yesterday. I saw his face everywhere I looked; from the glaring video screens that adorned every corner of the city, to the rippling multicolored reflections of the puddles in the gutters. My partner’s visage was ever present. It wasn’t my fault he was dead; I knew that. But I couldn’t get over the feeling that I had to make amends somehow. I had to at least find the bastard that took him out. The man with the tattoo of  mistletoe branches across his neck and chest. I’d been chasing him since the moment I saw the video of the coward gunning down my partner with a bullet to the back of the head. Snuck up on him and that was it. He never saw it coming. I’d been tipped off that this scumbag was working for the cage matches that were held in the old abandoned opera house. I’d been there once or twice before. Not in the ring, just as a spectator. It fascinated me that this place that was once a hub of luxury and culture was now home to only the most desperate parts of society. People who entered the cages were looking for parts. Metal parts. If you win the match, they’d take off your arm or your leg and replace it with the finest robotic prosthetics from the black market. Those who were lucky enough to receive a biological upgrade could then parlay their new found strength into better jobs. But those who lost… well, few ever made it out of the cage alive, and those who did didn’t stay that way for long. Like I said, desperate people.

(Sound: Entering the opera house, where a cage fight is under way)

Detective

(Shouting over the crowd)

Rolly! Hey Rolly! I’m looking for a man with a tattoo like the one in this picture. Have you seen him?

Rolly

Maybe, maybe not. Why are you looking for him?

Detective

He’s the asshole who killed Eddie.

Rolly

You know that for sure?

Detective

Saw the video with my own two eyes. So unless you know a second guy with this same tattoo, he’s the one who did it.

Rolly

Shit. I know Sid was getting into some bad stuff, but I didn’t think he’d go and do a thing like that.

Detective

Bad stuff? Worse than working in a place like this? 

Rolly

I don’t judge your life choices. I’d thank you not to judge ours.

Detective

So he has been working for you then?

Rolly

He has, but I ain’t seen him in a few days. 

Detective

Any idea where he could be?

Rolly

Look. If I tell you, what are you gonna do for me, hu?

Detective

I’ll continue to turn a blind eye to this illegal operation of yours. How about that? Unless you want me to talk to my buddies down at the precinct.

Rolly

Alright, alright. I was just messing with ya, come on now. Have a sense of humor.  

Detective

Where is Sid?

Rolly

The Butcher probably poached him from me. Wouldn’t be the first time she’s taken one of my guys.

Detective

The Butcher?

Rolly

Yeah. She takes care of the… casualties from the fights. Properly disposes of the parts our winners don’t need anymore and… gives a dignified send off to the ones who don’t win their matches.

Detective

How do I find The Butcher?

(Sound: A fight ending)

Rolly

Follow the winner of that fight. You’ll see where they all end up.

Detective

So I did. I followed along as they took the winner of the latest fight into a back room, where he was laid down on a steel table, given a shot of something to kill the pain, and had his left leg severed at the thigh and replaced with a shiny new hydraulic limb. The flesh leg was put into a bag and taken into the back alley, where it was thrown unceremoniously into the back of a truck, along with several other bags, presumably containing the limbs of other winners from that evening. It was the last fight of the night, so it wasn’t long before the driver closed up shop and got ready to take off. At the last minute, I hopped onto the tail of the truck and held on for dear life. 

(Sound: truck driving through alleyways)

Detective

When we finally stopped, it was in front of a warehouse by the peer. Typical. I dodged into an alley before the driver could see me, and then I watched as he went inside the warehouse, presumably so he could retrieve a dolly and load as many of those disgusting black bags onto it as possible. I just managed to slip inside the open warehouse door before he came back, ducking into a dark corner so I wouldn’t be noticed. But inside that place… well, there was no way to prepare me for what I was about to see. The air immediately felt thicker, and I had to stop myself from retching at the smell. Hung all around were arms and legs in various states of… controlled decay. That’s the only way I can describe it. When Rolly had said that the limbs were properly disposed of, this was not what I pictured. Once when I was a kid, I remember seeing this old movie about a boxer. There was a scene where the guy went into a sort of freezer and started using the carcass of an animal as a punching bag. The way that carcass had been hung up… that was how these limbs were hanging. I’d never seen so much flesh in one place before. Well… unalive flesh, I should say. In my horror, I backed up into a barrel, which made an odd sound. I looked into it and saw something shiny sitting on the top, but couldn’t quite make out what it was. I grabbed a scoop I saw sitting on a nearby shelf and reached into the barrel with it, trying to fish out the shiny object. As I brought the scoop into the meager light of the warehouse, I realized what the barrel contained, and I dropped everything in my hands out of shock.

(Sound: Teeth scattering on the floor)

Detective

Teeth. The whole thing was full of teeth. And right by my foot was a shining golden one. My heart skipped a beat. Eddie had a gold tooth just like it. I knew it couldn’t have been his, but for a moment… I reached down and picked it up, slipping it into the inner pocket of my coat. No reason to let a gold tooth go to waste, after all. From the back of the warehouse, I began to hear voices, and I observed the truck driver emerging from a brightly lit room. I waited for him to leave before I carefully headed over to see who he’d been talking to. Just inside the room was a woman with forearms thicker than a log, wielding the biggest cleaver I’d ever seen. In front of her was a wooden table that had been stained a dark and unsettling color. And on that table was more than just someone’s discarded arm or leg. It was a whole person. In a flash, I suddenly remembered what Rolly had said. “She takes care of the… casualties from the fights. Properly disposes of the parts our winners don’t need anymore and… gives a dignified send off to the ones who don’t win their matches.” This… is what they call a dignified send off? Being chopped up by a mad woman with a clever? Why on earth weren’t they just burning the remains? 

Butcher

(Singing to herself)

This little piggy went to market. (Chop) This little piggy stayed home. (Chop) This little piggy had roast beef (Chop) And this little piggy had none! (Chop)

Detective

Well, at least she seemed to be enjoying her work.

Butcher

(Speaking to the body)

I guess I’m the little piggy who had none, hu? (laugh) Cause I’ve never tasted roast beef. Never even seen it. Don’t know anybody who has. It’s all soy and corn now. I get a little sick of it sometimes, but eh. What are you gonna do, right? It’s not like I can afford meat, like them hoity toity rich people. I bet it’s not all it’s cracked up to be anyway. Meat. Who wants to eat animals, right? Seems barbaric. (Chop) Still, can’t help but wonder, right?  

Detective

I watched from the shadows as this woman put down her clever and took up a long curved knife from a block behind her, which she then used to start separating the flesh from the bones. I couldn’t watch this display any longer, so I bolted out of the warehouse and nearly puked up my guts right outside the door. But just then I heard another vehicle pulling up to the side entrance of the warehouse. The Butcher must have heard it too because she was out there to greet the driver in a flash. 

Butcher

Hey Harry! How’s your wife doing? Oh, that’s great buddy! I’m glad to hear it. They’re having another shindig up at the big house, hu? Yeah, let me go get the ones I’ve got prepared for you.

Detective

A few minutes later, she was hauling a palate of something that was tightly wrapped in plastic, which the driver loaded into the back of his van. 

Butcher

Come inside for a minute, Harry. I have something special for you to take home to your wife. No, no, don’t thank me. It’s just a little gift from me to you. Come on, I’ll show you.

Detective

They’d left the door to the van just barely open, and without thinking it through, I dodged into the back and laid down flat next to the palette, closing the door behind me. I know it was stupid, but I needed to see where this stuff was going. 

Butcher

Alright, you have a good night now, Harry, alright? Give your wife my best!

(Sound: driver getting into the van, stating it up, and driving away)

Detective

As I laid there in the back of the van, trying not to breathe too loudly, all I could think about was Eddie’s gold tooth, shining from the left side of his crooked smile, and I reached into my pocket and felt around for the tooth I’d taken from the warehouse. I wondered what the hell I was even doing any more. Wasn’t I supposed to be chasing the man with the tattoo? Why had I decided to jump into the back of this van? Curiosity killed the cat, they say, and I was definitely risking several of my nine lives at that moment. Eventually, the van seemed to be climbing a long uphill driveway. I prepared myself to make a quick exit as soon as the vehicle stopped. Lucky for me, there didn’t seem to be a lot of light around, so I was able to jump behind some kind of shack before the driver saw me. Where the hell had he taken me? We definitely weren’t in the city any more. I looked up and saw behind me the looming facade of a huge gleaming mansion, golden light bursting from every window. The driver didn’t immediately come to the back of the van and instead knocked on a door at the side of the house and was let in straight away. The door was left ajar, presumably so that the driver could return and empty his cargo from the back of the van, so I tested my luck once more and slipped inside the house. I emerged into some kind of pantry, which was stocked to the brim with dry goods. One way led into what looked to be a gigantic kitchen and another led to a narrow staircase. I heard voices coming from the kitchen and decided the stairs were the way to go. After a short climb, I emerged into a long hallway, tiled in sparkling marble. Flickering candle flames waved at me from their golden sconces on the walls and highlighted the faded faces of several portraits that had been hung between them. Without even thinking about it, I started walking down the hall, as though I’d been hypnotized. I started to hear music, and then laughter, and then the clinking of utensils on plates. I don’t know why, but for the first time that night, I didn’t feel afraid. I just followed the sounds until I got to the end of the hallway.

(Sound: A lively dinner party)

Candace

I thought about attending the tennis match on Sunday, but the last one was so dreadfully boring. 

Pippi

It was, wasn’t it? So painfully dull. I’d much rather spend the day at the races. 

Candace

Yes! Oh, the races are such fun! The last time we went, the chap who won broke his ankle on the final turn and still managed to limp across the finish line. Such a pity they weren’t able to find runners who were in better shape to put against him. Even I could have beat a fellow with a broken ankle, for goodness sake!

Pippi

People are just so lazy these days, aren’t they? (noticing The Detective) Oh! Candace, darling, we’ve got another guest!

Candace

So we do, Pippi dear! Detective, please, do come in! We’ve been expecting you.

Detective

Two well dressed women, identical except that one was blond and one was a redhead, got up from the table and approached me with open arms, much to my surprise. I started to back away out of instinct. 

Pippi

It’s alright, detective. We’ve saved you a seat! Just there beside me.

Detective

Who are you people?

Candace

Well, my name is Candace, and this is my sister, Pippi. You’re most welcome here, don’t worry. This is my home. We were just enjoying a lovely dinner with some of our closest friends. 

Detective

I knew what I was about to see, yet somehow, I was still unprepared. The long banquet table around which everyone sat was laden with dish after dish of glistening roasted meats. There was no question in my mind where the meat had come from, and the horror must have shown on my face. 

Pippi

Don’t worry, we’ll let you have some. All you can eat, in fact!

Detective

I don’t want it.

Candace

Oh, I think there’s one dish in particular you might be interested in. Your chum, Rolly, let us know earlier this evening that you might eventually find your way here. 

Detective

Rolly… Rolly knows? About… this?

Pippi

Of course, dear! We employ him to provide us with all of this sumptuous nosh!

Detective

How… how can you…?

Candace

Well, you know very well how damnably scarce meat is these days. And if people are prepared to simply discard their body parts, well… waste not want not, yes?

Pippi

We really do enjoy hosting these little get togethers, and we’d hate to have them interrupted, detective. So we thought that maybe if we could provide you with a good meal that perhaps you’d see things our way. 

Detective

No! No, I’m not eating… that! 

Detective

And then I saw it. A torso in the middle of the table that looked to have been roasted whole. And emblazoned across the chest… a tattoo of mistletoe branches. 

Candace

We saved that one just for you, detective. 

Detective

I reached into my pocket and felt the old tooth. This is what I wanted, wasn’t it? Justice for Eddie? Had justice not been served?

Pippi

Come now, you really must try some. The man was beaten rather badly in his last fight, we’re told, and that tends to have a wonderful tenderizing effect on the flesh.

Detective

You could have at least lied to me. Told me it was something else, and I would have gladly accepted the lie. 

Candace

Oh no, detective. It’s much better if you know the truth. Trust me.

Detective

I stared for a good long while at those mistletoe branches. Mistletoe is supposed to ward off evil, they say. Well, didn’t seem to have worked for that poor bastard. Maybe because he was evil himself. And if there was anything to take comfort in that moment, it was the thought that maybe evil people do get what they deserve in the end. Without another thought, I turned and smiled at Candance and Pippi, then took my seat at the table.