Tucker

You burst in to the house, heart racing, this is your first case, and the perp is apparently still in the house.

You rush from room to room, accidentally returning to the same room from just before. You take a long blink to calm down, and you go upstairs, you see the perpetrator, they are standing over the dead body, they pull a blanket over the victim slowly and kiss them on the forehead even slower.

You scream at the top of your voice, hoping to stun the perpetrator with shock tactics.

Your voice goes a little hoarse, you now have the urge to cough but you fight it because you don't want to show weakness right now.

STEP AWAY HANDS UP, FACE DOWN ON THE FLOOR

Your heart thumps, you see them calmly comply, after too long of a pause you remember to tell them their rights and handcuff them.

You look over at the dead victim once more as you take the perpetrator out of the room, you see the dead body, all tucked up snug in that blanket, man don't they look comfy, so warm, not too tight, they can still wriggle around, but not too loose so the blanket flops around a lot.

Damn man, that's a good blanket job they just did.

You drive him back to the station, the perpetrator doesn't say a word.

You glance at them in the rear view mirror, their eyelids heavy, head resting against the window.

They cross their arms and lean back, in such a relaxed way, as if their entire being was a blanke- You shake your head and focus on the road

You get to the station and bring the perp to the reception.

You drift over to the vending machine as the other office takes their details.

You get a hot tea, put your hands around the cardboard cup holder and feel the warmth of the tea wake the nerves in your cold hands up. Reintroducing the blood squeezed out from clenching your weapon too hard.

The heat makes you close your eyelids, feeling the hot cover on your tired eyes.

You think of the dead victims eyelids, how hot and comfy must they be, they must be soft like butter.

You shake your head again, and walk back to the reception desk.

The officer has finished signing them in and takes them through into a cell.

The perp quietly follows him.

"You know who that is right?"

You turn and see your supervisor, eyebrows raised.

Who?

"That's the serial killer we've been after, I had no idea your disturbance call would be that one"

A chill runs through you, realising you were close to the serial killer who has managed to murder 12 people.

"I hear they call him the tucker"

Why's that?

"They tuck them in nice and snug after they kill them"

The chill somehow becomes warm, you feel 12 blankets over you all at once.

"The thing is, even though we booked him, he's probably getting out of here"

Why? I saw him at the scene with the victim.

"So what? You know what he's going to say in court right?"

I don't know what could he possibly sa-

Your radio suddenly bursts on

"Jesus watch the volume on that thing"

Your supervisor dumps their coffee cup in the bin and turns away.

You have a call for a drunk and disorderly in a Target car park and fumble with the volume so much you forget about the tucker.

You are at the court hearing, you finish your account to the judge.

The defendent's lawyer comes up to you slowly, deliberately, their suit was striped and very pyjama like.

"You say you saw him tuck the victim in"

Yes

"How would you say the victim was tucked in"

They tucked them in, I don't know how..

"Objection your honour, this has nothi-"

"Sorry but this is essential your honour and you will see why...."

"Sustained"

"Remember now, you are under oath, how did they tuck the victim in?"

Adequately

"Just adequately? How so?"

Properly, so that they were covered up unti halfway up their neck.

"Is that your definition of adequately"

You hesitate, you know it wasn't adequate, it was more than adequate, it was tender, safe, warm, soft, all those things and more...

"What is your definition of adequate?"

Covered so as to stay sufficently warm

"Ah! So warm... that my client gave the deceased warmth"

But they were dead

"They would have still had residual heat, and that blanket was tucked in such a way that the deceased was given warmth"

You start to feel like you are in a dream, what on earth was this lawyer saying, what could it possibly have anything to do with this murder, so what if it was warm, so what you spent every night in bed thinking of being tucked in like that, so what.

You make the mistake of looking over at the suspect, slouched and still, making the whole court seem like a fortress of premium memory foam

"I must end this line of questioning, that the suspect gave warmth to a dying corpse is entirely irrelevant, you have failed to show otherwise"

"Your honour, how could my client have murdered the deceased, if they tucked them in like that?"

"Okay you may continue..."

"Did my client do anything else?"

You think about the kiss on the forehead, but not on the central bony part, but just above the eyebrows, lips brushing gently against the upper hairs of your -their- eyebrow.

The suspect lowered their head over the suspect.

"And did what... What was the purpose"

For a kiss

"Right a kiss, and how was this kiss... Was it an adequate kiss like the tucking in was adequate officer?"

You narrow your eyes subtly at the barrister

It was a familiar kiss

"Familiar, why do you think they kissed the victim?"

"Objection your honour, the officer should not conject such a thing"

"Agreed, I think we can end that line of questioning here"

"Very well, but I make my point, how can they have murdered them if they gave them that much love? It goes against everything we know about criminal psycholo-"

You zone out of the exchange and look back at the suspect, you hold yourself and imagine the tucking, feeling them drag the blanket over you at just the right speed, tugging it apart just at the right time so it wraps around your shoulders and slides up against the sides of the bottom of your neck.

"Hello, hello, can you answer the question?"

The judge gently knocks on the side of the booth.

What was the question?

"What was the suspect's demeanour like towards the deceased?"

You stare blankly, you are lost, you can't remember anything clearly, it's all just one big endless bed.

I, I, think the suspect loved deeply and responsibly for the deceased, the way they tucked the deceased in, the way, the, um, they, they... I don't know. It was so much love and peace. I wa-

"You see your honour, they couldn't have killed them, even if they did kill them, they tucked them in so well, so lovingly, so life affirmingly, that it wouldn't matter, it was too much love."

The judge starts to yawn, they dismiss the jury with a lazy wave.

"You are right, love is all you need, case closed"

The judge bangs the gavel and you look over at the tucker, they slowly lean back and suddenly everyone in the room starts to lean back too, with droopy eyes and shivers of warmth.

You all start to feel so thoroughly tucked in, melting into a safe matrix of warmth and placid dreams.

You all have a nice long nap.