Rome had more than a few bridges over the Tiber and Cesar was one of them. Two stone lions guarded the approach and not far off stood a small square home. Doctor Nante lived here of course. A dedicated though suppressed individual, his line of current research was desire. As he examined his copious notes within the pleasant interior, he gazed upon the flickering candle light.
He well remembered the argument with his mentor.

“You simply cannot separate desire from conscience my boy. We all want to do things but thankfully our self control restrains us.”

“Imagine what would happen,” Nante had said, “Creativity would flow without interruption.”

“What about our dark desires though? Release them and it is a one way ticket to hell.”

“I don’t agree. My experiments don’t show that in mice.”

His mentor laughed.

“We are not mice my friend. You should end this here, before you go too far.”

He winced at the memory.

“He could at least have supported my theory. Now let me see. If I decrease ‘B’ and double the ‘A’ compound that should do it.”

He stood and entered his rear lab. As he mixed the psychotropic drugs into a mash, he chuckled.

“My mentor is about to see that his concerns were built on wet sand.”

After twenty minutes, the concoction was ready and he took his spoon from the table.

“Here we go then.”

He ate the bitter creation until it was finished and waited for the effects to kick in. His eyes looked at his watch carefully.

“One minute, two, three, hmm.”

He scratched his head and returned to the sitting room.

“I wonder where I went wrong? It worked on my mice.”

He sat down and a heavy languor fell upon him swiftly. His eyelids closed and he found himself vanishing into oblivion.

Detective Salini and his trusty sergeant stood over the mangled corpse of the young woman in shocked silence. The pathologist stood as the forensic team continued their investigation.

“She’s a damn mess sir.”

“Are we looking for a bloke doc?”

“I would say so. A damn brute if you ask me.”

“How long has she been dead?” the sergeant asked.

“About two hours. Though it is the bite marks that worry me.”

“Animal you mean?” the detective asked. “Like a dog perhaps?”

The pathologist shook his head.

“I only wish that they were sir. The right leg was savaged and the teeth pattern is definitely human.”

Salini shook his head.

“Sounds like a cannibal to me.”

“There are certainly signs of that sir.”

“I’ll read your report later doc.”

He glanced over at the dog walker who found the body, as he stretched his legs along the riverbank.

“Did you see anyone?” Salini asked.

“I only saw her,” he stammered.

“You regularly walk your mutt along here then?” Giovani asked.

“Every night sir without fail. How could he have done that too her?”

“It’s almost beyond belief,” the detective replied.

“You had better see this sir,” a forensic officer called.

“What have you got?”

“An imprint of feet sir. We’re making a cast now.”

“When it hardens I need to see it. Do they look human to you?”

“Very human sir.”

“Okay then. We will head back to the station then. I want reports by
dawn remember.”

The forensic officer smiled.

“You will have them sir.”

As the sun rose, the officers were looking over the current evidence.

“The feet are definitely a size ten sergeant. What does the report say?”

The sergeant flicked through the pages.

“Autopsy confirms human saliva and the DNA profile indicates a small individual sir.”

“At least that is something. Any matches?”

The sergeant shook his head.

“So we are dealing with someone new then.”

“That would make sense sir.”

“You realise that our task will be a difficult one this time?”

The sergeant smiled.

“When is it easy sir?”

“One fact stands out though. His attempt to consume part of the victim. It takes more than a madman to do that.”

“Could it be some kind of ritual sir?”

“I don’t think so. It’s almost animalistic sergeant.”

The officer glanced at the wall clock and muttered.

“Time for our kip sergeant. I’ll see you back here at noon. Then we
shall go into the victim’s background.”

It was a little after one when they called upon the grieving parents. A couple in their fifties, they had obviously dotted upon their only child.

“She was a good kid. Always done well at college.”

“What was she studying mam?”

“History sergeant. Would have done very well too.”

“Did she have many friends?” Salini asked.

“She was a loner. Preferred study to clubbing shall we say.”

“Why do you think she went down to the river bank?” the sergeant asked.

“That’s the bit I don’t understand,” the mother said. “It was the one part she would never go near.”

“Thanks for your time mam. I promise that we will cage this brute. Come on sergeant.”

As they sat in the squad car, the detective mulled things over.

“He probably grabbed her elsewhere.”

“Sounds like it sir.”

“The more that I consider this; the more I’m convinced that we are dealing with a split personality. Respectable by day but a monster at night.”

“We could talk to that professor of psychology sir.”

“You mean Cline sergeant. I tend to agree. Take us there.”

The sergeant gunned the engine and they trundled off towards the city university.

They found the elderly professor in his room preparing for a lecture.

“Mind if we have a word sir?” Salini asked.

“Not at all detective. What can an old codger like myself do for you.”

The detective told him about the case.

“He tried to eat the leg of his victim you say?”

“That’s correct sir.”

“Your idea of a split personality could well be correct. You see detective, a normal person has a censor that will not allow them to pass a central line of behaviour. Those with such disorders have no such break.”

“I see professor. So by day they could be as normal as your good self?”

“I should think so. You should be talking to Doctor Nante though.”

“Who’s he?” the sergeant asked.

“One of my former students. This would be right down his line. He has spent the last five years working on something similar.”

“Has he indeed,” the detective said. “You wouldn’t happen to know his address?”

The old gent smiled.

“I’ll get it for you. You will find him a great help in this investigation.”

When they drew up outside the home near Cesar bridge, the detective smiled.

“Not too far from the crime scene I see. Let’s go and have a word with him.”

Nante was rather surprised when the knock came, and even more surprised that it was the police. He led them inside the quaint sitting room and waited.

After the detective gave him the details, he nodded.

“You have come to the right place. The chap that you are looking for certainly has no morals sir.”

“What would drive someone to attempted cannibalism?” the sergeant asked.

“A belief that it will vitalise them sir. This myth goes back to the very dawn of history.”

“Professor Cline suggested that he would have no internal brake,” the detective said.

“I tend not to agree sir. We all have brakes, even the insane.”

“Is our man insane sir?” the sergeant asked.

“To a degree yes. However to others around him perhaps not.”

“The professor also mentioned your research,” the detective prodded.

“Did he now? Would you like to see?”

“We would be thrilled,” Salini replied.

They entered the rear lab and saw the latest concoction.

“What are you working on?” Giovani asked.

“A way to free the human creative impulse sergeant. Eh, how can I explain?”

He glanced across and saw the maze.

“I think this will do.”

When they reached it, they saw a small white mouse apparently quite lost within the high walls.

“Now watch what happens when I add my mixture.”

The doctor picked up the furry animal and injected it once.

“Now you will see the change.”

As they watched, the mouse made its way across the maze without mishap.

“Don’t worry detective. The concoction has no side effects.”

“Quite a powerful demo sir,” Salini commented. “Have you tested it upon people yet?”

“Not at the moment.”

“What would happen if you gave this to a killer?” the sergeant asked.

The doctor beamed.

“For a start I would not advise such a course of action. He would become a lot more cunning you see.”

The officers nodded.

“Thanks for your time sir.”

“No problem detective. Call again.”

When they got outside Salini had a hunch.

“I think he is crazy sir.”

“Not at all sergeant. Just dedicated. However I did not his large
feet.”

The sergeant glanced at him.

“He can’t be our man sir.”

“Perhaps not but tonight we shall keep an eye eh?”

As the moon rose, a dark taxi was parked nearby with two watching officers hiding in the rear.

“No sign of movement yet sir. Perhaps your hunch has not paid off.”

“He sits by candlelight and is following a project directly linked to our case Giovani. He’s our man alright.”

After an hour, the driver was becoming impatient.

“I do have my round sir.”

“Not now,” the detective snarled. “Ah there he is.”

A darkly clad man emerged and began walking briskly down the badly lit street.

“Follow him discreetly now,” the detective urged.

The taxi trundled off as their suspect gathered pace.

“I swear that he is heading for the park sir.”

“We need to get there first,” Salini said. “Take a short cut.”

The taxi veered off and within five minutes dropped the officers off. Drawing their weapons, they dashed toward a large rose bush and hid.

“Plenty of people about sergeant. There he is.”

The good doctor had slowed down and was obviously thinking. When he spied an elderly man upon a bench, he suddenly dashed toward him.

“Come on!” Salini shouted dashing into the open.

The gent screamed as the doctor pounced upon him.

“Hold it right there!” the detective screamed.

The suspect snarled and made to dash off once more.

Salini fired twice and ran forward as their man went down.

“Check the victim sergeant.”

When Salini reached the still figure, he noted the fingers pushed into the soft grass. He gently turned him over and reeled back.

The soft features had been replaced by a vicious look that he would never forget.

“The gent is alright sir. How about Nante?”

“He is dead sergeant. Cold, stone dead.”

As the forces of law and order tidied up the scene, a prison officer was joking with one of his colleagues.

“Watch this one by the way. He thinks that he is a vampire. Why they did not put him in the nut house I don’t know.”

As they continued their rounds, the prisoner sneered.

“What do they know? I am a vampire.”

He hauled his bed below the weakened window frame and took hold of the bars.

“Just one more pull ought to do it.”

He pulled with all his brute strength and the bars came free.

“Freedom at last. Now the hunt for carrion begins.”

He climbed onto the ledge and jumped into the waiting darkness...