MANIP - Cordon Off 3 (Patreon)

Yes, 18. I don't plan to do 18 manips for the series. It's a story told in single panel manipulations. In the transcript, the speakers are (B)lue and (G)reen.

Transcript

G: Given the texture of the hair, and the fact that it isn't a wig, it's easy to believe you when you say this was a living woman who was somehow turned into a mannequin. But, how could that have been done?

B: Magic

G: Magic? Preposterous!

B: We haven't found any scientific explanation.

G: You're serious?

B: This is the 18th woman we've found like this. Worse, whoever's doing it is getting bolder. There are security cameras here. I've seen the security footage. One minute she's a woman. The next, she's a mannequin. No one was near her. No one suspicious was even in the building. Just like the other cases. We have no leads. No patterns. Nothing to follow up.

G: Has the public been informed there's a serial transformer turning random women into mannequins?

B: That could cause a panic or worse?

G: Worse?

B: People might seek the transformer out to be mannequinnized on purpose.

G: Who would...? Nevermind, there's always someone.

B: Cordon off the room. The lab guys will go over the scene and then put her in the evidence locker with the others.

G: Must be a large locker room. Isn't anyone trying to restore the women?

B: While the case is open, we can't allow them to be tampered with. They're evidence.

G: If they were restored couldn't they provide first hand witness testimony.

B: If. If they can't be restored, any attempt to restore them breaks the chain of custody. It's an unfortunate Catch-22. It's also a storage issue. They obviously can be taken apart. But again, that's tampering. If we could break them down into limbs, heads, and torsos we could save a lot of space in the evidence locker.

G: That would be a nightmare if any of the parts got misplaced. Can you imagine the lawsuit for losing someone's arm? Or head?

B: I can.