14th October, 2015 (Nine Days after the Murder).

04:44 PM.

The drive to Alyson’s bakery was a smooth one, with Ian’s mind preoccupied. He had not seen her since their disagreement the other day, and he hoped to apologize. In all honesty, she was right – he had always been selfish. He shouldn’t have left her when her parents’ died, and she had to be forced to grow up. It was all too heavy for him then, but he knew better now. Her sister’s death was the chance he needed to make things right. He would be there for her, comfort her, and show her he had changed.

His rehearsed speech died on his lips the moment he walked into the bakery and saw her with the man she had been with at the funeral. They sat opposite each other, with their foreheads touching. They appeared to be having a deep conversation.

“Ian what are you doing here?” Alyson asked as she saw him at the doorway.

“I came to check up on you. See how you’re doing,” he replied as he assessed the situation. The man was sitting way to close to her for Ian’s comfort, and his hand was on her cheek. Ian had the sudden urge to slap the hand away.

“You could have just called,” Alyson stated.

“Anyway I’m fine, I’m just great… Um, this is Bob. Bob, this is Ian, the lead investigator on the case,” she continued awkwardly.

“Nice to meet you,” Bob said warily. There was a very awkward silence while the two men assessed each other. Ian looked at Bob, and wondered what Alyson had ever seen in a guy like him. Balding, fat, and with a protruding belly, he was the exact opposite of Ian. What was he doing there anyway?

“Have you gotten another lead?” Alyson asked curiously to break the tension.

“Um, nothing new, but I wanted to reassure you that we’re still on top of it,” He said as he looked at Bob.

“When we were interviewing persons of interest in the case, I don’t remember seeing you at the station. Or did any of my officers question you?” Ian asked as he eyed him.

“I had no idea I was a person of interest,” Bob replied with a bitter smile. He knew people like Detective McNeil, hotshot detectives who could only go up, and they pissed him off to no end.

“Well I’m assuming you came by her house quite often, so I’ll have to hear your statement,” Ian said.

“I spent most of the time in Alyson’s room. I only rarely saw Bethany when I came down for breaks,” Bob replied with a smile. Ian flinched a little at the statement, and Bob’s smile widened. It was so easy to get under the detective’s skin.

“Still, I need you to answer a few questions.”

“I had no idea the investigators were so jobless that they take detours and chase false leads to soothe their bruised egos instead of doing what they’re actually being paid to do,” Bob retorted.

Ian stepped forward menacingly, and Alyson got between them and placed a hand on his chest.

“If you both are done with this pissing contest, I’d appreciate it if you don’t create a scene,” Alyson warned as she looked at Ian.

“I’m surrounded by so much scandal already, if they wheel out two dead bodies from my bakery, I literally would be understandably chased out of this town,” she warned them both. Ian knew only one body would be wheeled out, which wouldn’t be his, but he did not contradict her.
 
“Just report to the station and give a statement when you have the time,” he directed at Bob.

“Okay then. Anything else?” Alyson asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you have anything else you came all the way over here to say?” she clarified.

“As a matter of fact, I do. Can we talk privately?”

“Okay,” she replied as she led him out front to the entrance, and closed the door behind them.

“I wanted to apologize for what I said after Bethany’s funeral. It was out of line,” he said.

“It’s fine.”

“So you forgive me?” he asked as he held her hands.

“Sure,” she replied, a bit surprised at the gesture.

“If you’re sure, then have dinner with me on Friday night.”

“Ian-,” she started.

“Don’t say anything. We also have a lot to clear up from what happened eight years ago,” he cut off and turned around as he felt a presence behind him.

“Hey Lara, Head on inside. Bob will attend to you,” Alyson said as she smiled at a woman who was walking slowly towards the bakery.

The woman named Lara smiled as she entered the bakery, turning back briefly to give Ian a glance over. It was obvious she had been listening in on their conversation. For a town so small, there was bound to be an abundance of gossips milling around.

“So dinner at my place Friday at 8?” he continued when the woman had gone in.

“Yeah,” Alyson agreed.

“I gotta get back to work now. See you then,” he said as he kissed her on the cheek. Alyson watched him, stunned, as he got in his car and drove off.

*****

Same Day, 06:35 PM.

Back at the office, Ian could not concentrate on the facts before him. He tried to push thoughts of Alyson to the back of his mind, and piece together what he had been missing.

He walked over to his evidence board with Bethany’s photo at the center.

She had been beaten and strangled to death. With the absence of head injuries, that indicated her assaulter was stronger than her. A man perhaps? Or was it more than one person? She was strangled with a shoelace which narrowed it down to everybody – everybody had shoes.

He looked at the evidence photos, at her bloated body. She was carried and dumped in the lake. At one point, she was dropped, as the body was probably too heavy for the attacker, but she was not dragged all the way, so the killer had incredible strength. From the footprint analysis on the crime scene, there was a set of male footprints, approximately size 13, leading to and from the lake that coincided with the time of the murder.

She was not sexually assaulted before her death. He let out a growl of frustration. He hated to admit it, but if she had been, it would have made his job a whole lot easier; at the same time, he was slightly relieved she was not, because it meant her suffering was not prolonged. The killer was either unable to rape her, or was smart enough to know how not to be caught.

Now the real question was who was it? Who had the motive as well as the opportunity to kill Bethany? With her track record, half the town had the motive, but not everyone had the opportunity. And why did the crime feel so intimate?

He looked at Nathan’s photo on the right side of Bethany’s and tried to put himself in his head. Did he have a reason to kill the girlfriend he so adamantly claimed he loved? He alleged he was with Sherylyn all night. Was he lying or was she?

From his interview with her, Sherylyn obviously disliked her supposed best friend, but she had known Bethany for years, and was bound to be used to her. She may not have had a reason to kill Bethany unless something happened between them. Still, would she have hated her that much? Ian doubted it. Besides, it was unlikely she would have carried the body all by herself because she did not have the build. He put an asterisk on Sherylyn’s picture. Objectively, it did not add up that she was the killer, but he could not rule her out.

His mind flashed back to Bob, and he had to fight back a wave of resentment. Had Bethany been sleeping with him so he got rid of her to keep her quiet? Bob certainly matched the profile Ian had of the killer, Male, big, strong, someone she knew. Ian shook his head. He was certainly letting his personal feelings cloud his judgment from the facts. He tried to think of it objectively, and decided draw his own conclusions after he listened to what Bob had to say.

What if there was someone else? Someone he hadn’t even considered right there in plain sight? He knew something subconsciously, at the back of his mind, but he was not sure what it was. He was fascinated by puzzles, and this one he had to solve.

*****

23rd September, 2015 (Two Weeks to the Murder).

05:50 PM.

Mariah Coleman definitely asked for it. She wanted him, but did not know he was on to her. After all, if she didn’t want him desperately, why did she pick the library he worked to ‘study’ with her friends? She was so desperate for his attention, that she put on makeup like a highway whore and had her hair in a high ponytail. How did she know he liked high ponytails? Was she stalking him? He was sure she picked the shortest skirt in her wardrobe to appear seductive to him.

She studied with her friends, all smiles, but stood up to pee, passing him each time. She acted like she couldn’t see him, the attending librarian, but it was obvious she did. He knew she acted that way so she would not seem cheap to him. Who peed twice in three hours anyway? Her friends peed more, but still, she did it so he could notice her, not her friends. He could sense that she was already jealous.

He remembered how she looked later when he approached her in an alleyway as she was coming home from a party, drunk. Her blonde hair was disheveled from dancing all night. He knew, because he watched her. She ensured to shake her ass for any guy she danced with, like a little trollop. She probably did that because she knew he was watching her, and wanted to make him jealous.

She had no shame, and tried to act surprised when he told her he was aware of what she was up to. She pretended not to know him when he said he was the librarian she had stalked for months. The little bitch! She probably had his pictures on her bathroom wall.

She tried to run, but he knew all her tricks. She wanted to be chased. He felt a wave of arousal as he dragged her by the ponytail back towards him. He knew she wanted him to fuck her, and he gave her exactly what she wanted. She was only telling him to stop because she wanted him to want her more. Manipulative little slut!

After he was done, she threatened to tell the police. He found that unromantic. Why would the cops interfere in their love story? They could not understand them. He only placed his hands around her throat to warn her. He only squeezed so she could see how much he loved her. He could do anything for her.

But she was weak. She stopped struggling after just five minutes. How could she give up on their affair like that? He knew he had to hide the body so it would never be found. He stuffed her body in his boot and burned her. He cried the whole time, and whispered words of their love. She deserved a magnificent farewell. He threw her ashes in a nearby lake, so she would always watch over him. For years, he saw her missing posters until her family gave up the search. It was a great love story.

With Noona Stone, it was purely accidental. He only meant to tell her he knew she found him attractive and it was okay. She was just afraid that people would say a beautiful model like her should not be with a man like him. He knew he was frail looking, but she saw him for who he really was beneath his skin. That was why he loved her.

She was so obsessed, she took a job at a roadside diner solely because he had lunch there the previous week. She needed him, bless her. When she saw him in her apartment that night, again, she pretended not to know him. He hated it when women did that.

He didn’t mean to hit her head against the wall when she tried to run away from her feelings. The sickening crack he heard turned him on because it was the proof he needed that she was ready for him. he made sweet love to her, and he was sure it was the best she had ever had. She was pretending to be unconscious throughout, but he knew she planned on being an actress anyway. She would not get up to confess her feelings to him no matter how hard he tried. He had to choke her to keep their secret forever, since she wanted it that way.

He thought of chopping her into little pieces and putting her body in garbage bags, but it would be too messy. He opted to stuff her in her refrigerator instead, and ensured to put her hair in a ponytail before he left her apartment.

He knew he needed to leave town. He considered himself smart, and knew that two murders within a short time frame in the same city would appear suspicious. His DNA was also all over Noona’s apartment. He packed a few belongings, and got out of town. He didn’t bother to quit his job, as his employer did not give a shit about him anyway.

He drove with no destination in mind, but his car broke down in Atwood, a few states away. He went to a random diner to grab a bite, and that was when he saw her. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen – asides his Mariah and Noona of course.

She walked up to him and gave him a beautiful smile, like she knew all his secrets. He could tell she considered him her soulmate. She asked him what his order was, and he could see in her eyes that she wanted him to say the magic word – you. He opted for a grilled cheese sandwich instead.

Later that day, he saw her calling a customer a fat whore because the customer had been rude. He despised mean people. His aunt Margaret was mean to him, and he had to kill her when he was 10. She was always saying, “Beet, you will never amount to any good.” Naturally, those were the last words she ever said as he stabbed her in the neck. He got institutionalized instead of doing time, because he claimed she was sexually abusive, but deep down, he doubted she ever had a pussy. If she did, she wouldn’t have been filled with so much bitterness.

He was released as a teen, but had to punish the mean nurse who called him a psychopath. She did not deserve to live. It was one less evil person on earth – he was doing the world a great service.

But this mean girl in particular loved him, so he would forgive her, and admittedly, the customer had been rude. Still, she had to have impeccable manners to be worthy to love him. He planned to give her a little punishment later.

It was the end of September, and he was sitting in the diner she worked, watching her, like he had been for a month. He knew her name was Bethany and she was 17, and she was cheer captain, and she went to Barke high, and she had an older sister, and she had a boyfriend who was the mayor’s son, and she knew a lot of secrets. He planned to tell her about his feelings.

He looked at the time. It was almost 6PM. From her schedule, she was to empty the trash. He waited for a few minutes after she had gone and followed her. He planned to finally declare his love for her. He rounded the corner and stopped short when he saw her talking to the mayor. She was about to leave but the mayor grabbed her arms roughly.

He felt a surge of rage. How dare a man touch his beloved? Bethany yanked her arms free and pointed a finger at the mayor’s face. She appeared to be threatening him. The mayor’s eyes flashed with anger, and he looked like he was about to strike her. He had to stop them.

“Excuse me,” he said, loud enough for them to hear.

The mayor stepped away from Bethany, and walked away from the both of them.

Bethany walked towards Beet, her nose flaring in anger. He had no idea he was in her way until she was right in front of him.

“Move away, weirdo,” she said as she shoved him. She went back into the diner like nothing happened.

He could not believe she acted that way with him, a man who could do anything for her.

He loved her, but she had to be punished.

Thank you so much for your support!

DON'T FORGET

VOTE!

SHARE!!

COMMENT!!!