August 2014
“DO I HAVE to go?”
Sophia looked at me from the doorway. “I mean, I have the kids and everything.”
“Isn’t your mom still here?” I asked.
Sophia sighed. “It’s late, and I’m really tired. Besides, it’s just a hunch you have. Why do I have to be involved?”
“You’re the only one I know who owns a gun,” I said, and corrected my shirt. I had put it on backwards, getting dressed in a hurry, while telling Maya to look after her brother while I was gone.
“Hey, your boyfriend has one too. Can’t you take him?” Sophia asked, while getting dressed very reluctantly.
“Hurry up,” I said to her. “You know how things are with Morten. If I called him about this, he’d only think I was doing it to get close to him. Could you imagine if we drive down there and there’s nothing? It would be so embarrassing. He’d think I made it all up. He’d think I was all pathetic and desperate.”
“You are desperate,” Sophia said.
“That might be, but I’m not pathetic. Now, grab that gun of yours, tell your mom you’re leaving, and join me in the car.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A minute later, we were both in the car, driving out of Nordby. I had my navigation direct us to the right address. My stomach was feeling all kinds of things…mostly nervousness, I think, and a little fear. No, that’s a lie. It was a lot of fear.
“So, what you’re telling me is that you believe the killer is going to kill these people, and we’re heading there?”
“I just have to make sure these people are alright,” I said. “I won’t shut an eye till I’m sure they’re fine.”
“We’re going to be on the news, you know that, don’t you?” Sophia asked.
“I don’t care if they think I’m crazy. I just have to make sure.”
I looked at the gun in Sophia’s hands. I sure hoped it would do its job and protect us, once again, if it came down to it. But the fact was, neither of us was very handy with a gun. I had never shot one before. Sophia had hurt a guy once when he entered her house trying to attack her. But, even then, she had just shot him in the shoulder. Would that be enough protection? Neither of us really wanted to hold it, let alone shoot someone. I, for one, was terrified of killing someone.
“You have reached your destination,” the navigation said.
I parked the car in front of the yellow brick house. The lights were on inside. Sophia looked at me. Then, she shrugged.
“Here goes nothing.”
We got out of the car, and started walking towards the house. I felt awkward, like it was all a dream.
We walked to the front door. I had no idea what to do. Should we knock? There were two cars parked on the street. A gray one further down the road, and then a red one closer to the house. The couple’s car was in the driveway.
I found a doorbell and rang it. No one answered. I grabbed the handle. It was locked. Then I knocked, in case the bell didn’t work. Still, no answer.
“There was light on in the backyard,” I said. “Let’s go around and see if everything is alright.”
Sophia hesitated as we reached the tall gate leading to the door. “I really don’t want to spend the night in jail for breaking and entering,” she said. “These people are going to think we’re nuts, Emma. Is it really worth it?”
I grabbed the gun from her hand. It was heavier than I had imagined. Maybe it was the responsibility that came with it. “I’ll go in alone, then.”
“Be careful, Emma. Shoot first and ask questions afterwards.”
“Is that how you usually do it?” I asked.
“Just be careful. I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to you.”
“Then you better pray that nothing does,” I said, and grabbed the rusty handle on the old wooden gate. I pulled it open and stepped in.
I didn’t even feel the gun drop to the ground, until I heard the sound. After that, all I heard was my own scream.
48
August 2014
THE SCREAM MADE Jesper Melander stop what he was doing. From inside the bedroom, he had heard the doorbell, then the knock, but figured that whomever it was, they would go away eventually when no one answered the door.
But, they hadn’t. The bastards had walked into the yard and seen it. Seen his work.
But it’s not done yet!
Jesper growled angrily. The girl on the bed was moaning. He had knocked her out with the metal rod that was now on the floor with her blood on it, but he hadn’t killed her…not yet. First, he wanted to undress her and give her his present.
He had it in his bag right next to him.
Jesper sprang for the window and spotted a woman standing in the yard. He knew her. He knew who she was. She was holding a hand to her face and screaming. On the ground next to her lay something.
A gun.
Another woman came storming through the gate. Now, she saw his unfinished work as well, and started screaming too.
Jesper growled, then cursed. Why they were destroying everything for him? The whole plan, the masterpiece he was making in the yard.
Think fast, Jesper. Think fast!
The only way out, as he saw it, was to walk down there and attack the two women, kill them, and put them up on a pole next to the husband.
But they might fight; they might use the gun.
Jesper was terrified of guns. There weren’t many things that scared him, but guns did. Especially in the hands of unpredictable people.
Someone might have heard them scream. Someone might have heard them. The place will be crowded in just a few moments. It’s time to go. Time to run for it.
Jesper glanced at the beautiful girl on the bed. She was still moaning in pain. He felt so drawn to her at this moment. He enjoyed watching people in pain. It was his favorite part of it all. Now, it had all fallen apart.
Should I just kill her? Stab her right here?
No. There wasn’t enough time. He wanted her awake when he stabbed her. That was his favorite part of the killings.
There’s no time, you fool. Do it quick. Then get out of here!
Jesper found the knife and walked over to the woman. He lifted the knife into the air and closed his eyes. Oh, the smell of a fresh kill. He would enjoy it, make the best of it, even if she wasn’t awake to see how her life ended.
It was still worth it.
Just as Jesper was about to plunge the knife into the woman’s chest, he heard feet coming up the stairs.
They’re here. They’ve come into the house!
He heard fumbling at the door, someone trying to open it, but he had locked it so she wouldn’t escape in case she woke up. Then, someone yelled.
“Hello?”
Jesper smiled. Fools. “Hello?” he yelled back.
“Who’s in there?” the female voice yelled back.
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” Jesper said, making his voice sound light, like a female’s. Jesper giggled. He had always been excellent at making voices. For a while, growing up, he had thought that was what he was going to do for a living…be a comedian who did impressions. But the chance never quite presented itself to him.
Besides, he liked this better.
“What?”
Jesper scanned the room. There were no other ways out.
What are you going to do?
Jesper laughed a madman’s laughter. This had turned out to be even more fun that he had ever dared to anticipate. So much more fun.
49
August 2014
“ARE YOU ALRIGHT in there?” I yelled through the door, the gun shaking between my hands. The poor woman in there had no idea what had happened to her husband. Or maybe she did, and had gone into shock. She didn’t sound like she was in her right mind. What was that about a man and a curtain? I didn’t understand. I was still shivering from what I had seen in the yard.
“Yes, yes, fine,” she answered.
She sounded str
ange, I thought. And why wasn’t she asking me who I was and what I was doing in her house? Something was definitely off.
“Something terrible happened,” Sophia said. “I’ve called the police. Whatever you do, don’t look out the window. Please unlock the door so we can help you.”
“I’m afraid I can’t,” the voice replied. “The lock is broken.”
I looked at Sophia, who shook her head. This was too weird.
“Something is wrong here,” I whispered to Sophia.
“Her voice sounds really strange,” Sophia whispered back.
“You think the killer is in there?” Sophia’s voice was trembling.
I shrugged. “Maybe,” I whispered back. “Maybe he has someone in there with him. Maybe he’s going to kill her. I’m going to kick the door in now, and then I’ll use your method.”
“My what?” Sophia asked.
“Shoot first, and ask questions later.”
I lifted my leg and kicked the door. I broke a giant hole in it, then kicked it again and got it open. Just as we walked into the room, we heard a loud crash, the sound of glass breaking.
“The window,” I yelled.
I rushed towards it, just in time to see the killer slide across the roof and jump onto the branch of the big tree in the yard.
“Stop or I’ll shoot!” I yelled after him, but he had already reached the ground and started running. When he reached the small red car and was about to get into it, he suddenly stopped. He turned his head and looked directly at me for just a second before he jumped inside the small red car and drove off.
“Shoot! He’s getting away!” Sophia yelled.
“It’s too late. He’s gone,” I said.
I heard moaning behind me and turned. A naked woman was on the bed, her arms and legs tied down. I ran to her. She had blood on her face.
“Are you alright?” I asked, while untying her arms and legs. In the distance, I could hear the siren from the island’s only police car. I had asked Sophia to call for help, to avoid any confusion in case it was Morten who picked up at the police station.
The woman groaned again. She was trying to open her eyes and lift her head, but it was too painful. At least she was alive. That was more than I could say for her poor husband in the yard. I still shivered when I thought about him. His dead body had been strapped onto a pole and placed in the middle of the yard. It made him look like a scarecrow.
Scarecrows don’t talk. Of course.
I couldn’t get the pictures out of my head…the head hanging lifeless from his neck, his chin touching his chest, his lifeless eyes staring into the darkness, the blood running from his wounds in the chest and leg. The killer seemed to have gutted his leg open, and I wondered if he had removed anything this time. The brain and the heart seemed both untouched.
I felt so confused. What was this all about? What was it with this killer’s obsession with The Wizard of Oz? Who was he killing over and over again in his mind?
Voices came from downstairs; I could tell they belonged to Morten and Dr. Williamsen.
“Up here,” Sophia yelled.
The woman was awake. She was blinking her eyes. “Where…where am I?” she asked.
“Sh. Don’t get up.” I spotted the metal rod on the floor. It had blood smeared on it. “You were hit on the head. Just stay still till the doctor comes. The police are on their way as well,” I said. “Rest your head.”
“Wh…?” The woman was overwhelmed with pain, and didn’t try to speak anymore.
I spotted a black sports bag next to the metal rod. It was open. I walked to it and looked inside. Then I gasped.
Sophia looked at me. “What?” she asked. “Is it the killer’s?”
I stepped aside, so Sophia could take a look. She gasped as well. “The shoes. The ruby red slippers! He was going to put them on her, wasn’t he?”
I nodded. “I think he was. We interrupted him and made him run.”
“We saved her life, then?”
“I think we came just in time.”
“Emma? What happened? Are you both alright?” Morten stormed in. He stared intensely at me.
My heart started beating fast. It had been almost four weeks since he left me in my kitchen. I had no idea what to say to him. I just shook my head. “We’re fine, I guess.”
“This girl needs medical attention,” Sophia said.
“What happened to her?” Dr. Williamsen asked.
“She was struck with that metal rod over there. Whoever did it, jumped through the window and disappeared in a small red car,” I said. Then, I paused and took in a deep breath.
“Her husband…is in the yard.”
50
August 2014
JESPER MELANDER WAS washing his hands, rubbing them aggressively with soap. He was growling and groaning in anger.
How could it have gone so wrong?
He thought back to what had happened, while the blood from his fingers and arms turned the sink red. He was making a horrible mess. Jesper looked at himself in the mirror, and tried to wash the blood stains off of his cheeks.
You should have killed her while you had the chance, you fool. You should have killed them all…the two women as well.
Why hadn’t he? Why hadn’t he just killed them all? Instead, he had hesitated. He had shown weakness. He had panicked.
Carefully, he took off his shirt. It was filled with small pieces of glass from when he jumped through the window. It was lucky that he was so agile. All the workouts over the last few years had finally paid off. He was quite impressed with himself…to think that he had managed to climb over the rooftop and jump to the tree, then crawl down and jump to the ground. They didn’t stand a chance. They would never catch him.
Jesper laughed at his own reflection.
Don’t they know they’ll never catch me, those fools? They have no idea who they’re dealing with. They’ll never find me.
But it had been close this time. Too close. That couldn’t happen again. He would have to make sure of that.
Jesper had decided to change his plans slightly. He had to get rid of that woman. She had seen him. He was certain she had. Just as he had jumped into the car, he had turned his head and looked back. He had seen her standing in the window, looking at him. She knew too much. Why was she even there? Why was she knocking on the door this late at night? Were they neighbors? No. Jesper knew he had seen the woman in the window somewhere before. He had seen that face, those chubby cheeks, and annoying face before. But where?
He went to his office to look at the bookshelf. He ran his fingers over the back of his many books, then paused and took one out. He looked at the picture inside the flap. There she was. Looking right back at him, smiling like she knew his dirty little secret.
So you want to play ball, huh, Emma Frost?
Jesper closed the book with a slam, then threw it on the desk. He snorted in anger. She annoyed him immensely. He couldn’t stand the fact that she was the reason why he hadn’t succeeded in completing this kill, this piece of art. And, on top of it, he had lost the shoes. He’d had to leave the bag with the shoes behind, and he had never managed to put them on her feet. Jesper growled again, then grabbed the many listings of homes for sale on the island and ripped them apart. He threw the pieces on the floor and stomped on them in anger.
Jesper took in a deep breath, and leaned back his head, trying to calm himself down. This was not the time to lose control. It was all about staying on top of things. And he was always a step ahead, wasn’t he? Yes, he had been so far. And this Emma Frost had no idea who she was dealing with. Besides, he had managed to finish the man. It was a masterpiece…hanging him up him like a scarecrow in the yard. Jesper was impressed with his own ingenuity. It was quite clever, wasn’t it? It would definitely make the papers in the morning.
Another cruel idea was slowly shaping in the mind of Jesper Melander. An idea so brutal, it caused him to smile at the very thought of it. Jesper rushed into the garage and searched
through his mess. He pulled out a red gas can. It was heavy. He looked at it with delight. Then, he giggled at his own creativity.
Well, my little pretty, I can cause accidents, too!
51
August 2014
THE WEEKEND PASSED and Monday came. I was still shaken up pretty badly about what had happened in Sonderho. I hadn’t slept much since. I kept seeing the man in the yard, hanging from the pole, every time I closed my eyes. It freaked me out.
Every minute of my waking hours, I fought the urge to call Morten and ask him if they knew anything more about this killer, and if they were anywhere near finding him, but I was afraid he would think I was using the case as an excuse to talk to him, which might be partly true as well. I didn’t want him to think I was as desperate as I felt.
The fact was, we hadn’t spoken for four weeks now, except for the hour he spent with me on Friday night, writing down my testimony about what had happened when we arrived at the house. I had given him my description of the killer the way I saw him right before he jumped inside the red car. But, the fact was, I didn’t see him very well in the darkness, and the little I saw from the streetlights on his face wasn’t really useful. Morten had been very professional when interviewing me, and that hurt like crazy. He hadn’t said a word about us or anything. He asked if I was all right. That was all. Not a hug, not a comforting word of any kind. I couldn’t believe he could, all of a sudden, turn this cold. It almost made me cry just thinking about it.
I guess we were definitively over, then?
I had no idea what had happened to the woman on the bed, but assumed she had been airlifted to the mainland and was safe in the hospital. But, again, I didn’t know, because I didn’t want to call Morten. The papers said she was still in intensive care and that she had suffered a severe blow to the head.
Sophia came over and sat in my kitchen after lunch. She looked as bad as I felt inside.