Post by gunk on Apr 8, 2006 7:30:38 GMT -5
I wasn’t sure if this story should go here, but in the absence of a crime fiction category I thought this was the best place. Feedback is appreciated.
Thanks Jenna aka gunk
Summary: A one-shot crime fiction with a surprising twist.
Rating: k+
The Bottle Murders
The room was in darkness except for a sliver of moonlight cascading through a small opening in the dark silky curtains. Thick luscious carpet and heavy cement walls muffled sound, as slowly and silently the window opened and a dark figure slipped into the room, brushing aside the curtains causing a shimmering path to form to the sleeping woman. A silver blade shone ominously as the figure stalked to the bed like a languid panther on the hunt -- closer to the woman.
A pillow was lifted from beside her head and the blade was raised like a sharp, stinging banner; then both were slowly lowered towards the woman. The figure leaned over the bed and it slowly became illuminated - A shock of black hair and the glint off spectacles became apparent. Then, as if spurred by some invisible force, the pillow was thrust over the face of the woman, effectively muffling any noise while simultaneously the knife was driven deep into her chest. --- After a brief struggle, the woman lay quiet once again, but the oppressive silence was shattered by the sound of breaking glass and a distinctly masculine voice singing, "eight green bottles hanging on the wall and if one green bottle should accidentally fall there'd be seven green bottles hanging on the wall".
----------------------------------POV OF DETECTIVE------------------------------------------
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP
"Ugh stupid alarm clock" Blearily, I open one eye to glare daggers at my alarm clock, blinking innocently at me from its position on my bedside table. The numbers slowly come into focus…. "8am? Ack! I'm gonna be late!" And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of my life. The ever late, always-in-a-rush life of Candice Greene, top detective of the downtown San Francisco Homicide Unit. As I rush around my fourth floor apartment, I catch sight of a manila folder and I am forced to remember the reason for my late awakening…
-------------------------------------FLASHBACK-------------------------------------------------
"Alright people, settle down, lets get this briefing over with" Scraping of chairs is heard as a rather rotund, balding, middle-aged man makes his way from the doorway to stand in front of a room full of uniform and plain clothed police officers. "It seems as though we have a serial killer on our hands"
A young man, in his early twenties, tall, with black hair and an almost nervous expression, chose this moment to speak up, " How many deaths have there been so far, Captain Walsh?"
"So far Abbot, there's been three victims, the latest one was killed last night"
Another voice piped up, " How have we managed to link the three murders together?"
" I was wondering when you were going to ask that Greene" Walsh directed his statement to the young woman in her mid to late twenties, dressed messily in a casual black business suit, hair pulled back into a practical bun, who had asked the question. "The link is what we now call the murderer's signature…."
" Well, don't keep us in suspense … what's his signature Captain?"
" Mind who you're talking to, Abbot"
"Sorry sir"
" As I was about to say, the perp always leaves behind a smashed bottle, the brand of the bottle is 'Candy's Apple Cider'. It's always been the green bottles, not the normal clear ones."
" Who's working the case Walsh?"
" Why, you are Greene. Oh, by the way, meet your new partner, Gregg Abbot. Play nice now."
----------------------------------------END FLASHBACK--------------------------------------
So here I am, tired because I had to thoroughly review the case file, and now I'm late to pick up my latest 'partner'. When will Walsh learn, I don't need a partner. *Sigh* " Well, here's his house…" HONK HONK "And there he is" As soon as he got into the car he started to apologise profusely because he forgot his glasses, and spouted things like 'it's an honour to work with you' and other such nonsense, until I couldn't help but mumble under my breath "Rookies, always puts me with the rookies" Finally, it seems as though he is about to put together a coherent sentence when he says, " So, isn't it a lovely morning Candi?" and I all but growl " It's Greene to you, Abbot, and you'll soon learn that mornings are never good with me"
" Oookay, so where are we off to?"
"23 Cardinal Street" Is it just me or did he turn a little pal-
"What's there?"
"The latest crime scene, Einstein. Haven't you read the file?" Is that relief?
" Uh, not yet sorry" Great I'm stuck with a lazy, kooky rookie. What fun.
I file all of this information away as I see we're nearing the building. Not in the best area of town. The buildings are all a dull, uniform grey and are in such a state that it's hard to believe that they haven't been condemned.
" Alright, let me sum it up for you. We have vic number one. A woman in her early twenties named Sherice Black. Killed by head trauma caused by a blunt force to the back of the skull. She was found by the owner of the jewellery store, 'Pink Diamonde', in the alley next to the shop. The weapon was the bottle of 'Candy's Apple Cider', which fractured upon impact. That was last Monday."
" So these all happened in the past week?"
" Yep, that's right. You sure picked a good time to join the force, Abbot. Anyway, vic number two, another woman in her twenties, was found in an empty office building, down in the main street. This time she was killed with a letter opener from her desk. The bottle was found smashed on the floor a few feet from the body."
" What was her name?"
" Viola Clarence"
" How can you tell if it's the same guy killing them?"
" First off, even though the MO is different, the signature is the same in every case - "
"Uh, sorry, but what exactly is MO?"
I nearly died right then. "You don't know what MO is?"
"No, should I?"
Oh, God what are they teaching these kids at training? How to munch donuts and guzzle coffee? I roll my eyes heavenward as I park the car. "I'll tell you inside"
As we enter the dilapidated building, I'm suddenly drawn to the front desk where a sleazy-looking man, with greasy black hair and the worst pair of glasses I have ever seen, sits idly watching a screen with security cameras of ….no…. it can't be…. Women in the shower?!
" Hey, buddy, I'm detective Greene and this is detective Abbot. That wouldn't by any chance be illegal videoing, would it?"
Woo boy! I've never seen a man move as quickly as that! Even though my initial feelings towards the man were of disgust, after finding out his name was Marcus Keller I quickly pushed that aside and went up to the second floor apartment of Shandi Flean, victim number three on the hit list, and the most recent. My first thoughts upon entering the apartment were: Wow, she had style. The apartment was neat and tastefully decorated in warm, rich hues of red and gold. " Alright Abbot, start looking"
"For what?"
"Evidence"
As I moved from there into the bedroom, the scene of the crime, there seemed to be no signs of forced entry from the front, nor any sign of a struggle. That rules out a robbery. I move to the window. There is a rather nice looking balcony, with a decent view. The doors aren't locked as I pull the doors open, which suggests they were open at the time of the mur-
"Hey Greene, what were you saying about MO?" d**n, there goes my train of thought! Oh well.
" MO is modus operandi. It is how something is carried out. In this case, the only thing that stays the same is the presence of the green bottle and the fact that the victims are all females in their early twenties."
" So what exactly makes someone a serial killer?"
" Do you want the official version?"
"Sure"
" Serial killers are said to be figures of pent-up frustration, predominantly sexual. They reach an age, or encounter an incident, that pushes them across what Robert Keppel calls "the comfort zone - the edge of normalcy and the borderline of criminality"."
" Alright, but what do you think?"
Oh. Don't go there. Simple answer, say the simple answer.
" I think it's just a way that the legal-beagles manipulate the system to make the perpetrator seem like the victim"
"You seem passionate about that"
"I lost my partner to one of those psychos. But that was a while ago. Get back to finding eviden -"
As I look around I suddenly notice something I hadn't before. Shandi had pale blond hair, as her natural hair colour so… how…
"Abbot, is that a hair in amongst the glass of the smashed bottle near the bed?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. It looks as though it's black. Probably from the victim…"
Black, just like that Marcus Keller…. "Greene?"
"Mmhmm?" I answer distractedly.
"I knew I remembered that Keller guy from somewhere!"
"Oh? Where from?"
" I jog at Scenery Street Park every morning. I've seen him loitering around watching the people before"
"Really?" Curiouser and curiouser.
I think its time we went over the interviews with the victims families and friends.
I'll have to look into that park lead when I get back to the station.
*Ring, Ring* My cell phone rang shrilly in the quiet apartment. "Hello?"
"Hey Captain, what can I do for you?"
"A letter? … From the killer? … Are you sure? … I'll be right there"
"Let's go Abbot"
"Coming, Greene"
------------------------------1 WEEK LATER----------------------------------------------------
It's been a week since the first letter arrived. Two weeks since the first murder. The case is going at a frantic pace. Leads are being followed but they lead to nowhere but dead ends. The first letter was a basic kill-and-tell. The second and third letters, however, were so much more. They overtly threatened to kill a member of the police force if we didn't catch 'him', and yes, the killer is now officially a male. The hair from the scene of victim number three, while not able to give a full DNA sample, was enough to prove that the person who smashed the bottle was male. The letters were all printed in computer fonts, the source unidentifiable. The victims were all linked to Scenery Street Park. Victim One, Sherice Black, was a regular jogger with her mother. Victim Two, Viola Clarence, worked in an office two blocks away from the park and had to walk through it on her way into the office each morning. Victim Three, Shandi Flean, baby-sat her 3-year-old niece each morning, starting with a stop off at the park. Marcus Keller is also tied to the park, through several people having seen him visit regularly in the mornings. The more evidence that is uncovered, the more it points towards Marcus Keller, but something doesn't feel right. The evidence is coming together far too easily. Which is why I am hesitant to arrest him, and also why Abbot is getting so antsy. The letters so far have been so infuriatingly generic! And those d**n bottles! Why would he put such painstaking effort into something so meaningless? 'Candy's Apple Cider', green bottles, police officers … a cop who enjoys apple cider from green bottles? Aarg! I'm getting a headache!
" Hey Candi, you look a little stressed there"
And there's my other problem. My new partner is either busy being a nuisance and making me loose my train of thought, or he's uncovering some new evidence that I hadn't even noticed…. He has too much of that annoying Rookie's luck.
" If you want to live, Abbot, I suggest you leave, and for the last time it is Greene to you!"
What's worse is that today is the anniversary of the death of my partner. Five years ago, he died because I couldn't shoot a killer…. He left a wife and a son behind. The son's name was Gregory and the wife's name was… uh…Victoria Stable. But she changed her name back to her maiden name… what was it again? Cabby… no… Cabbot…no… Abbot! That's it! Wait. Abbot? Gregory Stable. Gregory Abbot. Gregg Abbot! My partner? What the? Why didn't he say anything?
"Hey Greene, we've got a call from a house, looks like it's victim number four"
"Alright I'm coming" I reply to him a little dazedly. Could it really be him?
As we step inside the crime scene, one of the first things I notice is that it feels different to the rest and there are no lights on inside. There is almost a sense of tension in the air as I walk around the apartment I followed my partner into, while I was in a daze over my sudden epiphany over his heritage. As I look around the dark rooms I can find no body. "Abbot? I think this may have been a dud call"
When I receive no answer from him, I start to call out again when suddenly this feeling of coldness washed over me. Everything started to fall into place. My eyes adjusted to the light and I could see a green bottle of 'Candy's Apple Cider' on the table to my left. 'Candy's Apple Cider', green bottle, officer. Candi Greene, police officer. The serial killer was after me! But why would Abbot lead me here, if Marcus is -
Of course! No wonder the clues came together too fast! Marcus isn't the killer, GREGG IS! I had to get out of here! As I spin around, I see Gregg behind me, with an almost manic expression of hatred on his face.
"You killed my father, and now, I'm going to kill you!"
I whipped my gun out as he pulled the knife from behind his back.
" Gregg, I don't want to do this, but I will shoot you if you come closer"
" Oh, so now you can shoot someone. Now that it's your life on the line. You are pathetic!"
His face twists in rage as he prepares to dive at me. In the split second before I make up my mind, I think of Victoria and Gerald, my partner, and think how sorry I am that I have to do this. My mind made up I fire the gun, ready to call for backup as soon as his lifeless body hits the floor. This is why I hate having a partner. Liability.
-------------------------------LATER, IN THE NEWS-------------------------------------------
This just in; the green bottle serial killer has been found. Unfortunately, he was killed during his arrest before he could seriously harm Detective Candice Greene, who resigned earlier this morning. More in the late news at ten o'clock tonight.
Thanks Jenna aka gunk
Summary: A one-shot crime fiction with a surprising twist.
Rating: k+
The Bottle Murders
The room was in darkness except for a sliver of moonlight cascading through a small opening in the dark silky curtains. Thick luscious carpet and heavy cement walls muffled sound, as slowly and silently the window opened and a dark figure slipped into the room, brushing aside the curtains causing a shimmering path to form to the sleeping woman. A silver blade shone ominously as the figure stalked to the bed like a languid panther on the hunt -- closer to the woman.
A pillow was lifted from beside her head and the blade was raised like a sharp, stinging banner; then both were slowly lowered towards the woman. The figure leaned over the bed and it slowly became illuminated - A shock of black hair and the glint off spectacles became apparent. Then, as if spurred by some invisible force, the pillow was thrust over the face of the woman, effectively muffling any noise while simultaneously the knife was driven deep into her chest. --- After a brief struggle, the woman lay quiet once again, but the oppressive silence was shattered by the sound of breaking glass and a distinctly masculine voice singing, "eight green bottles hanging on the wall and if one green bottle should accidentally fall there'd be seven green bottles hanging on the wall".
----------------------------------POV OF DETECTIVE------------------------------------------
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP
"Ugh stupid alarm clock" Blearily, I open one eye to glare daggers at my alarm clock, blinking innocently at me from its position on my bedside table. The numbers slowly come into focus…. "8am? Ack! I'm gonna be late!" And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of my life. The ever late, always-in-a-rush life of Candice Greene, top detective of the downtown San Francisco Homicide Unit. As I rush around my fourth floor apartment, I catch sight of a manila folder and I am forced to remember the reason for my late awakening…
-------------------------------------FLASHBACK-------------------------------------------------
"Alright people, settle down, lets get this briefing over with" Scraping of chairs is heard as a rather rotund, balding, middle-aged man makes his way from the doorway to stand in front of a room full of uniform and plain clothed police officers. "It seems as though we have a serial killer on our hands"
A young man, in his early twenties, tall, with black hair and an almost nervous expression, chose this moment to speak up, " How many deaths have there been so far, Captain Walsh?"
"So far Abbot, there's been three victims, the latest one was killed last night"
Another voice piped up, " How have we managed to link the three murders together?"
" I was wondering when you were going to ask that Greene" Walsh directed his statement to the young woman in her mid to late twenties, dressed messily in a casual black business suit, hair pulled back into a practical bun, who had asked the question. "The link is what we now call the murderer's signature…."
" Well, don't keep us in suspense … what's his signature Captain?"
" Mind who you're talking to, Abbot"
"Sorry sir"
" As I was about to say, the perp always leaves behind a smashed bottle, the brand of the bottle is 'Candy's Apple Cider'. It's always been the green bottles, not the normal clear ones."
" Who's working the case Walsh?"
" Why, you are Greene. Oh, by the way, meet your new partner, Gregg Abbot. Play nice now."
----------------------------------------END FLASHBACK--------------------------------------
So here I am, tired because I had to thoroughly review the case file, and now I'm late to pick up my latest 'partner'. When will Walsh learn, I don't need a partner. *Sigh* " Well, here's his house…" HONK HONK "And there he is" As soon as he got into the car he started to apologise profusely because he forgot his glasses, and spouted things like 'it's an honour to work with you' and other such nonsense, until I couldn't help but mumble under my breath "Rookies, always puts me with the rookies" Finally, it seems as though he is about to put together a coherent sentence when he says, " So, isn't it a lovely morning Candi?" and I all but growl " It's Greene to you, Abbot, and you'll soon learn that mornings are never good with me"
" Oookay, so where are we off to?"
"23 Cardinal Street" Is it just me or did he turn a little pal-
"What's there?"
"The latest crime scene, Einstein. Haven't you read the file?" Is that relief?
" Uh, not yet sorry" Great I'm stuck with a lazy, kooky rookie. What fun.
I file all of this information away as I see we're nearing the building. Not in the best area of town. The buildings are all a dull, uniform grey and are in such a state that it's hard to believe that they haven't been condemned.
" Alright, let me sum it up for you. We have vic number one. A woman in her early twenties named Sherice Black. Killed by head trauma caused by a blunt force to the back of the skull. She was found by the owner of the jewellery store, 'Pink Diamonde', in the alley next to the shop. The weapon was the bottle of 'Candy's Apple Cider', which fractured upon impact. That was last Monday."
" So these all happened in the past week?"
" Yep, that's right. You sure picked a good time to join the force, Abbot. Anyway, vic number two, another woman in her twenties, was found in an empty office building, down in the main street. This time she was killed with a letter opener from her desk. The bottle was found smashed on the floor a few feet from the body."
" What was her name?"
" Viola Clarence"
" How can you tell if it's the same guy killing them?"
" First off, even though the MO is different, the signature is the same in every case - "
"Uh, sorry, but what exactly is MO?"
I nearly died right then. "You don't know what MO is?"
"No, should I?"
Oh, God what are they teaching these kids at training? How to munch donuts and guzzle coffee? I roll my eyes heavenward as I park the car. "I'll tell you inside"
As we enter the dilapidated building, I'm suddenly drawn to the front desk where a sleazy-looking man, with greasy black hair and the worst pair of glasses I have ever seen, sits idly watching a screen with security cameras of ….no…. it can't be…. Women in the shower?!
" Hey, buddy, I'm detective Greene and this is detective Abbot. That wouldn't by any chance be illegal videoing, would it?"
Woo boy! I've never seen a man move as quickly as that! Even though my initial feelings towards the man were of disgust, after finding out his name was Marcus Keller I quickly pushed that aside and went up to the second floor apartment of Shandi Flean, victim number three on the hit list, and the most recent. My first thoughts upon entering the apartment were: Wow, she had style. The apartment was neat and tastefully decorated in warm, rich hues of red and gold. " Alright Abbot, start looking"
"For what?"
"Evidence"
As I moved from there into the bedroom, the scene of the crime, there seemed to be no signs of forced entry from the front, nor any sign of a struggle. That rules out a robbery. I move to the window. There is a rather nice looking balcony, with a decent view. The doors aren't locked as I pull the doors open, which suggests they were open at the time of the mur-
"Hey Greene, what were you saying about MO?" d**n, there goes my train of thought! Oh well.
" MO is modus operandi. It is how something is carried out. In this case, the only thing that stays the same is the presence of the green bottle and the fact that the victims are all females in their early twenties."
" So what exactly makes someone a serial killer?"
" Do you want the official version?"
"Sure"
" Serial killers are said to be figures of pent-up frustration, predominantly sexual. They reach an age, or encounter an incident, that pushes them across what Robert Keppel calls "the comfort zone - the edge of normalcy and the borderline of criminality"."
" Alright, but what do you think?"
Oh. Don't go there. Simple answer, say the simple answer.
" I think it's just a way that the legal-beagles manipulate the system to make the perpetrator seem like the victim"
"You seem passionate about that"
"I lost my partner to one of those psychos. But that was a while ago. Get back to finding eviden -"
As I look around I suddenly notice something I hadn't before. Shandi had pale blond hair, as her natural hair colour so… how…
"Abbot, is that a hair in amongst the glass of the smashed bottle near the bed?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. It looks as though it's black. Probably from the victim…"
Black, just like that Marcus Keller…. "Greene?"
"Mmhmm?" I answer distractedly.
"I knew I remembered that Keller guy from somewhere!"
"Oh? Where from?"
" I jog at Scenery Street Park every morning. I've seen him loitering around watching the people before"
"Really?" Curiouser and curiouser.
I think its time we went over the interviews with the victims families and friends.
I'll have to look into that park lead when I get back to the station.
*Ring, Ring* My cell phone rang shrilly in the quiet apartment. "Hello?"
"Hey Captain, what can I do for you?"
"A letter? … From the killer? … Are you sure? … I'll be right there"
"Let's go Abbot"
"Coming, Greene"
------------------------------1 WEEK LATER----------------------------------------------------
It's been a week since the first letter arrived. Two weeks since the first murder. The case is going at a frantic pace. Leads are being followed but they lead to nowhere but dead ends. The first letter was a basic kill-and-tell. The second and third letters, however, were so much more. They overtly threatened to kill a member of the police force if we didn't catch 'him', and yes, the killer is now officially a male. The hair from the scene of victim number three, while not able to give a full DNA sample, was enough to prove that the person who smashed the bottle was male. The letters were all printed in computer fonts, the source unidentifiable. The victims were all linked to Scenery Street Park. Victim One, Sherice Black, was a regular jogger with her mother. Victim Two, Viola Clarence, worked in an office two blocks away from the park and had to walk through it on her way into the office each morning. Victim Three, Shandi Flean, baby-sat her 3-year-old niece each morning, starting with a stop off at the park. Marcus Keller is also tied to the park, through several people having seen him visit regularly in the mornings. The more evidence that is uncovered, the more it points towards Marcus Keller, but something doesn't feel right. The evidence is coming together far too easily. Which is why I am hesitant to arrest him, and also why Abbot is getting so antsy. The letters so far have been so infuriatingly generic! And those d**n bottles! Why would he put such painstaking effort into something so meaningless? 'Candy's Apple Cider', green bottles, police officers … a cop who enjoys apple cider from green bottles? Aarg! I'm getting a headache!
" Hey Candi, you look a little stressed there"
And there's my other problem. My new partner is either busy being a nuisance and making me loose my train of thought, or he's uncovering some new evidence that I hadn't even noticed…. He has too much of that annoying Rookie's luck.
" If you want to live, Abbot, I suggest you leave, and for the last time it is Greene to you!"
What's worse is that today is the anniversary of the death of my partner. Five years ago, he died because I couldn't shoot a killer…. He left a wife and a son behind. The son's name was Gregory and the wife's name was… uh…Victoria Stable. But she changed her name back to her maiden name… what was it again? Cabby… no… Cabbot…no… Abbot! That's it! Wait. Abbot? Gregory Stable. Gregory Abbot. Gregg Abbot! My partner? What the? Why didn't he say anything?
"Hey Greene, we've got a call from a house, looks like it's victim number four"
"Alright I'm coming" I reply to him a little dazedly. Could it really be him?
As we step inside the crime scene, one of the first things I notice is that it feels different to the rest and there are no lights on inside. There is almost a sense of tension in the air as I walk around the apartment I followed my partner into, while I was in a daze over my sudden epiphany over his heritage. As I look around the dark rooms I can find no body. "Abbot? I think this may have been a dud call"
When I receive no answer from him, I start to call out again when suddenly this feeling of coldness washed over me. Everything started to fall into place. My eyes adjusted to the light and I could see a green bottle of 'Candy's Apple Cider' on the table to my left. 'Candy's Apple Cider', green bottle, officer. Candi Greene, police officer. The serial killer was after me! But why would Abbot lead me here, if Marcus is -
Of course! No wonder the clues came together too fast! Marcus isn't the killer, GREGG IS! I had to get out of here! As I spin around, I see Gregg behind me, with an almost manic expression of hatred on his face.
"You killed my father, and now, I'm going to kill you!"
I whipped my gun out as he pulled the knife from behind his back.
" Gregg, I don't want to do this, but I will shoot you if you come closer"
" Oh, so now you can shoot someone. Now that it's your life on the line. You are pathetic!"
His face twists in rage as he prepares to dive at me. In the split second before I make up my mind, I think of Victoria and Gerald, my partner, and think how sorry I am that I have to do this. My mind made up I fire the gun, ready to call for backup as soon as his lifeless body hits the floor. This is why I hate having a partner. Liability.
-------------------------------LATER, IN THE NEWS-------------------------------------------
This just in; the green bottle serial killer has been found. Unfortunately, he was killed during his arrest before he could seriously harm Detective Candice Greene, who resigned earlier this morning. More in the late news at ten o'clock tonight.