The X-Man by Brian R. Lundin (100 best novels of all time .TXT) 📕

and turned to me, “Sergeant?”

RINGO
Well the murder of the reverend and the other man is a departure from his MO, most of his victims were young black women but the X carved in the reverend chest and the blood smeared in the bathroom is definitely his MO, but this is the first time he has killed males something changed and I haven‘t figured it out yet, but maybe there was a witness. The woman who found the bodies and called the police said that when she entered the church another woman ran passed her covered with blood.

O’SHEA
Do you know who the woman was?

EVETTA
No, but we are working on finding her

O’SHEA
Get on it right away

EVETTA
Lieutenant, do you have that tape of the reverends press conference?

O’SHEA (CONFUSED)
I think so, why?

EVETTA
Can we see it?

O’SHEA
What the fuck, the tape of that bla… Reverend got to do with anything?

GULT
Put on the tape

The lieutenant fumbled around in his desk and put the tape into the recorder. When the tape got to where the reverend called the killer a coward and only attacked women.

EVETTA
Pause it, there the reason he killed the reverend, he pissed him off and the other poor bastard was just in the wrong place at the wrong time

O’SHEA
How do you know that?

WOODS
You got any other motives?

The lieutenant lowered his head and mumbled something.

GULT
What’s happening with the women victims?

RINGO
We found semen in a condom in one of the victim’s garage and we found semen stains at another crime scene but when we entered it into the DNA database, nothing, that leads me to believe our killer has never been arrested, hopefully when we get a suspect we can make a comparison and all of them were assaulted on the tenth of the month, haven’t figured that one out yet.

GULT
Keep working it, John and Captain Woods will be my liaison

RINGO
Will do sir

O’SHEA
Keep me in the loop too sergeant

I didn’t respond to the lieutenant as Evetta and I left and returned to my office. One of the secretaries gave me a registered letter.

SECRETARY
Came in the morning mail, there were no return receipt requested or return address and was posted this morning

I carefully opened the envelope and removed the letter, it read, “SERGEANT JOHN RINGO I SAW YOU ON THE NEWS THE OTHER DAY CONCERNING THE MURDER OF REVEREND WILSON AND THAT OTHER MAN. I WAS IN THE CHURCH WHEN IT HAPPENED AND I SAW THIS LITTLE MAN TALKING WITH A WOMAN IN A PEW, AFTER THE WOMAN LEFT I SAW THE MAN KILL THE MAN SLEEPING IN THE PEW. WHEN THE REVEREND CAME IN I HEARD THE MAN ASK TO USE THE WASHROOM AND HE FOLLOWED THE REVEREND DOWN THE HALL. I SAW THE MAN STRIKE THE REVEREND IN THE HEAD AND STAB HIM. A FEW MINUTES LATER I WATCHED AS THE MAN LEFT THE HALL, STOP AT THE MAN HE HAD KILLED AND CARVE AN X IN HIS CHEST. AFTER HE LEFT I CRAWLED DOWN THE HALL AND FOUND THE REVEREND. I FEEL LIKE SUCH A COWARD I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE WARNED THE REVEREND, BUT I WAS SO SCARED, PLEASE CATCH THIS MONSTER.

I called Evetta and Charley Turner into the office and showed them the letter, Charley said, “I’ll check for prints, hopefully we’ll get lucky.”

INT: AMOUD RESTAURANT- 10 October 2008

It was a Saturday night; Esau sat alone in a rear booth at Amoud Restaurant a dingy Arab Restaurant located at 43rd South Wabash Avenue. The diner was empty except for a young black woman, maybe twenty sipping a cup of tea as an elderly couple were leaving, and Esau noticed the young woman was crying. The little man glanced at her and she looked at him and he smiled. Esau pretended to sip his coffee but out the corner of his eye he watched her. She had long shapely legs for such a small body and an unusually pretty face. He saw her take a small napkin from her purse and wipe her eyes. He waited until she ordered another cup of tea and started searching for another napkin when he approached her table.

ESAU (HANDING HER A NAPKIN)
You ok, what’s the problem?

YOUNG WOMAN (DAPPING AT HER EYES WITH THE CRUMPLED TISSUE)
Just life problems

ESAU
Need a friend

YOUNG WOMAN
I sure do

ESAU ( HE SAID HOLDING OUT HIS HAND).
My name is Carl Ellison

YOUNG WOMAN (SHAKING ESAU’S HAND)
I’m Gloria Stevens, nice meeting you Carl

ESAU
What’s wrong?

GLORIA (TEARING UP)
I’ve just found out my asshole boyfriend of three years is seeing someone else and the bitch is pregnant and on top of that I just got laid off my job, and the rent is due next week, and I don’t have it.

ESAU
Your boyfriend must be crazy fuckin’ around on a good looking girl like you

GLORIA (WIPING HER EYES).
I went to church earlier and prayed for some help.


ESAU
Maybe your prayers have been answered

The woman looked at the little man who was shorter than she was but he wasn’t bad looking and seemed nice.

GLORIA
I hope so she said lowering her eyes

ESAU (SMILING)
I told you maybe your prayers were answered he said placing a hundred-dollar bill in her hand.

GLORIA (LOOKING AT THE MONEY)
I can’t take this

Gloria attempt to hand the money back to Esau and put on her coat and heads to the door, Esau follows and holds open the door.

ESAU
Can I walk you home, and it’s not safe for an attractive young lady to be out this time of night alone?

GLORIA (NODDING)
I live just down the street at 4410 South King

It had just started drizzling when they left the restaurant and walked hurriedly towards her apartment building, they walked east on 43rd Street, passed Michigan, Indiana and Prairie Avenue. As they walked under the CTA elevator station between Prairie and Calumet Avenue, in the recesses of the dark alley one of Bulls drug dealers Moe was at work. He had just completed making a sell of crack when he noticed the couple approaching the alley. Moe recognized Esau as the man he saw climb into the window on 45th Street. Moe walks out of the alley. The little man looked at Moe as Moe raised one finger; an invitation to buy some drugs the man shook his head as they passed. Moe watched as Esau and Gloria continued east and entered her apartment building but he was summoned back into the alley by another customer. Esau followed the young woman up the rickety stairs to the second floor, she stopped and inserted the key into apartment 2B; apartment 2A was to their right.

ESAU (POINTING TO APARTMENT 2A)
Are your neighbors nice?

GLORIA
That apartment been vacant for two months

ESAU (SMILING)
God sent me to you and all I want from you is to use your bathroom, I got a weak bladder and coffee goes right through me

The woman looked again at the little man and though about the money, she could pay her rent and have a little left. The man smiled and nodded as Gloria opened the door.

GLORIA
Sure, come on in the bathroom is down the hall. It’s not much, but its home care for some tea?

ESAU
Yes, thank you

Esau looked around the small two-room apartment, an old worn two-drawer dresser was next to a neatly made cot that was in one corner, a small television sat on two milk crates in another corner and a small card table chair sat in front of the television. Esau walked down the hall, past the bathroom and into the kitchen where Gloria woman was putting water in a teakettle. When she turned around the Esau struck her in the face with a stocking that contained rolls of pennies. The woman staggered back and fell on the sink; a look of utter terror and surprise was etched on her face, she tried to move but he struck her again and she fell unconscious on the floor. Esau pulled her limp body into the front room and began undressing her. Esau pulled down Gloria’s pink lace panties and closed his eyes as he sniffed them. He pulled two pairs of pantyhose from his pocket, tied one pair around her arms and another pair he stuffed in her mouth. The woman opened her terror filled eyes and looked up at him; he smiled as he raped her. After he had finished he removed the double condom and placed it in a small baggie. He then struck the terror stricken woman again with the weighted stocking, and dragged her into the bathroom and hoisted her into the tub. He spread her legs apart and propped her back against the edge of the tub and turned on the water carefully testing it so that it was lukewarm. The woman opened her glazed eyes; please she tried to say through the gag “Don’t kill me,” but the man smiled as he plunged the knife into her chest that gazed the left side of her heart, he pulled the knife free and plunged it into her chest again and again. He looked down at the dead woman and carved a deep X into her torso. He put his hands into her blood and drew a bloody X on the bathroom mirror. He then removed a jar from his pocket and put pieces of white skin under three of her fingernails. The man slowly backed out of the bathroom examining the area carefully as he removed the latex gloves. He looked for anything that could be used for evidence. He slowly backed into the living room searching the area. He spotted a small trace of blood on the floor where he had raped her. He took out an antiseptic soaked handkerchief and cleaned up the blood. He knew he couldn’t be too careful; a single drop of blood, a semen stain, a footprint or a fingerprint, a single strain of hair left could result in the coppers kicking in his door, and he knew that most criminals no matter how careful usually left something behind, but they were stupid and careless he was neither. He then slowly walked over to the dresser besides the cot and opened the two drawers, one had papers but the other had what he was seeking, he carefully removed the four pair of clean panties and held them to his nose for a moment. He removed a portable battery operated vacuum cleaner from his pocket and ran it over the floor and under the cot. He went through the apartment looking for anything that could indicate his presence, but found nothing, he was not worried about fingerprints or palm prints because he had worn latex gloves and besides he had never been arrested or fingerprinted. After taking a picture of the dead woman he slowly walked down the stairs, looked both ways and after seeing no one, slowly left the apartment.

INT: RIVER OAKS BALLY HEALTH CLUB POOL- 1 November 2008

I had just completed twenty laps in the pool and was in the locker room when my cell phone ranged, it was one of the secretary.

SECRETARY
Sergeant I,