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

a young, nervous looking white policeman his white face shield resting on top of his blue helmet. We entered the lobby of 124 South Jefferson and asked an officer what floor.

OFFICER
Apartment 10B and the elevator is out of order

We started up the urine soaked, dark and graffiti-marked stairwell passing other police officers. I was out of breath when we reached the tenth floor; more uniform officers were on the corridor and in front of apartment 10B. We entered the neatly furnished apartment and I saw an older woman sitting on a couch in the small front room, being comforted by a female officer, another police officer nodded towards the bathroom. In the bathroom a Crime Scene Investigator was examining the body while an evidence technician was snapping photos and another was writing notes. The victim was dark brown skinned and her hair was in corn curls, she looked to be in her late teens. She was naked and propped against the rim of the bathtub, a pair of pantyhose was tied tightly around her neck and duct tape covered her mouth. Carved between her budding breast and numerous stab wounds was a large X and a bloody X was scrawled on one wall. I looked at Evetta and we both knew that the X-Man had returned, I felt a knot in my stomach, a tremor of revulsion and recognition, I’ve seen this before. A Crime Scene Investigator pulled of his latex gloves and walked out the bathroom, Evetta and I followed.

EVETTA
What we got?

INVESTIGATOR
Black female, Deloris Whitfield, seventeen or eighteen, raped, stabbed and strangled have to wait until the ME get her on the table to find out cause of death, but looks like she been dead only hours, that‘s the grandmother Bertha Whitfield,” he said pointing to the front room.

As I headed into the front room to interview the grandmother

EVETTA
I’ll handle it

It never ceased to amaze me how my partner could sense my moods, she knew that somehow if the killer was the X-Man, I felt responsible for this young girl’s death, we had him, we had arrested him three years ago and somehow he had escaped after killing a police officer, I moved aside as she approached Bertha.

EVETTA
I’m Detective Evetta Lunden from Chicago, me and my partners Sergeant Ringo and US Marshall will be assisting the Joliet Police Department

Bertha’s eyes shifted to the bathroom as police officers were removing Deloris in a body bag, tears swelled in the grandmother’s eyes as the officers and her granddaughter left the apartment. Every police officer hate this moment when you have to intrude in a person’s most terrible moments, but it had to be done.

EVETTA
I hate to intrude at a time like this, but it’s important to gather as much information as possible, as quickly as possible, can I ask you a few questions, please?

BERTHA (WIPING HER EYES WITH A NAPKIN)
Yes

Bertha said that her granddaughter was an honor student and a senior at Joliet High School and she had raised her every since her mother and father was killed in a drive- by when she was two, Deloris had a scholarship to Indiana University and she wanted to be a social worker, she wanted to help the young girls living in the projects, she didn’t have a boyfriend or many girlfriends, she stayed mainly to herself studying and surfing the Internet.

EVETTA
Can you check her room and see if anything is missing?

We followed Bertha into Deloris bedroom, Bertha checked the closet and dresser drawers. She removed two one hundred dollar bills and showed them to Evetta and continued opening drawers. Bertha looked at Deloris neatly folded blouses and bras and opened the last drawer.

BERTHA
All of her panties and panty hose are gone

Evetta thanked Bertha and we left.


5 June 2012

The rape and murder of Deloris was on the national news and an when we returned to our office a crowd of reporters, black ministers and news crews stood in front of Police Headquarters confronting a Deputy Chief and demanding to know the latest on Deloris’s murder.

IRENE MUJHASI
Is this the X-Man, has he returned?
VOICE IN THE CROWD
What’s the department going to do to protect our black women

We pushed through the crowd without commenting and entered the building and went into Captain Woods office

WOODS
Bad?

RINGO
Yep, young high school girl, raped, stabbed and strangled, X carved into her body and smeared on a wall and panties missing.
WOODS
Sound like the X-Man?

RINGO
Why now, he’s been gone over a three years

WOODS
Who the fuck knows, maybe the urges got too strong for him to handle; he’s just a homicidal nut and by this evening every black leader in the city will be demanded to know what we’re going to do
I knew she was right, the city was already a racial cinder block and anything could ignite it.

WOODS
I got a call from Sergeant Hickman, Joliet Police Gang Unit, he’s got his guys out in Fairview talking to their informants, somebody has got to have seen something

RINGO
Believe me, Captain if, no, when we catch him this time he won’t get away again. I should have blown his fucking brains out when I had the chance

We returned to my office and Evetta poured coffee.

EVETTA
Think it’s him?

RINGO
It’s him!


8 June 2012
The little man sat on the bed in room 201 at the Joliet Motel naked except for Deloris’s pink lace panties. He swallowed a Valium and a Librium with a sip of Miller’s High Life beer and lay on the bed and began to masturbate, he thought of Deloris. He smiled as he remembered how he had fooled her into thinking he was going to help her with her algebra. How stupid she was, unable to figure out those elemental algebra questions. His mind drifted to how excited she was as she had let him into her apartment, all ready to be tutored; well he tutored her alright, with his dick. He remembered the shock on her face when he hit her knocking her out, duct taped her mouth and tied a pair of pantyhose around her neck. He remembered her tight and bloody pussy; it had been a long time since he had a virgin.
He remembered the wanton look in her eyes when she came to, she was really enjoying this lesson. The little man increased the rapidity of his masturbation and remembering how she looked when he let out a groan and ejaculated. He felt good; he popped an Ativan, downed it with a swig of beer, and fell asleep. The next morning Evetta, Cahill and I were at the Joliet Police Gang Unit drinking coffee with Sergeant Hickman. All night long I kept seeing the young girl with so much promise lying in the bathtub, violated and killed by a maniac.

SERGEANT HICKMAN
I remembered about two or three years ago getting a teletype of a serial killer in Chicago called the X-man, rape and killed young women and carved X’s into their bodies, think it’s the same asshole?

RINGO
Yep, we’re pretty sure it is

RINGO (SHAKING HIS HEAD)
One of my guys talked with an informant and was told that he saw a little dude talking with Deloris, the day before she was killed and he had never seen him before, no one paid any attention to him because he looked too small to be a cop. Matter-of-fact most of the homeboys were proud of Deloris and she recently been awarded a five thousand dollar college scholarship by the housing authority and the informant said that if he see the man again he‘ll let us know or they take care of him themselves

CAHILL
Any description


SERGEANT HICKMAN
Small man about five feet, one hundred fifty pounds, well built, long straight hair, sharp facial features, dark eyes and a coffee colored complexion

RINGO
Thanks Sarge

We returned to the projects, parked in the parking lot that had it share of broken down and semi--stripped vehicles and interviewed the residents in Deloris building and neighboring buildings, but the people living in this drug and gang infested area did not talk to the police, as we walked toward the building we were stopped by a police officer and handed us a copy of the Sun-Times Newspaper.

POLICE OFFICER
You guys seen this?

On the front page in bold headlines, “HAS THE SERIAL KILLER KNOWN AS THE X-MAN WHO ESCAPED FROM POLICE CUSTODY THREE YEARS AGO RETURNED?” The article was written by Irene Mujhasi, the black columnist who had been critical of the police investigation of the earlier X-Man killings, she accused the department and the city of not being concerned enough or exerting enough effort and resources in apprehending the X-Man since all of his victims were black and poor.I gave the paper back to the officer as we continued to apartment 10B and paid our respects to Bertha. There were three women in the kitchen, the smell of fried chicken, collard greens and cornbread filled the small apartment. Two older men sat in the front room with Bertha drinking beer, Bertha was sitting on the couch next to another older woman. I feel sorry for her, but she still maintained a certain dignity probably because in her life-time she had witnessed too many senseless deaths. Bertha introduced us to Deloris cousins and uncles and one of the ladies brought us a cup of coffee, Evetta again took the lead as we sat on the couch.

EVETTA
Just want to keep you up to date, we’ve got a good description of a suspect and our investigation revealed that no one had broken in to your apartment we think Deloris let the killer in. You told us that she didn‘t have many friends, why do you think she would let someone come in?

BERTHA
I don’t know, Deloris knew how dangerous this place is and after I would leave for work she would double lock the door

EVETTA
What time did you leave for work

BERTHA
I usually leave around noon

RINGO
What time did you get home?

BERTHA (CRYING)
Around eleven-thirty, that’s when I found Deloris

EVETTA
Again our deepest condolences’ and we will keep you informed

BERTHA
Thank you officers


MAN DRINKING BEER
When you catch the son-of-a bitch let me and Clyde have two minutes with him

RINGO
I might do that, after I’ve had my two minutes with him

20 June 2012- 5422 SOUTH WABASH
After leaving Joliet Esau Sneed returned to Chicago and drove to 54th South Wabash Avenue, a run-down warehouse section of the city. Esau parked Ada’s car and walked slowly along the dark street; this time of night, in this neighborhood the streets was deserted. He passed an alley where a group of homeless winos stood around a blazing fire in a garbage can drinking. Most of the warehouses were abandoned and shorted-out electrical signs advertising the businesses had long ago burned out, a three storied apartment building stood like a sentinel in the break neighborhood. He had been here before and knew that the second and third floor was empty and the resting place for the homeless people when the weather was cold and had no place else to go, he also knew that a prostitute, Debra Allen lived alone on the first floor and she used her apartment to entertain her customers.