Hello, Little Sparrow by Jordan Jones (the reading list .TXT) 📕

above the sink was smudged with unknown substances. I looked at my reflection and wondered if The Sparrow did the same not long ago.

“I’m running this in the lab,” Benjamin said. “Maybe we’ll get a match somewhere.”

Abraham turned to me after we left the bathroom. “Are we sure Kay hasn’t had other guys over here? She said her and her husband were through, right? She’s not letting him come back?”

“I’m not sure,” I responded. “I’d hate to upset her, tearing her house apart again, but it’s something we have to know.”

“Detectives!” Shouted a uniformed officer from Madison’s bedroom. “We found a box in the ceiling panels.”

“Let me take a look,” I said, placing on some latex gloves. The box was wooden and had the initials M.E.M. Inscribed on the top.

Madison Evelyn Maise.

The box was locked with a tiny keyhole at its center. With Abraham’s help, we were able to pry it open.

A kid with secrets laid out for the world to see.

The top of the box flew off and landed at our feet, but there appeared to be nothing inside. The box was lined with red felt, but the bottom was loose.

I lifted it up and pulled out a folded up sheet of paper. It read:

For whomever is unfortunate enough to have found this sheet of paper,

 

I am the Phoenix.

You know me as The Sparrow. I see the articles about me in the papers. I’m happy; I truly am, about how things are progressing. So far, I’ve been able to contain whatever that’s inside of me, but it’s about time to fly, fly, fly.

I took items from this house and have them somewhere you’ll never look. They mean much more to me than they ever would you. I scour over the letters…all addressed to me…the Phoenix.

If you think simple police work is going to come even close to stopping me, you will have to try much harder.

I’m not writing you to help you find me.

God, no. I’m writing you to offer some advice.

I’m doing the work your ‘justice system’ failed to do.

You try the vile.

You convict the vile.

You jail the vile.

You let the vile go.

I have been placed here to kill the vile. You do your part…I do mine.

My advice is to let me keep doing what I’m doing without repercussion. I’ve already cut one of yours and I’m bound to do it again.

We are not alike, you and I. In fact, we couldn’t be further apart. I help protect the children. You keep them with these predators.

How do you sleep at night?

I sleep just fine with my hands soaked in blood and my heart with fire.

My conscious is cleansed. I can’t possibly see how yours is.

 

You found me. I am here…you are not. The Sparrow will continue to provide this community with a free service, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.

Why would you want to?

 

I gave the paper to Abraham, then to LT Anderson who made his way through the house. They examined it and shook their heads.

“He must’ve come in here when Kay was working or somewhere else,” LT Anderson said. “She told me she thought our team came in and took items.”

We took the box outside to Kay and showed her the inside.

“She used to have a locket in there,” she said. “You found it in her ceiling tile? She used to just have it in her dresser.” She belted out a cry that seemed to come from nowhere. “I feel completely violated!”

“Mrs. Maise,” Abraham said. “Do you have anywhere else to stay for the night? We’re going to need your home for a few days. I don’t think it’s safe for you to go back in there for a little while.”

She nodded. “I can go to my sister’s. She’s across town. I don’t want to drive so I’ll have her pick me up.” A uniformed officer followed her back inside and gathered some of her things.

I turned to Abraham. “I’ve never seen anything like this if I’m being completely honest. Like, nothing about this makes sense. What are the chances that a girl’s suicide and a serial killer are somehow related?”

“You think they knew each other?” Abraham asked.

“I don’t see any other way,” I answered. “We’ll have to go through the family tree and see if there is anything noteworthy.”

LT Anderson stepped between us. “Benjamin and his team will finish up here. I’ll have Welker and Harlow go door to door in the morning to see if any suspicious stalkers were seen around. You two go back home. The Sparrow’s time here was likely days ago, so there’s nothing immanent that can be done until prints and the DNA from that hair come back. You two go get some serious rest. We’re going to need all of your energy bright and early.”

We both nodded and headed back to the Charger.

“And Detectives,” he said as we were only a few feet away from the car. “If you get drunk tonight I will personally see to it that you lose your jobs.”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” we said in unison and opened the car doors. The drive home was eerily quiet, and it wasn’t just that Abraham and I weren’t talking. The streets were bare, and it looked like some of the streetlights weren’t functional.

Dispatch said a transformer on the edge of town was hit by a semi driving too fast for the conditions. The driver was clinging to life and was being medevac’d to St. Michael’s for ‘serious head trauma.’

I held out hope it was The Sparrow taking his own life in grandiose fashion, sparks flying and metaphorically symbolizing the death of a killer.