Chapters 1-5

“I am a Beast that dreamt he was a Man, a person with all the weakness, frailty and flaws that being a man entails. Now the Beast is awake and that dream is over.  Amen”

Chapter 1

At twelve past midnight it was almost time to seize his treasure. Ramón had noticed the open garage door earlier in the day long before sun down.

It had been a little before noon when Ramón had first seen the open treasure trove and the three occupants who would keep it from him.

The three occupants were lugging boxes from the garage into their quaint middle class home. Undoubtedly taking their time moving their belongings in and organizing things however it suits them. Because the day was so peaceful and the neighborhood so quiet the three never suspected that they were being watched.

The trio consisted of a rugged man in his mid forties a woman presumably the same age that looked better kept then her partner and a younger man who appeared to be in his early twenties that stood out a little more due to his dark hair, dark eyes and pale complexion.

He wasn’t able to make out much more about them. He had quick eyes meaning he was able to take in many details with a short glance. However he was attempting to appear disinterested as he strolled past. He was also far more interested in their numerous boxes then he was in them, and that’s where his quick hands and even quicker feet would come into play.

Ramón had left quickly. It was not uncommon for him to go patrolling for opportunities while he ditched school. He would travel a few blocks from where he lived and look for anything of value that was left unattended. Anything not tied down was fair game. If he saw a sellable item that really caught his eye and someone was around to see him he might even come back later if the potential payoff was big enough.

The three occupants had continued unpacking at a slow but steady pace as he strode out of sight. This was perfectly fine by him, it meant more treasure for him to pillage through when he returned later. And he would be returning, this was definitely an opportunity.

At seven pm Ramón had returned. The lime green middle class stucco house no longer showed signs of movement. The black Iron Gate leading to the front door was closed. Two cars, a red mercury cougar and a metallic blue dodge Daytona remained in front of the house. A mustard yellow dodge ram pickup truck was off by the side walk and by proximity appeared to belong to the residents within. If three vehicles are present then the odds suggested all three people are in the house Ramón reasoned as he strolled by. There either taking a break or relaxing for the rest of the day.  ‘In any case….they left the garage open’ he thought excitedly’

His excitement was short lived as he noticed nearby onlookers. An elderly couple sitting in their front lawn in fold out chairs watching the setting sun…. and observing him while they were at it. It was an old man, thin and frail with a full head of stark white hair and thick bottle like glasses. The woman looked a little younger than him with the hunchback of a troll and more facial hair then the man sitting beside her. She had an unsightly birthmark on her face and was largely overweight by contrast to the old man’s small stature. Ramón figured they were in there seventies judging by the excess wrinkles on both of them.

The couple began to focus on him with more interest as he started to walk away. ‘Maybe they think I look suspicious or guilty of something’ Ramón thought to himself. “Or maybe they are just nosey annoying old people that should mind their own f*****g business.” He grumbled out loud.

He had to keep moving. As much as he wanted to take a closer look at the garage he had to show restraint. He pretended to be disinterested, and he pretended to not be annoyed. But they continued to watch him. He had no choice but to leave. He prayed to the devil the garage door would still be open when he returned. Then he walked away.

*****

And now it was dark.

The night had finally come. Ramón crept slowly along the sidewalks heading back toward the house with the alluring treasure trove in the open garage. He weaved in an out of shadows stepping into the street to avoid the illumination of the accusing overhead lamps.  Occasionally he would be forced to back track and find a different route to avoid barking dogs left outside for the night by their owners.

More often than not the residents of the homes would not check to see what their dog was barking at unless the barking escalated or they heard a suspicious noise.  This he knew, However on a night of such opportunity this thief wasn’t taking any unnecessary risks, at least not as of yet. When he reached his destination if he discovered that there was enough of value to take further risk, or at least claim the good stuff for himself, he might call a friend with a vehicle to help him move his treasure to a secure location to sift through it further.

He dreaded the idea of splitting this with anyone. Odds were high that most of what he would find would be junk to him. But he also knew somewhere amidst all of those boxes would be at least a few trinkets of value and he would find them if Mr. Opportunity didn’t shut the door.  And if luck was on his side he might find something big.

He finally reached the corner leading on to Searchlight Avenue. He now stood two houses away from his target when the exhilaration he felt was cut off momentarily by shear amusement as he noted a neighborhood watch sign posted on the corner street lamp. It was inscribed with a shadowy figure that stared at him warily from his perch. This made it even funnier.

“Prolly those two annoying old f***s across the street.” Ramón whispered to himself with a slight chuckle. The chuckle silenced almost as quickly as it started, more from anger then from caution.

“Them nosey a******s better not have ruined this for me…It better still be open or I swear im gonna go over there and….” His whisper was cut short with renewed excitement as he saw the garage was indeed still open.

He stepped off the corner, still keeping out of the light and moving with both a cats silence and grace toward the garage.  There was not a soul in sight, not a single barking dog and the street lamp in front of the house was broken casting further darkness over the property.  The cougar and Daytona both sat in the driveway. The pickup truck remained parked in front of the silent house.  It was almost too perfect.

He was only a few steps from the driveway when this perfection was marred by a motion detecting light that suddenly illuminated the front porch. Ramones heart skipped a beat until he realized he wasn’t the one that set it off.  A stray cat had moved by the front door of the house. Within seconds of its departure the light was already off again.

He hoped there was no such motion controlled light stationed on the driveway itself. Such an occurrence wouldn’t stop him from taking away something with his fast hands but his stay would be cut short.  He tested the driveway like swimmer would test the water of a pool and slowly made his way in. When he was about a quarter ways up the driveway his fears abated. No accusing eye of light awaited him.

It was time to put his fast hands to use. Ramones heart raced swiftly, but his movements were silent and precise. He marched up the driveway and between the metallic blue and elegant red vehicles with long silent strides until he stood just outside the threshold.

For the first time since the idea to rob this place entered his mind he began to feel a little uneasy. He looked around cautiously. The feeling of eyes watching him came upon him suddenly and he felt paralyzed. It struck him like a sudden irrational fear. Like a police spotlight would turn on suddenly and dozens of officers would have him surrounded.

‘Of course this was a trap.’ The idea raced in his mind. The wealthiest house on the street, which also happens to be the most poorly lit and therefore also the darkest house just happened to leave a treasure trove of goodies out in the open for any thief to take.

‘How could he be so stupid?’  Ramón thought to himself.  His drunk for a dad was going to beat him to the near point of death when the cops called him and told him what his son had been doing.  Not because he cared of course, it would be one of the few valid reasons he ever had and he couldn’t miss out on that.

Ramones feeling of fear and dread was so certain and yet as he waited, nothing changed, No lights came on. No sirens. No voice of authority or calls to the drunk and disorderly in the middle of the night. All was still silent. Yet the feeling of dread remained.  He looked around suspiciously noticing all too well how much darker this lot seemed compared to the rest on the street.

There did not appear to be prying eyes. Perhaps he was fearful of an angry homeowner emerging from the shadows of the garage with a gun and no warning shots.

He surveyed the large garage with its countless boxes stacked from one end to the other and changed his mind, the feeling of dread as childish and sudden as it seemed, this overwhelming feeling that certain doom was upon him was perhaps instead a big feeling of simply being overwhelmed by the task at hand. He had no idea where to begin. There were more boxes then he remembered.

He considered turning on his flashlight and treading to the back of the garage to begin, figuring a smart person would place the more valuable items further in. Before he made any headway in his plan lady luck seized him yet again. In one of the open boxes at the very front staring at him on top of the pile was an old world antique jewelry box.

He picked up the box quickly to remove it from its cardboard confines and set it down on the floor for better access, he looked around with speed equal to his swift hands and still there were no prying eyes. The wooden jewelry box was big enough to require two hands to safely carry but he knew that would be a waste if there was anything else worth taking in the rest of the garage.

 He opened the box surprised by a momentary musical chime from the box itself. Not loud enough to wake the household but loud enough to startle him. His fear subsided as he found the multitude of jewelry contained within the chest like box. There were bracelets, necklaces and rings. He couldn’t make out the types of metal or gems but there was over twenty items of jewelry in the box.

He could feel from the texture of the metal that some of the pieces were very old, but he had no time to worry about the quality. He would take all of it. Shoving all the pieces of jewelry into his coat as quick as he could, he tried not to drop any of the pieces in the dark.

One brilliantly shiny white gold locket stood out above the rest a hint of light reflecting off it illuminating its beauty and for a moment he stared at it in awe. He knew this one was definitely worth something.

His thoughts were cut off by the loud squeak of a door hinge.

Ramones eyes immediately shot up toward the doorway at the back of the garage leading into the house. The door stood open. A dark silhouette stood motionless at the door staring at him in silence.  Ramón took a small subtle step backward. His foot step echoed in the silence as he stared up at this shadow of a man. The man in the dark tilted his head ever so slightly. He leaned up against the door frame and continued staring in absolute silence.

Ramón took another step back. The man in the dark took in a deep breath and exhaled audibly and slow. Otherwise the figure remained motionless and silent as it watched him.

He would have felt better if the person spoke. Or screamed, or said they were about to call the police. Something about this felt wrong. It seemed like the guy had been expecting him. Like someone had sprung a trap just for him. 

Perhaps he was caught but he had most of the jewelry in his pockets and an expensive locket in his hand. His resolve was clear.  Ramón tensed to run.

Suddenly the man in the dark pulled the door shut and disappeared into the house. A moment later with deliberate haste, the hinges to the front door squeaked and the door slammed, followed by the grind of metal as the metal gate was pushed open. Ramón panicked.  He began to run. Whoever he was this guy was coming at him fast.

            Ramón bolted down the driveway and did not look back. He could feel the clatter of someone else’s footsteps vibrating off the pavement right behind him.

CHAPTER 2

He ran as fast as his legs could allow. Ramon tensed readying to be tackled or struck, his attempt at running away starting too slow to save him.

Then he heard the footsteps stagger. His pursuer briefly lost his footing but Ramon didn’t care to turn and look. He knew that now he had a chance to do what he was good at. He always was faster than most, he was very fast.

Ramon felt the wind around him. He felt like he was moving fast enough to almost take flight. He made a wide turn at the street corner so he could keep his speed. He only slowed a little, it was almost enough to cost him. Again he felt the vibrations; he heard the drop of clattering foot steps behind him.

Once he rounded the corner and hit the straight away of the next street he went into overdrive and took off at full speed. The footsteps quickly disappeared behind him and slowly his fear was being replaced by the excitement. It was a close call but with each step, as the sound of his pursuer faded he felt the thrill of his close call.

He kept moving. But he wasn’t going to simply run, he was going to show whoever was chasing him the difference between a smart thief and the idiots who got caught. He turned right and continued running down the next street, but rather then go to the end he continued across the street, reached the locked side gate of the nearest house, he clambered over it without a hitch.

His heart jumped with the sound of a snarling dog only a few feet away. He kept moving, running along the side of the house towards the backyard. The dog started barking and howling and Ramon realized the dog was in the yard the next house over. However, he didn’t notice the pool a foot in front of him; he almost took a tumble in but shifted his weight, veered around and dived for the wall.

He pulled himself over and once again trespassed his way across another back yard. This time the thoughtful residents left the gate open and he took the easy route, opened the door and slipped through before pulling it closed behind him. Another dog sounded off in the distance from the streets now behind him, his pursuer undoubtedly slipping further and further behind him if they hadn’t given up already.

Ramon didn’t let this slow him, He was almost out of breath but he continued to run, hustling down the street, slowing a little as he reached the next street before finally slowing to a jogging pace. He was out of breath but he was smiling. Aside from dogs barking there was no sign of his pursuer. He felt his bulging pockets which nearly over flowed with old jewelry. His hand still held the last piece he picked up before he was forced to flee, the bright silver heart shaped locket.

Slowly Ramon headed west along the street, trying to distance himself as much as possible from the house he successfully robbed. If he veered north he would come to a major cross street but if the home owner decided to give up the chase and instead called the cops they would be coming, looking for a suspicious man. They would definitely check the bigger roads so he had to stick to the side streets. They may even have his description depending on how well his pursuer saw him.

He knew better then to put himself out there. He would listen close, and keep a look out while slowly making his way home. It wasn’t a short walk but he could make it easily and then he will have won.

He continued marching on. The end of the road was up ahead, veering off to the right it would take him east. From there he had a few ideas of the route he would take.

A street lamp went out. Ramon paused. It wasn’t the street lamp ahead of him or the one above him. The ones down the road behind him were going out one row at a time. As the street lamps went out so did the lights from the houses, the glow of television sets and even the electrical buzz from the electrical poles around him were blinking out.

As the lamp over Ramon’s head blacked out so did the sound. His heart leapt into his throat as the distant sound of cars traveling up and down Sahara Street disappeared along with the howls of the barking dogs. The sound was so normal to him he’d never have noticed it until it unexpectedly disappeared, yet he could still hear his own footsteps as he tried to continue walking which made him pause yet again. He felt disoriented. Then the sound came back on as if nothing had happened.

Now it was the lamp light behind him blinked out.

The air felt heavy, Ramon began to feel fear again. He unknowingly started walking backwards as he irrationally looked for the source of the roaming blackout.

It was then that it hit him. Ramon’s jaw snapped. Two teeth immediately cracked as they shattered from the impact. He only saw him in the corner of his eye at the last moment before the pain surged and he found himself hitting the concrete in the middle of the street. He didn’t get a good look but whoever it was; he was strong…and very fast.

Ramon tried to rise to his feet. He felt heavy, blood streamed from his mouth and he now noticed excruciating pain coming from his ribs. He tried to crawl away, his mind reeled.

He didn’t make it far before he felt the iron grip of his assailant’s hand gripping his arm, squeezing it like a vice as he was lifted off the pavement, almost like he was a small toddler by comparison to his attacker.

Before he could turn to see who was doing this to him, who was killing him for’…for stealing jewelry?’ he went blind with new pain, he felt something sharp digging into his side, twisting, tearing into his kidney, his insides were burned. Then he felt the stabbing burrow into his chest. It was then that his vision slowly came back and he got a glimpse of his killer.

At least as good a glimpse as he could get right before something was rammed into the corner of his right eye, before digging and twisting out his eye ball.

Ramon was floating now. He felt the breeze of the wind around him. He felt weightless as he was being held above the ground by something in the darkness. He was cold and dripping wet with blood, he felt more tugging and the sound of tearing cloth. His fists were clenched so tight the only thing that told him he was still alive was that he felt the small heart shaped locket still clenched in his palm. 

He could still see them. In his head before his vision went out completely he could still see them. Those eyes, they were staring down at him. ‘What was wrong with those eyes? Were they even real?’ he wondered.

Suddenly his feet unexpectedly hit the pavement again. To his surprise Ramon was somehow standing again but was quickly losing his balance. He couldn’t feel his assailants grip anymore; he staggered and spun as the sound of screeching breaks filled the world around him and with the sound came bright blinding light that temporarily pierced the darkness.

Then the darkness came over him once more. Ramon felt himself plowing into the pavement, never to move again. The pain was subsiding, he felt like he was falling into an abyss, a feverish sleep that would be far more permanent.

 “Those…eyes..” He whimpered.

Then silence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 3

The glow of red and blue light illuminated the scene. A heavy silence had set in. There was only soft chatter from the onlookers on the sidewalks as they came peeking out of their homes in the middle of the night to see what had brought the police to their front doors. Detective Thomas Staziak stared down at the teenagers tattered remains. His hand was steady as he held the blood soaked sheet, even considering the brutal sight that lay beneath. Staziak noticed numerous deep lacerations in the chest and abdomen. He was more interested in the damage done to the face. There were tiny holes in the right cheek and jaw. More importantly the teen’s right eye was torn from his head and missing from the scene. His left eye remained in place, frozen in a stare of eternal terror.

“Screwed up yer calling card this time… ” He whispered to no one in particular.

Staziak noticed officer Hartly had appeared beside him at some point. He also noted Hartly was carrying himself better than he did at the two previous crime scenes.

“You seem to be getting better at this.” Staziak said finally acknowledging him.

“Why? Because I’m not taking a break to go spew in the storm drain this time?”

“Something like that” Staziak mumbled as he finished up his inspection of the body.

“I think I’m just getting used to it sadly.” Hartly replied with an awkward frown.

“I know what you mean.” Staziak said as he casually noticed a mix of blood and dirt caked on his shoe.

“I can’t imagine this sort of thing ever gets to you, seems like you have a tolerance level far beyond the norm.”

“uh huh” Staziak tried to scrape what he could off his shoe onto the pavement.

“I just wanted to let you know your times up, CSI has officially arrived on scene and you know they don’t want us tampering with the bodies anymore.” Hartly said with sarcasm.

“Not my fault they can’t find anything useful.” Staziak replied dryly.

Hartly nodded. He appeared to be surveying the crowd as he spoke, more likely keeping his eyes on the CSI team.

“I think their under the gun. Apparently someone higher up thinks it’s not normal to investigate this many murder scenes with the same perp and come up with absolutely nothing..Not a single drop of blood from the attacker. Not a single follicle of hair or torn clothes. Not even a single skin flake for that matter.

Rising to stand Staziak motioned for Hartly to follow him away from the body. “Making the statement that this is the same Perp is a bad assumption of inductive reasoning you know?”

 “Is that a Joke? I mean come on… from what you’ve seen you know it’s gotta be the same guy!”

Staziak ignored the question his change of focus was response enough. “So what else we got?”

“A Possible witness but don’t get your hopes up. So far we haven’t been able to get much out of him. “

Staziak had noticed an estranged looking man sitting on the curb a few feet from the body. A white Hyundai accent presumably belonging to this man was parked at an angle in front of the body as if it had stopped short to avoid something, its engine was idling and its headlights were still on.

“I guess I’ll go talk to..” Staziak was cut off when a new but familiar voice chimed in from behind them.

“So what’s with that poorly made Japanese s**t box in front of the body? Is it there for aesthetic purposes?” Said Staziaks partner Sylvester Dupre.

Hartly dropped the notepad he had been carrying obviously surprised. “Damnit to Hell Silver! How many f****n times have I told you not to sneak around like that? I swear to god I almost shot you!”

Sylvester or as his friends knew him ‘Silver’ smirked at the remark. “Me thinks ye have mistaken yerself for someone with reflexes. So why should I worry? To shoot someone ye need to actually draw yer gun, take aim and pull the trigger not leave it sitting in its holster while ye piss yerself.”

From the heated expression forming on Hartlys face Staziak knew a sharp rebuttal was on its way and this would be followed by a dose of Silver’s even sharper Irish Sarcasm, which would of course lead to worse.

Now was not the time so Staziak spoke first. “So you’re on scene for two minutes and your already starting s**t?”

Silver grinned festively. “Don’t be kiddin yerself. I arrived here five minutes before you did. You need to be more observant. I just finished scouting out the area . Somethin about this murder seems different from the others don’t ya think?”

Staziak nodded. He thought back to the look of terror in the victims face. A look that nagged him, it seemed to express something beyond a fear of death.

 “I’ve noticed a few things, nothing concrete except a change in the pattern and of course a failed attempt at his standard calling card. “

Silver continued his festive grin as he raised a questioning eyebrow as if to ask ‘Is that all’

Hartly stared blankly obviously feeling left out of the loop since he didn’t know all the facts of the previous murders.

“Ok then “You got something else? Staziak asked intrigued.

Silver nodded.

 “Then thrill me.”

 CHAPTER 4

 

“So it’s the middle of the night and you’re a young dead Hispanic male with no ID you’ve been attacked and torn open in the middle of the street. This doesn’t appear to be your neighborhood. What were you doing out here before someone decided to stab you? Dare I say if we knew this we might have what they call a lead?”    

Staziak nodded. He kept a straight face but he didn’t exactly care for Silver’s way of making a murder sound like a punch line.“Nothing we didn’t already know”

Silver continued. “It appears the killer was in a rush this time. Every murder with his MO has been in doors, usually in the victim’s home, often behind locked doors with signs that the victim saw him coming and tried to keep him out but failed to escape or call for help.”

“Getting to the logical conclusion soon I hope..” Staziak chided.

Silver stayed on course telling it in his own way. “He’s usually sneaky and precise. He targets them, stalks them and plans things out. But this time it’s outside in a public place where he might be seen.”

Staziak considered the man still sitting on the curb wondering if just maybe.. ”He didn’t leave a message this time and he only made off with one of the eyes.”

Hartly’s color dropped by two shades. Staziak realized the patrolman had seen three victims now. But he never closely examined them. He saw horror and gore but not details.

“This information stays here Hartly you tell no one. Got it?”

Hartly nodded in silence.

“His calling card suggests he judges his victims. He leaves a small message scrawled in blood on the wall. He tears out his victim’s eyes and takes them with when he vacates.”

Hartly looked like he might spew again. “Why the eyes?”

“Unknown, it would only be speculation at this point. It could be to taunt us. Or It could be a psychological reason of his own design. It could even be for a personal trophy collection.”

Hartly could take no more. He quickly walked away trying to save face before he puked at yet another crime scene.

Silver watched him go. His smile slipping away as he seemed to get more serious. Staziak knew this meant he was finally getting to the point.

“The part you may have missed was the kids pockets were ripped open …all of em. I noticed a ring and a necklace on the ground. It appears to be women’s jewelry.

“So he was out stealing when he bumped into the killer? Or presumably he may have unknowingly been stealing from the killer considering nothing has ever been taken from the crime scenes besides eyes.” Staziak said.

 “I also found this clenched in his hand. The one piece the Perp missed. ” Silver revealed an open locket in a small zip lock bag used for gathering evidence. “Even if it doesn’t have prints it might be interesting to know who the woman is.”

 In the locket was an aged picture of a middle aged woman on one side and on the other side was the picture of a slightly older looking man. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 CHAPTER 5

Silver left to follow his lead. Hartly had recovered and helped keep the growing crowd off the premises until the CSI unit finished up. The paramedics were given the go ahead to take the body to the coroner for closer examination.

Staziak looked around at the stucco homes. The beige desert tones were even drabber in the dark. He often wondered why desert colors like beige were used in what was already a desert. This along with the rock filled landscaping jobs to beautify the front yards of these desert hobbles with a random palm tree scattered around did nothing to give him a better opinion of the lay out.  He would have preferred the feel of a desert oasis.

He approached the man sitting on the curb. The report he filled out indicated his name was Paul Kirshner. He also indicated that he was a married thirty four year old man who was also a Las Vegas native.

Staziak noted that besides those interesting facts it seemed Paul was quite dedicated to explaining why he was innocent and not responsible for killing anyone. He indicated that he merely turned onto a street where he swerved and stopped short right in front of a dying man that flopped dead onto the pavement in front of his car.

His blood alcohol level indicated that he was at the line of a man who shouldn’t have been driving. Staziak imagined Paul had been over the line when the incident had actually occurred.

“You here to ask me the same questions too?” Paul asked. He looked shaky and dazed. His eyes were blood shot from drinking and what may have been tears.

“Doubtful” Staziak took a seat beside him on the curb. He looked over at the Hyundai which now was parked on the other side of the street after the investigators had finished their observations. 

Paul sat in silence, his breath heavy with anxiety.

This was the difficult part. Staziak knew he wasn’t the best when it came to relating to others. He always preferred logic over sympathy.

“Unfortunately while I’m sure this has been a very difficult time for you I am going to need you to tell me exactly what happened while it’s all still fresh in your mind. What did you see?”

Griping in anger Paul responded. “I wrote it all out. I’ve been over this three times already. I saw a man flailing around in the street, I didn’t hit him, He turned and showed me what grim death looked like then he fell.”

Paul paused briefly as if thinking. “He fell onto the hood of my car and bounced off. That’s all I saw. I didn’t see anything else.”

Staziak nodded slowly. He whipped out a note pad and a pen. The pen clicked and he started jotting down some notes as he spoke. “Ok so you basically ran this guy down is what you’re telling me?”

Paul nearly jumped off the curb. His eyes became livelier then they had appeared in the past two hours.  “No I said I didn’t hit him. I told you he was flailing around and he fell onto my hood.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Staziak said coldly.  “All I see in the report is your emphasis that you came across a man dying in the street and how you didn’t hit him. You emphasize it so much in fact that I can’t help but think there’s more. From my experience it’s a clear sign of guilt. And then there is that small dent on the front bumper of your car. How did he cause that from dropping onto the hood?”

Paul suddenly appeared very sober as his eyes darted over to his car. ”What dent? I wasn’t…I … That was from another time. I hit a post.”

“Did you? I bet you drink enough on a regular basis that I would almost believe it but then I’m sure if we examine the dent we might find...”

“I don’t know if I hit him! Ok? I DON’T KNOW! I was drinking, I was sleepy... My car started acting funny. The lights started dying, the engine was losing power the radio turned to static. I got distracted….” He drifted off.

Staziak nodded. He knew a little push might get a better response out of him. Now he listened for the ques. “and then what happened?”

Paul’s voice was pleading. “I don’t know if I hit him. The car was acting up. I think I was playing with the light switch…or maybe the radio. Then suddenly the lights were fine, everything was normal again… and then I saw this man flailing in the road right in front of me.. I think I stopped in time… I thought… the bump was from him running into me…but I don’t know. If I hit him it wasn’t hard..I was almost stopped and his throat. I didn’t do that? You can’t slit someone’s throat open with a car.”

 Now he was in tears. “He was already dying… I think…I don’t think I hit him.”

Staziak tried to sound reassuring. He felt bad being so calculating but he needed truth right now if he was going to get any real leads. “From what we saw here tonight I think it’s safe to say someone got to him before you turned the corner.  If someone killed him they struck the lethal blow before you got near him.”

Paul nodded. He was only sobbing now.

“I have to ask this. It’s important so please think hard. Did you see anyone else? Any movement?  Anything you can think of? It doesn’t matter what it is?”

Paul nodded softly before speaking almost inaudibly. “I was drinking and I just saw the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life…but I think I saw something…”

“You think you saw someone?” Staziak corrected.

“Maybe... I don’t know. I thought I saw someone running on the sidewalk.“ He gestured to the left along the sidewalk they currently sat on and toward the corner.

“I think I may have seen someone turn the corner fast. But it was like a shadow. It was…It was so sudden I thought it was just shadow.”

“How do you know it wasn’t?” Staziak pushed just a little more.  “Sorry to press this but I need to know. A dying man is bleeding out in front of you, there’s blood, you’ve been drinking, and your cars acting weird. What made you look all the way over there at the end of the street to spot a shadow? It seems a bit farfetched”

Paul spoke softly, He sounded like he was seeing it all play out before his eyes. “The street lights” Was all he said.

“What about the lights?”

“I didn’t notice it at first. The lights were off like there was a black out. The street lamps around me came on right when my car got its juice back. That’s why I saw him.”

Staziak raised a brow questioningly but said nothing.

“I couldn’t make out more than a shape. He was tall, looked like a big guy. I know it sounds crazy but it was like more street lamps turned on the further away he got.” He went silent.

Staziak nodded and jotted down a few notes before tucking his pen away. “Thank you.”

“I never heard of a roaming black out that moved in straight lines. One row of lamps at a time..the house lights too. Maybe it was just me being drunk or crazy.”

“Crazy is just a different albeit less common form of perception.” Staziak chimed in sounding cheerier then he had all day. “Besides you did a good thing just now, telling me all this. Delusions or not there are clues. It’s all explainable, there’s evidence to be found for those that dig.

“So what did this accomplish exactly?” Paul asked.

“It puts me one step closer to catching this f****r.”Staziak responded. “I will find him and I will stop him. Of that you can be sure. “