Killer Detective
Ted Miller Paranormal Detective
by
A. J. Gallant
CHAPTER ONE
In the forest stood Joe Henry Fraser. He was carrying a moonlit body over his right shoulder, surrounded by January’s crisp air. As the strong wind pushed thin clouds through the night sky, they partially covered the full moon every minute or so. On a solitary trek, he was the only one in this area for miles. The cold winter forest was not a place that most aspired to be with such a cold front moving in.
Joe bit into the Hershey chocolate bar, hardened by the cold, yet savored it. His hands were rough like sandpaper from cutting wood. The woman he was carrying was petite, like holding a small bag of potatoes for a man of his size. Just a hint of Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb perfume lingered in the surrounding air. Her dead eyes remained open, and she would not gaze upon anything ever again.
The temperature was a frigid twenty degrees Fahrenheit. A powerful gust of wind hit Joe in the face and almost stopped him. He hummed a song he had heard as a child, Brother John; lately, tunes he had sung in school as a boy of eight or nine were returning to him. He wondered if someone from the other side was trying to get a message to him.
A break in the sky had moonlight peering at him like an eye from behind the clouds, looking down on the killer as he made his way through the woods. Joe paused for a minute, taking in the scents of blood and sweat surrounding him. His body covered with a cold sheen of perspiration from the excitement of the kill.
Joe watched an orange and black Monarch butterfly appear from somewhere off the dead woman, flitting around him. His blue eyes were strong with a keenness that made them appear they could see forever. He figured it was her soul leaving her body. It absolutely was not the time of year to support insects. The predator was open to many things, and heaven and hell were on that list. As he saw it, just because he was a hunter of people and sent souls along didn’t mean he would not end up walking through the pearly gates. Although with his personality, would he even fancy being in heaven? Probably not, as it sounded boring. He sighed and would deal with that when the time came.
The hand on his Rolex watch on his swollen wrist, which he had injured in his sleep, moved to half past midnight. The moon cast a dim light as the clouds parted. Another gust blew through the trees from the northeast as a moose crunched a twig in half. The animal was aware of the human in the distance as the air current blew Joe’s stink and the dead body’s faint smell to the gigantic head with antlers. The odors were unappealing, so the mammal moved away to be safe.
Joe was familiar with his surroundings. He once had a cabin here, but not much remained of it. He did not anticipate having one of his victims in the vicinity, but the female had been close enough to warrant staging her nearby. Lily had been a victim of opportunity when her car broke down, waving to Joe as he passed, a double stroke of unfortunateness. Had it been anyone else, she would still be the happy-go-lucky woman she had been.
Because Joe had such a presence, he sometimes used a cane and a fake limp to get women to feel at ease. He considered himself an excellent actor with that walking stick. He would wince and make it sound like he was in quite a bit of pain and would stumble and almost fall. Even practiced in his full-length mirror. And the support also made an excellent club for bashing someone’s head in. Joe used to have a walking stick with a sword built in, but it broke, and he never replaced it.
The killer walked across the frozen snow, listening to it crunch under his big feet. A layer of freezing rain had covered the white stuff. No one could sneak up on anyone with such harsh sounds, louder than one would imagine possible for snow. Each step punched a four-inch-deep hole, slowing his trek.
Joe stopped and looked down, shown his flashlight, seeing the red and golden decayed leaves frozen in a patch of ice under his right foot, leftovers from October. Winter brought death, and some animals did not survive the season. However, life and death always did the dance, and life was never as long as one hoped. It was even shorter when Joe took an interest in someone.
Killing a person took smarts if one wanted to get away with it. Everyone died, so what if he sent them to heaven a little earlier than scheduled? Nothing wrong with that. Joe preferred women because they were easier to handle. Although one had made him flee for his life when the female began shooting at him. He caught one bullet in his left shoulder and another piece of lead from a tree ricochet into his left butt cheek. It had been a son-of-a-bitch to remove and put him out of commission for half a year from the wound and the mind challenges he had experienced from the encounter. Joe had fought through the panic attacks and believed his mind was stronger than ever.
Did they test my blood left behind from that? If so, they could undoubtedly tie me to that scene. It has been a while, but still.
The area was stark and as colorless as a black-and-white photo. Joe gazed across the pond with his dead blue eyes. He wore spikes on his Scarpa Rebel K-insulated boots for a better grip, and when he returned home, he would burn them. The cold brought forth a memory of when Joe was a child. He had discovered a twenty-dollar bill iced over at the end of a driveway in a puddle that had frozen on his way to school. It had taken him half an hour to smash it from the ice with the heel of his boot. Had to fight another student for it. He had been ten. That was the first time he had hurt someone. He had to restrain himself from smashing his head with a rock.
The wind increased in intensity for a short time, making the trees creak. Even with his face mask, long Johns and black and red heavy winter coat, the wind took a heavy toll. The longer one was out in the elements, the more one’s immune system lowered.
Joe stared skyward as the clouds temporarily covered the moon, and he adjusted the corpse he was carrying. “Not that much further,” Joe said to Lily. “I imagine you are already in heaven and probably not paying attention any longer.”
He had cut her throat, and a drop of blood dislodged from her and fell onto the ice and snow as he crossed the frozen pond. Had his body heat thawed a bit of blood? The dark red against the bright snow was almost mesmerizing. It fascinated him, the red blood against the white. Blood had always enchanted Joe. He stopped and gazed at it as it almost hypnotized him. It was like the most beautiful painting. He fixed his beam of light on the blood for a minute or more.
“We’re almost there.” She was his second this month, and he thought he might need a break before the next one. Joe wondered if he could do something to a person’s car in the future and still have it go a few miles before conking out. But this killer didn't have any mechanical skills. A hole in the gas tank? It wouldn’t take long for someone to detect that.
“I have something arranged for you.” DNA was a hassle these days. As were the myriad cameras that they had everywhere. He preferred isolated areas; rural roads or small towns were the best hunting places. However, at times, the desire to kill was too strong, leaving him to fight the urge, or would be at a greater risk of being caught.
Joe had built a chair from thick branches some time ago and had never used it, and that’s where he would place the dead woman. He had many of these things in different parts of the forest, but rarely used them. A bit of a hobby, albeit a strange one. Joe could work on one for hours, imagining that a dead body would end up in it. However, usually that was not the case. Creating them gave him satisfaction. The elements usually caused gradual destruction, yet rebuilding should not take long, and he had a roll of strong black electrical tape with him. “Lily, your chair awaits.”
He had always enjoyed a solitary trek through the forest, even as a ten-year-old killing birds with his slingshot. Being around other people was aggravating more times than not. The woods were tranquil and allowed him to think and to plan.
As a serial killer, he figured the cops appreciated a well thought out crime scene, even though she had taken her last breath miles away. Joe would add cigarette butts, hair, and other so-called evidence for them to play with. He had showered and scrubbed his bald head to a shine to diminish his chances of leaving any evidence behind. And with so much phony data, a defense lawyer should have success with any charges against him. He almost wanted to get caught to see if he could get away with it.
The killer had a cyanide suicide pill glued to his right shoulder. He could bite it if necessary and kill himself if it came down to it. He did not plan to suffer a prolonged death if it ever came to that. Joe worried about a bullet in his gut and figured it would be an excruciating way to go, especially after being shot twice by that female. It felt like an iron fist that went in him and expanded; the pain was awful.
The killer had found a broken fingernail at the Spirit Room, a bar in Rochester. He threw that into the mix of fake evidence. The slayer left so much behind he knew that the FBI would figure out what he was doing, but it would not help them much. If something from him got unintentionally left behind, they would have difficulty proving it. Joe always left strands of hair because he was bald. Five dissimilar strands in the girl's left hand would go perfectly with the fingernail. Locating such things was easy when one kept an eye out for them. Joe used tweezers to pick up cigarette butts and put them in a plastic bag. All part of the killing game.
Joe cocked his head and looked toward a shadow that pursued him. “I know. I will be ready when the time comes. Tired of you telling me the same damn thing! Damn, ghouls.”
Finally, Joe had arrived at his spot in the woods. Her seat was pretty much intact; the plastic cord had held up. Now, let me see if it will take her weight? It works. She looks rather spiffy. You will soon be ready for the crime scene photographer and don’t forget to smile. He guessed that one day they would make a movie about his life, and it brought a big smile. Who will play me? If he doesn’t do a good job, I might have to send his soul along.
Mister Brown delicately adjusted the corpse in the seat tied to two pine trees, not wanting to break it. He put a Marlboro cigarette in her right hand and crossed her legs. He considered giving her an old 45 vinyl record, but decided that he would place it on the next body. Besides, that was one item Joe forgot to bring, imagining when the time came, some detective would try to make something out of it.
The wind was likely to blow some of the DNA away, but that would be their job to find it. Or not. He imagined what he placed in her hand would stay put and to be sure he taped it. The female was likely to be a popsicle when they discovered her remains.
“You badger me again, and I won’t do it!” Joe looked over his left shoulder, shaking his head.
Silence again engulfed the area.
