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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 2, 2018 14:28:11 GMT -5
The two left the scared... and somewhat confused shop owner, alone in his store as he subsequently went to his phone to call for help.
......
"Whoever this guy is... he's probably no.better than the very criminals he preys on" Walton deduced.
"What brings you to that conclusion?" Hardstuckle asled.
"Someone like him... no way in hell he has a regular job, home or life. He's gotta stay in the shadows to do his dirty work" Walton explained.
"Meaning?" Hardstuckle asked.
"He's gotta be a fraudster or robber at minimum; the kind of work he does, it's the only way he can possibly be surviving; how else would he get the money he needs to eat and fulfill other basic needs?" Walton deduced.
......
The shop owner was talking to the police over what had happened; explaining everything that happened.
"... and he went off elsewhere?" The police asked.
"Yes... though in my shock I don't think I remember it too clearly" he explained.
He continued to tell his story as medics took the barely alive Davidson to the hospital. Even the medics said it looked like it would be a miracle if he ever walked again.
(Sorry Eyes; I couldn't figure out how to develop the plot further; so he couldn't die)
......
The Man and Filly were approaching their destination, when they saw him... Colver, and in his company... three small children.
"You DO enjoy cake?! How delightful; I have one in my kitchen! Would you like to come inside?" He said as he began grinning.
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Post by Eyes on Aug 2, 2018 16:25:41 GMT -5
(That’s fine, Frank, it wasn’t my intention to have him die anyway.)
A young woman walked by. Filly smiled at Colver.
“Such lovely children. Are they yours?”
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 2, 2018 16:49:03 GMT -5
"Oh no; I'm single. I just thought I'd offer them some of my delicious cake; there is simply too much for me to have alone" he said as he gestured the children towards his front door.
"But why would three children go into a stranger's home then?" Filly asked.
"I never say no to cake!" One said in delight.
"Cake! Cake!" The other two followed up with.
"well where are their parents?" Filly asked.
"we were on our way home from school; we're only four streets that way" the one said pointing in a direction.
Filly, for the moment, watched as the four began making their way towards the door
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Post by Eyes on Aug 2, 2018 17:09:02 GMT -5
Unbeknownst to Colver, The Man has broken into his house via the back entrance. He hadn’t left a mark, he was an expert at breaking and entering. What he found inside was, for lack of a better term, a torture chamber. Weapons, torture tables, rotting bodies of dead children.... He was horrified. This was worse than he expected.
He knew he had to stop this maniac before his next victims suffered.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 3, 2018 13:07:26 GMT -5
(I said pedophile, not necrophile...but if it helps the narrative I think we're all fine with it)
The Man knew that he hadn't much time... if the children got into the house it was game over... not that he cared; he was more concerned about stopping Colver than the safety of the children. But still, he didn't need witnesses. So...
"OH MY GOD!!! WHY ARE THESE CATS CUT UP LIKE THIS!! THERES SO MUCH BLOOD!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Outside, the children became panicked and ran off. An angry Colver ran into his house and picked up some knives in his kitchen!
"How did you get in here!?" He screamed. When he found The Man outside his special room... "you son of a b*tch... Get out!!" He screamed. What the man wasnt prepared for, was Colver throwing the knives at him and before he could even react, a steak knife lodged itself in his leg and a bread knife had left a nasty laceration on his arm.
"THIS is why I do my homework first..." The Man muttered to himself; how could he have known Colver was good at throwing knifes.
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Post by Eyes on Aug 3, 2018 20:39:01 GMT -5
(I knew that, but Colver knows that he can't just send kids out so they can tell their parents, hence why he murders them. And anyway, The Man does care about innocent people, that's why he gave the shop owner money to fix his store and that's why he's doing what he's doing anyway. He would care about the innocent children.)
Luckily for The Man, Filly had run up to Colver and gave him a good clonk on the head. He wasn't unconscious, but he did take a tumble. It was just enough for The Man to rip the knife out of his leg and take command of the situation.
"Well, well, well," he said, looming over Colver. But in that moment the sex fiend jumped to his feet, knocking his head together with The Man's, and giving Filly a firm punch in the chest. "Alright, you bastards!" he screamed. "You'll pay for this!"
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 3, 2018 21:13:02 GMT -5
(To be honest I genuinely thought his motivation was more "punish the wicked" than "protect the innocent" so I thought that's what needed to be emphasized. Also... I really didn't know how to transition the scene and that was all I could think of. We can always fix it in the rewrite for when we transpose though)
He pulled out a meat cleaver and began swinging at the Man... he just barely dodged the attacks while trying to get himself oriented. Filly tried to attack Colver again, only for him to swing his cleaver and leave a gash across her stomach. She clutched herself in agony as Colver gave a backhand across The Man's head. Unable to get himself oriented, he was dragged to a barrel; Colver popped the top off and revealed it to be ice water. He lifted the man, and forced his head under.
"Three minutes is all it takes" he grinned as the man's limbs flailed around, trying to grab onto something... anything...
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Post by Eyes on Aug 3, 2018 21:36:35 GMT -5
Filly was enraged, and as she saw the blood seeping from her stomach area, she got herself together and picked up the meat cleaver. "TAKE THIS, MOTHERFUCKER!" she screamed as she smashed the cleaver right into Colver's neck. He collapsed and dropped The Man, who was now gasping for air.
Filly grasped the bleeding criminal and threw him into the ice water. He legs flailed for a few moments but went still moments later. The Man had finally gotten a grip of things and now pulled out some bandages from within his coat. He gave one of them to Filly, whose wound wasn't as serious as it looked. He himself bandaged his arm and leg. Once done, they left the house, only to find the children standing outside, still waiting.
"I'm afraid there'll be no cake," said Filly. "And remember this - never go out with strangers without your parents' consent. Now run along home."
The children promptly did. They weren't in the mood to bother two people who seemed like they would take no shit from anything that went against them.
--------------
When the police finally arrived at the house, they found a room of torture tools, blood, dead children, and one murderous pedophile who was found dead in a barrel of ice water with a huge gash across his neck.
Walton wiped his brow. "Good lord!" he said at last.
"You must admit," said Hardstuckle, "our vigilante is helping us clean up some of our city's scum."
"Yeah," said Walton, "but still...."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 8, 2018 16:56:32 GMT -5
"... it doesn't change the fact that by taking life, he's no better than those he targets" Walton pointed out. They found more evidence here compared to other crime scenes. Then, when they got word of Davidson being found alive...
"He's slipping up. J.J.E. doesn't let his victims live... and this one was too messy. He plans his attacks put, but this one feels more spur of the moment... why?" Walton mused.
......
It was back at Scotland Yard when at last, a breakthrough had been made. Detective Ferris, having been assigned to the Davidson case, filled them in.
"He's badly beaten, but he's still coherent. Didn't suffer a concussion. So, I showed him the sketch we had so far, and..." he said as he showed off a more completed sketch "this is J.J..E." he explained. "Furthermore, he mentioned a female companion... sketch artist is working on it" he explained.
The lab results also came back on the blood. Most of the blood was A-, Colver's blood type. But one knife yielded different results.
O+; on the steak knife. That was when it hit them. "The fingerprints were Colver's... he must have stabbed JJE at some point" he explained.
"The meat cleaver yielded fingerprints that weren't consistent with Colver or this man; they must belong to the companion" Hardstuckle concluded.
Walton thought it over before concluding "time to flush them out"
......
The Man and Filly were having breakfast when they saw on the paper "Wanted: JJE and companion; 20,000 pound reward for information leading to capture" and inside, were the detailed drawings of their faces, descriptions and other information.
"I'm impressed... Scotland Yard actually has good artists" the man mused. Though he knew that this meant... now his face was in the open... he had to lay low for a while. In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have been so reckless that time.
"Guess it's time to go our separate ways" Filly declared.
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Post by Eyes on Aug 8, 2018 17:04:22 GMT -5
“Yep, you’ll be heading back to normal society whereas I will return to my work.”
“When will we see each other again?”
“I dunno. We'll have to see.”
And so upon completing breakfast, Filly took leave and went back to wherever she’d come from. Meanwhile, The Man decided that he needed a change.
“Since there’s a description of my fave now,” he thought, “I’d best change it up a bit.” So saying, he began tearing off what appeared to be skin but was in reality merely s mask that distorted his features and made him unrecognizable. Staring into the mirror, he saw staring back at him the true face of The Man.
“And now for another disguise....”
.........
Needless to say, Walton was getting tired when a week went by and no leads turned up in that time.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 8, 2018 17:30:42 GMT -5
(Was that kind of make up even invented yet? Remember it's only 1949 here)
However, it wasn't for the reason that he thought it was. Following the death of the pedophile, there was a slight increase in public sympathy for J.J.E.- not enough for people to see him as a hero, but enough that they felt he wasn't the most immediate threat to London at the moment, so people weren't being as vigilant for him.
Not to mention, on The Man's end, he had resumed his usual routine of singling out targets and studying them. Though...
"Ugh; I don't know what's in this stuff, but it'll probably kill me before a bullet does" he groaned as he tried to apply it to create a "new" face; but it left his normal skin red, rashly and dry. He wasn't sure if he was allergic or if it was the fact that he was wearing it so long without washing it. Either way, it was frustrating, but necessary to the job.
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Post by Toz76 on Aug 8, 2018 22:30:47 GMT -5
Over the next few days, speculation about the identity of the Man and his next victim ran rampant. To some, he attained a Robin Hood-like idea of a heroic vigilante, hunting down evildoers that no one else could. To others, those with skeletons in their closets, he was a threat. One rich man, Spencer Colbricht, made a public statement condemning the vigilante.
Colbricht had made his fortune by swindling dying patients. The Man had found his mark.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 9, 2018 1:04:16 GMT -5
The Man stayed in the shadows and observed Colbricht; he took down his routine, his quirks, everything. But he was well covered- there were scarcely any openings where he was vulnerable. This would not be easy.
Days turned into weeks, and J.J.E. did not strike. Although there had been reported sightings of him, nothing was concrete. Walton and the others spent their time on other cases, bringing criminals to justice as the man lie in wait. It was only a matter of time
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Post by Eyes on Aug 9, 2018 5:11:10 GMT -5
But time was something that they were not to have; while J.J.E. stayed silent, someone new had joined the fray.
“I’m sorry inspector... dead bodies washing up on the beach missing an arm?”
“Yes sir, it’s startlingly similar to a previous case, isn’t it?”
“You’ve got something there, this is suspiciously similar to the Blade case, isn’t it? Only instead of arms, we're getting bodies.”
“And as far as that goes, these bodies were found with ‘Blaze’ etched into them.”
“No kidding!” Walton exclaimed. “Is this a copycat or something more sinister?”
“We don’t know yet sir, but we’ll keep you informed.”
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 9, 2018 10:54:17 GMT -5
(Please indicate who said what; its confusing when we're not sure how many people are in the conversation; is that two or three people?)
"You should know I may not get assigned this case" Walton pointed out. Indeed, there were many detectives... it was a matter of the luck of the draw
......
Indeed, it was Detective Winslow who was assigned this case. As he was brought into the morgue to see the bodies, the doctor explained it.
"The three victims were found within hours of each other. Left arm cut off, some bruising throughout hinting at a struggle, and the "Blaze" thing" the doctor explained.
"Any identifications?"
"Yes- Quincy Wheeler, Harold Peterson and Benjamin Smith; they were identified while the autopsies were being performed" the doctor explained
"Anything you can tell me about the murderer?" Winslow asked
"Yes; he's either a doctor or antique weapon collector. Cuts this clean- can only be done with medical instruments or really well crafted swords" the doctor said.
"One last thing... were the victims connected in any way?" Winslow asked.
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Post by Eyes on Oct 14, 2018 16:16:30 GMT -5
"Not as far as we could make out," put in another officer. "Wheeler was a retired surgeon, Peterson was a clerk at a bank, and Smith was an official at St. Peter's Church on the Fen. Other than all three being Caucasian males, there are no links we've been able to find yet."
"I see," said Winslow. "Keep me informed, would you?"
'Blaze' struck again rapidly. That evening, another body was found washed up, missing an arm.
"Spencer Colbricht," said the officer when Winslow arrived on the scene. Ran a string of nursing homes and hospitals which were often brought under investigation, but he's always gotten away scot-free."
"I remember that name," said Winslow. "He was in the paper the other day, talking about how J.J.E. was a scourge on our society. Funny that he'd wind up dead now... could these cases be related? Could 'Blaze' be our 'Judge, Jury, and Executioner'?"
But he wasn't. The Man had been racking his brains, trying to figure out how the literal hell Colbricht had disappeared on him, when he spotted the evening paper.
"Who the hell..." He read on, his brows crossed, wide-eyed. "Well, well, well," he said. "Blaze... interesting. Now to find out if I can find you before the officials do..."
Meanwhile, Winslow decided to give the information to Walton, to see if it would help the J.J.E. case clear up any faster.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 14, 2018 16:54:40 GMT -5
Walton looked over the files, but came to the conclusion that it was highly unlikely that Blaze had anything to do with J.J.E.
"Think about it, the modus operandi is completely different. J.J.E. kills based on a twisted sense of "justice" where the kill somehow ties into what the victim was guilty of. But this blaze... Blaze is a straight up serial killer. The victims were random and had no connection. Not to mention, the method of death and dumping of the body... but the arms, what of the arms?" Walton mused.
"I did hear once that serial killers like to take trophies from their victims; but whole arms?" Winslow pointed out.
"One thing is certain- once the arms start decaying, the unmistakable "Smell of death" will give away his location" Walton explained.
"True; but he could strike again before then" Winslow pointed out.
"Right, so you'd better get on this quickly" Walton replied before getting up.
"What are you going to do?" Winslow asked.
"One of my other cases, I just made a breakthrough on. Remember the Davidson case?"
"The vandal? Yes" Winslow began.
"Well, prosecutor struck a deal with Davidson; see, in exchanged for a lenient sentence, Davidson gave us some crucial information"
"On what?" Winslow asked, confused.
"Stanley Davidson's brother Mark has been long suspected of a string of Burglaries in Enfield and the surrounding towns. Not only did his brother rat him out, but we also found some rather... interesting information" Walton said.
......
It was in the back of an abandoned cottage where the group of men had gathered around a map of the area.
"Right boys, here's the deal. Tonight, we're tackling these streets here" the lead said as he began. But then the group found themselves surrounded by police cars and Walton, along with several others, leaped out. "By order of Scotland Yard, you are under arrest!" he boomed.
"Split, boys!" the lead yelled. They would have taken off... but some gunshots fired into the air by Walton and a couple others stopped them before they even started. The officers were cuffing them and rounding them up. All told, 27 men were arrested that day. Not just Mark Davidson... but one man in particular. Howard Carson, suspected of no less than two dozen burglaries himself, was found to not only be responsible for the acts himself, but was also the ringleader of the operation. Walton smiled as the last of them were hauled away... the Largest Burglary Ring in London was disrupted.
......
As for J.J.E. one can imagine the shock when he saw the paper the next day, and right there, in the article about the break up of the Davidson ring, a quote from a detective that outright taunted, "Sorry J.J.E.- better luck next time." As if Blaze wasn't enough to worry about already.
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Post by Eyes on Oct 14, 2018 17:27:09 GMT -5
The Man laughed. "I wasn't even thinking of them at the moment anyway. Thanks, Walton..."
...............
Winslow turned back to the Blaze case, and decided to work on one aspect that had been bothering him - the similarities to the Blade case.
"Could this 'Blaze' possibly be an admirer of Blade?" he said out loud to the officer next to him.
"It's likely," said the officer, "but the fact that all the victims were male might have something to do with it too."
"Seems abstract to me," said Winslow.
But by the time fifteen bodies had hit the beach, it didn't seem quite so abstract after all.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 14, 2018 18:29:05 GMT -5
Winslow just couldn't make sense of Blaze- the first three bodies were found together on that first occasion, then the fourth. Two weeks passed before five and six were found, then five days before seven. Eight was after 11 days, 9 three days after that, 10 and 11 were 5 days after that, 12 was was the next day, 13 and 14 were 6 days later, and 15 was two days after that.
"And Colbricht was the only one who had any... questionable ethics" he thought to himself. This lead him to conclude that Blaze was a serial killer; likely inspired to some extent by Blade. But it was clear that he was no follower or admirier of Blade; if he was his victims would have been criminals of some sort. Blade had infamously tried to corner the criminal underworld by enslaving many in his mines... but he would not kill them, he drew the line there.
Blaze, therefore, was an erratic person, unpredictable and driven by a motive that didn't quite fit love, money or revenge. Much like J.J.E. before him, Blaze had to be insane; it was the only driving force that made sense.
Winslow decided there was only one move that made sense... since Blaze was clearly not an intelligent man, having dumped all his bodies on a single beach within about 200 yards or so of each other, so he decided that until he was caught, every night he would lie in wait, and ambush him when the time came. At least, that was the plan, until...
"Hey, Winslow" an officer said, coming up to him.
"Yes, Hardstuckle?" Winslow asked.
"Complaint just came in. Apparently there's a house about 10 miles or so from that Blaze dumping site; a "smell of death" has been festering there for a while and growing ever since" he pointed out.
"Well Blaze is keeping trophies since he is cutting off arms" Winslow considered.
"Yea; and apparently the house's owner is said to work late at night; he only goes driving in the dead of night" Hardstuckle continued.
"That's not a coincidence" Winslow realized. Deciding to go and scout the area, he took down the address and left.
......
When he arrived, to say he was shocked is an understatement. The house was full of red flags... the grounds outside the house were not well maintained. The windows seemed to be darkened in some way, with only some light coming through showing any sign that anyone lived there.
The whole place smelled of suspicion... and death. The unmistakable smell of death.
"We've got you now" Winslow said, going to call in back-up.
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Post by Eyes on Oct 14, 2018 18:50:46 GMT -5
As the officer count heightened, Winslow warned them all to stay silent. "We mustn't alarm anyone who may be inside," he said. "Are all of you armed?"
"Aye, sir."
"Good. Now let's move."
Some officers went to the back, others to the front. Winslow knocked on the door. "Anyone inside?" he called. "I'd like to speak with you over some flowers..." There was no answer, so Winslow kicked in the door.
There was nothing to see.
He ordered all the others in and they tore the place apart, looking for clues and the source of the foul stench.
Winslow was about to rip out his hair when he tripped and fell onto the couch. "Something's under here," he thought, and lifting the pillow - there was an arm.
The following was carved into the arm: "HI THERE COPS. CONGRATS ON FINDING JACKSHIT!"
............
"You mean to tell me you found nothing whatsoever in that house?!" gasped Gent the next morning when Winslow gave his report.
"Nothing besides the arm, sir, and that doesn't help us in any way. The house is a bust. Obviously owned by Blaze but there are no connections, no contracts, no bills, not a damn thing," the officer said, feeling defeated.
"Good god," the police chief muttered.
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