I made a mistake when I stopped writing earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, not so much a mistake as a misstep. I’d been trying hard to end each writing session in the middle of a scene, so that I could jump back in when I got back to it. But this time, I didn’t. I finished a scene and left myself a blank page to start from. And it was hard. I was going to go right into Leon’s encounter with the captain, but then I took the opportunity of what I’d done before during his time of sleep to come up with a past encounter with Jack. In the original idea from years and years ago, the Russian serial killer would be called Red Jack. But I found a more interesting, real case that I decided to use instead. What I like about these vignettes is that, when it’s time to write the real story, each one of these will be able to be expanded into longer sequences. But for now, I limited my research and therefore only scratched the surface of this encounter. I stopped at just over 15,000 words in order to not burn myself out, and I did stop mid-scene this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
————————–<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barnaul, Russia. 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack had killed five women by the time I managed to track him down. That was the first time that technology had assisted me in tracking him down quickly. Young women were disappearing from a university in the city, and it had all the markings of Jack\u2019s work. I traveled halfway across the world to find him, and that was the closest I\u2019d gotten to him since London. I managed to follow his bloody trail, but always too late to do anything about it. Yet, here I was, able to get to him while his trail was still fresh. He would not get away from me this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I managed to forge identification that would allow me to join the police force. I was able to blend in easily. I\u2019d managed to learn Russian back in the 1800s, the last time my travels had taken me this way. Again, I had arrived too late. Several students were able to point fingers to a man they had spotted on campus several times, an Alexander Anisimov. It did not take me long to investigate and discover that Anisimov had not been the perpetrator of those crimes, but by then, it had been too late. Anisimov jumped out of an eighth floor window and died. I could never prove it, but I imagined Jack must have somehow orchestrated the entire ordeal that poor Anisimov experienced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I dreamed that night of Barnaul, the names and faces of the poor girls danced before my eyes. More deaths I could have prevented. More blood on my hands. I woke from the nightmare feeling more exhausted than when I had gone to bed. With everything that had been going on the last few days, it appeared that four hours of sleep were not sufficient anymore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I turned on to my side, and, within moments, fell into a dreamless sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next morning, as I stood before the captain\u2019s door, waiting for him to wave me in, I stifled a yawn. The captain finished his phone call and gave me the okay to enter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you need, Smith?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to stake out the Twin Palms motel, and need an undercover car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alistair snorted. \u201cDoubt this guy will be crazy enough to try killing someone again there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI imagine he wouldn\u2019t, sir, but sometimes, killers do return to the scene of their crimes. After all, he did the same thing seven years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou talking about the Walters case? We caught that guy and he\u2019s behind bars. This is more likely a copycat. Read about the case in the papers. Somehow you tangled with him at some point. And voila. You have a crime scene.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I shook my head. I knew the two were connected, but how to explain to the captain that I had been chasing this killer for three thousand years without having him call for a psychiatric evaluation for me? \u201cYou\u2019re probably right,\u201d I said, \u201cbut on the off chance that he tries again, I\u2019d like to be ready. Plus, I would have the opportunity to ask around and see if any of the regulars may have noticed something.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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