CHAPTER 20
It wasn’t until early afternoon when the woman’s body was found by a co-worker who had gone to check why the woman wasn’t answering the phone. The reports were that the crime scene was especially gory and showed a brutality even more horrendous than the previous murders. Her face was almost unrecognizable, and the carnage extended from the living room into the kitchen. Even seasoned detectives were overcome by the savagery of the attack.
There was no doubt in Dan’s mind that Slate was the killer and that he was escalating his attacks on women. How many times this fiend had done this before he had come on Dan’s radar, he didn’t know; but he realized it couldn’t keep going on. Dan’s attempt to stop this murder before it took place had failed, not so much because of Slate’s cleverness but because Dan was only one person and couldn’t be expected to cover all contingencies. The city was now in a panic, and the police had stepped up their investigations. A special team had been formed to concentrate solely on the capture of this mad man, which meant that Slate’s chances of getting caught were increasing geometrically. That also meant that Louis’ threats were also becoming more real.
As far as Dan was concerned he had only two choices: find a way to turn in Slate without being implicated himself; or make it impossible for Slate to leave his house to commit more murders. If he did the former, the ocean of money would dry up and Louis would have him killed, which was a certainty. If he did the latter, Slate could still test the commercials without knowing it. The only liability in that case would be that his interactive life outside the house where his reactions to products was being measured would stop. With clever planning, Dan could overcome that liability by having sponsors concentrate on test commercials that Slate could still view on his television set.. The ocean of money plan would go on; Louis would remain happy; and the murderous rampage would stop. The trick would be how to incapacitate Slate so he couldn’t leave the house.
That afternoon, Dan spent time on the web looking at medical ailments which would limit a person physically but not mentally. At first, he thought about having one of Slate’s legs broken, but he saw that the recovery time was relatively short. A muscle or tendon tear in the leg or knee, however, took much longer to heal even if surgery was performed. The problem was that causing such an injury was almost impossible without the person knowing it was being done.
Throughout his evening watch on Slate, Dan tried to think of ways to have Slate’s leg injured; fortunately, the killing of the previous evening seemed to satisfy Slate enough so he was content enough to spend this night staying home and watching television. Four sponsor commercials were able to be inserted, but Dan’s other problem remained; and there was no way of knowing when Slate would get the urge to kill again. Suddenly, he had an idea.
Slate was used to be the attacker so why not turn the tables and make him the victim. Home invasion. All Dan had to do was to get some people to pretend to break into Slate’s house, rough him up, steal some money, and flee. There would be no way that Slate would ever call the police, but he would figure he was just another victim of a random robbery. The robbers could injure his leg on the pretext of forcing him to reveal where he kept his money. The plan was sound except for one thing…who would play the robbers?
Although he hated to do it, desperation necessitated that he call Richie. His younger brother was athletic looking although he was a nerd, and with his face masked and the proper clothing, could pass as a street thug. Dan would take on the role of enforcer, since he knew where he wanted to inflict the injury on Slate’s body.
“Hello, Richie,” Dan said on his cell phone. “I need you to come to my office…yah, right now…I need a special favor…yah, I know it’s late…dress down, I mean old ratty clothes…yah, the rattier the better…and bring that gray hoodie…and bring a pair of Mom’s nylons…you heard me, Mom’s nylons…yah, quick as possible…come in by the service entrance I’ll meet you there…fast as possible, I’ll explain when you get here.”
Now that Richie was taken care of, Dan had to fashion his own costume. He walked over to the janitors’ closet and took out a pair of coveralls. Using a box cutter, he cut off the patch that identified the building and he did the same with the hat. Now, the outfit was basically non-descript; with the nylon stocking mask, he was sure he couldn’t be identified. A pair of rubber work gloves would complete the picture.
An hour later, Richie arrived at the service entrance where Dan was waiting.
“We’ll use your car,” Dan said bringing the bundle of clothes with him.
“Use my car to do what?” Richie asked. “You were really cryptic on the phone, and what’s the deal with me dressing like a member of a gang?”
“We need…I mean I need to teach somebody a lesson,” Dan said; “and I need you to back me up. All you have to do is hold the guy down while I hurt his leg.”
“That’s all,” Richie replied. “I hold down a guy’s leg while you hurt him. Are you nuts? Please tell me you’re kidding and you have some sort of rational explanation or I’m out of here.”
“Richie, I need you to do this or I wouldn’t ask,” Dan pleaded. “My life is on the line. I can’t tell you more without getting you involved; but trust me, this is a bad guy I’m hurting. I’m trying to stop him from hurting other people, and there’s no other way.”
“You’re trying not to get me involved, you say. But I’m supposed to help you attack somebody and that’s not getting me involved,” Richie said angrily. “Level with me or I’m gone. What’s this really all about?”
Dan was afraid to get his brother involved in his mess, but he had to tell him something or the plan was off.
“Listen,” Dan said, lying through his teeth; “I got involved with some bad people and I owe them money…lots of money. I know I was a fool, but that’s water over the dam. They said they’d let me off the hook for the cash if I do them this one favor, hurt this guy I was telling you about. That’s it, just hurt him. I do it and my account is clear, and I go on with my life.”
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