Post by hallmon on Mar 25, 2009 10:41:19 GMT -8
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 1
It was cold, and it was dark, so dark that the two men out in the
middle of the woods could barely see each other, but this didn’t matter to either of them, as one of the men was unconscious, and barely beginning to revive. The second man was actually quite comfortable, and didn’t mind the darkness, or the cold. He walked over to the motionless figure that was virtually indiscernible in the blackness, took out something from his coat pocket, held it in his hand for a few moments, as though he were caressing it, and then he pressed it into the dark lump
that was the unconscious man.
The man woke with a strangled cry, for now he realized that not only was he in considerable pain, but that he also had a noose tied around his neck, which was forcing him into a standing position on a chair. The man who electrocuted him walked away, and said nothing. It took a few more moments for him to realize that he was in the woods, but he decided to askanyway. “Where am I? Who’re you? Why are you doing this to me?” As if in answer a blinding light suddenly appeared. The effect of the light dazed and unfocused him for about a minute or so, but his eyes gradually accustomed to the light of which they had been deprived.
He soon saw that the light was caused by an industrial sized flash light, and that the man who was holding it, was wearing what appeared to be a black cloth bag with eye-holes cut out
of it. He also saw that there was a video camera, that was recording everything that was happening.
“Where am I? Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?” He asked again, trying unsuccessfully to keep the panic that was rising within him from escaping with his voice. “Do you know who I am? I am Detective David Bryan Gillam! If anything happens to me, my partner,the entire police force in this city, The Sheriff of this county, The State Highway Patrol, every law enforcement agency in this country is going to hunt you down!” He had said all this in an unsuccessful effort to inject the bravery that had left him back into his body.Finally the hooded man spoke, “I am not afraid of you, but you should be very afraid of me. Take a look around you Detective Gillam, you are in the middle of nowhere, nobody knows where we are, nobody except me.” He paused briefly, before continuing to speak. “Who am I? I really thought that would be obvious, I am your executioner.”
“All right! All right! If you let me go, I swear to God, that nobody will know what happened tonight! I will let you disappear!” The hooded man laughed, he laughed until he had to
bend over, clutching his sides for support, it took a few moments for him to catch his breath. Finally, he said. “I haven’t had a laugh like that in years. Do you honestly think that I would let you go? I’ve put a lot of work into you, I know all about you Detective Gillam.
To protect and serve, that’s supposed to be your job, your life’s mission, unfortunately that’s not what you do is it? I know about all the times that you’ve been written up for excessive force, I know that you are living far more comfortably than your salary allows, and I know all about the people that you have killed, people that did not deserve to die. It’s just incredible how
long you’ve managed to stay on the force, with a rap sheet as long as yours, and do you know what that can only mean? That means that probably everyone on the force, all the way up to The Police Commissioner is part of one of the biggest scandals in recent history. “As for your offer to disappear, I don’t need your help, nobody knows who I am, as far as the law is concerned, I am a phantom.”
He paused again, and then continued. “Detective Gillam I am giving you the opportunity to come clean, to admit your guilt, this is your only opportunity, otherwise you are going to die, with the weight of all your sins on you shoulders, and the blood of the people that you killed on your hands. Mr Gillam now is the opportunity to pray to whatever god you believe in, and ask for their forgiveness. “Fuck you!” Detective Gillam hissed. “Unrepentant I see, I will have no mercy on you, and neither will your god.” The hooded man tightened the rope around Detective Gillam’s neck, looked straight into his eyes, and kicked out the chair that was supporting him.
Detective Gillam did not die immediately, he swayed for about a minute making horrible choking noises. The hooded man showed no mercy, watching intently as his victim’s last breaths disappeared onto the wind. After the execution, the hooded man stared at the body for about ten minutes, before walking up, and placing a wadded up piece of paper into the corpse’s mouth. Before leaving, he gathered up the flashlight, the chair, the camera, made sure that it had recorded everything, and then disappeared into the void of darkness that was all surrounding.
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 2
As usual Detective Bob Waxter was driving to work as he did everyday, but today was
anything but usual. His partner, David Gillam was missing, his wife was hysterical, and Bob
didn’t know what to tell her, except what he always told grieving family members. “We’re doing
everything we can. As soon as we know anything, you will be the first to know.”
Whenever he said these words, they always felt hollow, for more often than not the
person they were looking for would not be found alive, if they were found at all. Invariably
whenever this happened, the police would tell the family members that their loved one was
probably dead. Every day that they were not found, their chances of survival would plummet.
Sometimes the family members would bow down to the inevitable, and accept the fact that they
would probably never see their beloved again. They would hold a funeral, but without a body,
they would be unable to bury the past, they would always wonder whether or not the person that
they loved, the person that they ached to see again was alive. If they were alive, then the next line
of thought would take them to visions of their loved one being held prisoner down in someone’s
dark and dank basement, being beaten and tortured, but being kept alive to prolong the torment.
Other people would stoically refuse to except that their beloved family member was dead.
“Mary’s a fighter! She’ll survive, she’ll come back!” They would tell the police again, and again.
Or “Joey doesn’t have any enemies, he has so many friends, nobody would want to hurt him.”
Bob closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands, as he tried to make excuses for
David’s ominous absence. “Maybe he’s just seeing a girlfriend, yeah that’s what he’s doing, just
needed to get away from the wife and kids. But why wouldn’t he tell me? We’re partners, I could
keep a secret, I wouldn’t have told anybody.”
Despite his best attempts, Bob was not relieved. David had been known to keep his
options as open as possible, he always had something on the side, but he had always told the guys
what he was doing. It was a favorite past-time of his to discuss the recreational events that he did
over the weekends. As he would always say, “the anticipation of doing something is even better
than when you’re doing it. Then, when it’s all over, you get to talk about it, and relive it again,
and again”
Quite suddenly Bob was jerked from his train of thought, and crash-landed back to
reality. His cell phone was ringing, after a brief pause he picked up his cell. “Hello, this is
Detective Bob Waxter.” “Detective,” said a gruff, and electronically disguised voice. Detective
Waxter’s blood seemed to chill in his veins, and become as hard as ice. “Yes,” he said trying to
sound braver than he felt. “Your friend, and partner Detective Gillam is dead.” Bob Waxter
exploded into a flood of profanities. “YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! YOU PIECE OF
SHIT! YOU BETTER HOPE THAT I NEVER FIND YOU! BECAUSE IF I DO, I’M GONNA
RIP OUT YOUR EYES! TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB! CUT OFF YOUR DICK, IF YOU
HAVE ONE! CARVE HIS NAME INTO YOUR CHEST! AND THEN.....”
“Let me stop you right there,” said the voice sounding amused. “You are going to do none of
those things. You have no idea who I am, you don’t know anything about me. I on the other hand
know everything about you, and I know everything about everybody on the force. Listen
Detective, I understand, and respect your desire for revenge, but I can guarantee that you won’t
find so much as a piece of paper unless I want you to. By the way, talking on a cell phone while
your driving is illegal, and don’t bother trying to trace this phone, it’s untraceable. Good bye
Detective, I’ll stay in touch.”
There was a click and a dial tone. Detective Waxter looked down at the screen on his phone, expecting to see the number of the man who had just threatened him. The man who talked
to him so casually, it might have been nothing more than an innocent chat between friends
discussing plans for the weekend. Except that this bastard, whoever he was had just confessed to
the murder of his friend! While he stared at the screen of his cell phone, he heard police sirens
behind him. “GAH! DAMN IT!”
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 3
Detective Waxter was seething when he finally made it to the station, it had taken nearly
five minutes to explain what was going on to that beat patrol cop. As he walked up the steps,
something caught it was eye. It was a package, he bent down to examine it, and read the note that
was taped to the top of it. “To every man, and woman that enforces the morally bankrupt
laws of this country.”
Detective Waxter knew in an instant who had sent this, the gutless coward who was brave
enough to confess to the murder of his best friend on the phone, but who didn’t have the balls to
confront him face to face. He picked it up and marched inside, as soon as he stepped through the
door he realized that he was the only person who knew that Detective Gillam was dead, and this
thought gave way to the horrible realization of what David’s family must be going through. Not
knowing whether he was dead or alive, every moment seeming like an eternity. He suddenly
realized that this knowledge was a blessing in disguise, because now he didn’t need to waste his
time and energy looking for somebody who he didn’t know was dead or alive. He could focus
everything on finding the killer, and exacting sweet vengeance.
“Hey Bob, how’s it goin?” He barely registered that somebody was speaking to him.
“Look Bob, I know that was a dumb question, but you’ve gotta hang in there. We’re doing
everything we can to find him, and I’ll bet when we do, he’ll be alive. David knows how to take
care of himself.” “No we won’t,” he whispered, and the words that came out of his mouth did
not sound like his own. “What did you say?” “NO WE WONT! WE WON’T FIND HIM
ALIVE.” He thundered. It was only then that he realized who he had yelled at. It was The Chief
of Police Benjamin Mankle. The Chief of Police was not known for being sensitive, and rarely forgave those who showed any contempt of his authority. However the look of stern disapproval
on his grizzled and bearded face at Detective Waxter’s explosive outburst was soon replaced by
one of sympathy.
“Now son, I know that Detective Gillam was your friend, but you can’t give up hope that
he’s not alive. I mean_” “With all due respect, that is a bunch of bull shit sir”Detective Waxter
cut him off. “Don’t deal me the same crap that we give to other people. We all know that the
longer somebody is missing, the lower their chances of survival fall. The first 48 hours are
critical, and he’s been missing longer than that. And I’ve got proof that he’s dead, cause some
son of a bitch called me and told me so. And they’ve sent this.” For the first time Police Chief
Mankle noticed the package. “What’s in that?” “I don’t know, cause I haven’t opened it. I just
found it on the door steps. Read the note.” Mankle took the note and read, with each word his
face became a brighter shade of tomato red, his eyebrows appeared to be hovering above his
forehead for a moment before lowering themselves, and slanting severely across his eyes.
“What did this bastard say to you?” “He told me that David is dead, and that he has been
spying on everybody on the force. He also told me that we won’t find anything unless he wants
us too. He’s going to call us, or I mean me again sometime soon. He wants us to know that David
is dead, and he wants to taunt us with the knowledge that anyone of us can be next.” Chief
Mankle heaved a sigh. “Well let’s see what’s in the package. We may get lucky and find
something that he doesn’t want us too. But before we do that I have to let his family know, I’ll go
talk to them personally. Wait here in my office.” “Sir, I need to go with you. I’m his friend, I
need to be there.” Mankle heaved another sigh. “Very well son, I just hope you really are ready
for it. Let’s go.”
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 4
Detective Waxter knew that it would be the most difficult he had ever done in his life,
when he decided to go visit David’s wife Sherry and their three kids Mike, Brian, and Jaime.
Jaime was their youngest, barely a year old, and the other two were almost grown up. Both he
and Chief Mankle had a short, but fierce battle of the wills over who would tell his family what
had happened.
When they got there, they mutually agreed that they would both talk to the family.
Detective Waxter would tell the family that David was killed as a result of a bigger vendetta
against “The Law,” and anyone who enforced it. The man who killed David had personally
chosen to call him, explain his actions, and to give him the implicit threat that everybody was a
target. Chief Mankle on the other hand, gave the scripted speech that they would do everything in
their power in their power to catch the murderer, and bring him to justice. Detective Waxter had
chosen this moment to throw in a few choice descriptions of what he would do when the killer
was found.
Unfortunately, in situations like these, words of actions that are going to be taken are just
that, words. Empty, and meaningless, they usually do nothing to comfort grieving family
members. Both Detective Waxter, and Chief Mankle knew this, but it was their job to offer aid
and support, even if that meant saying words that meant nothing right now. They had no leads,
nothing to use. The killer was right, they didn’t know anything, except what he chose to divulge.
Their situation was dire, so far they were up against a lone individual with a hatred for this
country, and everything it stood for. The words on the note seemed to come in Detective
Waxter’s memory as if they were freshly written. “To every man, and woman that enforces
the morally bankrupt laws of this country.” Of course that could be just a clever ruse, they
could really be facing not one phantom but many, faceless, numberless, and everywhere. If that
was the case, then it didn’t matter what they did. No matter how many of the phantoms they
tracked down, there could always be more, ready to reappear, and then disappear, continuing
their endless war that had only just begun.
This thought did nothing to cheer up Detective Waxter, and Chief Mankle, but they knew
that they had to keep going forward. After what seemed like an eternity, the debriefing of
Detective Gillam’s family was finally over. As they were walking out the door, Detective Waxter
felt as though he had aged a lifetime within a few moments, and he could tell that Chief Mankle
felt the same way. For what seemed like the thousandth time that night, Chief Mankle heaved
another huge sigh that sounded somewhere between a yawn and a bear’s growl. “Well Son, let’s
get to analyzing whatever that bastard sent us. Remember, the tiniest detail could be important.
This bastard, whoever he thinks he is, is a coward. He’s smart and clever, but he’ll make a
mistake eventually, and when he does, we’ll make sure that he pays.” Detective Waxter did
nothing but grunt in apparent agreement at these words. Chief Mankle walked away, leaving
Detective Waxter alone with all his worrys, fears, and desires for revenge for company.
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 5
It was a mingled sensation of perverse anticipation, curiosity, and dread that Chief
Mankle, and Detective Waxter experienced when they opened the package that had been sent by
Detective Gillam’s murderer. Before opening the package, images of finding David’s
dismembered head inside the box flashed across Detective Waxter’s mind, as though they were
being played onto a movie screen.
Detective Waxter knew that Chief Mankle must have been thinking the same thing,
because when they opened the box, they both let out a sigh of relief. The feeling was quickly
stifled, as they remembered that this didn’t change the fact that David was dead. “Take a look at
this, Bob,” Mankle whispered gruffly, and he handed him a roughly woven noose. “He’s telling
us how he killed David, he hung him.” Detective Waxter dug his hands into the box, and pulled
out a video tape.” “I think he recorded everything on this tape.” “That’s one home movie that I
don’t want to see,” Chief Mankle said vehemently. “And look at this!” Detective Waxter
exclaimed. “An entire notebook with press clippings. And they all concern us. Listen to this
one.” And he spread them out, it took a while to count them all, there must have been close to
one hundred.
Each of the press clippings jumped out at them with titles like “Key evidence
disappears in Narcotics raid.” Or, “New York City resident files lawsuit against Police
Department for use of excessive force” Or,”Murder suspect disappears, after being
released from custody.” After reading the countless newspaper clippings, Detective Waxter
looked at Chief Mankle, and both knew what the other was thinking. These were all cases that
they had participated in. None of the articles had mentioned any of them by name, but the killer wasn’t lying when he said he knew everything. After what seemed like a long silence, Detective
Waxter finally spoke, and his voice was hoarse. “Chief I remember this one, this was the one
where David was accused of accepting bribes. He got cleared, so they did a little feature on
him. He handed the clipping to Chief Mankle who read, “Alleged dirty cop is cleared of
suspicion.”
Finally there was nothing left in the package except a scrap of paper that was stuck to the
bottom. Detective Waxter pulled it out and looked at it. It was folded in half so he opened it.
“What is it? Some kind of message?” Chief Mankle said. “Yeah,” Detective Waxter grunted in
reply. “Well, what does it say?” Chief Mankle asked impatiently. “I don’t know” “What do mean
you don’t know.” Chief Mankle said as he snatched it out of Detective Waxter’s hand. “It’s just a
bunch of dashes” Detective Waxter said confusedly. “Well, do you think it’s some kind of
code?” “Probably.” __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
“Well, this looks like it’s a three word sentence. The first word has seven letters, the
second two, and the third six.” Mankle said. “Yes but how are we going to solve this, there are
plenty of words that fit that description” Detective Waxter retorted. “Son, I think I understand
this guy’s game.” “What do you mean?” “Well Son, think about it. He sends us a package that
has a noose, old press cuttings, a video, and a message that’s written in dashes. He’s playing with
us. This is just a game to him, and I know what this game is called, Hang Man.” “He’s playing
Hang Man with us?” Detective Waxter sputtered indignantly. “That stupid kid’s game!” “Yes he
is, son. He doesn’t want us to solve this, at least not without asking him how. Letting him
make us guess, making us wait in suspense, before letting us know if were right or not.” “Shit!”
Detective Waxter cursed. “You can say that again son, you can say that again.”
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 6
Detective Waxter and Chief Mankle spent the next couple of hours trying to decode the
killer’s message, but they hadn’t gotten anywhere, and both of their nerves were wearing thin.
Finally Chief Mankle cleared his throat, and stood up to stretch his arms. He walked over to the
message and stared at it for another moment hoping that something would come to him, that he
would experience a moment of inspiration or epiphany, finally he spoke. “Hey son, I think I’ve
figured out the middle word.” Detective Waxter looked around excitedly, at last they might have
a break. “What is it?” He asked impatiently. “Well Son, the problem is that we’ve been focusing
on the first word. If we can figure out what the second word, that might make things easier.”
“Okay, so what have you got?” Detective Waxter almost shouted in frustration. “Well son, I
think the word is ‘is’.” “What do mean?” “The second word, it’s ‘is’.” Detective Waxter stared
confusedly at Chief Mankle, before comprehension dawned on his face. “Okay, let’s get back to
work.”
After what seemed like another eternity, they still hadn’t found anything. They were just
getting ready to quit for the day, when the telephone rang. Both of them automatically reached
for it, but because both of them were exhausted, it hadn’t yet occurred to them that this might be
Detective Gillam’s killer. Detective Waxter was a little faster than The Chief and reached the
phone first. “Hello, this is Detective Waxter. To whom am I speaking? And how may I help you?
“Hello Detective,” a familiar electronically disguised voice said.
Detective Waxter immediately felt a change in his consciousness, a few seconds before he
had been exhausted in every possible way. The only thing on his mind was going home, getting
something to eat, downing some beers, and then going to bed. Now it was as if he had drank an entire gallon of caffeine, his mind and body were buzzing, and he was no longer tired, but alert
and wary. He put the phone on speaker so that The Chief could listen too.
“What do you want you son of a bitch?” Detective Waxter hissed. “Now is that really the
way to talk to someone who just wants to help you solve a vexing problem?” The voice said
sounding hurt, but Detective Waxter heard a trace of garish amusement in the question. “A
problem that you caused, we will not play games with you. We will find you, and you will pay.”
“If you refuse to play, you choose to forfeit, and I can guarantee that you will not like that
outcome.” “What do you mean?” Said Detective Waxter whose throat had suddenly gone dry, he
was sure that what he had just heard was a threat against him, and his family. “Use your
imagination Detective.” “If this is a threat against my family, then I will_ _ _” “Please Detective,
I don’t hurt the innocent. I go after those who are guilty.”
“What was Detective Gillam guilty of?” Detective Waxter retorted. “You already know,
after all you’re his partner. You participated in his crimes.” “Then why did you only go after him,
why not come after me?” “Who says I’m not after you? After all you’re guilty to.” After a brief
pause, the voice continued “What I do Detective is that I make sure that justice is served.” “We
have a legal system that does that, and it is unbiased and fair.” The voice on the phone scoffed.
“Don’t make me gag with all your lies, you know as well as I do that those who are guilty go free
all the time, and not only do the guilty go free, but often times the innocent are punished for
crimes they didn’t commit Even if they do go to prison, most of them like life on the inside.
They’ve still got contacts that will get things done for them on the outside. Those who are on
death row usually get to live for about fifteen to twenty years before the government gets their
pound of flesh.”
Detective Waxter had nothing to say to this self righteous monologue. The voice on the phone taking this as a defeat said “Are you ready to play.” “Fine,” Detective Waxter hissed. He
stared at the dashes which seemed so incomprehensible. He had already found one word, the
word ‘is’. Suddenly Detective Waxter had a moment of Epiphany so forceful it was as if he had
been hit by a train. Something the killer had just said zoomed to fore front of his mind. “I make
sure justice is served” “I make sure justice is served” He whispered. Finally he knew what the
message said. “I know it! It says justice is served!” “Very good Detective, but remember what I
told you earlier, you won’t find anything unless I want you to.” There was a click, the killer had
hung up. Detective Waxter let the phone fall from his hands and hit the floor with a thud, before
slouching over to an overstuffed pouffe leather chair, and slumping into it.
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 7
It was the most deflating time in either Chief Mankle’s or Detective Waxter’s lives, both
of them felt as though the killer of Detective Gillam had emasculated them with his psychotic
game he was forcing them to play. Apart from catching this creep, and acting out the fantasies
of torture and death that were playing in their heads, all they wanted was to find Detective
Gillam’s body, and bury him.
Of course this freak, had planned everything out. He enjoyed in watching them search for
him, and for Detective Gillam’s body. They wouldn’t find it, not unless he wanted them too, and
if he wanted them too, then they could be sure that once that particular game was over he would
have another one for them to play.
It was an endless game of “Chase your tail,” following one worthless lead after another.
Pretty soon they even ran out of dead end leads until they had absolutely nothing. Detective
Waxter was getting restless, he was anxious for another call from Detective Gillam’s killer,
because all it could take for them to catch this creep was one mistake on his part. If he messed
up, it could be their opportunity to take him down.
Finally it happened, the killer had sent another package. As soon as it was spotted, it was
whisked away to be examined. After the usual screening, and security measures, the box was
opened. What they saw inside disgusted them, it was a dead mouse, hanging limply from a trap.
Next to the corpse was another “Hangman” message. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Chapter 1
It was cold, and it was dark, so dark that the two men out in the
middle of the woods could barely see each other, but this didn’t matter to either of them, as one of the men was unconscious, and barely beginning to revive. The second man was actually quite comfortable, and didn’t mind the darkness, or the cold. He walked over to the motionless figure that was virtually indiscernible in the blackness, took out something from his coat pocket, held it in his hand for a few moments, as though he were caressing it, and then he pressed it into the dark lump
that was the unconscious man.
The man woke with a strangled cry, for now he realized that not only was he in considerable pain, but that he also had a noose tied around his neck, which was forcing him into a standing position on a chair. The man who electrocuted him walked away, and said nothing. It took a few more moments for him to realize that he was in the woods, but he decided to askanyway. “Where am I? Who’re you? Why are you doing this to me?” As if in answer a blinding light suddenly appeared. The effect of the light dazed and unfocused him for about a minute or so, but his eyes gradually accustomed to the light of which they had been deprived.
He soon saw that the light was caused by an industrial sized flash light, and that the man who was holding it, was wearing what appeared to be a black cloth bag with eye-holes cut out
of it. He also saw that there was a video camera, that was recording everything that was happening.
“Where am I? Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?” He asked again, trying unsuccessfully to keep the panic that was rising within him from escaping with his voice. “Do you know who I am? I am Detective David Bryan Gillam! If anything happens to me, my partner,the entire police force in this city, The Sheriff of this county, The State Highway Patrol, every law enforcement agency in this country is going to hunt you down!” He had said all this in an unsuccessful effort to inject the bravery that had left him back into his body.Finally the hooded man spoke, “I am not afraid of you, but you should be very afraid of me. Take a look around you Detective Gillam, you are in the middle of nowhere, nobody knows where we are, nobody except me.” He paused briefly, before continuing to speak. “Who am I? I really thought that would be obvious, I am your executioner.”
“All right! All right! If you let me go, I swear to God, that nobody will know what happened tonight! I will let you disappear!” The hooded man laughed, he laughed until he had to
bend over, clutching his sides for support, it took a few moments for him to catch his breath. Finally, he said. “I haven’t had a laugh like that in years. Do you honestly think that I would let you go? I’ve put a lot of work into you, I know all about you Detective Gillam.
To protect and serve, that’s supposed to be your job, your life’s mission, unfortunately that’s not what you do is it? I know about all the times that you’ve been written up for excessive force, I know that you are living far more comfortably than your salary allows, and I know all about the people that you have killed, people that did not deserve to die. It’s just incredible how
long you’ve managed to stay on the force, with a rap sheet as long as yours, and do you know what that can only mean? That means that probably everyone on the force, all the way up to The Police Commissioner is part of one of the biggest scandals in recent history. “As for your offer to disappear, I don’t need your help, nobody knows who I am, as far as the law is concerned, I am a phantom.”
He paused again, and then continued. “Detective Gillam I am giving you the opportunity to come clean, to admit your guilt, this is your only opportunity, otherwise you are going to die, with the weight of all your sins on you shoulders, and the blood of the people that you killed on your hands. Mr Gillam now is the opportunity to pray to whatever god you believe in, and ask for their forgiveness. “Fuck you!” Detective Gillam hissed. “Unrepentant I see, I will have no mercy on you, and neither will your god.” The hooded man tightened the rope around Detective Gillam’s neck, looked straight into his eyes, and kicked out the chair that was supporting him.
Detective Gillam did not die immediately, he swayed for about a minute making horrible choking noises. The hooded man showed no mercy, watching intently as his victim’s last breaths disappeared onto the wind. After the execution, the hooded man stared at the body for about ten minutes, before walking up, and placing a wadded up piece of paper into the corpse’s mouth. Before leaving, he gathered up the flashlight, the chair, the camera, made sure that it had recorded everything, and then disappeared into the void of darkness that was all surrounding.
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 2
As usual Detective Bob Waxter was driving to work as he did everyday, but today was
anything but usual. His partner, David Gillam was missing, his wife was hysterical, and Bob
didn’t know what to tell her, except what he always told grieving family members. “We’re doing
everything we can. As soon as we know anything, you will be the first to know.”
Whenever he said these words, they always felt hollow, for more often than not the
person they were looking for would not be found alive, if they were found at all. Invariably
whenever this happened, the police would tell the family members that their loved one was
probably dead. Every day that they were not found, their chances of survival would plummet.
Sometimes the family members would bow down to the inevitable, and accept the fact that they
would probably never see their beloved again. They would hold a funeral, but without a body,
they would be unable to bury the past, they would always wonder whether or not the person that
they loved, the person that they ached to see again was alive. If they were alive, then the next line
of thought would take them to visions of their loved one being held prisoner down in someone’s
dark and dank basement, being beaten and tortured, but being kept alive to prolong the torment.
Other people would stoically refuse to except that their beloved family member was dead.
“Mary’s a fighter! She’ll survive, she’ll come back!” They would tell the police again, and again.
Or “Joey doesn’t have any enemies, he has so many friends, nobody would want to hurt him.”
Bob closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands, as he tried to make excuses for
David’s ominous absence. “Maybe he’s just seeing a girlfriend, yeah that’s what he’s doing, just
needed to get away from the wife and kids. But why wouldn’t he tell me? We’re partners, I could
keep a secret, I wouldn’t have told anybody.”
Despite his best attempts, Bob was not relieved. David had been known to keep his
options as open as possible, he always had something on the side, but he had always told the guys
what he was doing. It was a favorite past-time of his to discuss the recreational events that he did
over the weekends. As he would always say, “the anticipation of doing something is even better
than when you’re doing it. Then, when it’s all over, you get to talk about it, and relive it again,
and again”
Quite suddenly Bob was jerked from his train of thought, and crash-landed back to
reality. His cell phone was ringing, after a brief pause he picked up his cell. “Hello, this is
Detective Bob Waxter.” “Detective,” said a gruff, and electronically disguised voice. Detective
Waxter’s blood seemed to chill in his veins, and become as hard as ice. “Yes,” he said trying to
sound braver than he felt. “Your friend, and partner Detective Gillam is dead.” Bob Waxter
exploded into a flood of profanities. “YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! YOU PIECE OF
SHIT! YOU BETTER HOPE THAT I NEVER FIND YOU! BECAUSE IF I DO, I’M GONNA
RIP OUT YOUR EYES! TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB! CUT OFF YOUR DICK, IF YOU
HAVE ONE! CARVE HIS NAME INTO YOUR CHEST! AND THEN.....”
“Let me stop you right there,” said the voice sounding amused. “You are going to do none of
those things. You have no idea who I am, you don’t know anything about me. I on the other hand
know everything about you, and I know everything about everybody on the force. Listen
Detective, I understand, and respect your desire for revenge, but I can guarantee that you won’t
find so much as a piece of paper unless I want you to. By the way, talking on a cell phone while
your driving is illegal, and don’t bother trying to trace this phone, it’s untraceable. Good bye
Detective, I’ll stay in touch.”
There was a click and a dial tone. Detective Waxter looked down at the screen on his phone, expecting to see the number of the man who had just threatened him. The man who talked
to him so casually, it might have been nothing more than an innocent chat between friends
discussing plans for the weekend. Except that this bastard, whoever he was had just confessed to
the murder of his friend! While he stared at the screen of his cell phone, he heard police sirens
behind him. “GAH! DAMN IT!”
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 3
Detective Waxter was seething when he finally made it to the station, it had taken nearly
five minutes to explain what was going on to that beat patrol cop. As he walked up the steps,
something caught it was eye. It was a package, he bent down to examine it, and read the note that
was taped to the top of it. “To every man, and woman that enforces the morally bankrupt
laws of this country.”
Detective Waxter knew in an instant who had sent this, the gutless coward who was brave
enough to confess to the murder of his best friend on the phone, but who didn’t have the balls to
confront him face to face. He picked it up and marched inside, as soon as he stepped through the
door he realized that he was the only person who knew that Detective Gillam was dead, and this
thought gave way to the horrible realization of what David’s family must be going through. Not
knowing whether he was dead or alive, every moment seeming like an eternity. He suddenly
realized that this knowledge was a blessing in disguise, because now he didn’t need to waste his
time and energy looking for somebody who he didn’t know was dead or alive. He could focus
everything on finding the killer, and exacting sweet vengeance.
“Hey Bob, how’s it goin?” He barely registered that somebody was speaking to him.
“Look Bob, I know that was a dumb question, but you’ve gotta hang in there. We’re doing
everything we can to find him, and I’ll bet when we do, he’ll be alive. David knows how to take
care of himself.” “No we won’t,” he whispered, and the words that came out of his mouth did
not sound like his own. “What did you say?” “NO WE WONT! WE WON’T FIND HIM
ALIVE.” He thundered. It was only then that he realized who he had yelled at. It was The Chief
of Police Benjamin Mankle. The Chief of Police was not known for being sensitive, and rarely forgave those who showed any contempt of his authority. However the look of stern disapproval
on his grizzled and bearded face at Detective Waxter’s explosive outburst was soon replaced by
one of sympathy.
“Now son, I know that Detective Gillam was your friend, but you can’t give up hope that
he’s not alive. I mean_” “With all due respect, that is a bunch of bull shit sir”Detective Waxter
cut him off. “Don’t deal me the same crap that we give to other people. We all know that the
longer somebody is missing, the lower their chances of survival fall. The first 48 hours are
critical, and he’s been missing longer than that. And I’ve got proof that he’s dead, cause some
son of a bitch called me and told me so. And they’ve sent this.” For the first time Police Chief
Mankle noticed the package. “What’s in that?” “I don’t know, cause I haven’t opened it. I just
found it on the door steps. Read the note.” Mankle took the note and read, with each word his
face became a brighter shade of tomato red, his eyebrows appeared to be hovering above his
forehead for a moment before lowering themselves, and slanting severely across his eyes.
“What did this bastard say to you?” “He told me that David is dead, and that he has been
spying on everybody on the force. He also told me that we won’t find anything unless he wants
us too. He’s going to call us, or I mean me again sometime soon. He wants us to know that David
is dead, and he wants to taunt us with the knowledge that anyone of us can be next.” Chief
Mankle heaved a sigh. “Well let’s see what’s in the package. We may get lucky and find
something that he doesn’t want us too. But before we do that I have to let his family know, I’ll go
talk to them personally. Wait here in my office.” “Sir, I need to go with you. I’m his friend, I
need to be there.” Mankle heaved another sigh. “Very well son, I just hope you really are ready
for it. Let’s go.”
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 4
Detective Waxter knew that it would be the most difficult he had ever done in his life,
when he decided to go visit David’s wife Sherry and their three kids Mike, Brian, and Jaime.
Jaime was their youngest, barely a year old, and the other two were almost grown up. Both he
and Chief Mankle had a short, but fierce battle of the wills over who would tell his family what
had happened.
When they got there, they mutually agreed that they would both talk to the family.
Detective Waxter would tell the family that David was killed as a result of a bigger vendetta
against “The Law,” and anyone who enforced it. The man who killed David had personally
chosen to call him, explain his actions, and to give him the implicit threat that everybody was a
target. Chief Mankle on the other hand, gave the scripted speech that they would do everything in
their power in their power to catch the murderer, and bring him to justice. Detective Waxter had
chosen this moment to throw in a few choice descriptions of what he would do when the killer
was found.
Unfortunately, in situations like these, words of actions that are going to be taken are just
that, words. Empty, and meaningless, they usually do nothing to comfort grieving family
members. Both Detective Waxter, and Chief Mankle knew this, but it was their job to offer aid
and support, even if that meant saying words that meant nothing right now. They had no leads,
nothing to use. The killer was right, they didn’t know anything, except what he chose to divulge.
Their situation was dire, so far they were up against a lone individual with a hatred for this
country, and everything it stood for. The words on the note seemed to come in Detective
Waxter’s memory as if they were freshly written. “To every man, and woman that enforces
the morally bankrupt laws of this country.” Of course that could be just a clever ruse, they
could really be facing not one phantom but many, faceless, numberless, and everywhere. If that
was the case, then it didn’t matter what they did. No matter how many of the phantoms they
tracked down, there could always be more, ready to reappear, and then disappear, continuing
their endless war that had only just begun.
This thought did nothing to cheer up Detective Waxter, and Chief Mankle, but they knew
that they had to keep going forward. After what seemed like an eternity, the debriefing of
Detective Gillam’s family was finally over. As they were walking out the door, Detective Waxter
felt as though he had aged a lifetime within a few moments, and he could tell that Chief Mankle
felt the same way. For what seemed like the thousandth time that night, Chief Mankle heaved
another huge sigh that sounded somewhere between a yawn and a bear’s growl. “Well Son, let’s
get to analyzing whatever that bastard sent us. Remember, the tiniest detail could be important.
This bastard, whoever he thinks he is, is a coward. He’s smart and clever, but he’ll make a
mistake eventually, and when he does, we’ll make sure that he pays.” Detective Waxter did
nothing but grunt in apparent agreement at these words. Chief Mankle walked away, leaving
Detective Waxter alone with all his worrys, fears, and desires for revenge for company.
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 5
It was a mingled sensation of perverse anticipation, curiosity, and dread that Chief
Mankle, and Detective Waxter experienced when they opened the package that had been sent by
Detective Gillam’s murderer. Before opening the package, images of finding David’s
dismembered head inside the box flashed across Detective Waxter’s mind, as though they were
being played onto a movie screen.
Detective Waxter knew that Chief Mankle must have been thinking the same thing,
because when they opened the box, they both let out a sigh of relief. The feeling was quickly
stifled, as they remembered that this didn’t change the fact that David was dead. “Take a look at
this, Bob,” Mankle whispered gruffly, and he handed him a roughly woven noose. “He’s telling
us how he killed David, he hung him.” Detective Waxter dug his hands into the box, and pulled
out a video tape.” “I think he recorded everything on this tape.” “That’s one home movie that I
don’t want to see,” Chief Mankle said vehemently. “And look at this!” Detective Waxter
exclaimed. “An entire notebook with press clippings. And they all concern us. Listen to this
one.” And he spread them out, it took a while to count them all, there must have been close to
one hundred.
Each of the press clippings jumped out at them with titles like “Key evidence
disappears in Narcotics raid.” Or, “New York City resident files lawsuit against Police
Department for use of excessive force” Or,”Murder suspect disappears, after being
released from custody.” After reading the countless newspaper clippings, Detective Waxter
looked at Chief Mankle, and both knew what the other was thinking. These were all cases that
they had participated in. None of the articles had mentioned any of them by name, but the killer wasn’t lying when he said he knew everything. After what seemed like a long silence, Detective
Waxter finally spoke, and his voice was hoarse. “Chief I remember this one, this was the one
where David was accused of accepting bribes. He got cleared, so they did a little feature on
him. He handed the clipping to Chief Mankle who read, “Alleged dirty cop is cleared of
suspicion.”
Finally there was nothing left in the package except a scrap of paper that was stuck to the
bottom. Detective Waxter pulled it out and looked at it. It was folded in half so he opened it.
“What is it? Some kind of message?” Chief Mankle said. “Yeah,” Detective Waxter grunted in
reply. “Well, what does it say?” Chief Mankle asked impatiently. “I don’t know” “What do mean
you don’t know.” Chief Mankle said as he snatched it out of Detective Waxter’s hand. “It’s just a
bunch of dashes” Detective Waxter said confusedly. “Well, do you think it’s some kind of
code?” “Probably.” __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
“Well, this looks like it’s a three word sentence. The first word has seven letters, the
second two, and the third six.” Mankle said. “Yes but how are we going to solve this, there are
plenty of words that fit that description” Detective Waxter retorted. “Son, I think I understand
this guy’s game.” “What do you mean?” “Well Son, think about it. He sends us a package that
has a noose, old press cuttings, a video, and a message that’s written in dashes. He’s playing with
us. This is just a game to him, and I know what this game is called, Hang Man.” “He’s playing
Hang Man with us?” Detective Waxter sputtered indignantly. “That stupid kid’s game!” “Yes he
is, son. He doesn’t want us to solve this, at least not without asking him how. Letting him
make us guess, making us wait in suspense, before letting us know if were right or not.” “Shit!”
Detective Waxter cursed. “You can say that again son, you can say that again.”
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 6
Detective Waxter and Chief Mankle spent the next couple of hours trying to decode the
killer’s message, but they hadn’t gotten anywhere, and both of their nerves were wearing thin.
Finally Chief Mankle cleared his throat, and stood up to stretch his arms. He walked over to the
message and stared at it for another moment hoping that something would come to him, that he
would experience a moment of inspiration or epiphany, finally he spoke. “Hey son, I think I’ve
figured out the middle word.” Detective Waxter looked around excitedly, at last they might have
a break. “What is it?” He asked impatiently. “Well Son, the problem is that we’ve been focusing
on the first word. If we can figure out what the second word, that might make things easier.”
“Okay, so what have you got?” Detective Waxter almost shouted in frustration. “Well son, I
think the word is ‘is’.” “What do mean?” “The second word, it’s ‘is’.” Detective Waxter stared
confusedly at Chief Mankle, before comprehension dawned on his face. “Okay, let’s get back to
work.”
After what seemed like another eternity, they still hadn’t found anything. They were just
getting ready to quit for the day, when the telephone rang. Both of them automatically reached
for it, but because both of them were exhausted, it hadn’t yet occurred to them that this might be
Detective Gillam’s killer. Detective Waxter was a little faster than The Chief and reached the
phone first. “Hello, this is Detective Waxter. To whom am I speaking? And how may I help you?
“Hello Detective,” a familiar electronically disguised voice said.
Detective Waxter immediately felt a change in his consciousness, a few seconds before he
had been exhausted in every possible way. The only thing on his mind was going home, getting
something to eat, downing some beers, and then going to bed. Now it was as if he had drank an entire gallon of caffeine, his mind and body were buzzing, and he was no longer tired, but alert
and wary. He put the phone on speaker so that The Chief could listen too.
“What do you want you son of a bitch?” Detective Waxter hissed. “Now is that really the
way to talk to someone who just wants to help you solve a vexing problem?” The voice said
sounding hurt, but Detective Waxter heard a trace of garish amusement in the question. “A
problem that you caused, we will not play games with you. We will find you, and you will pay.”
“If you refuse to play, you choose to forfeit, and I can guarantee that you will not like that
outcome.” “What do you mean?” Said Detective Waxter whose throat had suddenly gone dry, he
was sure that what he had just heard was a threat against him, and his family. “Use your
imagination Detective.” “If this is a threat against my family, then I will_ _ _” “Please Detective,
I don’t hurt the innocent. I go after those who are guilty.”
“What was Detective Gillam guilty of?” Detective Waxter retorted. “You already know,
after all you’re his partner. You participated in his crimes.” “Then why did you only go after him,
why not come after me?” “Who says I’m not after you? After all you’re guilty to.” After a brief
pause, the voice continued “What I do Detective is that I make sure that justice is served.” “We
have a legal system that does that, and it is unbiased and fair.” The voice on the phone scoffed.
“Don’t make me gag with all your lies, you know as well as I do that those who are guilty go free
all the time, and not only do the guilty go free, but often times the innocent are punished for
crimes they didn’t commit Even if they do go to prison, most of them like life on the inside.
They’ve still got contacts that will get things done for them on the outside. Those who are on
death row usually get to live for about fifteen to twenty years before the government gets their
pound of flesh.”
Detective Waxter had nothing to say to this self righteous monologue. The voice on the phone taking this as a defeat said “Are you ready to play.” “Fine,” Detective Waxter hissed. He
stared at the dashes which seemed so incomprehensible. He had already found one word, the
word ‘is’. Suddenly Detective Waxter had a moment of Epiphany so forceful it was as if he had
been hit by a train. Something the killer had just said zoomed to fore front of his mind. “I make
sure justice is served” “I make sure justice is served” He whispered. Finally he knew what the
message said. “I know it! It says justice is served!” “Very good Detective, but remember what I
told you earlier, you won’t find anything unless I want you to.” There was a click, the killer had
hung up. Detective Waxter let the phone fall from his hands and hit the floor with a thud, before
slouching over to an overstuffed pouffe leather chair, and slumping into it.
The Hangman’s Game
Chapter 7
It was the most deflating time in either Chief Mankle’s or Detective Waxter’s lives, both
of them felt as though the killer of Detective Gillam had emasculated them with his psychotic
game he was forcing them to play. Apart from catching this creep, and acting out the fantasies
of torture and death that were playing in their heads, all they wanted was to find Detective
Gillam’s body, and bury him.
Of course this freak, had planned everything out. He enjoyed in watching them search for
him, and for Detective Gillam’s body. They wouldn’t find it, not unless he wanted them too, and
if he wanted them too, then they could be sure that once that particular game was over he would
have another one for them to play.
It was an endless game of “Chase your tail,” following one worthless lead after another.
Pretty soon they even ran out of dead end leads until they had absolutely nothing. Detective
Waxter was getting restless, he was anxious for another call from Detective Gillam’s killer,
because all it could take for them to catch this creep was one mistake on his part. If he messed
up, it could be their opportunity to take him down.
Finally it happened, the killer had sent another package. As soon as it was spotted, it was
whisked away to be examined. After the usual screening, and security measures, the box was
opened. What they saw inside disgusted them, it was a dead mouse, hanging limply from a trap.
Next to the corpse was another “Hangman” message. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
