The False Executioner

Russell Taylor, a renowned businessman in the city, parked his car outside the pub at night. The entire area was deserted. As he closed his car door, he suddenly felt a heavy object hitting his head from behind. He turned to look, but his vision slowly blurred. All he saw was a silhouette of a person standing behind him. After that, he fainted.

“Dispatch All units to reach Madonna’s square immediately...” Inspector Carmen got a message on her wireless Radio. “A body has been found outside a local Pub. Request all the available units to send an Ambulance & Forensic experts on Site…”

The area was kept restricted for entering. As Carmen reached the spot, the forensic experts had already started their work. The victim was lying with the back of his head on ground, smeared with blood, & a message was inscribed on his forehead: 9 = 15. Yesterday’s the 8th day of the month, she thought.

What could it mean? Carmen wondered. Her colleague, Aaron gave her the details, “The victim’s identified as Russell Taylor: less of a businessman & more of a Goon. The locals said he came to this Pub every night. Yesterday was the Baseball match, so all of the citizens were inside their houses…a perfect time for kill. Murder time – 8:00 p.m.” He said as he handed the details of forensic reports.

“This is the 4th murder that has happened in our city. We have a serious case of serial killings happening here...” Brandon Stark, the deputy police commissioner, was speaking to Carmen & Aaron. “The first one, Dr. Michael Turner, a physician by profession, was murdered with a message on his forehead: 2 = 15. Time of death – 11:00 p.m. Next, Juan George, a popular advocate, found killed with a message on his forehead: 7 = 15. Time of death – 2:00 a.m. Third, Bobby Ranger, a local inspector, found killed with a message: 6 = 15. Time of death – 5:00 a.m. And now, Russell Taylor, a businessman, murdered, & the message: 9 = 15 & time – 8:00 p.m. Most important, all of them were killed exactly on the dates of the month corresponding to the time of their kill. Why this number 15 is repeated everywhere? Is there some connection?”

“No connection, sir,” Carmen replied, “All of the four never met each other. All the numbers inscribed are still a puzzle for us. We’re still trying to...”

“We need to catch him fast….” Brandon interrupted her, feeling tensed & his voice hardened, “Before he does something wrong again. Do whatever you want Carmen, but we need to nab him as early as possible. Word is the media has already targeted the police .Use all the resources & get him fast.”

As Carmen came out of Brandon’s cabin, her mind was still filled with thoughts. What could possibly mean by number 15? In what way where these numbers connected to the victims?

“We’re doing good work…!” The killer received a message from ‘The Principle’. “Proceed ahead as per plan. Remember, execute your work all as per my instructions…!”

Johnny Towers, a local resident, hurriedly entered his house, and banged the door closed. Since the last few days, he felt as if someone was stalking him. Today, again he felt as if he was being followed by someone. Catching his breath, he slowly walked to the sofa. As he walked, he felt sharp pain on his left leg. Glancing down, he saw a metal dart pierced deep in his left leg. Someone had fired it on his leg while he ran. As he bend down to remove it, he felt dizzy & lost consciousness.

As Carmen reached the location, a huge fleet of local residences had gathered outside the victim’s bungalow. Dispersing them, Carmen entered inside. The victim was on the floor, his eyes still open and blood oozing from his left leg. Carmen checked and found a metal Dart inserted deep in his leg. That’s the cause of death, she thought. She noticed the message on his forehead: 5 = 15.

“The victims’ identified as Johnny Towers, a local drug dealer. Some of his friends had said he was feeling panicked since the last few days.” Aaron was opening the details to Commissioner Brandon & Carmen, “His neighbours saw him running yesterday evening in panic. He looked quite feared as he ran. The time of death – 5:00 p.m.”

“I donno what’s happening. We still don’t understand the sequencing of the numbers the killer is writing.” Brandon said to Carmen & Aaron, “These numbers surely specify something. The killer is giving us some clue. Either he’s challenging us, or he is helping us…”

“He’s challenging us, Sir,” Carmen replied, “We’ll have to find out the meaning of these numbers. They are probably giving us some hint, either to save the people or to stop them from getting killed by detaining him.” As Carmen said this, Aaron observed her facial expressions.

Carmen went to her office and wrote all the number in succession. Excluding the ‘equal to’ sign & number ‘15’, the numbers read: 2, 7,6,9,5. What was the clue? What this series could possibly testify?

She then checked the murder times of all the 4 victims: 11:00, 2:00, 5:00, and 8:00. She kept staring at the numbers. As she did it, she glanced at her watch.

At once she understood. Drawing a straight line from the times mentioned above, it created a Perfect Square of equal sides. Sensing something, she again glanced at the numbers inscribed on the foreheads of the victims. At once, applying her mathematical knowledge, she understood the puzzle. She spent some time researching on the victim’s backgrounds. And everything clicked in her mind like lightning.

“Brandon, I’ve solved the equation…!” Carmen almost screamed as she entered inside the commissioner’s cabin, “If you draw a straight line on the timings the killings are done, they from a Perfect Square. The numbers 2, 7,6,9,5 are part of a square, known as a Magic Square. It’s a 3x3 square each with 3 rows and 3 columns. When you fill in the above numbers in each grid from left to right, they form a sequence.” As she explained, she drew the square on the marker board, with 3 columns & 3 rows. Aaron, her assistant, was surprised at her intelligence. “The point to consider is: the first row is 2, 7, 6. Their total = 15. The first Column reads: 2, 9. But if we consider the total which is 15, the 3rd number is 4. Now, if you check them diagonally, the number reads: 2 & 5. Considering the summation as 15, which is inscribed on all the foreheads of the victims, the 3rd number in the diagonal reads to 8. Now if you check the numbers in order,” she filled in all the columns with the remaining numbers, “1st row – 2, 7, 6. 2nd row – 9, 5, 1. 3rd row – 4, 3, 8. I assume, 15 is the total number of crimes committed in the entire state. Now, I did a background check on the victims, & I found a surprise.” She showed the printouts & data collected from the local police website. “Dr. Michael Turner killed 2 patients because they had spoiled his reputation by complaining against his faulty practises. Next Adv. Juan George had helped 7 criminals by proving them innocent in court. Bobby Rangers, an Inspector, had convicted 6 people for crimes they did not do. Russell Taylor, killed 9 other businessmen for flourishing his business. Johnny Towers had killed 5 people just because he wanted money for drugs. All of these people are criminals in some case or the other. That means...”

“We have to find out which other criminals have committed crimes corresponding to the left over numbers...” Brandon, who was listening to everything, answered at once.

“Bingo…!” Carmen replied excitedly, “But to do this, we have to check every single database of all the police stations across the city to check for crimes committed according to these numbers. That’s a huge work, but we need to take this chance. At least we can stop the other people from dying & we can also nab the killer..!”

“I’ll help you get connected to all the police stations. U’ll get all the info required for proceeding ahead with your work. Start it right now…!” Brandon ordered. Carmen hurried off to start her work. Aaron observed her as she went to her cubicle.

“Kill all the remaining criminals immediately…!” The killer received a message from ‘The Principle’. “Don’t follow the pattern now..! That Inspector lady knows about our plan. She has cracked the code Goddammit…! Execute all the remaining criminals & leave this country forever…!”

Three days later, Carmen entered the police HQ hurriedly. There was total chaos in the entire city. 4 people were murdered within a gap of 2 days. Surprisingly, no message was inscribed on anybody’s head, which indicated no connection with the earlier murders. However, Carmen started the investigation, to determine the real motives behind these murders.

“Daniel Richards, known for scams & forgeries, had scammed & fooled many families for money. 1 entire family committed suicide since they were caught in severe debt. Billy Rogers, the next victim, was a priest, and had raped 4 small girls in the name of rituals. Jason Johnson, a robber, had killed 3 kids while robbing a house. And the last one, Christina, was an accountant, and she had killed 8 people in hit & run case.” Aaron gave her a detailed info of all the criminals.

“So basically, the number of crimes by these criminals corresponds exactly to the numbers that we had calculated in the 3x3 square. Now all of them, corresponding to the numbers have been killed. ” Thinking, Carmen replied. “The killer didn’t follow his sequence of killing this time.”

“That’s right. The killer probably knew that we have followed his idea of tricking. To avoid himself being caught, he finished everybody in a single go. This means…”

“We have a leak in our department. Someone from us is helping the killer…” Aaron replied.

Carmen was shocked to hear this. The killer had killed about 9 people, almost all of them criminals who were either wanted OR had been acquitted for the crimes they had done. Assuming that the killer had accomplished his work, to keep secrecy, she requested Brandon to close the case. However, behind the curtains, she kept investigating about the case and the killer.

About a week later, the state police nabbed a person travelling on a false passport.

Today, Brandon was called in the Main Government HQ to give details of the serial killing cases. As he entered the conference, he was surprised to see Carmen seated amongst the panel of State Deputy Commissioners.

“Two days ago, the state police had nabbed a person on the International Airport. Identified as Jackson, he later confessed of all the killings done by him.” One of the Deputy Commissioner said to Brandon.

“After the case was over, I was still tracking the details for the whereabouts of the killer. After our meeting where we discussed the analogy of the crimes, all of the remaining criminals were suddenly wiped off, which clearly meant someone had told the killer to kill them with the fear of either him getting caught OR possibly the criminals being saved.” Carmen said to Brandon as well as to the other commissioners, “While investigating this, I came to know that all of these criminals had been detained & prosecuted under the jurisdictary of one single Police Department….&….” She paused for a moment. “You were the chief in charge inspecting all of them...! You were the commissioner of that Police Department & under your enquiry; all of them got themselves acquitted of all the charges pressed upon them. I think that never went on the good side of you. Moreover,” she then presented the information in front of him. Those were the series of messages that Brandon had shared with Jackson. “Jackson had confessed that you had told him to kill all of them…!”

Brandon, who called himself ‘The Principle’, touched his forehead in despair. Mine was a perfect crime, he thought. “That scoundrel Jackson always kept false things with himself…!” Looking at the commissioners, he finally confessed, “Yesss…! I killed all of them..! But what wrong did I do? Those people got themselves free of everything, every charge placed on them…! How could they roam around so freely? How come they could win over our law & we the protectors of law, can do nothing…? Does that mean we should remain quiet and keep our hands folded? I never find myself guilty for anything…!”

“What you did was not wrong…! But your method was wrong…!” Carmen almost screamed at him, “We protect our law, and we should never do anything that could bring injustice not just to the rules set by the constitution, but also to the common people who abide by the rules…! If you take the rules in your hand, what example are you setting to all the other junior officials? You found them guilty, so you could have re-prosecuted them, set a trial on them again, could have used all the police & legislation systems for detaining them…! But you choose the wrong path…! You are an insult to our entire system…!”

Brandon was later convicted for killing all the 9 criminals. As he was taken to the jail, he again told to the fleet of reporters that he was never wrong. The punishment he gave was right, & he totally agreed that the constitutional system failed to punish the criminals, for which he had to take a stand & finish them.

THE END

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