Bloody Jack

By Christie Paterson

Footsteps.

On the pavement, they sounded hurried…urgent. Alex’s heart pounded and her pulse raced. It was only another two blocks to her car, but would she make it? The air was chilly with little light to illuminate the way. The full moon hid behind one of many clouds which hung low in the sky, posing the threat of a sudden rainstorm to befall the world at any given moment.

Ever since making the link between the victims and the Lecturer’s husband, Alex had been suspicious of him…but maybe too suspicious? Was he truly capable of murder?

Alex darted into the darkened alley as the skies opened and released an avalanche of cool, fresh rain. She was sure this was the way to her car, but was shocked to see that the alleyway was in fact a dead end.

Alex turned around and backed up into the corner, straining her eyes and ears for any sound to indicate that she wasn’t just paranoid. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she flattened herself against the wall behind her. The bricks felt wet and slimey against her open palms.

It seemed like only yesterday that Alex and her partners had iniated their investigation into the Bloody Jack murders. Two months ago, Alex had found nineteen year- old Cindy Arrington in the local park area. She was mutilated, nearly decapitated but fully clothed with no sign of sexual assualt. There had been no signs of robbery, no obvious motivation…until they learnt that the smart young woman, a woman who planned on being a hot – shot lawyer had been pregnant before having an abortion, a decision heavily influenced by her parents.

Then a week later there was the second victim - Ann Crumb. The body of the twenty – three year old had been found in the very alley where Alex was now standing. Her injuries had been severe; much worse then Cindy’s. She too had been pregnant and had had an abortion. As the number of victims grew, each girl of a different age group, the sustained injuries escalated in severity.

Then a break came – a link between the victims. They were all students of Jade Karin, a criminology lecturer at Bond University. What was more, was that Jade’s husband, Aaron, had affairs with each and every one of them. After establishing that important link, the forensic team at Maroochydore police station had pressed forward and proved beyond reasonable doubt that every single aborted baby was the unborn child of Aaron Karin.

Footsteps.

Approaching.

Trapping her.

Alex cursed herself for leaving her shot gun in the centre consol of her car. It was no use to her there. She decided to try to talk her way out of it – if only to stall for time. Maybe Justin would call Emma or Tara. They at least would understand the situation.

‘Aaron?’ she called out into the black night.

No answer.

‘Aaron, I know it was you. You can’t hide it anymore – half the force are out looking for you.’

A lie. A blantant lie, and one which would be obvious to the smart criminal.

Fortunately, Aaron’s IQ was below average.

A deep, throaty laugh rang out from the entrence of the alleyway.

It didn’t sound like Aaron, but it did sound familiar. Alex just couldn’t place it…

‘You have no idea,’ a voice, unmistakably female, mocked her.

So familiar…

The moon choose then to peek out from behind the cloud. It shone it’s eerie light into the alley, illuminating Alex and the pursuer.

‘I can’t – I won’t – let you destroy me. Not when everything is finally working out,’

The reality of the situation hit Alex like a ton of bricks when she looked into the cold murderer’s eyes. They had been wrong - so wrong. But now she finally understood.

‘I should have known. It was right there in front of us the whole time,’ the police detective smirked. ‘You couldn’t risk the truth coming out – it would destroy your career. Not to mention his,’

The woman stepped closer to Alex, revealing the gun she held before her. ‘I love him. We were working everything out before all of this blew up,’

Alex shrugged a shoulder. ‘That’s not what I heard,’

‘He loves me!’ the woman protested. She cocked her gun. ‘And you’re not going to ruin our future together!’

‘Jade Karin loved her husband. The fact that he no longer loved her in return did not seem to matter.’

Elizabeth Black, the Crown Prosecutor, looked into the pensive faces of the twelve jurors sitting in on the murder tril of the arguable sane lecturer.

‘She, like everyone else in this world, says that she just wanted to be loved. But the fact of the matter is that Jade Karin comitted cold blooded murder in hopes to salvage her rocky marriage.’

Elizabeth pointed at the defendant, who held her held high with a vacant expression upon her face.

‘Members of the jury, I stand here before you, urging you to see that justice prevails today, punishing this murderer accordingly. Jade Karin had the intent, motive and opportunity required to comit these murders. She is legally sane, with no solid case to defend her innocence.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the case of A024 Jade Karin vs. State, I urge you to find the defendant guilty of all charges.’

Alex, Emma and Tara burst out of the courtroom. The trial was finally over, and the three detectives had never been happier to hear the word ‘Guilty’ eocho in the local courtroom.

Alex’s arm was in a cast, a very small amount of pain compared to what the ‘Bloody Jack’ case had caused the five families of the victims, all of who had come to make the appearance in court.

The five victims had been butchered and slaughtered; their remains identical to those of the victims of the 1888 Whitechapel, London serial killer, Jack the Ripper. On searching the house of Jade Karin, police had found books, sketches – nothing less then a shrine to the London monster. Evidence showed that for whatever reason, Jade had been obsessed with Jack the Ripper – and, after searching through police records of unsolved copycat crimes, suspicion was so much so that Jade was now wanted for questioning regarding other past crimes.

The sun was bright, and Alex used her good arm to slide her sunglasses down off her head to shade her eyes.

‘I don’t think she’ll be getting out for a very long time,’ Tara said, satisfied at a job well done.

‘Yeah,’ Alex agreed. ‘It’s just too bad that they didn’t catch her earlier. Justice won’t exactly bring back those poor women- or do anything to ease the feeling of loss for their families,’

Emma smiled sadly. ‘They had their whole lives ahead of them,’

‘And they fell for the same guy. See, I keep telling you that love is blind – and stupid,’ Alex joked weakly.

They all fell silent for a while as they walked down the steps of the city courthouse.

‘So, are you going to tell us how you got out of there alive?’ Tara asked Alex when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

Alex shrugged both shoulders, then winced in pain. ‘She just…didn’t seem to have it in her, you know? She pointed that gun at me….and shook. Fear? No, I don’t think so. She was just empty. She tried to save her relationship, but lost him in the end. It wasn’t worth it to her anymore,’

‘Well, the next time I go out with someone, I’ll be sure to check their criminal records first,’ Tara said lamely.

‘Just keep a can of hairspray on you at all times,’ Alex winked, unlocking her car and opening the door. ‘Gets them every time.’

Ms Christie Paterson 170 Oliver Street Grafton NSW 2460 Home: (02) 6642 1114 Mobile: 04 34 11 62 85