The Case of Known-Unknown

The Stalker

After a few minutes, he saw that man going out of the house, without uttering a word. He felt a sudden urge to know more about their world, which was drawing him, and he realized what he could do to become a part of their world. He started keeping an eye on their daily activities, tried to be near them as much as possible (but he never talked to them), and mostly stalked them from his window. As the days passed, he realized their "perfect" world was imperfect. The lady had an affair, her husband was suspicious, hence resulting in him physically abuse. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. He thought of blackmailing the lady. Her husband only suspected something was not right, but he didn't know it. So, he left a letter for her one morning and he soon got a reply. By this, he procured money from her every week.

After this, he started following various other people, fishing out their dirty little secrets and extorted money from them. In return, he assured them that no one other than him would ever know about their secret. As time went by, extortions turned towards murder and finally mass-murders.

This was him, the one who could see what others couldn't. Welcome to his shattered, incomplete, and invisible life. No one knew where he came from or where he went.

*****

It was 10:30 pm. At her table sat Syna, the piece of paper in her hand, her reaction was comprised of absolute bewilderment. The constable's curious eyes watched her intently, following her eyes and sensing fear at each word they read. He noticed that she read the contents of that paper for the fourth time, and staggering she sat on her chair, the paper placed on the desk and her hand on her short hair, grabbing them feverishly, in worry. He had gained Syna's trust a dozen of times whilst solving various cases, he knew she wouldn't object if he read it without her permission, after all even he was a cop, irrespective of his young age and the rank. His feet did the courtesy to take that step and he picked the paper slowly, his attention towards Syna, hoping she wouldn't order him to let go of the paper. Fortunately, Syna was still and didn't react at all, he read its contents, which left him in a puzzle as well.

IMPORTANT

When you receive this letter, dead bodies of twenty- seven people would be resting in David's goddamned Rose Villa. Such a heinous act needs an awfully cold heart. But at the same time, a clever mind. There's a thing about crime, in my dictionary, one can't steal the pattern or the method of a professional. I was planning for a comeback but well, looks like someone has prepared a stage for himself, with my methods. To save your time, here's a gift for you:

All the members at the party were given barbital.

Nine were stabbed with a knife.

Nine were strangled.

And the remaining nine were killed by a hammer.

The sponsor was left alive, with mercy. I leave that mystery in your hands.

You find people who are in the shade, hidden, you find people who are vicious, but you don't find people who are...

- The Stalker.

   'Impossible! This- this letter, it is from him? The Stalker? That Stalker?' the young cop said in a low voice, with a stupefied face.

Syna jumped, realizing that the letter was being read by the young man. She snatched the letter from his hands and signalled the cop to keep quiet. He took a seat, his hands trembling with fear and spoke in a low voice,