By Bill Schott
Standing in front of the kitchen counter, Alexander closed his eyes and smiled as he disassembled the Beretta 9 mm hand gun. His time had been thirty seconds; he would have to be faster.
Hearing the door bell chime, he looked to the monitor; besides a small snowman, visible out by the front walk, no one was at the front door.
Turning to reassemble his hand gun, he saw a figure run past the window over the sink. Abandoning that gun, Alexander darted to the spinet piano. Reaching behind the right back he located and pulled his .357 revolver from its hidden holster.
The weight felt wrong on his hand gun. Looking, he saw the weapon was empty; someone had unloaded it.
A hole appeared in the wall in front of him. In the hole was a small caliber slug from a high-powered weapon. On the slug was Alexander's bone and brain matter.
Approximately a week later, investigators, responding to an anonymous call, searched Alexander's home and found his body. It lay naked on the floor, save an adult diaper, and a decorative sash which read: Happy New Year.
A homicide investigation was opened and Bull Schlitz was assigned.
Whoever had killed Alexander Enero would have to be brought to justice.
To be continued...
| Author Notes | Image from Google |
By Bill Schott
Previously:
A homicide investigation was opened and Bull Schlitz was assigned.
Whoever had killed Alexander Enero would have to be brought to justice.
========================================
Bull Schlitz pulled a swig from a pint of Number 7 as he looked over data on Alexander Enero.
"Hey, Piglet! It's been three weeks; where's the rest of the report on Enero?"
"It's pronounced 'Peeshlay', Inspector."
Schlitz turned and looked at the young detective; his furled brow spoke for him.
"That's it, Bull. The guy is off the books. Also, there's a new murder reported from the East Side."
"So what?"
"Coroner's report says small bore through the skull."
Thirty minutes later, Inspector Schlitz and Detective Piglette arrived at the downtown precinct. After making arguments for similarity in victims' deaths, they were given access to the investigation files.
Detective Zack Newton gave them the forensics report and background on the victim.
"The guy's name was Dulce Corazón. His bio is shorter than your partner's johnson.
"It says here that the bullet is practically pristine and that it was still in the guys skull," said the younger detective. Then, turning to Newton, "Name's Piglette, not Johnson."
Newton scoffed with a smirk. Then, opening an evidence bag, pulled out a greeting card. "He had this Valentine tucked inside his shirt."
Bull looked at the lab data and background on the victim. He looked up and smiled at his assistant. "Hey, Piglet!"
Piglette grinned. "Zip gun!"
"The killer was in the room and close," said Bull. "The report says the pill entered through the back of the head."
"Ah, the most unkindest cut of all," said Piglette.
"What the hell does that mean, Piglet?"
"The victim knew his killer," said Piglette. "He was likely - a friend."
To be continued...
| Author Notes |
"The most unkindest cut of all." Quote from Shakespeare's 'The Tragedy of Julius Caesar' when Mark Antony makes note of the stab wound in Caesar made by his good friend Brutus.
pill=bullet Image from Google The Mary Sue |
By Bill Schott
Previously:
Alexander Enero and Dulce Corazon had been killed in what seemed like similar murders. Inspector Bull Schlitz has been assigned to solve the cases and bring the killer or killers to justice.
Betty Brady, standing at her workbench, inserted the .22 caliber barrel into the stock as she assembled the expedient, high-powered rifle. Having bored the barrel herself, she knew a high-grain packed casing would create the muzzle velocity to enable an accurate hit from over a half kilometer.
From the bathroom down the hallway, she heard the toilet flush. Living alone, this sound alerted her to an unwelcome Christmas visitor.
Calmly, she completed her assembly of the rifle, inserted a round in the chamber, and drove the bolt forward.
Approximately a month later, investigators, responding to an anonymous call, searched Betty Brady's home and found her bloated and disintegrating body submerged in a bathtub of green-colored water. A multi-colored striped arc had been painted on the wall and stretched from the upper corner of the rear wall to a point behind the toilet. On the closed lid was printed in green 'Kiss Me I'm Irish'.
Detective Piglette received a call an hour later. Before dawn, he and Inspector Schlitz were on the scene.
To be continued...
| Author Notes | Image from Google |
By Bill Schott
Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of violence.
Three homocides have Inspector Bull Schlitz and Detective Piglette searching for clues and suspecting that the murders are connected and not over.
April had rolled around as the investigation dragged on.
Bull Schlitz looked over the data on the three murder victims and became certain they were all spooks.
"These vics are all hollow, Pea brain."
"Peeshlay, Inspector," said Piglette.
"Enero has no records known to exist beyond the paperwork we found for him. His prints ain't on file, DNA is - huh?"
Bull looked at the DNA report closely.
"Hey, PJ, are these reports right?"
"They were all done at the lab here in town." said the detective. "It looks like they were all hitmen, histories erased, and taken out by one of their own."
"We need them double checked. This ain't possible."
"What is it, Bull?"
"I got Enero, Corazon, and Brady related to each other. The damn computer down there went the extra mile and cross-referenced all the samples we sent. So, either they've got their collective heads up their collective buttholes, or some crazy shit's goin' on."
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Dave Vision chuckled as the television advertized an income tax preparation company.
"Suckers," he said to himself, as he rolled out a leather bundle on the counter in front of him. There were a dozen assorted titanium knives ranging from cleaver weight down to hairpin size. Each would have a specific use in dispatching someone. In another bag he carried a bone saw and meat hook.
The television went dark as the lights also went out. Looking out the window he could see the neighbor's lights were still on. It was only his lights that were out.
Dave smiled as he touched the collapsed knife on his belt. Removing it from its pouch, he flicked his wrist and allowed the twelve-inch bowie knife to extend and lock into place.
Knowing that the power box was at the rear corner of the basement, whoever had shut it off would have to either go out the same way he/she got in, or come up the staircase. He moved to the basement door, opened it, and listened to hear someone ascending the stairs.
"Come and get me, Tax Man."
When the police responded to an anonymous call the next morning, they found a man divided into twelve pieces. Each section had a titanium knife jabbed into it. His head was suspended from the oven vent on a meat hook. A hairpin-sized knife, half visible, was protruding from his left nostril. A dollar sign had been carved into his forehead.
| Author Notes | Image from Google |
By Bill Schott
Alexander Enero and Dulce Corazon had been killed in what seemed like similar murders. Betty Brady and Dave Vision had then been killed in bizarre ways. Inspector Bull Schlitz has been assigned to solve the cases and bring the killer or killers to justice.
January:
A hunter's moon illuminated the suburban scene as the shooter took aim and gently squeezed the trigger of her recently-tooled rifle. The firing pin struck the chambered round. The overpacked casing housed a compact explosion sending the small caliber bullet through the barrel and across two blocks to pierce a window and Alexander Enero's skull.
A few moments later, a man who had been circling the home, jimmied the front-door lock and entered Enero's house. After pulling off the dead man's clothes and replacing them with a diaper and sash, the home invader gently lifted the .357 revolver from the corpse's grip, reloaded the empty cylinder, and inserted the handgun into an evidence bag.
February:
Answering his doorbell, Dulce Corazon smiled and welcomed his date for the evening inside.
"I am so very pleased we could find this time to enjoy each other's companionship, mi Amore"
"The pleasure is mine, Dulce. I feel we can do a lot for each other."
"You are a beautiful woman; this is already doing a great deal for me. This evening will be one I hope to last until we brunch tomorrow morning."
"Perhaps a cocktail to start?" she asked.
"Of course, belleza."
He turned and crossed the room to his bar. He busied himself preparing two martinis, oblivious to his date's handbag being inverted and revealing a plastic-barreled zip gun. No sooner had he finished shaking the concoction than the rude penetration of a bullet into his brain from behind ended his martini mixing forever.
His assassin quickly exited, forgetting to plant a tell-tale Valentine on Corazon's body. It would need to be introduced later.
March:
Betty Brady happily cleaned her hand-made twenty-two caliber rifle and put it back together. Her lover must have entered and used the bathroom, as she heard the toilet flush down the hall. Completing the gun's assembly, she wandered to see him.
"Hi darlin'," she said, seeing her love interest come out of the facility. "You must have had a turtle head poppin' out without even givin' a shout out you were here."
"Nah, I was just gettin' rid of some evidence that connected me to you."
"What do you mean, Dave?"
"I'm goin' to need them knives you been keeping' for me."
"They're in the bread box in the kitchen, Hon. Got a job?"
"Yeah."
"Need some help?"
"Sure. I'm gonna get some of your paintin' supplies around. If you could run a bath for me, that'd be swell."
After he'd drowned her in the tub, he painted the wall and left the St. Patrick's Day message on the toilet lid.
April:
Dave Vision answered his burner phone. "So what's the story here, man. Why'd I have to off Betty?"
"Betty took out a guy for me back in January. Dinged him from a block away. Then she tapped another one in February."
"Sounds like you was served pretty damn good."
"Loose ends, my friend."
"What's that make me?"
"You're too valuable to get rid of, Dave. You're a cut above the rest. Hey, look what I did there."
"Yeah, I get it. Now you get this. I'm out and if I see you again I'll dice you up."
"You got it, Dave. Consider yourself cut from the roster. Hey, wow, I'm on fire."
May:
Detective Zack Newton stepped out of his car and walked to the picnic table near the restrooms at the highway rest stop. Inspector Bull Schlitz sat at the table, a fast-food coffee cup steaming in front of him.
"Why are we meeting way out here, Bull?"
"Hey, Newton. Look, I got some questions I need answered, but don't need no record of them bein' asked or answered."
Newton hesitated sitting. He looked about and then stared at Schlitz.
"Are you wearing a wire, Bull?"
Schlitz stared back at the detective, his face unchanged.
"I said I didn't want no record, so sit down."
The detective stepped over the seat and settled down facing the inspector.
"Did you and Pea-shooter figure something out, Bull?"
"His name's Piglet."
"Sure, whatever," said Newton, looking about nervously.
"He checked with the lab boys again. They say that somebody messed with the blood samples from the victims. The DNA readings are compromised because the samples given to them were somehow mixed together."
"Why the hell would anybody do that, Bull?"
"I figure it was to keep those vics' identities from being found out."
To be continued...
| Author Notes |
I have promoted the previous chapters again in case you need to figure out what is going on.
Image from shutterstock |
By Bill Schott
Alexander Enero and Dulce Corazon had been killed by assassin Betty Brady. Dave Vision had then killed her before being jigsaw-butchered in his own kitchen.
Bull Schlitz was meeting with another detective, Zack Newton, in a remote location in order to ask official questions - unofficially.
"The DNA readings are compromised, Zack, because the samples given were somehow mixed together."
"Why the hell would anybody do that, Bull?"
"I figure it was to keep those vics' identities from being found out."
"Guess I don't follow, Inspector."
Bull held a stare on the detective's face. Like a statue examining a timid patron, Bull's eyes fixed on Newton's countenance, noting eyebrow lifts, nostril flares, and smacking lips.
"How long you been a cop, Zack?"
"Fifteen years."
"Transfer from outta state?"
"What of it?" Detective Newton's face flushed as he adjusted his sitting position.
"Got any friends workin' at Interpol, Zack?"
Newton stood and moved away from the table.
"Do you have a parabolic reflector listening to us, Bull?"
"Hell, I don't even got a clue what that is. I'm just askin' some questions to figure out who the hell you really are."
Newton fell silent. Bull noted the detective's face crinkle until a half smile appeared.
"Kak vy dumayete chto znayete, Inspektor?
(What do you think you know, Inspector?)
Before Bull could answer, or figure out the question,
a sudden, warm spatter of fluid hit his face. Looking
up he saw Newton had a new hole in his face, which
looked like a field expedient nostril, drilled in haste.
The detective's eyes rolled up and his body fell backward
like a tree felled in the forest.
Bull waited for his ventilating bullet, but it never came.
He eventually rose from the table and crouched to check
on Newton. Standing again, he looked towards the
suspected direction of the sniper's position. He saw a
water tower and a figure rapidly descending the ladder.
To be continued...
| Author Notes |
Image from Google
Russian from Google translator |
By Bill Schott
Alexander Enero, Dulce Corazon, Betty Brady, Dave Vision, and Zack Newton have been killed by each other and someone else. There is still a killer unaccounted for.
This floor of the precinct is empty and the lights are dimmed. Bull Schlitz sits back in his padded chair within his glass-walled office and ponders the day's events.
Spread out on the desk in front of him are several thin, manila-folder files having to do with these unexplained murders in the city.
There are five altogether, including the latest one on Zack Newton, whose history, it turns out, is as truncated as the other victims.
Rotating in his squeaky chair, and reaching into his lower left desk drawer, Bull withdraws a pint of bourbon. The seal had been broken for some time, the remnant swig is likely the backwash of a dozen snorts from as many late night vigils.
As the bottle reaches a level plane, across his weathered knuckles and through the windowed wall, Bull notices a figure in a desk chair, on the far side of the squad room.
With a swallow and blink, the figure is gone. The inspector's hand finds his .38 inside his jacket; he then rises while scanning the room beyond the glass. Walking to the open glass door, he steps through the doorway, bottle still in his left hand, thumb on the open-hammered police special in his right.
"Whoever you are, show yourself now. I ain't askin' again."
As if in response, a blur appears in front of the inspector. His hands are emptied of gun and bottle as a fist finds his solar plexus. Stepping back unsteadily, wind knocked out of him, Bull can only concentrate on his lung capacity. Finally able to inhale again, he hears his squeaky chair. Turning, sees it occupied by a stranger, the revolver and bottle both empty on the desk.
Staring blankly, Bull waits quietly. A contemplative eyebrow movement breaks the mask of his frozen countenance.
"I am not here to harm you, Inspector Schlitz."
Bull takes in a cleansing breath while rubbing his abdomen, remaining silent.
"Assassins, Inspector. They are being combed out of your city."
"By who?" asked Bull.
"A better one, Inspector; a killer with no more remorse than a lawnmower."
"Newton was talkin' Russian, I think. These dead assassins all Russkies?"
"Just Vision and Newton. The others were home grown."
"What about you? You the one who helped Newton with his adult acne?"
The man in the chair looks to the desk and the pistol.
"Where's Detective Piglette, Inspector?"
"Forget Piglet. Who the hell are you?"
Ignoring the question, the man calmly speaks while slowly spinning the empty bourbon bottle on the desk.
"He entered the precinct through some elaborate placement method which spirited him past security probes, records checks, internal affairs screening, and another dozen filters required to become a detective. He was put here."
"Newton must of been some kinda sleeper," said Bull. "He was probably worked into the system years ago."
"No doubt there, Inspector. Zack Newton was only unknown to you. He has now been eliminated, by a superior and more dependable replacement."
"Look, I figure Enero was here on account of the Vice President being scheduled back in January. I guess you probably knew that already though, huh?"
"That is true and false, Inspector. Enero was here, the VP never was. His motorcade was a decoy."
"So, you with the secret service?"
"Enero was shot by Betty Brady, who was part of what is known as the Dixie Mafia. She likely dispatched Corazon, another rival. She was then killed by the Volga Vanisher, Dave Vision; a man well known, in his circles, for his renderings. He was killed, quite brutally, by the late Mr. Newton."
"Guess I'll take the rest of the week off, and let Piglet figure out who knocked off Newton."
"He would certainly know, Inspector."
Bull throws his arms in the air scoffing.
"Who ARE you!"
The man stands with the .38, slowly loading the rounds into the cylinder.
"My name is Manuel Kontroz."
| Author Notes | Image from Google |
By Bill Schott
Characters:
Red Appleton, President of the United States, after President Sullivan's death in office
C. C. Connor, former Chief of Staff to President Sullivan; trained assassin
Millie Manowitz, California state representative, twin sister of C.C. Connor; assassin.
Samantha Anthra, Chief of Staff to President Appleton; murdered Pres. Sullivan
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
Ben Baker, aka Butcher of Baghdad aka Bobby Do, assassin
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective
Alexander Enero, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Dulce Corazon, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Betty Brady, Assassin, drowned by Dave Vision
Dave Vision, Assassin, vivisected by Zack Newton, Detective/Assassin, shot by unknown sniper
--------------------------------
I want to tie A Murder a Month in with the novella, Assassin Nation, but it has been a while since the last chapter, so I'll need to prep readers to allow a smooth backstory.
In a previous novella, Baker's Dozen, we see a secret government program training assassins in the mid-west. Ben Baker is a low-level White House staffer who is dropped naked into a wooded area with a gun, knife, boot lace, and a bottle of water. He knows that he must hunt down and kill twelve other people who he understands are hunting him as well.
This operation is run by the President of the United State's Chief of Staff, C.C. Connor. We learn, as others are dropped into the same area, that Baker is a flat character with no background. This makes sense as we learn that Baker isn't who he thinks he is, but a trained assassin programmed to think he's someone else.
Eventually, by the end of that story, Baker discovers he is Bobby Do, the Butcher of Baghdad, and faces down his creator, C.C. Connor.
Now, in the next story, Assassin Nation, most of the old players are back and all are at the White House. New characters like Samantha Anthra and Manuel Kontroz work both together and against each other. Sam, furthering the nefarious plans of C.C Connor, to place assassins within other's governments, and Manny, to discover just what those plans entail.
Some character quirks are that Samantha Anthra, or Sam, is somehow programmed to kill at the drop of a hat, but is otherwise normal. Manuel Kontroz, or Manny, is a highly spiritual genius who is also a trained killer. What is especially true in the story is that no one can be trusted.
When we last saw Manuel Kontroz, he was on his way to California to find who had assassinated his mentor. Samantha Anthra was with him, as she wants answers too, but she knows many things about an assassin placement plan that she's not revealing.
Previously from "A Murder a Month":
"Enero was shot by Betty Brady, who was part of what is known as the Dixie Mafia. She likely dispatched Corazon, another rival. She was then killed by the Volga Vanisher, Dave Vision; a man well known, in his circles, for his renderings. He was killed, quite brutally, by the late Mr. Newton," said the stranger.
"Guess I'll take the rest of the week off, and let Piglet figure out who knocked off Newton," said Bull
"He would certainly know, Inspector."
Bull throws his arms in the air scoffing.
"Who ARE you!"
The man stands with the .38, slowly loading the rounds into the cylinder.
"My name is Manuel Kontroz."
----------------------------------------------------------
Previously from "Assassin Nation":
Samantha reached into her pocket and looked at the screen on the device. There was an icon which had been sent as a message. She touched it.
Manuel stared at her with both curiosity and a sense of intrigue. Her demeanor changed immediately. Emotion left her face and she quickly spun around and hit the toggle switch to release the plane from autopilot. Her next move was to pull up on the steering sending the plane on a steep trajectory to the ground.
Kontroz dove to the panel, but was stopped by a kick from a sensible, size seven, Fendi high-top sneaker with an added steel toe inserted for just such an occasion. The well-placed kick cracked his lowest rib.
Instinctively, Manuel spun a roundhouse kick that was uncommonly deflected by the woman. She simultaneously landed a jab in the center of his scrotum, which caused the expected reaction. That move was quickly followed by successive flat-hand spearings to his throat, solar plexus, and already fractured rib.
A piece of metal trimming was grabbed and broken off by the woman and became a makeshift knife. She attempted to plunge the sharp piece of aluminum into her opponent, but Manuel was able to counter each thrust with a block. He ultimately was able to grab her carotid artery and cause her to fall backward.
Now able to seize the controls, he pulled the plane up to horizontal and flipped on the autopilot. He turned expecting another assault, only to find Samantha Anthra kneeled and looking up at him. Both stared at each other for a moment, until her phone buzzed again. Manuel reached out his hand, indicating that he wanted the device. She looked at the caller ID and pressed the name. Lifting the phone to her face she said, "Hello, Mother."
------------------------------------------------------
Millie Manowitz sat across from her daughter, Samantha Anthra, at a window table in Bistro Cacao, three blocks down from the Capitol.
"Asparagus ravioli, dear?" asked Millie. "Running a marathon soon?"
Sam looked at her plate and then at her mother's. "That shrimp salad has quinoa, roasted beets, and parmesan. Did Chef Deger recommend that? I think he wants you fat and jolly for when he proposes."
"Where is Manny now?"
"Change of subject? Gosh, I was just kidding about Kemal Deger. Is it serious?"
"You're hilarious," Millie replied, without a smile and avoiding Sam's eye contact. "Where is Manuel Kontroz?"
"He's not directly under my control. After you called us back, halfway to California, he disappeared for a few hours and then left me a text."
"By the way, what happened in that analog plane of his? You were completely off the radar - invisible to the world."
"To be totally honest, I fell asleep. Your phone call woke me up."
"So, Manny didn't question your turning back? Dr. Wu was like a father to him."
"He was practically a mute all the way back, except I heard him mumbling some type of prayer, or something."
Millie smiled as she lifted her water glass to drink. "Manuel Kontroz keeps his own counsel, certainly. If you told him about the murders in that Illinois city though, and that they connect to Dr. Wu, that is where he is now."
Scoffing, Samantha pushed her plate away and stood. "I actually have a job, you know. I'm the Chief of Staff for the President of the United States. Keeping track of Kontroz is not a priority for me. I can avenge Dr.Wu without him. He also wants information he's not cleared for; I'm convinced he's investigating all of us."
Millie spears a shrimp on her plate and raises it up for her daughter to see. "Sam, Manny is a shrimp, but - what a shrimp! He has gifts which can make him our leviathan - or a kraken."
| Author Notes | Kemal Deger is the actual chef at Bistro Cacao in D.C. |
By Bill Schott
CHARACTERS:
Red Appleton, President of the United States, after President Sullivan's death in office
C. C. Connor, former Chief of Staff to President Sullivan; trained assassin
Millie Manowitz, California state representative, twin sister of C.C. Connor; assassin.
Samantha Anthra, Chief of Staff to President Appleton; murdered Pres. Sullivan
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
Ben Baker, aka Butcher of Baghdad aka Bobby Do, assassin
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective
Alexander Enero, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Dulce Corazon, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Dave Vision, Assassin, vivisected by Zack Newton, Detective/Assassin, shot by unknown sniper
Betty Brady, Assassin, drowned by Dave Vision
LAST TIME:
"Guess I'll take the rest of the week off, and let Piglet figure out who knocked off Newton."
"He would certainly know, Inspector."
Bull throws his arms in the air scoffing.
"Who ARE you!"
The man stands with the .38, slowly loading the rounds into the cylinder.
"My name is Manuel Kontroz."
----------------------------------------------------
"Manuel Kontroz? Are you kiddin'?" Bull looks at his revolver, now fully loaded, in this man's possession.
"No, Inspector Schlitz, I'm not."
"So what's this about 'Piglet would know?' What's he know that I don't?"
"Detective Piglette is also a plant, Inspector."
Bull scans Kontroz up and down, still not understanding who he is or why he is in his office.
"Yeah, Piglet is a plant alright; a potted plant. But he's no more a killer than my sweet Aunt Magilla."
Kontroz spins the cylinder on the .38, then points the barrel at Bull's chest. "You must mean your Aunt Margaret, your father's only sibling. She was a career nurse, now retired and living out west. She is not your aunt, however, but more likely your mother."
"What!?"
"Yes, Inspector. I had a few hours yesterday and checked you out. You are an only child, your father's wife is unable to conceive due to a childhood assault, and your father's sister was unfashionably pregnant and contemplating eliminating you. The rest is obvious."
"How?"
"Information is as available to me, Inspector, as chlorinated city water is to you."
"But, my Aunt --"
"Our concern is Detective Piglette, Inspector. Do you recall finding Alexander Enero?"
Bull nods to the affirmative.
"How did you find out about his death?"
The inspector simply stares back at Kontroz.
"You received an anonymous tip. What about Dulce Corazon?"
Bull perks up. He recalls being told by -- "Piglet."
Kontroz stands and walks towards Bull. He extends his arm and presents the pistol.
"You will deduce that both Betty Brady and Dave Vision were supposedly anonymous calls received by Detective Piglette."
"How can you possibly know any of this for sure?" Bull asks, holding his revolver in the decided direction of Manuel Kontroz.
"The police phone records are available for inspection. I was able to eliminate any outside calls concerning these cases. There were none, leaving the messenger as the origin as well."
"I can't imagine Detective Peesh -- Detective Peegla --"
"Detective Piglette, Inspector," comes a voice from the doorway.
Bull looks at the man as if he doesn't recognize him.
"Piglet?"
By Bill Schott
CHARACTERS:
Red Appleton, President of the United States, after President Sullivan's death in office
C. C. Connor, former Chief of Staff to President Sullivan; trained assassin
Millie Manowitz, California state representative, twin sister of C.C. Connor; assassin.
Samantha Anthra, Chief of Staff to President Appleton; murdered Pres. Sullivan
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
Ben Baker, aka Butcher of Baghdad aka Bobby Do, assassin
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective
Alexander Enero, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Dulce Corazon, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Betty Brady, Assassin, drowned by Dave Vision
Dave Vision, Assassin, vivisected by Zack Newton, Detective/Assassin, shot by unknown sniper
------------------------------
FLASHBACK from Baker's Dozen
"I actually had another agent in the mix," said Connor, "but he must have been taken out early. He can't be located."
"Who was that?" asked Baker.
"Tim Bends."
As if summoned from the dead, from beneath a mound of body bags, the pitiful specter of Tim Bends rose to his knees. His body, blackened in dried blood and soil, with one eye peering out like a diamond in a ghastly statue of coal, trembled and fought to remain erect.
Connor yelled, "Is that you Bends? Boy, you are a marvel!"
Bends, using whatever supernatural strength his body still retained, lifted a crossbow and rested it on a crate. Before another word was spoken, he pulled the trigger and sent a bolt straight to the chest of C.C. Connor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLASHBACK from Assassin Nation
Kontroz had left his plane and advanced on the covered area, passing a body which looked like a big meat pie. Inside he discovered five more bodies. One, appeared to be a rotting corpse, lying over a wooden box, with a crossbow still in his hands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Last Time:
"How can you possibly know any of this for sure?" Bull asks, holding his revolver in the decided direction of Manuel Kontroz.
"The police phone records are available for inspection. I was able to eliminate any outside calls concerning these cases. There were none, leaving the messenger as the origin as well."
"I can't imagine Detective Peesh -- Detective Peegla --"
"Detective Piglette, Inspector," comes a voice from the doorway.
Bull looks at the man as if he doesn't recognize him.
"Piglet?"
-------------------------------------------------------
Kontroz reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out two sets of soft ear plugs. Extending his hand to the inspector, he says, "Put these in -- quickly."
Looking at the plugs and then to the eyes of the stranger, Bull rolls the pliable wads in his hands as he turns back to his partner.
After inserting the plugs, Kontroz' hand touches his collar and removes a six-inch, string-like wire, which he pulls into a straight stiff wand.
Detective Piglette moves into the office as Manuel Kontroz maneuvers himself between the two policemen. At the same time, Kontroz snaps his right wrist back, ejecting a comb-sized device from his cuff to the palm of his hand.
"His name is Tim Bends, Inspector," says Kontroz.
"Who's Tim Bends?" asks Piglette.
"Yeah, who's Tim Bends?" repeats Bull.
As Kontroz raises both the device and the wire up in front of him, he watches the detective to note any subtle changes in his demeanor.
"Tim Bends was the Assistent Postmaster General in the Sullivan Administration."
"Sounds like a dangerous man," says Detective Piglette, smiling.
"The last time I saw him he was a dead man in the frozen forests of New York state," says Kontroz. "His DNA was positively identifed and his body supposedly removed and processed with other casualties."
"People go postal in the woods?" asks Piglette. "Who ARE you anyway?"
Kontroz attaches the wire to the device, which now looks like a small remote control.
"What is that -- a phone?" asks Bull.
"Some assembly required I see," says Piglette, noticing the Inspector's revolver in his hand and slightly elevated toward the stranger's direction. "Who is this, Bull?"
"I ain't entirely sure, Piglet, but he's been makin' me feel like I been on a snipe hunt while the fox was in the hen house."
"Tim Bends was reported killed in a private plane crash last year," says Kontroz. "Then I found his body, which I presumed to be dead, in a secret government training area."
"Find a plane too, with the Assistant Postmaster General?" says Piglette.
"No, I did not. Lately, however, I've discovered many interesting things about mind control."
"Do tell," says Piglette, hand slipping behind to the small of his back and his own revolver.
"I was recently attacked by someone with whom I was, only seconds previously, having a conversation."
"Politics, right?" says Piglette.
"She received some type of signal, after which she became quite determined to kill me."
"That sounds like half the women I date," says Piglette, producing a gun from behind his back.
"Yeah," agrees Bull, then looking to Kontroz, the pistol in his hand definitely aiming at the visitor. "My second wife was a lot like that."
Kontroz smiles before presenting a blank face. "My personal plane absorbs, deflects, and records radio waves within a two thousand hertz span. This person who attacked me did so after being switched on with a radio signal. I have all of several hundred captured signals on this floppy string. When I press this actualizer, the area will be flooded with them."
"That story is bizarre. I should arrest you for saying it," says Piglette.
Manuel Kontroz presses a button on the device.
To be continued
By Bill Schott
CHARACTERS:
Red Appleton, President of the United States, after President Sullivan's death in office
C. C. Connor, former Chief of Staff to President Sullivan; trained assassin
Millie Manowitz, California state representative, twin sister of C.C. Connor; assassin.
Samantha Anthra, Chief of Staff to President Appleton; murdered Pres. Sullivan
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
Ben Baker, aka Butcher of Baghdad aka Bobby Do, assassin
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective
------------------------------
PREVIOUSLY
"His name is Tim Bends, Inspector," says Kontroz.
"Who's Tim Bends?" asks Piglette.
"Tim Bends was reported killed in a private plane crash last year."
Kontroz smiles before presenting a blank face. "My personal plane absorbs, deflects, and records radio waves within a two-thousand-hertz span. This person who attacked me did so after being switched on with a radio signal. I have all of several hundred captured signals on this floppy string. When I press this actualizer, the area will be flooded with them."
Manuel Kontroz presses a button on the device.
------------------------------
Millie Manowitz sits across from her brother, C.C. Connor, at a desk in her temporary office within the West Wing.
"I see you were unopposed and re-elected, Congresswoman Manowitz," says Connor, grinning. "You must have that state by the short hairs."
"The people have spoken," she replies.
"I'm fortunate not to be in a position where I am not at the whim of a fickle electorate. I stay while the others come and go."
"Like Sullivan?"
"Sonny did his bit and then he had the decency to die in accordance to my time line."
"Samantha said she found him dead in the bathroom. I don't recall that detail in the investigation I saw." Millie runs her hand over what looks like a mouse pad. It becomes a viewing screen, which she picks up, flops in front of Connor.
"What's this? Empty cabinet posts? Looking for something to do on your lunch hour?"
"All of these men have died or disappeared within a month's time. They were in unrelated departments in Sullivan's White House. Where did they go?"
"I can find out for you."
"Or, you could just tell me the truth." Millie runs a finger across the pad, turning it off. She spindles it and drops it in a pencil holder.
"When was the last time we sparred?" asks Connor, noting any potential weapons within reach.
She smiles. "I assured there weren't any pointy items around you, C.C. In case you needed to seek revenge from our last -- practice. Any more blood in your stools?"
"Manuel Kontroz was investigating the compound. He is supposed to be working for Samantha, but he's off on a lark by the Great Lakes."
"He told me Sam attacked him on his plane, in mid air. She has no memory of it."
"I find it hard to believe he told you that. If Samantha Anthra wanted him dead, well, end of story."
"Manny was Dr. Wu's student -- practically a son; he is almost impossible to kill in a fight."
-------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, in a mid-size city, west of Chicago, Illinois, on the second floor of the police department, within Inspector Bull Schlitz's office, Manuel Kontroz pushes a button.
After a minute, Detective Piglette returns his revolver to its rear belt holster.
"Should I get the mental health people up here, Bull?"
Bull studies Kontroz another few seconds before signaling Piglette with an expression that it wouldn't be necessary.
"I gotta tell you, Kantoes, I'm a bit confused. Wasn't Piglet supposed to go nuts and try to kill everybody?"
Piglette presents an arched eyebrow as he looks to Kontroz.
"What?"
"Your name is Tim Bends. You are a trained assassin. You have, despite my inability to explain it, resurrected from a near death state and have assumed the identity of Detective Piglette."
Chuckling, Piglette looks to the other two. "Well, that explains why I shot my Uber driver."
"Inspector," asks Kontroz, "would you inspect Detective Piglette's ears?"
Bull looks to Kontroz, then touches his own ears and the plugs. He then looks to Piglette.
"How about it, Piglet?"
The detective's smile evaporates and a glassy stare replaces it. His right hand snaps back to grab his gun. As his fingers touch the grip, Kontroz's foot strikes him in the chest, sending him through the glass wall of the office.
Grabbing glass shards as he leaps from the floor, Piglette begins a random series of slashes as he moves back toward Kontroz, who removes a foot-long wand from his sleeze. The wand ejects another foot length of tungsten wire which Kontroz uses to whip the glass-wielder's hands. Three fingers fly off, one dropping at Bull Schlitz's feet.
Kontroz stops fighting and jumps back in to where Bull is standing.
"If I were you I would shoot him until he's immobile."
Bull pulls out his gun and points it at Kontroz.
"Move and you're dead."
"
By Bill Schott
CHARACTERS:
Red Appleton, President of the United States, after President Sullivan's death in office
C. C. Connor, former Chief of Staff to President Sullivan; trained assassin
Millie Manowitz, California state representative, twin sister of C.C. Connor; assassin.
Samantha Anthra, Chief of Staff to President Appleton; murdered Pres. Sullivan
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
Ben Baker, aka Butcher of Baghdad aka Bobby Do, assassin
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective
------------------------------
PREVIOUSLY
Grabbing glass shards as he leaps from the floor, Piglette begins a random series of slashes as he moves back toward Kontroz, who removes a foot-long wand from his sleeze. The wand ejects another foot length of tungsten wire which Kontroz uses to whip the glass-wielder's hands. Three fingers fly off, one dropping at Bull Schlitz's feet.
Kontroz stops fighting and jumps back in to where Bull is standing.
"If I were you I would shoot him until he's immobile."
Bull pulls out his gun and points it at Kontroz.
"Move and you're dead."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manuel Kontroz had trained to fight many ways, in several conditions, and to varied achievement criteria. Mercy was a quality he chose to extend, since his dominance of a situation allowed such a luxury.
Dipping back, as though attempting a low, limbo bar, he performs an upward crescent and disarms the inspector. A finger jab, from his right hand, to the mid, inner forearm of the sleuth, causes the pistol to leap from his hand. As the weapon floats in the air for a millisecond, Kontroz delivers a left fist to Bull's nose, knocking him back to the floor, unconscious.
Turning back, Kontroz snatches the patient pistol from its seemingly stalled position in space. Simultaneously, he sees Piglette quickly closing with office pencils gripped in both of his bloody hands. A shot to his upper right leg and another to his right upper arm bring the suspected assassin to his knees.
Stepping quickly to Piglette, who was attempting to rise from the floor, Kontroz grabs the man's right arm, extends it, then hyperextends the elbow. Piglette's facial expression freezes and his eyes roll back.
"Who put you here?" asks Kontroz.
The ashen face moves as the eyes roll down in Kontroz's direction. The mouth drops open, sucks in air, lips purse, then a puff of air carries the name -- "Millie."
Kontroz's head tilts. He sighs with a hum. Grabbing the beaten man's throat, he squeezes steadily until the lack of oxygen drops him to the floor.
"You kill him?" asks Bull, now standing and holding his hands over his bleeding nose.
Kontroz shows the inspector his own pistol before tossing it to him.
The inspector catches the gun and immediately aims it at the thrower.
"You'll need to find more ammunution, Inspector. I emptied that one before returning it."
Bull finds his chair and sits. When he looks up, Kontroz is gone.
Moving his rolling chair to a desk phone, he picks up the receiver and presses a button.
"Sergeant, send a SWAT team to my office to take custody of a serial killer suspect. Get the paramedics up here too. While you're actually doin' somethin' besides holdin' your stinkin' chair down, send up a custodian."
To be continued...
By Bill Schott
CHARACTERS:
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective / Tim Bends (Assassin)
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
------------------------------------
In the previous chapter, the mysterious Manuel Kontroz reveals to Bull that the inspector's assistant, Detective Piglette, or Piglet, as Bull refers to him, is actually an assassin named Tim Bends. After disarming (or dis-fingering him) Piglette in a fight, Kontroz gets a name from the assassin of who had sent him. He then leaves the scene, while Bull has an unconscious and injured detective, who has also been identified as an assassin, in custody.
----------------------------------------
In a hospital bed at the emergency ward of the city hospital, Detective Piglette lay with both arms hanging spread and apart from the framing apparatus; his hands wrapped to the size of white boxing gloves. Inspector Schlitz enters and stands next to the bed.
"Doc says they found and sewed your fingers back on. He ain't promisin' nothin' but you might be able to play Chopsticks on a piano."
Piglette smiles. "That'll be an improvement."
"While we're all friendly and smilin', hows about tellin' me what went on with you and Kontroz. You ever seen him before? He said you were a super assassin who was responsible for takin' out all these other killers."
Piglette looks at his hands and indicates with his eyes that HE was the victim.
"I simply saw a stranger with what I perceived as a remote device. It could have detonated a bomb. I acted instinctively."
"Kontroz laid out a scenario that shows YOU as the key to all these deaths, but only as a precursor to somethin' bigger."
"I don't know what that guy was high on, but I --"
"Where'd those anonymous calls come from?"
"What calls? The ones about the bodies? I don't know? The front desk?"
"No record of any of those tips coming through official channels, detective. That leaves just you as the source."
Piglette makes a face, as if hearing someone say their dog does math problems.
"Why would I get an investigation started into these murders? It makes no sense on its face. If I were involved, it seems I would want a bit more secrecy."
Bull stares at his detective for tells -- sees none.
"Why the ear plugs?"
"What do you mean?"
"You were wearin' ear plugs, like Kontroz suspected. Why's that?"
"I'm sensitive to sound. I wear them quite often."
"Okay, Piglet, here it is. I'm callin' in the union rep to make sure you got your rights preserved. They'll get you a lawyer. Meanwhile, I'm goin' to investigate you like I would any other criminal."
"Thanks, Bull. I hope I'm innocent."
The inspector turns without saying another word and walks out. In the hallway he stops and presses a button on his phone.
"Get another detective assigned to me, pronto. I'll need him today."
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