“Are you sure you want me to do this?” Jack asks his compatriot.
“Yeah. He picked a fight with the wrong guy. He needs to be warned of that. Besides, it’s not like we’re killing them or anything, it’s just a scare tactic. That’s all. Go, before they come out now!”
“Alright, alright I’m going jeez!”
Jack proceeded to do what his compatriot asked and sabotaged the car’s brakes. He kept a watchful eye on them as they came out of the restaurant and drove off. Only for the car to veer off course a few hundred metres later and crash into the pole.
He rushed on to the scene scared to the bone and found that the driver and his wife were dead. The girl in the back was still struggling to get out so he quickly helped her out of the burning car. The car exploded a few minutes later. Jack was carrying Joanna all the way to the hospital.
**
“Doesn’t make any sense for Jack to have piano wire lying around his house. I wonder….”
John carried out his investigations through the house but could not find any more traces of the piano wire. He shifted the body and took it to the mortuary. He decided the next best thing to do would be to ask Jack’s neighbours about anything out of the ordinary and whether they felt Jack was feeling distraught.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t know, John. We weren’t really that close; it was just the occasional hi and bye there. Although I do remember him acting a bit peculiarly when picking up his paper one day”, said one of the neighbours, Andrew.
“Peculiar how?”
“Like he was very careful in opening the door, checked around all over the place as if he was searching for someone and when he was sure nobody was there, only then did he pick up his paper. He never did that, was always cheerful in the morning and walked and talked pleasantly.”
“That’s useful, thanks mate. I’ll be going now. Will let you know if I need any more information.”
“Jack was acting strange for the past two weeks, John. He told me he had a feeling he was being watched. I ridiculed him for it and said it was just his mind playing tricks on him but I should’ve listened to him…..”, said Murray, the neighbour who found the body.
“Have you seen anyone lurking around his house?”
“Not that I know of, but I think the wife said she saw someone strange quickly pass by the back of his house. She didn’t pay much heed to that, was quite busy with the children.”
“Oh. Please inform me if your wife remembers anything more about this individual. It would be crucial to this case…”
“I will, John.”
“Take me through this morning. What happened exactly?”
“Jack always, and I mean always, woke up at 6 sharp and we go for a small stroll here after reading the paper. He didn’t show up today morning so I got a bit worried as to what happened. Went to check in on him. I rang the bell several times to no avail, banged on the door to no avail, so I went to the back and even there the doors were all locked. I peered through the window and saw him sitting on his couch like he was sleeping. Except he wasn’t breathing and his neck was bloody. I called some more of the neighbours immediately and kicked the door down. It was already too late. I sent for you after that.”
“Did you notice anything unusual as you went in? Like something that didn’t belong?”
“Not that I remember. I hurried through the place quite distraught so I don’t remember exactly what I saw. If I do recall, I’ll let you know, John. For now, I want to grieve for my friend…”
“Yes, I’m extremely sorry for your loss. Take care.”
John also received word from the mortuary about the time of death being somewhere between 11 and 12 in the night. Cause of death was obviously the slit throat and loss of blood. It was already nightfall by then, so John went home after that.
He didn’t notice it at first but there was a letter on the floor which somebody had put in through the mail flap. He took off his jacket, put his shoes on the rack and sat in front of the TV. His wife died some time ago, an inoperable cancer. John wasn’t listening to the television; he was thinking about her when he suddenly noticed the letter on the floor. He picked it up and read the very brief and strong message:
“Don’t meddle in things that do not concern you. If you do, you’re next.”
**
“YOU BASTARD! YOU SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE JUST A SCARE TACTIC! THEY’RE BOTH DEAD, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!”, Jack was screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Calm down, Jack. Lower your voice. I’m sorry, but this was unfortunate. I didn’t expect him to be driving so fast.”
“You’re asking me to calm down when I was the reason for the death of two people! I’m going to leave Mauville, I am never coming back!”
“That is just going to make you all the more suspicious, Jack. Right now, they say it was a case of drunk driving and we are going to let it stay that way, got it? Nobody knows anything else.”
“I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. Stay away from me.”
Andrew looked on as Jack stormed off…
**