“Well shall we?”
Cassandra with an astonished look upon her face answered,
“Why do you have a crowbar and a sledgehammer in the trunk of your car?”
“For situations like this.” Jon smiled sarcastically as he entered the house.
They made their way past the other officers and into the living room. Cassandra started moving the coffee table to the other side of the room and Jon started dragging the couch. One of the officers came pushing through the other officers who were watching and said.
“Hey what do you think you are doing? You are tampering with evidence!”
Jon didn’t even look up as he slid the couch across the hardwood floor and replied.
“Really cause I am about to give you the evidence.”
Jon reeled back the sledgehammer over his head and with one mighty swipe swung the hammer into the side of the wall. The officer’s eyes widened in anger and yelled out,
“Hey, hey did you hear what I just said! Who do you think you are? You’re going to ruin the crime scene for forensics!”
Jon didn’t even seem to take notice to the officer and took another swing, sinking the hammer into wall. Cassandra turned to the officer and said,
“It’s okay we know what we are doing.”
“Know what you’re doing! You’re tearing the place up. This is going to be on your ass not mine!”
Jon stopped swinging and motioned the sledgehammer towards Cassandra.
“Hey do me a favour. Stop talking to Captain Dipshit and crank that crowbar through the hole to clear out the rest of this shit.”
Cassandra rolled her eyes and started jamming the crowbar into the rest of the drywall removing the wreckage. The rest of the wall came tumbling down with puffs of dust as Cassandra leaped back from the debris. The officer grabbed Jon by his jacket yelling,
“Just who are you calling Captain Dipshit!”
The puff of smoke cleared. In the hole can only be described as pure horror. Hundreds of jars holding body parts in each one were sitting on top of each other. What looked like fingers, tongues, eyes, noses, nipples, penises, vaginas, and teeth. Others were only what could be organs. Hearts, livers, spleens, and lungs. Some even the whole head still intact. All of them individually bottled. All of them pickled for preservation. Everyone in the room stopped and stared. It was the most horrific thing any of them had ever seen. Jon finally broke the silence and said,
“Jesus Christ, there must be dozens of victims. This is going to take forensics months to identify all of these body parts.”
Cassandra let out a giant sigh replying,
“We got him. Whatever he says now, we got him.”
An officer yelled out,
“Detective Cratick you better come take a look at this.”
Jon made his in through the wall with the hole they created. It opened up to an entire different room that was sealed off. An officer pointed towards a fridge that was cracked open. His arm was covering his mouth in coughs and uttered,
“I gotta get some air.”
His shoulders began to jolt and puked on the floor as he ran out of the room. Jon’s nostrils filled with a putrid stink that started to make him dizzy. He covered his mouth and nose as he made his way towards the fridge. He knelt down and slowly peered inside. There were plates of rotten flesh crawling with maggots. Blood was dripping over the shelf and pooled in a dark red towards the bottom. There was a head turned away lying face down stuffed into the far right hand corner with pieces of the spinal cord facing towards him. Other pieces of flesh that were hard to determine were sprawled over the side of the door. Jon stood back up and backed away from the fridge. Cassandra pushed through the other officers who were standing around in pure horror. As she entered the kitchen the stench caught up to her and she breathed out,
“Oh my god.”
Jon turned towards her and said “He was eating the victim’s remains.”
Cassandra pushed herself off of the wall and said,
“I can see that but why?”
“He wanted to take them inside of himself. Sometimes killer’s patterns change through time. They become more disturbed with an obsession that often evolves into…..into….”
“Into what Jon?”
Jon’s eyes lit up as he ran back into the living room entrance from the knocked down drywall and knelt down to the jars as he said,
“He kept them as a memento. Just like a hunter would. They are his trophies. This is his legacy. That is why he told me where they were. He wants the whole world to know. That sick psycho planned this all along. He is getting off on this whole thing. Every step in this investigation he has planned. He is always ten steps ahead of everything we say and do. It was no accident last night that we picked him up. He was telling the truth. Shawn Campbell was the part of his DID that committed the murders. I think Steven Willis really did want to be caught and be exposed, to end his inner turmoil, their inner turmoil.”
Cassandra’s hand was trembling and then it suddenly stopped. Her head slowly turned towards Jon,
“So if he was planning this all along then what is his end game?”
Jon looked closer at one of the jars on the shelf.
“I knew it, these fingers. They look like….
“Like what Jon?”
“They look like the fingers of a small child.”
Jon took his eyes off of the horrific scene and looked up at Cassandra.
“I have been waiting for you all of my life. That is what he keeps saying to me. I just haven’t been listening.”
“What is that supposed to mean Jon? What does he want?!”
Jon’s eyes widened as he stood up and started heading towards the door. Detective Parsaons yelled back to Detective Cratick,
“What does that mean Jon?!”
Jon shouted back as he was getting into his car,
“He wants me to remember.”
Jon sped down the highway back towards the police station. His mind swirling about the body parts as he thought, how could have I been so blind? Detective Cratick barged into the police station and ran back down into the interrogation room. Steven Willis was sitting down in his chair, still shackled. He smiled intently as Jon shut the door behind him and said,
“Ah, I see you have found them.”
Jon snapped his head around to Steven as he said,
“Steven, I have been waiting for you all of my life.”
Steven let out a sigh as he said,
“What makes you say that Jonny boy?”
“You evolved. Just like a butterfly would. The first thing you killed was the dog. Animals around your neighbourhood. Like an addict you got hooked into the thrill of it but you needed something more….bigger, something more real. So you killed Emily Clark and got a real taste for it. Not long after that you killed your father and mother. You knew that was the only way to end the pain. But the pain didn’t end, did it Steven? No you went on a killing spree but eventually that wasn’t enough either. You killed that truck driver because you wanted to see if you could take on someone bigger then you. Just like a hunter you wanted bigger game on a bigger field. Then your thirst for murder grew to the point where it wasn’t controlled. The rage outside of the bar proved that. It was a young killer’s boldness that caused you to kill those two people. The chance of getting caught was great but luckily just luckily you got away with it. This at first scared you and you institutionalized yourself. You wanted to make it go away. You actually wanted to get better didn‘t you? But you knew it never would. You even found yourself messing with the other patients minds and getting off on it. That is why you did that to my brother William. Once you realized you knew what you were and could never change, you matured after that. The kind of maturity that only takes years of experience and you harnessed your rage into something much more dark; something much more sinister. You found that new release through raping and killing the young girls. Using the bar scene as your stomping grounds. But like every
thing else for you through time that could only do so much. That dark rage inside and the feeling of dominance was starting to fade. You needed something more innocent. You needed something else to fill that craving you desired since your first kill. You started eating your victims as if they would always be a part of you. It wasn’t just cannibalism though that only did so much for so long. You needed to capture that innocence you lost in your childhood. It wasn‘t sexual anymore was it?”
Stevens jaw opened as his eyes widened in a gleeful twinkle.
“Yes, you almost got it, you’re almost there.”
“You had to evolve, you had to take the next step didn’t you Steven? To break another taboo. You actually started killing children didn‘t you? Or was it Shawn? Just like what he did to my brother Alex getting him to kill those children……”
Steven grinned replying,
“See, I knew I made the right choice when I picked you.”
Chapter 9
Jon placed the tape recorder again in the middle of the table. He hit record, reaching into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. He sparked one up and stared into Stevens eyes as he said,
“Part of you really is the devil aren’t you? Which one is it? You Steven or Shawn?”
Steven laughed and said,
“No, I’m just merely filling the empty spaces.”
“How do you wrap your head around killing children? How do you justify it to yourself to even embark on that dark path?”
Stevens smile quickly faded from his face. His pupils dilated, going dark, his eyebrows narrowed, and his mouth went into a snarling sneer as he said,
“How do you know when it is time to swim? You just jump in and hope you don’t die drowning.”
Jon got up from his chair taking a drag from his smoke as he said,
“You know I knew you were sick but I didn’t think you were that sick. I figured it all out though. You aren’t ten steps ahead of me anymore Steven or Shawn, or whoever the fuck you are. We are now on an even playing field.”
Stevens face eased back to a smile as he replied,
“There that’s more like it, that’s the spirit! Now tell me what do you think you know that makes us on an even playing field?”
“No, no, no, this is what you wanted. I am not giving you that tid bit of information until you explain to me, how and why you picked those children.”
Steven let out a deep sigh and said,
“Ah I see, I have my little details of this game and you have yours. Well that seems fair. You were right I evolved once again. It was not about sexual power anymore. I needed something more pure, more innocent. I started noticing children around 2001. It didn’t matter whether they were boys or girls just as long as they had those big beautiful eyes. Eyes are the gateway to the soul. They can tell you so much about a person. When a person dies you can look into their eyes in their last moments and it will tell you everything about them. See when you kill adults they show their one and only true nature. Some psychologists call this fight or flight. I determine this as cowardice. The begging, crying, and screaming. Others will fight till their last breath. Biting, scratching, kicking, clawing and swinging their way out of the inevitable death that is soon to come. It became too predictable for me. I needed something more.
One day I was sitting in the park, eating my lunch, watching some of the local wildlife when I saw a playground. There was this young little girl running around the slide. Her face smiling, giggling and laughing with all the joy in the world. In that moment I knew she had no idea of how cruel the world can be. She was truly sheltered from everything and didn’t even know it. It was innocence captured between that wonderful age before becoming a teenager and realizing what a horrible dumpsite life can be. I yearned to see what her eyes would like before the lights went out. In that moment I longed to know whether she even knew what it was like to be a fighter. Whether she had the capacity to know what fight or flight is? To truly know what fear is? I knew in that moment that I had to take that leap forward once again. I found my new release.”
Jon walked over beside Steven, butted out the cigarette and hit stop on the recorder. He calmly walked out of the interrogation room, into the back room and hit the off switch to the security camera. As he was turning around he could faintly hear in the background Cassandra’s voice telling him not to do it. He grabbed some files off of the table and made his way back into the interrogation room and threw it down upon the table. Photos came sprawling out of the files. Over the table, onto the floor. They were all photos of missing children cases. Some files were unsolved children’s murder cases. Jon picked up one of the scattered photographs and held it up in Stevens face. It was a picture of a little girl. She looked no older than seven. Her face was covered in blood. Her teeth were smashed out with only a few remaining sticking out of her gums. Her brown hair matted in the dark liquid that left a pool by her head.
“Is this what gets you off big tough guy? Huh? It wasn’t enough that you had to rape innocent women but you had to kill innocent children as well? Is this what gets you off at night! How can you live with yourself? How can you even look at yourself in the mirror you sick sadistic piece of shit?!”
Steven snapped back gritting his teeth,
“How can I? How can I? How can you look yourself in the mirror? You bastard! You think you’re better than me? You’re brother Alexander was no better than me! You of all people should and can understand me! Don’t you dare judge me! Not you Jon! Not you! I know you already know all of the answers to those questions. So just ask me the question you have been wondering all along?”
Jon slumped up against the table. His shoulders relaxed and slumped as he slid down to the floor. He looked up at Steven and asked,
“Do you have a conscience? Do you even feel anything? Or am I dealing with a sociopath with no connection to feelings?
Steven had the far off stare again as if he was not even in the room anymore as he mundanely replied,
“I really don’t know to be honest? I feel pain when it is physically inflicted. I can feel the warmth of a fire place or a cold breeze when the wind howls. When my stomach growls I know that I am hungry. But these feelings that people speak of I never could quite understand. I studied people’s faces around me and decided to try to react the way they did to certain situations. It is like taking the greatest acting role and making a lifelong career out of it. Life is the stage and emotion is the drive. The only thing I feel is disgust towards humanity. These guidelines of this so called conscience doesn’t really exist. Just the scripts we were given by society so we can adapt and live within it. I know what I am and I am not ashamed. I have thought about the acts that I have done and it doesn’t keep me awake at night. It doesn’t make me sad or empty. I just take what I want to fill that void or darkness. In this case I took those children’s lives and in the end they showed me what I am. They didn’t fight until pain was inflicted. They had complete trust right up to the moment when a knife penetrated their skin releasing that true fear in their eyes. It was intoxicating really. Now that I have told you what I was thinking now it’s time to tell me what you are thinking?”
“I think that you are going to rot in a jail cell or a padded room for this and that isn’t going to help me sleep at night Steven.”
“Oh I don’t care about that. I want to know what happened in that basement with your brother.”
Jon leaned across the table. “My brother is gone because of you, you prick!”
“Ah, I don’t think so Jonny boy. I think you are lying. This whole time I have been telling you nothing but to the god honest truth and you have the audacity after all we have been through to keep lying to me? Tsk tsk tsk Jonny boy I’m disappointed in you. I didn’t get where I am today without being able to read people you know? To be as good as a killer as me……and trust me I am good at what I do, you have to read people’s body language, their eyes, the way they talk, the way they move. It’s how I choose some of my victims. You Jonny bo
y, you are lying to me. Now I am only going to ask one more time. What happened in that basement that night?”
Jon looked back at the two way mirror and put a cigarette to his mouth. He lit it and pushed back against the chair. “Why? Why do you need to know this?”
“If you tell me what really happened Jonny boy. I’ll help you identify every victim you found in my house, every spot where I buried them and even sign over a full confession without the insanity plea, giving you a first degree murder charge. You just have to tell me what really happened that night and if I even sniff some of your lying bullshit. I will drag out this case so long, with insanity pleas, lawyers and worst of all no peace for the family members. So whadda ya say Jonny boy? Do you have what it takes to say the truth?”
Jon stared at Steven for a moment. He had that sadistic grin on his face that made his blood boil. As Jon leaned over to turn off the tape, Steven snapped and said,
“Leave it on! We are coming up to the best part ya know?”
Jon slowly pulled his hand away from the tape recorder. He took another drag off his cigarette before snuffing it out in the ashtray. Jon got up and walked out of the interrogation room. Cassandra walked over to him and said,
“What on earth is he talking about Jon?”
Jon turned around and said,
“Quickly draw me up some documentation papers stating that Steven Willis is agreeing to a full confession of first degree murder. Include in those papers not only do we get a confession but we get full cooperation of from Mr. Willis in determining and finding the rest of the victims.”
“Are you sure you want to do this Jon? This doesn’t feel right? What does he want you to talk about?”
Jon walked over and flipped the switch for the camera to turn back on in the interrogation room. He made his way back over to the door grabbing the door handle. Jon paused clutching the door knob. Without looking back he lowered his eyes and said to Cassandra from the corner of his mouth,
Profile of the Gemini Serial Killer Page 9