by Billy Wells
He entered his apartment, grabbed a Bud from the fridge, and tried to decide his best course of action.
Finally, after three more beers, he decided to call the police. If they confronted Zandini, he certainly wouldn't go through with the murder knowing he was under suspicion and possibly surveillance. Also, once Mary Smith, whoever she might be, was on to Zandini, maybe she would file for divorce, throw the asshole out on his ear, or find a new beau who looks like John Cena to court. The magician would be the last of her worries after that.
Also, Zandini would no longer be a threat to him either. If anything happened, the police would be knocking on the magician’s door as their number one suspect. And lastly, if this were just a joke to begin with, well, the joke would be on him.
All right, here goes. Andrew picked up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.
“What is your emergency?” The no-nonsense female voice on the line asked.
Andrew began to tell her all about Zandini’s plans to murder Mary Smith.
Not far into the story, the operator transferred Andrew to the police department and he began to tell the story all over again. The officer at the desk interrupted him and advised him to come to the station and speak with Sergeant Luker about the matter.
A half an hour later, he met Luker and his partner, Officer Gannon, in a conference room at police headquarters and told them the story from beginning to end. Gannon recorded it and took notes on a pad.
Afterward the threesome took a bathroom and coffee break while Andrew’s statement was transcribed. Luker and Gannon rejoined Andrew in the conference room an hour later and Luker summarizing from the transcript, said, “So you went to Juggs to see the show last night, which was… August 11th. That's when the magician who calls himself The Great Zandini attempted to hypnotize you during the act. In fact, he thought he had hypnotized you, and at some point, he told you to meet him in the alley outside the club after the show. That’s when he asked you to do him a favor by going to 921 Sycamore Street on August 21 and batter a woman named Mary Smith to death with a sledgehammer you would find under the bed. Afterwards, you were to call the police, confess you committed the murder, and wait for them to come and arrest you. We can go over the details a little more. But that’s the gist of it in a nutshell. Correct?”
Luker reminded Andrew of Jack Webb in his role as Sergeant Friday in Dragnet during the sixties. Not in physical appearance, but how he talked very fast, and came right to the point. All he wanted was the facts.
“That's exactly right, Sergeant Luker,” Andrew said, beaming.
“There are a few things I don't understand from your account of what happened,” Luker said, leaning back in his chair.
“And what might they be?” Andrew asked nervously. He wasn’t sure these officers believed him.
“Why did you pretend to be hypnotized to begin with?”
“Like I said,” Andrew explained. “I used to be part of the act in a similar show when I was in college. I just felt like fooling around when the magician said hypnotism would be part of his act. I didn't know when it started, where it would lead. I never suspected it would lead to murder.”
Gannon made a note on his pad, and Luker continued, “I see. You were just fooling around. Why did you meet Zandini after the show in the dark alley? Certainly you must've thought something was fishy about that.”
“Yeah, I thought it was strange,” Andrew explained. “But Zandini said he wanted me to do him a favor. And well, I was willing. I had no idea he would ask me to commit murder. And after he spelled it out, I was afraid to tell him I wasn’t really hypnotized. For all I knew, he may have had a gun, and there was no one else around in the alley. It may sound crazy, but that's the way it went down.”
The phone rang, and Luker picked it up and listened.
When he hung up, Andrew said, “Look, Sergeant Luker, I know there's probably nothing you can do at this point. Maybe you can’t even confront him. There's no evidence to back up what I'm saying, but I wanted you to be aware of his desire to kill Mary Smith. Maybe if you talk to Zandini or whatever his real name is, you'll scare him, and he won't go through with it. Also, his wife, girlfriend, or whatever, this Mary Smith will be forewarned and know her life is in danger. That's all I know. The rest is up to you.”
Andrew stood, and said in closing, “It’s almost dawn, and I have an important meeting at work at eleven. I'd better be going. Good luck. I hope I’ve helped save the woman’s life.”
“I'm afraid I can't let you leave. You’re under arrest for the murder of Blanche Clapp. Bill, read Mr. Knox his rights.”
“Under arrest?” Andrew barked. “What in Sam Hill are you talking about?”
Gannon ignored him and recited from memory Andrew’s Miranda rights.
Afterward, Luker explained why he was being held for murder, “To follow up your story, we sent an officer to 921 Sycamore. When no one answered the bell, he noticed the door was ajar. He indicated he was a police officer and asked if every thing was all right inside. That’s when he noticed bloody fingerprints on the wall by the stairs leading to the second level. When he went to investigate, he found a woman with her head bashed in in the bedroom. Everything was just like you said it would be except for one thing.”
“This is crazy. I’m not supposed to kill the woman until August 21. I’ve never been to 921 Sycamore. I don’t even know where that is,” Andrew stammered.
“Sorry, Mr. Knox, the woman’s husband, Bubba Clapp says he saw the murderer and can identify him,” Gannon piped in.
Andrew couldn’t believe his ears. “Bubba Clapp, why that’s the magician I worked with at the county fair when we were in college.”
“You didn’t know Clapp was the Great Zandini when you saw his act last night and followed him home?”
“I didn’t follow him home. And no, I didn’t recognize him. If it’s the Bubba Clapp I knew in college, he doesn’t look at all like he did then. He didn’t have a goatee, and he didn’t wear a tuxedo. He’s also fifty pounds heavier than he was then.”
“I don’t know what your game is Knox,” Luker said with a wry smile. “If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed you escaped from one of the local asylums. If not, you definitely need your head examined. Who else would come to the station and tell us exactly what you were supposed to do at the Clapp residence on August 21 after you committed the exact murder shortly before you arrived. We have every thing you said on tape… and we have an eyewitness. Your goose is cooked, Knox.”
Andrew sat in a bewildered state of shock, trying to think of something to say to prove his innocence. “You mentioned one thing I said was different. What was that?”
“In addition to telling the story from a different point of view, the only thing that didn’t jive is the date.”
“The date?” Andrew repeated as Gannon cuffed him.
“Yeah. The date the murder happened. The coroner estimates Mrs. Clapp was murdered around midnight. You said you were supposed to kill her on August 21, but you actually did it last night, which was August 11. You must have followed Mr. Clapp back to his place right after attending the show.”
“That's crazy. I went straight home to consider if I should notify the police or simply not do anything about the proposed murder. I decided after three hours of soul searching to do the right thing and blow the whistle on Zandini. I called 9-1-1. They forwarded me to the station. The officer on the desk referred me to you.”
“I believe you're telling the truth about that.”
“You do?” Andrew said, totally confused by the admission.
“Why wouldn’t I? You didn’t even change your clothes after you killed her. You’re not very bright, Knox. You still have her blood all over your shirt.”
Andrew looked at his shirt, which looked to him like it had just come from the cleaners. “What do you mean? I don’t see any blood.”
Luker and Gannon looked at him like he was crazy. His beige shirt had bloodstains all over it. Gannon
snapped a picture of him and showed it to him. For some reason, he could then see the shirt was splattered with blood. He couldn't believe his eyes. He had no memory of going to the Clapp house and pounding the woman’s head in with a sledgehammer. Zandini must have really hypnotized him and made him do this horrible thing without him remembering. He even made him see his shirt without the telltale blood splatter.
Andrew whined to Luker and Gannon. “Somehow Clapp must have recognized me in the audience and knew I would be the perfect person to kill his wife once he hypnotized me. Somehow he deceived me into thinking I wasn't hypnotized, then while still under his spell, he made me kill his wife right after the show, but he told me to remember I was to commit the murder ten days from now on August 21, and then confess to the murder. He may have even told me to blow the whistle on him this morning after I committed the murder.”
“Wow,” Luker said, shaking his head after listening to Andrew’s outlandish story. “This guy Clapp must be a lot more than a magician to pull all that off, he must be a fucking wizard. Sounds like he committed the perfect crime, and you’re going to pay for it, Knox.”
* * *
Eight months later, the jurors returned to the courtroom, reaching a verdict after deliberating for only thirty minutes.
The judge rapped on the sounding block with his gavel and said, “Andrew Knox, please stand.”
Andrew struggled to his feet in a disheveled suit alongside his incompetent lawyer, totally exhausted from a week of damning testimony against him.
“Do you have anything you'd like to say before the verdict is read?”
Andrew stood with his shoulders slumped, a beaten man and said, “I've been framed by Bubba Clapp, the Great Zandini. He really killed his wife and got away with it. The justice system in this country sucks,” Andrew said dejectedly, tears running down his face.
The judge asked the jury foreman to read the verdict. The foreman stood and said coldly like he was passing sentence on Charles Manson, “We find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.”
Andrew slumped in his chair, knowing he would be going to the gas chamber at some point in the future. As an officer escorted him from the courtroom, Andrew heard a familiar voice behind him whisper, “Monkeys.”
Andrew screamed, “Bananas,” but didn’t know why.
From Billy Wells
Thanks for reading my book. I hope you enjoyed it.
Reviews In Today’s World
In the past, when everyone knew everyone else in their neighborhood, people used to share information about the good and bad things they discovered to help each other in their day-to-day living.
Now, in this global village where we are in touch with everyone and everything in nanoseconds, Amazon monitors what readers say about the books they read in order to distinguish the good from the bad. Amazon is particularly interested in what the readers that actually bought the book say about it.
Since reviews are the life’s blood of today’s authors, and we depend on them more than ever before, I would sincerely appreciate it if you would place a review of this book on amazon.com. It does not have to be long; only a minimum of twenty words is required.
This link below will take you to the Amazon page to place your review for Scary Stories: A Collection of Horror- Volumes 3 & 4.
https://www.amazon.com/review/B00NW2C0VU
If you place a review on amazon.com for any of my books of short stories, I will hold you in high regard for all eternity, and I may include you in my will.
Short Story Collections by Billy Wells
Don’t Look Behind You: A Collection of Horror
My Amazon best seller of seventeen nightmares in the horror/thriller genres with surprise endings.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCFQTVE
In Your Face Horror
A compilation of 31 of my most gruesome stories from Black As Night and Shivers and other nightmares
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008TC5WHM
Thrillers & Chillers
A compilation of 31 of my least gruesome stories from Black As Night and Shivers and Other Nightmares for my readers who love thrills and chills, but not so much horror involving vampires, werewolves, and hairy monsters.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008TC21DU
Shivers and Other Nightmares
My second compilation of 30 short stories, mostly horror with surprise endings. The book includes some thriller and chiller stories as well.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008O9SPEW
Black As Night
My first compilation of 32 short stories, mostly horror with surprise endings. The book includes some thriller and chiller stories as well.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054ECJ4C
Scary Stories: A Collection of Horror –Vol. 1
A collection of ten short stories, mostly horror with surprise endings. This book contains longer stories than my others, and in my opinion, some of my best work to date.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GA55824
Billy Wells Horror Anthology I
A compilation of my first two books, Black As Night and Shivers and Other Nightmares containing 62 mostly horror stories with surprise endings.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRVH5J8
Something In the Dark and Other Nightmares
A collection of fourteen of my best horror short stories with surprise endings selected from my five books. The title of each story begins with Something In the ….
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JQOR57C
Scary Stories: A Collection of Horror –Vol. 2
A collection of ten short stories, mostly horror with surprise endings. This book contains longer stories than even Volume 1.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J0GUEMO
Scary Stories: A Collection of Horror –Vol. 3
A collection of ten horror short stories with surprise endings to tickle your scary bone.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L4Y3LES
Scary Stories: A Collection of Horror –Vol. 4
A collection of thirteen horror short stories with surprise endings to tickle your scary bone.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NW2C0VU
Thrillers & Chillers 2
A compilation of 14 of my least gruesome stories from Don’t Look Behind You and Scary Stories: A Collection of Horror- Vol. 1 for my readers who love thrills and chills, but prefer deranged maniacs rather than vampires, werewolves, and other hairy monsters.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MFDF6HC
Singles
It Lurks On the Mountain
Three hunters are missing and bloody body parts of headless torsos have been found at Widow’s Peak. Is there really a hairy monster on the mountain killing hunters or is this a ruse by Bubba Rexrode to attract business to the dying town?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E9YWM8G
The Tomb (From Scary Stories- Vol. 1)
To save his job at the Metropolitan Museum, archeologist Brain Mitchum claims he has just acquired an ancient map revealing the location of the last undiscovered tomb of the Pharaohs.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E9G9XSG
Cold Calls
Mortimer will stop at nothing to find new clients for a failing funeral parlor business passed down to him by his ruthless father.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KD6KDSK
The Caller From Hell (From Don’t Look Behind You)
Clyde Bottoms is receiving calls from a disconnected phone last used by the Morningside Cemetery twenty-five years ago in Hell Massachusetts.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KPCWDJE
Forbidden Fruit (From Scary Stories- Vol. 2)
A father buys purple fruit at a roadside stand that turns his youngest son into a ravenous ghoul.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KCX6Z4U
The Reckoning (From Scary Stories- Vol. 2)
A grizzly and two college graduates travel 1,800 miles to have a rendezvous with destiny and the devil.
http://www.amazon.com
/dp/B00KNNUM0C
Crawlspace (From Scary Stories- Vol. 4)
Two reporters interview a strange humpbacked man in a house where previous owners conducted gruesome experiments.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OYVHTD2
Places To Find Out More About Billy Wells:
Billy Wells Amazon Author Page
billywellshorror.com home page
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