The Forum

by Marie Reyes

  "I am scared to ask, but what is a Becky?" Piper asked.

  Aadesh scrolled through a list of incel language. "Here we go. A Becky is your average girl, not stunning, but can still... Oh god, I can't even read this with a straight face."

  "What," Kristen asked.

  "Ride the cock carousel. Where do they come up with these phrases?"

  Kristen didn't look impressed. "So, what is a simp? I've heard it before but have no idea."

  "Sorry but is this relevant?" Martin interrupted. "He doesn't exclusively kill women, and there was no sexual element to Bryony Finch's murder. There must be more to it. We need to find this girl. He has her now."

  "He keeps sending us messages. Surely he's trying to tell us something. I might message the person who sold that clock again, try to reason with her. She has to understand, this is life and death."

  Chapter

  Twenty Six

  CHICAGO

  Kristen shuddered as they approached the gray structure. It was a depressing place anyway but knowing what had happened there made it so much worse. The outside of the building was covered in graffiti and patches of moss and in the misty rain, looked like something from a horror film.

  She contemplated what she would do if this was where the new victim had been taken. Seeing the body of her father was too much for her and she would never be ready to see another. Surely, he wouldn't be stupid enough to take her to the same place.

  Unfortunately, the new video was too dark, and the view too restricted to work out where she might have been taken. Again, she called the cops, sent them the video, and they said they would get back to her. Weathered pieces of police tape lay on the floor, blowing in the wind.

  The doors were locked, but there were plenty of entry points where part of the building had been demolished. The minute she stepped inside, she held her breath in case the stench of what had happened here still lingered. In the dark, she could feel it, fear and pain, like it hung around after the fact, a persistent dark energy sucking the life from the surrounding space.

  Things she had read on the incel forum swirled around in her head. Women are manipulative, selfish, annoying, picky. We should abolish sperm banks so single woman have to beg for it. lazy, gold-diggers, controlling, baby-factories, whores. Men should be assigned women whether they agree to it or not. Thirteen-year-olds are the most desirable as they will worship you, won't know what they're doing, won't be used-up. That kind of hate, surely, that could fuel someone to do something like what was inflicted on Bryony Finch.

  Her eyes scoured every inch of the floor, and even the walls. As they got closer to the exact spot the video was taken, the tension grew. She hadn't even seen the video, just a screenshot. No matter how much she wanted to find a clue, she just couldn't convince herself to watch either of them. The place was pretty much empty except for rubble, weeds, cigarette butts, and some discarded sections of piping.

  "Did you hear that?" Aadesh froze, and the group followed suit. Rustling, it was unmistakable.

  "Should we leave? What if it's him?" Piper started backing away from the source of the noise.

  "No way. If that's him, there is no way I am letting him get away. Someone should film this. We need a record." Kristen crept towards the noise, hunched over. Martin started filming on his cell and followed her closely along with Aadesh and Piper. As they passed a large section of wall, they could see what looked like a sleeping bag and a mattress.

  "I think it's just a homeless guy. I think we should go," Kristen whispered.

  "Take this." Martin passed Kristen his cell phone and approached the mass in the corner. He considered, briefly, the possibility that it could be the missing girl's body, and that maybe even the killer was still here, hence the noise, but what he was seeing, wasn't that.

  "Hello," he said in his most nonthreatening voice, but there was no response. After what seemed like an eternity, the person moved with a groan. "Hello. I'm just here to ask something if that's okay? I have twenty bucks here if you need to get some food or anything." As the person shifted, Martin could see a man's face emerge from one end of the sleeping bag. "Are you alright? You look sick." The man coughed and flopped one arm out of his sleeping bag.

  "What you want?" he slurred, barely understandable. His pale skin and red eyes made him look like he was on the verge of death.

  "Do you spend a lot of time here? We are looking for a girl who was killed here. If you maybe saw her, or a man hanging around here."

  The man coughed, groaned, and fell asleep. There was no way he was going to get anything coherent and had no idea what to do for the best. If he got any emergency services involved, they would probably turf him out and make him move somewhere else. Besides, would he even be able to get help? Maybe a free clinic. He wasn't entirely sure. He didn't know exactly how the health system worked in the US, but he knew it was less than ideal. He did all he could do, folded up all the money he had in his wallet and tucked it under the mattress. "I've left you some money okay."

  Kristen was scouring the place, leaning over and inspecting any bit of debris she found, Martin joined the search, but ultimately, they came out empty-handed.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  The crime scene had come up empty, just as they had suspected.

  "I need cheering up. Anyone fancy some Ben and Jerry's? I have chunky monkey and cookie dough in the freezer."

  "I could really go for some of that action," said Aadesh.

  "Which one do you want, chunky monkey, or cookie dough?"

  "Yes."

  "Haha. Both it is then. I'll bring some bowls and spoons, oh, I have some mini peanut butter cups as well, for topping."

  "Thank you. You are the best host ever."

  "No worries. You are all keeping me sane right now."

  Aadesh settled on the couch and checked again to see if any women had been reported missing in the area, and it didn't take long to find the face from the video looking back at him. "It's her. They women from the third video. She's been reported missing."

  "Holy crap." Martin peered over his shoulder. "Isabella Torres. That's definitely her alright."

  After reading the article, Aadesh looked up her social media profiles. Luckily, she was a prolific poster with no real privacy settings. There must be something in this wealth of information, something that would lead them to her. The most recent posts on her wall were messages from friends and family praying for her safe return.

  "I'll phone the cops, let them know we know who was in the video." Piper got up from her seat and paced the room with her cell phone glued to her ear. Aadesh considered contacting Isabella's parents, but maybe it would be better for the police to do that. They tell people horrible things all the time; they were probably used to it.

  He scrolled up to the older posts. If she met the killer, they could be on there somewhere. He looked at every person who posed with her in a photo with suspicion. There were many photos of food, and coffees, and nights out. He went back further to some vacation pictures of her on the beach and lounging by the pool in some resort.

  He could hear Piper on the phone in the hallway, raising her voice as he scrolled back faster until something finally caught his eye. Isabella was stood at the side of the road. He read the caption.

  Isabella Torres: Can't believe the way some people drive. Look what they did to my poor car.

  The hood of her car was dented, but not drastically so. The other driver was leaning against their car on the phone to someone. They were fairly far away and from a side angle, it was hard to make out much of them. "Kristen." Aadesh got her attention.

  "Yeah?"

  "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't your dad involved in a car accident not that long before the..."

  "He was in a car accident. It was a few months before."

  "Isabella Torres was in a car accident. I know collisions are fairly common, but do you think, maybe..."

  "Maybe the person induced collisions to get his victim's details? It's
worth looking into."

  "I can just about make out the license plate of the other car. Aadesh zoomed in. I can't make out the last digit though. What do you think this looks like?" He passed his cell to Kristen.

  "I don't know why it's just that digit that's so hard to see. Do you think there's mud on it or something?"

  Martin looked excited all of a sudden. "I have an idea. Can I use your laptop?"

  "Sure. Let me login for you." Kristen walked over to the desk and input her password while everyone gathered around. Martin found an online database and put in the part of the plate number that they could make out and typed the number one at the end. The vehicle details popped up on screen. Ford F-150. Color: red.

  "Okay so this one is a different model and color. Next." He deleted the one and placed a two there instead. "Ford Focus. Blue. This could be the one. Do you have the photo there?" He looked back at Aadesh and he passed him his phone. "Oh yeah. This is the one alright." Martin took a photo of the result, passed the phone back to Aadesh, and searched for another website. He put the license plate number in and the database spat out the name, contact details, and policy number for the insurance company.

  "There's no way they are going to give us any information. We have no interest in the claim, if one was even made. I tried like hell to get the details from the person that sold that clock and got zilch," said Piper, ever the voice of negativity.

  "So, we can't contact them about that accident, but I can find out the details of who my dad got into an accident with, see if the details match."

  "Good idea Kristen. We'll know then if this is actually something other than a mild coincidence. If it's the same car, then there is no way it could be a coincidence."

  "There is one small catch," said Kristen. "I have no idea where the documents are. There was so much paperwork. I swear he kept every single letter he got."

  "Do you still have them?"

  "I shoved all that stuff in a closet to worry about later. Anyone fancy sifting through it all with me?"

  "Sure. I bet it won't take long with all four of us working on it," Piper wanted to make herself useful.

  "I'm going to need help to carry it all in here."

  After three trips to and from the closet, they had managed to move everything, and the pile of mail was scattered all across the carpet. They all sat around the pile in a circle and got to work.

  "So, they will talk to you, right?" Martin asked.

  "Yeah. The claim was never actually settled. I phoned the company once, and they asked me to send in documentation to prove that I was named in his estate, and I did that, but then I just kind of forgot. There is probably still an active claim."

  "Why was it taking so long to settle? It happened months ago, right?"

  "There was a liability dispute. Injury claims. These things take time."

  "Hey. I think I found it." Piper waved a piece of paper around.

  Kristen laughed. It took them longer to move all the post than it did to find the letter. Usually, when she was looking for something, it would be the very last place she looked.

  ~~~

  Kristen barely slept and was up as soon as the offices opened. The piece of paper was flattened out beside her and she had the claim number and policy number ready. Before dialing, she took a deep breath. She had built herself up so much that it was anticlimactic when she had to listen to awful covers of songs for forty minutes. On the verge of giving up, someone finally answered.

  "Good morning, you're speaking to Brenda at Best Choice Insurance, how may I help?"

  "Hi Brenda. Can I give you a claim number?"

  "Certainly, could I just get your name please?"

  "Kristen McBride. The claim number is ECS109429973."

  "Thank you."

  "For security purposes, can you give me the name of the plan holder?"

  "Alex McBride."

  "And a date of birth."

  "March third, 1957."

  "And the first line of the address."

  "1228 Sawyer Road."

  "Thank you. How is it I can help today?"

  "I don't know if you received the documents I sent in?"

  "I can see they have been received and noted on the plan. We haven't heard from you in some time. We have an offer from the third-party insurer. A 50/50 liability split."

  "Yeah, that's fine. Why I'm calling is because I need the license plate number for the third-party vehicle."

  "I'm sorry. We're not able to provide that information."

  "Really?"

  "Yes. We are not able to provide that information."

  "Is there a way of getting it?"

  "No. We are not able to provide that information."

  "I know, you just said that."

  "You may be able to obtain a copy of the police report."

  "Don't you have that?"

  "Yes, but we're not authorized to disclose it."

  "Why is that, specifically? What law or regulation? I can send a request to access any information held on me, right?"

  "What I can do, is speak with the claims handler when they're available, and get them to give you a call back."

  "When will that be?"

  "Callbacks are within 48 hours."

  "Really? It's kind of urgent."

  "Yes, that is the time-frame, but I will mention to them that it's urgent."

  Kristen hated being this person, but she couldn't just leave it. "Is it possible to speak to a manager? It is very urgent."

  "The managers are in a meeting at the moment, but I can refer you to them when they are available. Manager callbacks are within 24 hours."

  "That's okay, I guess."

  "Is it the number you are calling from now?"

  "It is."

  "Thank you for your call. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

  "No. That's it." She resisted making a snide comment and hung up.

  "Kristen." Piper came up behind her.

  "What is it?"

  "I found the sale. Of the car. There's a whole string of messages about it. Same license plate."

  "That's great. The insurers wouldn't tell me anything."

  "Martin thinks he's found an address for the buyer too."

  "That's amazing. I'm going to get ready. We can go pay them a visit."

  Chapter

  Twenty Eight

  Kristen drove slowly down the street until she saw the blue Ford Focus parked out front.

  "We're not just going to knock on the door, are we?"

  "Hell no. I don't want to tip him off. I just thought we could stake it out for a bit. Don't worry, I brought snacks." Kristen grabbed two family-sized bags of chips and threw one to Piper and Martin in the back.

  "What if he's not even there?" Piper asked before shoving a chip in her mouth. The confined space amplified the crunching and the rustling of the bag.

  "Then we're wasting our time. Peanut buttercup anyone?" Kristen asked.

  "I swear you're trying to fatten us up." Aadesh laughed.

  "Look," Martin said, looking out the window. "He's coming out."

  Kristen watched as the door slowly opened and a man stepped out onto the doorstep with a garbage bag in hand. "Does it look like him? I didn't watch the videos."

  "Can't tell. The man was dressed all in black. Mask, gloves, the works."

  "Great. This really is useless then." Kristen slumped slightly in her chair.

  "Maybe we could check his rubbish," said Aadesh. "There could be evidence in there."

  "I don't want to get caught. I don't know."

  "I'll happily do it."

  "No, not yet. I don't want anyone to get hurt on my account."

  "Shh. Look, he's going to his car," Aadesh whispered. It was unlikely the man could hear him from across the road, but the paranoia was coming thick and fast. "He's getting in the car. Quick. Let's follow him."

  The car made a strange noise when Kristen tried to start it up, and her stomach dropped. "No. No. No. No. No!" Sh
e tried again, but it wouldn't start, and she hit the steering wheel with both hands. "Fuck. He could be going to wherever he has Isabella."

  "Don't worry. It might not even be him. And at least we can check his rubbish now," said Aadesh, trying to look on the bright side. Before anyone could get a word in, Aadesh jumped out of the car and ran across the road to the front yard. He opened the lid of the wheeled bin, pulled the bag out in one go, and ran back to the car.

  "Don't bring it in here. Gross." Kristen got out of the car as Aadesh placed the bag down on the sidewalk and rifled through the contents. She knelt down to help him, dreading what she would find. "There's nothing here, just banana peels, coffee grounds, and other food waste. "Ew. Ew." Kristen flapped around with some unidentifiable gunk on her hand. Piper got out of the car and passed her a napkin to wipe her hands on.

  "Well, if everyone's getting out." Martin stepped out of the car and passed Kristen a bottle of hand sanitizer. "My friend was obsessed with having dirty hands, so I got used to carrying this everywhere I went."

  "Thank you." The liquid splat onto her hands and she rubbed it in vigorously.

  "I'll put the bag back, so he doesn't know we've been here," said Aadesh.

  "I hope the neighbors don't rat on us. Don't want to raise any suspicions. Anyway, anyone good with cars? I don't know what's wrong with it."

  "I normally just call the auto-club," said Martin.

  "That's fine. I'll give them a call. Get them to pick us up." Before Kristen could even dial the number, her phone rang in her hand, making her jump. "Hello? Yes, that's me. Oh wow. Didn't think you'd call back so fast. No, thanks for your call. Do you have the claim reference? I don't have it on me at the moment. Uh huh. Yep."

  Aadesh got back to the car to find Kristen on the phone with the insurance company and watched her face drop before she hung up.

  "It's not the same license plate number. We just rooted through garbage for nothing. He's going to get away with it. Whoever the fuck he is."

  "I'm sorry sorry Kristen. It sucks. I really thought we had it."