Looking for a Killer - a short story by me!!!!

I sitting here this morning and was deciding what I should write about today. I thought of posting another story I had already written when I thought - NOPE

I will write a special story (a murder mystery) just for y'all. I finished it about 10 minutes ago and only Molly has read it (for approval). So here is my story written just for you guys..... hope ya like it ... jay
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Looking for a Killer
By Jay Wilson ©2009

John was looking for a killer. He was looking like everyone else. The police, neighbors, and hundreds of others were looking. Everyone who had seen the report of the horrific murder of Kathy Johnson; John’s wife wanted the killer brought to justice. The story was plastered in all the newspapers of how her body was found in a small creek near her home. Some children playing were crossing the small bridge when they made the horrible find.

In the weeks that followed, police interrogated everyone associated with Kathy including John. But no leads came from the questioning. They looked hard at John but he understood. The spouse is always a suspect in cases like this. The Johnsons seem happy enough. There were no suspicions of an affair or money problems. All the neighbors stated the same thing; almost word for word. The Johnsons were almost a perfect family. Even their 4 year old twin boys were like little angels. But there was no motive and he had an alibi from a man at a bar who swore he had seen John near the bar about the time of the murder … and the bar was across town. There were no loud noises or fights to report. If anything, all the neighbors were somewhat jealous of John and Kathy. They seemed to live a charmed life.

That is probably why everyone was so shocked about the killing. She was brutally beaten to death with a two foot piece of re-bar steel. She wasn’t robbed or raped. The murder was simply being struck eight or nine times with the piece of steel and left in the small creek. Police surmised Mrs. Johnson had been walking near the creek when she was attacked. The strikes came from behind. This added some credence to the belief that the killer might not have been known by Mrs. Johnson. Someone she knew probably would have attacked face to face … unless she tried to run to escape the killer. John didn’t eliminate anyone. He wanted the killer found, convicted, and get the lethal injection.

The police felt the murder might have been committed by one of the homeless transients living along the creek about half a mile south of the bridge. Sometimes they drift up the creek looking for things to steal and sell. But if it had been them, it would stand to reason Mrs. Johnson would have been robbed. The detective in charge of the case ruled out a rapist because she had not been violated. Of course, the theory of a serial killer was hinted at as well as just some crazy who didn’t even know what he was doing.

In a short time, John turned from all his friends and neighbors. He even avoided his family. John felt he could not face anyone until this devastating crime was solved. He loved his wife and kids. He was thankful that his twins were staying with his mother on the day of the murder. At the funeral, she had offered to keep the children until John had time to cope with the tragic loss of his wife. It was taking longer than she expected but she was okay with that. The boys were welcomed as long as John needed time.

John walked passed the murder site several times but he just couldn’t look down from the bridge. He was afraid of what he might see. On this day he was walking across the bridge and stopped. He knew he had to look down if he was to ever have closure.

One thing bothered him over and over. He knew he had not been at that bar on the day his loving wife was killed. It also bothered him that he could not remember where he was at that time. He had made up the story of being on the other side of town because he knew how guilty it would seem by saying he didn’t remember. He didn’t want the police to know he had been having severe headaches and memory blackouts. But he knew he had not hurt his wife. He loved her with all his heart and soul. He just wished he could remember where he was that day. And he was glad that the man in the bar thought he had seen John there. He kept John from having to answer some tough questions.

With tears in his eyes he looked down below the bridge near the bank where his wife Kathy had been found. There was still some blood stained grass showing the exact location. He heard the sirens before he saw the police cars converging toward him. He thought to himself … hoped to himself that they had news about who had killed the mother of his children. He felt a sudden and strange peace within himself. Yes, he knew they had caught the monster. He knew he would grin when the law executed the offender.

Smiling, John looked down into the slow moving current and saw something that scared the hell out of him. Sobbing, he clung to the bridge railings. He wiped his eyes and looked down again. He remembered. He didn’t understand why or how but there he was in the water. John saw the face of his Kathy’s killer.