Temperate Insanity - Duality by Chris 이호재

2018 Halloween Story Champion Story

Temperate insanity

duality

Chris

Walking along the empty path of Bolton street, a vain lethargic feeling

grasped my heart, a faint flickering light from the street lamp caught the sight

of mine as nothing but my own hollow footstep echoed deeply throughout the

dark streets. In the glimpse of midnight, I was walking mindlessly staring at

the stars surrounding the light from the moon. Then I heard another footstep,

not mine, a different one, it was becoming louder and louder flowing gentle

and clear. When I turned my head towards the sound, I hardly saw anything, I

concentrated my eyes, looking towards the sound and at that moment I saw a

shape of a figure, a man neatly dressed in his clean black suit, with a crimson

necktie that hung in shape, his hair was white as well as his beard that stayed

nicely trimmed. The man walked past me and soon he was far away in the

darkness of midnight.

After the dawn rose, I woke up with a faint memory of last midnight.

slowly moving out of bed, I washed, got dressed up wearing a brown silk hat

and moved my body towards Bolton street. It was quite a pleasant day,

radiance of the golden sun greeted me as I saw the white clouds moving in a

gentle manner throughout the vast blue sky, slight breezes of wind cooled

down the atmosphere just enough and Bolton street was lively again, full of all

sorts of people living their lives. However, I got a dark eccentric feeling from

the serene scenery. Indeed, the streets were lively, but I got a small emotion of

fear, by one point of the path I was walking, I found a crowd, many people

were gathered at just that particular point and their eyes were filled with

shock, some disgust and others fear. I walked closer to the crowd just enough

to see a dead body, Sir Henry it was, a famous politician. Slowly, I moved

both of my eyes towards the soulless body, under the gruesomely twisted

corpse was a scarlet pool, flowing down the pavement in an uncanny way, the

blood of the deceased man was disturbingly vivid. About a few inches away

from the corpse leaning against the wall, there was a small sword painted in deadly colors, the pool of blood was on the floor in front of the dead body but

there was a clean spot about 7 to 9 inches of width, supposedly the murderer

was standing there, if my theory is truthful, the culprit will have stained his

shoes and a part of his clothing as he drove the victim to a violent death. I

thought to myself as I started looking around the crowd, and all of a sudden, a

man was pushed out towards the police. The man had wolf-like eyes staring

here and there without a certain focus, he was dressed in a dark grey suit the

color of cinder and had a rough impression made by his untrimmed beard and

the scars on his hand. Out under the bright sun, the man was clearly seen,

stained on the brown shoes of his, there was, an unpleasant color of red, the

blood of Sir Henry. The fallen man seemed trembling as the officers came

near him. Desperate, the culprit was as he moved his body frantically, trying

to avoid getting caught. When I moved my view towards who pushed the man

out, I saw a white-haired gentleman walking away. Following him, I noticed

that he was the man I saw last night, and finally, when I came across him, I

asked: “excuse me sir, but how did you know the murderer was hiding in the

crowd.” That was my first occurrence with Utterson.

Leaning against a relaxing and comfortable armchair, I unfolded a

newspaper just to notice a dreadful serial murder. “Utterson, you shall take a

look at this,” the case was simple but complex in a way, all the crime was

done with a pistol, the victims were killed with one shot, mostly at the head

and the heart, penetrating them to an instant death. Throughout the

investigation, the case was simple until another murder. I was walking to my

dear friend’s house, he had greatly injured his left arm leaving him only with

his right arm which he had serious hand tremor, Utterson informed me that he

had to write an important document, so I had to assist him on his task,

“Utterson, I’ve arrived” I said in front of his dark brown wooden door, a

neatly arranged formation of bricks made up the walls for his house as an iron

fence surrounded the whole of his estate. Standing tall in front of the thick

door, I slightly knocked it, making a hollow and heavy sound. soon, Utterson

came out, fully dressed in his black suit and a long coat that came down to his

knee, Utterson quickly moved out, informing me about some urgent issue. By

the time we arrived at a mansion nearby Cavendish-square, I was able to guess

what the issue was. The mansion looked fine outwardly, a polished wooden

door was glowing under the two small lamps that hang from straight golden

posts and metallic frames of clear windows looked clean and new, a garden

with a small fountain surrounded the elegant standing house with evergreen

grass and assorted flowers of red and yellow giving it a lively look. However,

the inside of the estate wasn’t as nice as its external features. When we

entered the estate a handful of police officers and a vibrant scent of blood

greeted us, patterns of the purple wallpaper gave me a cozy sensation but it

was soon interrupted by the disgusting red stains of blood down on the yellow

carpet. lying on the dark wooden floor of the house, was a dead corpse of Dr.

Hendrick Klein Thomas.

A dragged trail of blood was formed from the carpet where Dr.

Hendrick’s foot was located and under the thigh and chest of the corpse were

two separate pools of blood. Three bullets stained in red were scattered around

the deceased man’s body lying helplessly on the floor along with a burnt cigar

that he was holding. Conscientiously, I walked across the corpse trying to spot

any more of evidence. Utterson’s eye was fixed to the corpse of Dr.

Hendrick, staring at the cold body of the dead man, my friend closely

observed the location of the bullets and the blood spots as he walked around

the body. Staring at the face of dr. Hendrick, Utterson muttered to himself.

“blur lifeless eyes and the face that expresses great fear...... along with a

number of bloodstains”

quickening in his steps Utterson moved towards the yellow carpet and

stood right in front of the old man’s corpse covered in scarlet.

“Sir, may I know how is the case progressing” a tall man in a blue

police uniform, came among us, his necktie and the collars of the uniform was

placed orderly across his chest and his well-trimmed mustache hung under his

nose. It was inspector Abraham,

“this time it wasn’t just a single shot,”

Giving out a disturbing impression, Utterson spoke up,

“three bullets each penetrating the two legs and the arm of the victim, and

one last shot that finally ended his life. Just looking at the location of the

blood trails, the last bullet would be under Dr. Hendrick’s dead body.”

“How is that so?” I looked at my dear friend with a confused look as I

asked, Utterson moved, walking past the corpse and standing in front of two

fallen bullets that were rather close to each other, he opened his mouth

“According to chronological order, the first two bullets were shot down

at Dr. Hendricks legs, one by one penetrating the flesh and bone of the old

man, the metallic bullets made him fall to the ground. Faced down to the

floor, Dr. Hendrick tried moving, thus forming the trails of blood marks on his

carpet. Desperately dragging his body trying to grab the murderer’s ankle, Dr.

Hendrick frantically reached his hands straight, then the second bullet was

shot to his arm followed by the last bullet that went straight through his chest”

“Mr. Utterson, excuse me for interrupting but what is the reasoning

behind this situational outcome?” raising his hand and slightly rubbing his

mustache, inspector Abraham gave a small expression of incomprehension.

“the blood marks”

Utterson made a short reply as he pointed at the red pool under Dr,

Hendricks thigh.

Drops of rain covered up the once blue sky to a dark grey as only black

clouds hovered across Bolton street, under the pitter patter of rain, I was

walking through the thick fog along with blurry street lamps that merely

lighten up my path. “Mr. Adams, this is the place, Mr. Utterson had already

arrived and he is waiting inside.” Inspector Edward called out as he opened a

creaking wooden door. Behind the small door of the house was a passageway

that I could barely walk through, little drops of water leaked down from the

ceiling as I walked through the passage with broken wooden planks and

shattered glass shards. At the end of the passage, there was an opened door, a

dim flickering light came from the four corners as Utterson stood in the center

of the room. Entering the rectangular area, I noticed cobwebs on the ceiling

along with tattered carpets and a grey curtain that blocked the windows that

were already shattered to pieces of glass. I wasn’t able to believe that someone

would have lived here until I saw the flaming furnace that sprouted out the

simple essence of life. “take a look at this”

Holding up a candle, Utterson continued his steps toward a dark corner,

revealing a red stain on the wall, the scarlet stains of committed sins.

“Adams, come closer,”

Utterson placed the candle down to the floor. Under the glimpse of

candlelight, an unclear image unfolded out from the dark. A sudden chill went

down my spines as I instantly moved backwards with my mouth shut in awe.

Clearly seen in front of my two eyes, there was a handprint, a bloody

handprint that burned in crimson colors followed by a dragged trail leading into a dark room. “come in, the corpse is in here” Following the trail to the room, Utterson called us in. standing still, I froze for a moment, staring at the dark room, a dreadful image of murder winded up through my mind flashing with screams in a hideous scarlet.

Giving out a deep breath I moved my body into the dark room.

Splattered marks of blood covered the walls surrounding the rectangular

floor with red trails tracing its way towards the center, from the ceiling a black

rope came down hanging a bloody man on his neck. A white sack dyed with

crimson was on the corpse’s head as blood dripped down to the floor

constantly. A dagger shining in the soft mixture of red and silver was stuck to

the chest of the deceased.

“Brutal isn’t it.”

Utterson spoke in a calm voice as he moved the candle around

observing the corpse.

“Mr. Utterson...... I’ve been collecting information on this case, and

I... think It is about time we end our investigation,”

Inspector Abraham cautiously spoke to Utterson with a grim

expression

“whoever the murderer is he is like a specter, he leaves no evidence,

he kills fast and most of all he disappears in no time, like a haunting specter.

All of his victims were killed at about midnight not long ago before we arrive

at the crime scene, and by checking the witness I’ve noticed something

unexplainable, some people have seen the blur figure of a man going in to the

murder scene of the victim but no one has ever seen anything coming out, like

the murderer had disappeared after his crime.”

Three men came out of the old wooden house, our hollow footsteps

echoed heavily as we dismissed. each walking their paths under the faint

flickering light from the moon covered with dark clouds, no speech went

between us, in the process, as we watched each other disappearing through the

drops of rain.

The date being 1885 the 20th day of October, I woke up in the middle of

the night from my bed. Not moving out, I stared at the ceiling reminding

myself of last week where the savage murder of the man named William

Evans took place. Were the handprints the last struggle of the victim

helplessly reaching out for help? Well, no one knows, the infamous case of

serial murder ended unsolved, bringing an unpleasant fear to my heart.

“there should be something, it can’t just end like this”

“hurry up and go”

“now, hurry up”

Voices echoed in my head giving out a sickening pain.

Tightly closing my eyes, I tried going back to sleep, however, every

moment when I closed my eyes, a pure drop of scarlet appeared in front of

me, the vivid stains of blood never seemed to get out of my head.

once again, I walked along the empty path of Bolton street, wandering

throughout the night, I first visited the former estate of Dr. Hendrick.

“nice to meet you again, inspector Abraham.”

“well it was an honor working with you on this case Mr. Adams, may I

ask you for what have you came back here in quite a late time?”

“I just wanted to take a final look at the scene”

Replying to inspector Abraham, I opened the door walking into the house

towards the bloody yellow carpet. Placing myself on an armchair, I made up

my own theories, however, the case of Dr. Hendrick and William Evans never

seemed to match into any of my own speculations. I wasn’t able to gain

anything, walking back to my house, my hair and beard were tangled, with a

twisted necktie that hang from untidy collars, a brown coat was over my down

sided shoulders and the light from my eyes was nowhere to be seen.

opening the hard-wooden door of my estate, I found an envelope right in

front of the creaking door. Sitting near the furnace burning with flames, I

opened up the sealed envelope.

‘to my dear friend Edward Adams

I have found the solution for the strange case of serial murder,

Come to the address below

Throughout times of agony, the truth will be revealed

Sincerely, your friend Utterson’

Flipping the envelope, I checked the address and quickly headed to

Cavendish-square, running past dim gas lights, I came upon a mansion, the

place where the case started to twist, the place of Dr. Hendricks death. All the

lights were taken out in the large mansion and inspector Abraham had went

back, leaving no one in the estate. lighting a small candle, I sat on the red

armchair in front of the yellow carpet. Looking around I waited for Utterson

as I imagined the presence of life that was nowhere to be seen now, the yellow

carpet was stained with blood that stuck to it dry and the faint light of my

candle made the dust on the table clear. Taking out the envelope from my

pocket, I gently placed it down on the small table beside me. Soon footsteps

came along with a figure of a man, Utterson sat in front of me half covered in

the darkness.

“A specter isn’t a specter because it uses some complex trick to blind the

eyes of its chaser, instead a specter uses a simple way, a plain and effective method” Only the black silhouette of him seen, Utterson spoke out in a calm, authoritative voice “so, what would be the specter’s trick?” “well Adams, the specter frauds the mind, it messes up with the mentality” “can you explain?”

With a slight pause, Utterson moved his head closer, revealing half of his

face from the darkness.

“trust, that is the specter’s trick.”

Utterson’s eyes were heavy under the frantic light of the flickering

candle,

“Trust distorts the mind of one, showing only the things they would want

to see. That is why the murderer was unseen, covered by the trust that blinds

its chaser, it isn’t noticed.”

I stopped all movement instantly as I heard the sentence. Staring at

Utterson, I asked in a trembling voice.

“so, who is this specter, the murderer we were chasing?”

Silence flowed in the dark mansion for quite a while until the sound of

gunfire interrupted it.

Under the fading sanity of mine, the last thing I saw was the color of

scarlet.