Closure

The Blitz

“A man called Jacob Wicker paid James Broadfoot to murder Anna Newly. Wicker was a government minister with a thing for school girls. He screwed Anna and got her pregnant.” Finn shuffled together photographs of Jimmy stabbing ‘Anna Newly’ and stuffed them into a folder. “She blackmailed him, even after she got rid of the baby.”

He offered the closed folder to Kipper Tie. He took it and glanced again at the photographs inside, “Not good for the career, eh?”

“Wicker worked on her ex, fed his drug habit and...” Finn stalled. Kipper Tie clocked the sullen look on his face. Finn shook it off, “The rest is history.”

Walking over to the fridge, Finn took out the bottle of whisky. Unscrewing the lid, he took a long, hard slug. Kipper Tie took out a white envelope and offered it to him, “The body in the boot?”

Finn couldn’t disguise his guilt, but tried all the same, “Bethan Keats was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He took the envelope and tossed it into the fridge.

Kipper Tie smirked, “Just like the rest of us, eh?”, then locked his brief case and picked it up. “I’d best be making tracks. The auction will be starting soon.” He nodded Finn a ‘goodbye’ and headed for the door, when –

“I’ll witness as many of these murders as you want...” Kipper Tie stopped and looked at Finn, who turned to face him. “Just get me the eleventh of November, nineteen twenty six. Get me the day my wife was murdered.”

“It doesn’t work that way and you know it. When it drops in my hands, then it drops in yours.” He knew it wasn’t what Finn wanted to hear, it never was, but that’s the way it worked. “Get some rest.”

“I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

Kipper Tie looked appalled. “What the fuck is this, a rebellion?”

Finn shook his head, “No.”

“Then what is this?”

Finn looked him dead in the eyes, “A need for redemption.”

“Wash your mouth out!”

“I have, but all I can taste is blood.”

“What went on back there?”

Finn could feel water welling in his eyeballs. He saw himself punching Bethan. “I found out what I am.”

Kipper Tie stepped towards him and offered a sorry smile, before wiping it away with a cold truth. “You’ve always known what you are, Jason. You just couldn’t see it.” Finn was rocked. “Spend too long in the dark and your eyes adjust.”

Finn was in pain, “I just want to see them live.”

“The people we work for don’t do living – they do death. You need them more than they need you.” Kipper Tie then looked at Finn’s tattoo... at the ‘death date’ etched into his skin. “That date on your arm, that’s your redemption.” Finn glanced at his arm and then back at Kipper Tie, who said, “You have a life to save. Now drink some scotch and get some rest... Tomorrow’s going to be murder.” On that note, he left.

Pumping with fury, Finn gripped the glass and flung it across the room, smashing it to shit against the wall. “Fuck!”

The scabby mattress was littered with newspaper clippings, crime scene reports and photographs of the ‘Red Room’ murder, Jenna’s corpse and evidence shots of the semi-automatic pistol. Finn, back pressed up against the wall, took a swig of whisky and picked up a clipping –

UNKNOW WOMAN FOUND MURDERED

Then at the date atop the newspaper –

12th November, 1926

Finn tried to piece together the broken jigsaw of memories inside his head, but struggled. He looked at another clipping –

RED ROOM MURDER REMAINS UNSOLVED

Then at a stark, black and white photograph of Jenna’s corpse beneath the headline. He scrunched up the clipping and pressed it to his face – squeezing his eyes shut, forcing his mind to remember! Remember! REMEMBER!

Echoed footsteps pounded down a street, smashing through puddles.

Jason, young and desperate, looked back and fired blindly at his unseen pursuer – blam, BLAM!

What looked like a shutdown warehouse... an eerie corridor? Jason thumped up wooden steps and stumbled into the narrow passage, turning and running towards the RED ROOM.

He threw Jenna against the wall behind the door and raised his pistol, as the Taker poured into the corridor and ran towards the room, lifting his gun.

Behind the door, Jason turned and thrust the barrel of the pistol into Jenna’s throat and hooked the trigger. “I’m sorry!”

Rat-a-tat-a-tat!

Finn leapt up and gasped. He was dripping with sweat - petrified.

Had he murdered Jenna?