It was dark, very dark. The clouds kept any stars that might have been in the sky covered and the moon was nowhere to be seen. The dark figure, hiding in the bushes next to the house, couldn’t have asked for a better night. For him to do what he had planned, he needed it dark. He was wearing what he always wore at night, his uniform du nuit, black gloves, a black watch cap, black turtleneck sweater, black pants and black rubber soled shoes. It wasn’t long before a light went on in the bedroom of the house. It was her bedroom. Soon she walked to the window wearing the same V neck blue blouse she was wearing earlier when he saw her on the museum steps. The blouse revealed a deep cleavage and a promise of something special waiting for him to take. He noticed that she had already removed the black slacks she wore as she reached up and pulled down the shade. He was still able to see her silhouette as she lifted her shirt over her head. He walked to the side of the house and was able to peek into her room between the window sill and where the shade had stopped, just short of covering the entire window. She should have been more careful he thought with a grin. Her back was toward him, her shirt off and she was wearing black panties and a black bra. Her hands were unhooking the clasp of her bra. She shrugged her shoulders forward and her bra fell into her hands. Next she bent over and removed her panties, turning toward the window unknowingly exposing her to him as she tossed them onto the bed. The beauty of her body caused him to catch his breath. He feared she may have heard him. That was crazy. There was no way she could have heard him. His breathing got heavier as he watched her stretch out to remove her bathrobe from the closet. She turned as she slipped her arms into the robe and turned off the light, walking out of the room.
He withdrew his glass cutter and started to work it on the top window pane next to the latch. When he cut through, he lightly punched the circle of glass causing it to fall in and break on the bedroom floor. He waited a moment to make sure the noise hadn’t alerted her. It hadn’t. He had done this so many times he could do it in his sleep. He reached his right hand in and opened the latch and pushed up the window. It was open. Again he paused, waiting. Nothing. He put his hands on the window ledge and pulled himself up. Now he was in. He crouched by the window listening. He started to perspire and sweat began to form on his neck and roll down his back. He could hear the water running in the tub in the bath down the hall.
He waited, listening. He could hear her splash in the tub. He walked to the dresser against the far wall, removing his flashlight. He pointed it at the floor and turned it on, bringing the beam of light up to the top of the dresser; scanning its contents for anything that might be of value.
“Just junk here. I wonder where she keeps the good stuff.”
He started pulling out the drawers one by one. When he opened the drawer containing her undergarments, he picked up each piece, gently caressing them. He brought each one up to his face and inhaled deeply, savoring her scent. She had a sachet in the drawer that gave everything a very pleasing smell. In the back, under some lacy bras, she had hidden a small jewelry box. He pulled it out and put it on the dresser top. It was locked but the locks on these boxes could be opened with a butter knife. He reached in his pocket and took out his switch blade. Snapping open the blade, he stuck it in the lock’s opening and snapped the locking mechanism and the lid opened easily. Inside were a couple of diamond necklaces and bracelets and some very attractive looking emerald rings. One cocktail ring had what looked like a huge ruby stone surrounded by smaller diamonds with matching ear rings. This will be easy to fence for cash he thought.
Next he walked over to the chair by the side of the bed and picked up her purse and pulled out her wallet. “One hundred dollars in cash. Wonder what she was planning to buy with this,” he thought as he folded the bills and stuffed them in his pocket. He pulled out her drivers’ license and read the information softly out loud, letting her name slowly slide off his lips, Kathryn Reilly. She was five foot one inch tall and weighed one hundred and five pounds. She had black hair, brown eyes and was twenty two years old. He couldn’t stop looking at her face. She was so beautiful. He wondered who her boyfriend was and where he might be at this moment. Was he thinking the same thing about Kathryn Reilly as he was? Probably. If he had a girlfriend like this, he would be thinking about doing what he had in mind doing to her now, every night. Surely these same thoughts went through Kathryn’s boyfriends mind. Maybe she didn’t have a boyfriend. Maybe she was too stuck on herself to give herself to someone else. He didn’t see her with a boyfriend for the past week that he had been following her. She met a couple of girl friends. They shopped and shared a lunch or two and that was it. Not a very active social life for such a pretty girl. That’s good for him he thought. That meant he could take his time with her and really enjoy her.
He went to a trunk under a window and searched through it for valuables that might be hidden.
Bull’s eye! An envelope containing close to three thousand dollars in one hundred dollar bills was stashed in the bottom of the trunk.
“This is going to be a great night,” he thought, as he closed the trunk lid and sat on the bed. He counted the money one more time to make sure he counted correctly the first time. He had. He couldn’t help but smile. He wanted to stand up and shout but that would ruin the surprise he had for her. He turned off his flashlight.
He pulled out his switch blade knife and placed it on the night stand next to the bed. Then he took off his watch cap and placed it on the bed. Then he stood up and pulled his sweater over his head folding it neatly. He untied his shoes and slipped them off and then he stuffed one sock in each shoe. Next came his pants, which he folded as well and then his boxer shorts. He was ready.
He reached out and grabbed his switch blade as he leaned back on the soft pillows stacked against the head of the bed to wait for her arrival. It wouldn’t be long now. She would smell good. The thought of her being next to him got him aroused. All he had to do was wait for her.
Finally he heard the water start to drain from the tub. He imagined her standing, naked in the middle of the tub, toweling the water off her young nubile body. He thought of her lingering on her breasts as she gently dried each on, bringing her nipples erect. Next he thought of her bending over and slowly drying her legs, starting at her small rounded calves, moving languidly up her thighs until she reached the core of her being, her womanhood. He was sweating again.
Her shadow preceded her as she walked down the hall from the bath to her room. He sat up as she turned in and reached up and switched on the light.
Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a scream. Her eyes were wide with fright.
He brought his finger up to his lips signaling for her to be quiet.
She turned to run but he was too fast. He was on her in an instant, lifting her off her feet and throwing her on the bed, landing on top of her, pressing her into the mattress.
She was no match for his size and strength. She wasn’t much larger than a child and he was a full grown man and very strong.
He ripped her bathrobe down off her shoulders, pinning her arms to her side. He feasted on her breasts as her chest heaved with exhaustion from her fight for survival. Now she screamed. It startled him and he brought his fist up and slammed her hard on the left check, snapping her head to the side. He hit her again, and again and again. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped silently on the bed.
He continued to work on her and finish what he had been planning to do for the past week. When he finished he got up and stood at the side of the bed, looking down at the beautiful young Kathryn Reilly who was still unconscious. The welt on the side of her face was swelling and beginning to turn a darker red. She would have one helluva a shiner he thought.
He casually walked out of the room to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. Not much in here he thought. He pulled out a Schlitz beer that was stored in the door. Rummaging through a drawer he found a church key and punched open the lid. The beer fizzed and foamed out of the opening and he brought his lips down to suck the cold liquid down his throat. When he finished he let out a loud belch and crushed the empty can against the counter and threw it on the floor.
I’ll do her one more time before I get outta here. As he walked into the room he saw her stagger to the dresser and lean down with her back to him. He was infuriated. How dare she get out of the bed without asking him?
“You bitch,” he screamed as he picked up the chair next to the bed and delivered a stunning blow to the back of her head. The chair shattered and she screamed out in pain and fell to the floor. He grabbed his knife and a pillow and straddled her on the floor. He stifled her screams with the pillow. Then he finished his work with the knife by grabbing her still wet hair and yanking her head back he cut her from ear to ear. He could feel the knife going through the cartilage and the head coming loose in his hands, which were slippery from all the blood spurting out of the gaping wound in poor Kathryn’s neck. The artery as well as all the cartilage was completely severed. The only thing still keeping her head attached to her body was the brain stem and he would finish that shortly.
He stood over her lifeless body staring down at his work as the blood pooled around her shoulders. His chest was heaving as he was close to hyperventilating. This always happened to him. It took a few minutes for him to get his breathing back to normal. He looked around him and saw the blood splatter all over the dresser and the walls. He picked up Kathryn’s lifeless body and noticed her skull was crushed l when he struck her with the chair. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down, crossing her arms across her chest resting her hands on her pubis.
He walked out of the room and entered the bathroom, starting the shower. When the water was hot he stepped in, letting the water cascade over his body. The water was a bright red from Kathryn Reilly’s blood that he washed from his body and he watched as it circled the drain. He grabbed a bar of soap and scrubbed his hands, arms and face until they were almost raw. He was a bright red from the heat and scrubbing when he stepped out of the shower and dressed. He left through the same window he entered leaving Kathryn Reilly’s lifeless body lying on her blood soaked bed without her head. He took that with him.