Law School Murders: The Cocoon

“….After the controversial hire of infamous or famous former double murder suspect, Kimberly Jergensen, the school has tried to deflect as much negative attention as possible. It is apparent that he was her student and is now held in custody. We will have more information as the story unfolds. Reporting live from DIT campus in Newark, I’m Noah Hasbart. Jen?”

Channel 30 News anchor Jennifer Frank looked into the camera. “Now with the weathe—” Kim switched off the broadcast on her phone. She relaxed. Her apartment featured wooden floors and crystal. A tiny pathway of plush carpeting snaked through the living room and then stretched to the kitchen and bedroom. The bathroom had matching grayness against bone white fixtures. Kim looked at the time: 11:54 pm.

She went to her briefcase and turned on a light. She searched for the right documents that corresponded with the previous cases of murder on college murders.

She looked at the paper like a tarantula hawk studying a spider. She looked at one case in Delaware from the 1980’s. It concerned a series of rapes and murders on the campus of New Sweden University in Wilmington. Kim observed the court documents and how the suspect was tried and found guilty on the charges of rape, mayhem, murder, and malicious intent. He was given ninety-nine years for each of the seven murders. She thumbed through the notes like a child combing through a comic book. She reached for a red pen and circled key facts from the case. This had nothing to do with the recent murders by her student but she wanted to understand the collegiate process for capturing killers.

She looked at the clock. It read 1:23 am. She placed the pieces of paper in her briefcase and found rest.

The next morning, news vans parked outside of the law school. This was a scene she had grown accustomed to now. In the same way that she had passed through dozens of cameras and phones and microphones, before now she had to fend them off as well.

So many shutterbugs and paparazzi hounded her but she broke free of their captive hands and devices. She stepped into an empty lecture hall. Did she not get the memo? The president of the school ordered for a day to reflect and remembrance. No classes would be in session.

“Huh?” She looked at her phone and there was the email. She had been looking at the Stryzinski case and never stopped to look at her phone. She hadn’t even looked at it to set her alarm. Her body had become used to getting up at five o’clock from being locked up behind bars. She actually stayed in the hall like a chrysalis in the cocoon. She read more about the Stryzinski murders. All of her attention focused on this particular set of events. As she pored over the documents some more. With every comma, ever question mark she made not of the ideation behind brutally raping and killing seven women. All fellow students. The murder weapon was a painter’s knife. The media at that time called Styzinski the “Painter Killer” and there were a few documentaries related to the rapes and murders. To keep her mind from racing, Kim took a few Clonazepam and washed it down with water. The anxiety she felt had soon subsided. There was still a spark left in her, however. Vitality coursed through her veins as she felt the need to write down the various names of the victims. This systematic action just proved to be a comfort inside this cocoon.