The Letter "I"

The letter "I" is the ninth letter of the English alphabet. The English alphabet is unique in that it has 26 letters and no diacritical marks.

The corpse was holding in its hand an iron letter "I". The letter was about twelve inches long and there was blood still wet covering about half of it.

The iron letter's edges were sharp and it was a perfect blunt force murder weapon, but whether the body on the floor had stolen it, or used it to defend themselves against their attacker was not clear at this moment in time.

The reality was that the iron letter was the murder weapon, and this was only the first.

In his room "I" planned his next despatch.

On his walls were motivational posters

"I AM THE ONE"

"I AM THE WAY"

"I PUNISH"

"I AM GOD"

"I" was singled-minded and lived in a tunnel vision.

He was the only one that mattered, and anyone else had to be despatched.

They did not have to have done anything wrong, they were not him and therefore did not deserve to live.

He had forged a chestful of razor-edged iron "I" letters, and each one would have a target.

The police found no clues from "I"'s first murder. The blood was the victim's and there were no other traces of the protagonist.

The murder weapon was not something that could be bought and was probably fashioned by the murderer from some other off-the-shelf product.

When the second victim was found, there was talk of a serial killer or a copycat. "I" was satisfied with his second kill. There was nothing to connect the two victims apart from the fact that they lived in the same city, one retired and one working, both with families.

"I" saw himself almost as a Jack-The-Ripper figure, although not as violent.

He did not delight in his victim's pain and did not consider the effect that his murders would have on those close to the victims.

Over the months the victims mounted. Their locations were now over a few cities, and "I" was showing mobility.

There was no indication of where or who the next victim would be.

So far the victims had all been men over the age of thirty, but that could just be how it was so far. There were a few ethnicities but the murders showed no signs of being racially motivated.

"I" thought about this too, but at the moment only men over that age should feel that they could be targeted. Maybe it was time to target a woman or child. Everyone fitted his criteria for choosing a victim. They were not him.

The police were attempting a profile, as he was targetting men over the age of thirty, maybe he was homosexual, or against homosexuality, but they were grasping at straws.

The next two murders blew all their theories out of the water.

A twenty-five-year-old mother of three in a supermarket car park, and a fourteen-year-old boy on the way home from school.

The only thing the police knew was that there was a supremely efficient serial killer operating all over the country, and the only connection the police would come up with was the murder weapon, a metal letter "I".

"I" was satisfied.

He would never be caught.

He did not look for personal recognition, but the media had named him "Iron 'I'" and the name was all that mattered to him.

"Iron 'I'" was becoming synonymous with Jack-The-Ripper although the murders were not so gruesome, but no one in the land slept easily because they all knew they could be the next one taken by "Iron 'I'".