MBTM excerpt

Here's another excerpt from Murder by the Mile. This is the first time in any of my books that I've written from the viewpoint of the murder. I find it interesting. And unsettling.

Excerpt from Murder by the Mile

In the crowd of onlookers, the murderer watched the police and the man who had found Fowler. No one paid any more attention to him than they should have. He so wanted to laugh out loud, but he didn’t. He had other people to kill. He wasn’t going to give himself away.

He had never killed anyone until he killed that banker. He had worried about how he would react. Even wondered if he would have the nerve to go through with it. But when he saw the man’s face and felt the full weight of what Fowler had stolen from him, he never wavered.

Fowler had thought he was being robbed. He had actually offered money for his life. And then he thought he was being kidnapped and kept offering more money for his freedom.

He hadn’t expected how pleasing it would be to watch Fowler struggle and die. He had watched from the woods, watched the young man attempt to save the man and fail.

He nearly stepped out with a crowbar to pay the man what he deserved for interfering, but then he realized the man couldn’t save Fowler. He even appreciated the man now. With his help, Fowler took longer to die.

When the first person came running up, he realized he had almost waited too long. He had to leave the winch behind, but it didn’t matter. He had made sure to wear gloves when he bought it, and he had only taken it out of the box this morning. There would be no fingerprints.

He liked the crowd. He liked all those people seeing what he had done. He didn’t like that a few children were in the crowd. What were those parents thinking? But death was a part of life. Kids had to learn sometime. Might as well be now.

His first murder was a success. He was glad he got to share with these people, even though they didn’t know he had done it. It was enough for now to listen to their shocked mutters. They would have more to talk about.

He had six more people to kill. Six more people who would finally pay for what they did. They had innocent blood on their hands, and he had judged them and condemned to die.

And when they were all dead, maybe then he could go on with his life. Maybe he’d finally be at peace after all these years of torment and uncertainty.

An officer walked over and was dispersing the crowd. He drifted away with the other people, walking to his vehicle, already planning on how to take his next victim.

End of excerpt from Murder by the Mile. Copyright 2011 by Stephen B. Bagley. All rights reserved. No copying without express written permission from the author and publisher.

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