The Investigation, Part 1
/After Arthur managed to escape the asylum and ravaged a small family the state designated his recapture a priority and an investigation into his psychology was initiated.
The detective roams the house in search of clues.
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The rooms smells of burnt carpet and charred coal. You’d think the scent would have faded by now. If not for the dust and dry air it’d be easy to confuse as fresh.
Candy wrappers, crinkled up papers and broken glass crackle beneath my boots as I move through the abandoned house.
Shattered picture frames and porcelain dolls rest on the coffee table center of the living room. Yellow tape still play the roll of bedroom doors. No one’s stepped foot in the house since the tragedy occurred.
His bedroom is the only part of this godforsaken place that isn’t a complete disaster. It’s untouched. As if he’d not once been inside. As if every waking minute was of each day were wasted compulsively cleaning and organizing personal belongings.
Minus the excessive neatness, nothing seems off.
The report said the family was quiet. Private. Then the incident happened.
What could drive a man to so brutally murder his own family?
The report said Arthur was found sitting on the front porch drinking early coffee when the first responder arrived. Arthur didn’t resist or speak during his arrest.What got him to snap might have been lost with one of the three victims.
What triggered the events that took place in this house will be the first step to understanding his motivations behind the second family after his escape. Perhaps even preventing a third.
Shirts in the closet are organized by color, then size. Pants folded neatly on top of one another. Color coded. No photos, paintings or decorations on the walls of the room. White paint.
The drawers of the single dresser are filled with socks and briefs. Nothing hidden under clothing. Nowhere else to hide anything.
Beneath the bed are three shoe boxes. One with boots, one with sneakers and one with dress shoes, aligned side by side.
The obviously compulsive nature of his behavior could have something to do with the attack. The entire home other than this one room is a vicious mess. One would think the incident is the reason, but what if the place was always a mess? Someone this neurotic can be triggered by things like that.
But what is this? Hidden beneath the mattress is the photograph of one of the three victims. His daughter. The only photograph in the bedroom. Hidden under his bed.
Hints of pedophilia shift the air, but it lingers only briefly. It doesn’t fit. There’s more to this than meets the eye. But this is a lead. The relationship between Arthur and his daughter need to be further investigated.
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