IV.
Carl Powers was an athlete. He was popular and a relatively good student. And he loved his shoes.
Jim wasn't very popular. At one point, everyone picked up on the sense that something was off about him, so they began to stray away from his softly intimidating presence.
Carl Powers didn't.
He made fun of Jim. He laughed at him. He wouldn't give Jim his shoes, or even tell him where he got them so Jim could also buy a pair. Others supported Carl; they laughed with him at Jim.
So Jim came up with a plan. And he executed his first murder seamlessly. The police were stumped. They dismissed it easily.
Jim got his shoes. His stopped Carl's laughing. And it was so satisfying, so utterly empowering to see Carl Powers face-up in that pool, floating with staring, blank eyes and pale skin, water droplets collecting on the cooling body.
But someone else was interested in it. They were suspicious. They were named Sherlock Holmes, and they were just as out of the ordinary as Jim himself.
Jim found someone to investigate. He wanted to see where Sherlock Holmes would wind up in life.
Jim prayed it was right down his alley, because this Holmes character would make for the best distraction from run-of-the-mill life.