Caspian and the Very Smart Man
by Rob Morris
Casper Ian, convicted serial killer, was about to escape. On the verge of being deported to Eastern Europe, he tore the throats out of his guards with his teeth, then undid his shackles by breaking them apart. No one could survive for long on that level of adrenaline, and Casper Ian was not planning to. He either wanted the freedom of the streets or the freedom of the unattended morgue.
In the chaos, another inmate escaped, but stuck around, analyzing Caspian's madness. He got right up in the Horseman's face. Caspian spat.
"I Know You! You Are The Very Smart Man! Be Very Smart, Very Smart Man! Get Out Of My Way!"
As calm as Caspian was feral, The Very Smart Man pulled out a hypodermic and stabbed it into Caspian's forehead.
"Sedatives administered directly into the brain are deucedly hard to fight off, my friend, even for one such as you. I expect you'll sleep now."
Again calm and cool, The Very Smart Man re-entered and secured his cell while the guards took Caspian away. The head guard checked the cell door, then asked his prisoner a question.
"Why'd you do it, Doc? He's one of your own kind."
A sorry statement. The Very Smart Man noted this one's upcoming death.
"Dear Boy, he's no kin of mine. He is a beast, all heat and no light. All splatter and no art. Casper Ian gives people like ourselves a bad name--so to speak."
With that, Doctor Hannibal Lecter resumed reading his treasured volume of Chaucer.