Chapter 2

During the short drive to Central Park, I questioned myself and the rest of the police force. That is, I really doubted any of us knew what the hell we were doing. This Jack wannabe killed in broad daylight; it was only three in the afternoon. How the hell can we not find this guy? And how does no body notice this happening? It's like he's invisible or something. It's really weird.

As they approached the scene, several other officers were already there investigating the area and questioning any possible witnesses. Every person said the same thing, "I didn't see anyone." Detective Cardoso and Chief Manuel stepped out from the car, now approaching the other officers. Officer Nicholas Lloyd was covering up the body of the recent victim, who was, once again, a prostitute.

"Do whatever it is you do, Albert. I'm going to help these officers with questioning."

Albert nodded to Manuel and walked over to the body, as Officer Lloyd had just finished covering her face. He asked cautiously, "Can I see it?"

Nicholas starred up at Albert with a look in his eyes as if saying, "You really wanna see something this hideous?"

"Yeah, sure Detective, " said Officer Lloyd before he pulled the cloth off of the woman's body once again. A sudden overwhelming stench came up as the cover was removed, causing the two men to cover their nose.

"Jesus...what the hell." Whispered Albert. This was definitely the most gruesome of the three victims.

Unlike the previous two, this one was completely naked. No ounce of clothing covering her frail, young body. It looked as if "Jack" had some fun with this one long after she was dead. The only similarity she bared with the previous two victims is that her cause of death was a clean cut across her neck. Otherwise, it was a whole different scenario. The body was found not even a mile away from the second victim, Marissa Harbinger, except this woman was found beneath a tree. Her stomach looked as if it had been torn open with a sharp object; a knife, police suspected. Her innards had been pulled out and made a bloody mess all over the grass. Albert thought he would vomit just from looking at it.

"Her name's Roxanne Diamond, " said Officer Lloyd. "Although her clothes weren't on her, we found her wallet just lying on the grass beside her head. Ton of money in there, and a bunch of credit cards and other stuff, so it's safe to assume this killer isn't out there for money. It's on the bench over there if you care to look at it, in the bag labeled 'A."

Albert nodded, replying, "Thanks," before Officer Lloyd stood and began walking away.

"Let me know when you're done here, " he said before he walked over to the other officers.

"Yes, of course." Answered Albert, as he continued starring down at the body.

He noticed now, upon her forehead, was a small cross, which looked as if it had been carved in with a knife. Her eyes were shut, and her mouth agape with dried blood all over her face. Albert wrote something down in a small notepad in which he pulled from his left pocket before closing the pad up again and placing it back into the pocket. He went down to almost a knee, getting a closer look at the body. The stench was unbearable, but he tried to ignore it.

No note this time, he thought. What are you trying to do?

Albert stood and walked over to the bench, where he found, just as Officer Lloyd had said, the woman's wallet inside a plastic bag. In other bags along the bench were a cell phone, a pair of keys and a pen, which had all been found lying on the floor beside the body when the police arrived. From his right pocket, he removed a pair of black leather gloves and picked up the bag, now removing the wallet. He opened it and examined it briefly, before he took out her Driver's license. It read:

NEW YORK STATE

DRIVER LICENSE

DOB: 03-27-83

DIAMOND, ROXANNE

24 LEXINGTON AVE

MANHATTAN, NY

SEX: F EYES: BR HT: 5-07 CLASS: D

E: R: B

ISSUED: 09-19-00 EXPIRES: 03-26-06

She was only 22. Jesus Christ...

He placed the license back into the wallet, and the wallet back into the bag before he walked back over to the body. Slipping his gloves off, he took one last look at the woman.

"Why?" he questioned to himself, before he called back Officer Lloyd so he could take the body away. Accompanying him were two paramedics now, who, after Roxanne's body was covered and placed in a body bag, took her away in an ambulance. It would be at this moment when Albert would notice something in the grass, underneath where Roxanne had been. Soaked in blood was a note left by the killer.

My God, he did leave another one...

Albert dropped to one knee and, putting his gloves back on, lifted up the note. He called over to Manuel, who was now talking to another officer. Manuel hurried over and looked at the note over Albert's shoulders.

"What's it say?" he asked, anxious. The note was almost illegible, as it had many spelling and grammar mistakes. Not only that, but it was completely covered in blood. Albert tried as best as he could to read it aloud:

"Mr Gonzales,

Are you havin fun yet? I kno I am this iz so much fun for me. This whore wuz very preedy but I had to kill hur. I hav to kill them all. You kan keep loking for me if you want but you wont find me I kan asure you. See you soon.

signed jack the ripper

ps I hope you lyk to play katch becuz youll never katch me"

Albert looked up to Manuel, who seemed more confused than ever. Officer Hinson, who had followed Manuel when he came before suddenly spoke.

"He's taunting us. Sick bastard..."

"He's doing more than taunting us," Albert said as he stood up now, holding the note in his right hand. "He's doing exactly what Jack the Ripper did. He knows exactly what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and where. If we want to catch this guy, we're going to have to memorize Jack's patterns, and what he did. This person truly believes that he is Jack the Ripper, so let's treat him like it."

"So treat him like he really is Jack the Ripper? That's absurd!" beckoned Manuel.

"Yes, but sometimes it's the only thing that works." Responded Albert before he walked back over towards the bench and placed the bloody note in an empty bag.

Now calling out to Albert, Manuel said, "Wait...what do we do now?"

Albert sighed and responded hesitantly, "We wait. Until old Jacky-boy strikes again."

Manuel looked at Albert with disgust, as if suggesting he was not happy with the plan.

"Unless you have something better Chief, then we will wait."

Much to Manuel's displeasure, he knew Albert was right. They didn't know where Jack was, or whom he was going to attack next. And if he was fearless enough to do it in broad daylight, risking the chance of being seen – which, as a matter of fact, still baffled Manuel, being that no one saw it happen – then there was no telling what else he would do.

"All right, Albert. We will wait. I don't like the idea, but there isn't anything else we can do yet."