Girl, 11 by Amy Clarke (grave mercy TXT) 📗

Even if he accidentally killed one early, he would always put them in a public place on the seventh day. That is the one part of his pattern that has never varied, not once.”

“That’s right.” Elle’s mind raced, trying to put together everything that this would mean. Ayaan was right; it still fit with her concerns about the online harassment. If the copycat hated the podcast and wanted to hurt her, what better way than to emulate the most horrific things her featured villain had done?

“But there’s no denying the killer did copy some of TCK’s methods,” Ayaan said. “You were right about the similarities: taking the girls three days apart, continuing with the ages TCK left off on twenty years ago. So, he’s a copycat. He wants what all copycat criminals want: the fame and notoriety of their idols. What better way to get it than using his supposed return to work to target the very woman that is making the case go viral in 2020? He’s got all the information he needs on how to be TCK right there.”

That jolted Elle out of her thoughts. “Right there . . . as in on Justice Delayed? Are you saying the killer learned how to copy TCK’s murders by listening to my podcast?”

Ayaan’s expression was grim. “It’s possible, don’t you think? Law enforcement has always worried that shows like Criminal Minds give bad people too many ideas for how to kill. Why wouldn’t murderers also take inspiration from true crime podcasts?”

“But I’m not putting out any information about his methods or patterns that isn’t publicly available.” Her breathing picked up, and she could hear the panic in her voice, but she was too exhausted to restrain it. “Besides, I don’t glorify the killers like a lot of the shows out there. I’m trying to get justice for the victims, not tell some lurid story about a serial killer.”

Ayaan pulled her lower lip into her mouth for a moment, then nodded. “I’m sure that’s true. I haven’t listened to all of this season, but you’ve always done a good job of focusing on the victims rather than the perpetrators.”

“That’s all I want to do,” Elle said. She ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a subtle yank; the sharp pain helped her brain to focus. Despite Ayaan’s placating words, fury still rocketed through her body. Every word she had spoken on her podcast, every detail she had provided her hundreds of thousands of listeners, seemed to gather in her mind like a noisy crowd. She was wrong. This case was different, and she knew it. It was only a few days ago that a Twitter user had suggested that very thing.

“That bastard,” she spat. “I am going to destroy him.”

35

Justice Delayed podcast

January 19, 2020

Transcript: Season 5, Bonus Episode

Elle:

The body of Amanda Jordan was left on my doorstep in the early hours of this morning. The evidence now shows without a doubt that she was taken by the same man who kidnapped Natalie Hunter.

When I took on this role, hunting monsters who hurt children, I knew that it came with risks. I knew that I was putting myself in danger. But I never could have guessed that it might cause two families to lose their precious daughters—one of them, at least, for good. I will never be able to express how truly, deeply sorry I am for their loss.

Amanda’s body being left on my doorstep is all the proof that I need. The man who kidnapped these girls is coming after me. He listens to this podcast, of that I’m sure. I don’t know if you’re one of the trolls harassing my accounts, sending death threats to my email, or if you’re smart enough to stay away from anything that could be traced back to you. I don’t know if you were inspired by the details on this podcast, but I suspect that no matter why you kidnapped these girls, you wanted me to blame myself.

You planned this out. You made it look like the Countdown Killer had returned, just to torment me and undermine my credibility. You wanted me to make a fool of myself, to raise the alarm and start spreading panic that TCK was back. But you broke the structure, killing Amanda early. You couldn’t stick to the control, the calculated patterns of TCK. You like chaos, don’t you?

But you don’t know who you’re messing with. You don’t know who I am.

I have enjoyed living the past two decades with hardly anyone knowing my real identity, but the time for secrets is over. Because I want you to know that you will lose. You might have the most important girl in the world to me, but you underestimate just what I’ll do to get her back. You can’t possibly know what I will endure to find you until you know who I am.

I am Eleanor Watson.

Twenty-one years ago, I was playing at a friend’s house when a man came to the door and asked for me. He told me that he needed to take me home, that my mother needed me. He said he was friends with my dad, so it was okay. I went with him. Instead of bringing me home, he drugged me, and I woke up in a cabin with another young girl who had already been there for several days. Jessica Elerson—the last girl to be killed by the real TCK. The man’s features are a blank in my mind, but I remember Jessica—every curve and dimple of her face. I’m doing this for her, for all of the ones before her who weren’t as lucky as I was. For what possible reason did I survive if it wasn’t to stop men like you, men who think they have a right to our bodies and our lives?

That’s why I started this podcast—and I’ll be damned if a monster like you scares me into stopping.

I am the one who beat the real TCK. You think