Downfall [ONC 2023] // Shortlisted

Chapter Twelve

A strange stillness settled over Leah as she stared at Ezra, unsure if she had heard him correctly. No one had escaped this killer, no one had survived their attack before. What made this latest victim so special?

"How do you know that?" she asked, a little uncertain about whether he was being genuine. He may have misheard or made something up.

"I overheard the officers a few days ago. Whoever was responsible didn't finish the job and the man he attacked is in the Infirmary. He told the man who found him that he had seen the killer, but fainted from the head wound before he could expand any further."

"Do you think he remembers anything?"

Ezra shrugged. "I hope so. This could be the first real sighting of the killer in months."

Leah blinked, unsure of how to react to this newest piece of information. She wondered if the man would even remember such an attack, especially if the brutality of the others was anything to go by. All it took was the smallest of knocks to the head, and the memory could be removed. There was no saying how a weapon might affect someone's senses.

Mrs Wentworth shook her head at her son, no doubt having suffered his continuous speculations about the killer for several months. She stepped back over to the settee and made herself comfortable with her needlework. Lea and Emma exchanged glances before the two of them settled onto one of the other settees, Ezra collapsing into the armchair.

Her heart thumped in her chest and she rested her hands on her lap, fists clenched to keep her fingers hidden from Ezra's prying eyes. Emma busied herself with pouring the steaming tea into cups and handing them around. Leah wrapped her trembling fingers around the cup and took a sip of the liquid despite how scolding it was. It brought her back to the present.

"Even if this man saw anything, there is no guarantee that it would help the investigations."

"Perhaps not, but it is a start." Ezra grabbed a shortbread biscuit from the plate. "It will be more information than we have had since all of this started. Father believes it to be the beginning of the end. He thinks that whoever is doing this might have become arrogant in their belief that they will never catch him. One slip up could lead to another."

"Perhaps not. If they know they did something wrong this time, they won't make the same mistake again."

"Or he thinks he is smarter than everyone else and can get away with it."

Leah frowned. "What makes you think the killer is male?"

"Simple biology. A woman is not capable of committing these types of crimes, the officers have said as much. No offence, but they are far weaker than their male counterparts, and whoever is doing this is clever."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow and bit back a smile. "So women cannot be smart. Is that what you're saying?"

Ezra's cheeks flushed red as he stuttered and stumbled for an answer. Leah gripped her cup and laughed, knowing she had left him flustered and unsure of how to answer. He had said so himself that Leah was smarter than him and yet had the audacity to make such a comment in her presence. She enjoyed watching him squirm.

Whenever Leah heard someone talk about the killer and their most recent victim, they referred to the killer as a man. No one thought the killer could be a woman. The thought had crossed anyone's mind. They all believed women to have too weak of a constitution to commit such acts of violence. Everyone had made up their minds before they had identified the killer.

Once Ezra had recovered from Leah's comments, he returned to his deluge of theories about who the killer might have been. His determination for it to be one of the officers was clear from the beginning, and it had only grown as more victims were recovered. Fewer people were walking the streets at night. Most wouldn't dare, which left very few options as to who the killer could be.

"Of course," Ezra said after almost two hours of talking about the officers, "it is possible that the killer is another factory owner in the city who wants to take down any opposition."

"But that would put both of our fathers in the frame since they haven't fallen victim yet. Do you think your father could be responsible?" Leah said.

Mrs Wentworth looked up. "I should hope not, Ezra. You know your father isn't responsible nor capable of such violence."

"I'm just speculating. If the killer was doing it for any moral reason, they would have gone after other people and not just factory owners."

"Wasn't one of them a workhouse owner?"

Ezra huffed. "My point still stands!"

Although Leah wouldn't have admitted it to Ezra, primarily because he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut if she ever agreed with him, his theory was a sound one. She knew the slain factory workers treated their employees poorly. Her father had spoken of them often enough and she had witnessed several employees being dismissed without the owner caring for or giving them a second glance.

Perhaps, she thought, they were just going after those who were in easy reach, those who wore their arrogance like a badge. Some of the other morally corrupt men of the city were a little more careful with their movements. They would not commit their crimes out in the open as brazenly as the many factory owners of the city did.

They were far harder to find and to spot.

"Why are you determined to quash my theories? I thought you were just as interested in all of this as I am?" Ezra said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not trying to quash anything. I just think that every idea needs to have an opposing argument," Leah lied. "Unless you have concrete proof for any of your theories, there will always be an argument against it. That's all."

"Unless you know who's responsible."

"How could I possibly know who is responsible? I don't talk to anyone other than you and my family."

"You found one of the bodies."

"Several hours after he had been killed." She shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous."

Leah took a sip from her tea and grabbed one of the biscuits from the plate, wondering if Ezra's theories could get any more ridiculous.

~~~

First Published - February 12th, 2023