The Hangman's Game - A 'Perfect' Town Murder Mystery

Chapter 23: The Hangman's Stalkers Story

So Miles was in prison for stalking and dealing with the mayor.

What a great fucking day for all of us. How nice.

Matt and I went to where Miles lived, a rundown old cabin in the woods; I rubbed the bridge of my nose with a sigh.

"Well, at least we now know that Miles was doing something with the mayor," Matt said, breaking the silence that had filled the air.

"Yeah..." I mumbled, rubbing my forehead, which was throbbing with pain.

"Okay, we seriously need to do something about those visions," Matt said, worried.

"I know, but what can we do? I keep having them, and that's it...I can't control it." I said with a deep sigh.

We went to Miles's cabin, and Matt knocked on the door. "Miles Darnell, LAPD, we need to talk about the murders in Underwood."

Miles slowly opened the door to his cabin and said, "Come on in", He said in a thick Irish accent.

We went inside; the whole cabin looked like something from a murder mystery. He led us into the living room and gestured for us to sit down.

He offered us some tea which we accepted as he sat down in his dark brown armchair.

"So, what did you want to know?" Miles asked, sipping his tea.

"What was the fight you had with the mayor? We heard about it in some old newspapers," Matt lied, sipping his tea slowly.

"Oh, that...he wanted me to stalk Sally and her family. He wanted dirt on all of them," Miles sighed.

Of course, he would make him do that.

"So why did he make you do that?" I asked, sipping my tea and raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he wanted secrets on everyone, so he could blackmail them into doing whatever he wanted, and he knew the Hopkin's family were very powerful people, so he wanted a lot of dirt on them", Miles said, sighing as he put his mug on the coffee table in front of him.

"That's messed up," Matt said as he finished his tea and put the mug down on the table.

"Yeah, I couldn't take it anymore, so I threatened to report him to the FBI, expose his whole business and have his reputation go down the drain, but he clearly didn't want that; we fought in public, and I stormed off annoyed," Darnell said sighing. "but I don't regret it one bit, I'll still report that fucker to the FBI," he said sternly.

"So, did you notice anything off about Sally or her family, or anyone for that matter, before the murders happened?" I asked, writing everything down.

"Oh yes, there was something going on between Sally's parents; they were having a massive argument, and everyone could hear them."

"What was the argument about?" Matt asked, also writing everything down. 

"It was about the whole stalker thing I was forced to be a part of, and they had found out about it, then it got heated, and words were exchanged, and well, you know the rest,"  Miles explained, rubbing his eyes. 

"Did you know what they said?" I asked, looking up from my notepad. 

"Well, they said things like 'We can't have our daughter getting stalked by some fucked up weirdo! We need to keep her safe!' and 'But this will ruin our reputation, I don't care what happens, I just want my reputation to be secure' and other bullshit." Miles explained nonchalantly with a sigh. 

"So they only cared about their reputation rather than their own daughter?" Matt said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Oh no, they cared about their daughter, but they did have an image to keep until the murders; their image went down the drain", Miles said, downing the rest of his tea. 

Matt and I wrote everything down and finished our tea. "Did you notice anything else that was strange?" I asked curiously. 

"Actually, yes, a few days after the row the Hopkins family had, the sheriff and Louie had an argument over something; I couldn't make out all the details, but it was bad", Miles added as we all got up as we finished writing everything down. 

"Thank you, Mr Darnell; we'll keep in touch," Matt said, handing him his card. 

"of course, and I hope you find out who did all this," Miles said warmly with a smile; we returned the gesture and left the cabin. 

"Well, now this is getting even more interesting," Matt said, chuckling as he pushed his hair back as the wind gently flowed around us.

"Yeah, I guess we'll have to find out what the fight Louie and Monty was about because I have a feeling it might bring us closer to finding the killer and solving this whole mess," I said, sighing as we kept walking in the forest, chatting about the case as the wildlife-filled the deadly silence of the forest. 

We returned to our hotel room, got ready for bed, and rested to get our minds off our long day. 

I kept thinking about my visions, I didn't know why I kept getting them, but I was determined to find out and hopefully stop them. I felt like I was slowly dying from each vision, as it was taking a huge toll on me physically and mentally. Hopefully, Matt and I would find the hangman and get the justice the town of underwood deserved. 

'Movies don't create psychos; movies make psychos more creative' - Scream (1996)