The Venus

Intro

He was extremely precise in laying out the roses according to a pre-planned pattern. The details had to be right. The spot he had found weeks before was perfect. It was part of a fairly small nature preserve on the outskirts of Florence Parish, Louisiana, on the Mexican Gulf. There was also an observation hut there, originally named "The Bear". It was on a small waterway, and from the hut you could sometimes see black bears on the other side of the water doing black bear things. Sarcastically, he wondered if it had gotten that name because you could see ostriches there. He was not interested in the hut itself, which offered a beautiful view of this piece of unspoiled nature near The Golf. A stone's throw away was a kind of circle that someone with megalomania had once christened the Amphitheater. This circle was surrounded by embankments where children could sit while a nature guide told his story. Sure, adults used it for the same reason, but you really had to be a child at heart to see an amphitheater in it. It was the circle that had caught his attention, and it was perfect for its purpose. The grass had been cut short so as not to interfere with the rest of his work. It sounded cheerful in his head:

"Little, little toddler, what are you doing in the garden? You pick all the flowers, you make it way too messy, hehe..."

What he was doing was anything but childish. The bulletproof vest he wore and the heavy pistol with a silencer in the shoulder holster hidden under his black tracksuit was proof of that. A weapon he would use without the slightest hesitation against anyone who had the stupid misfortune to cross his path at that very moment. He would take no pleasure in that. It would rather infuriate him that someone would interfere with his work. After placing the last flower, he took a few steps back in perfect silence. It was the middle of the night. The nearly full moon in the cloudless sky gave off enough light for him to see his work, the artwork, their artwork. Over the years, his eyes had become accustomed to the darkness. He felt comfortable, at home in the shadows and darkness of the night. Her body lay just right. Half hidden and the other half extremely visible. It wouldn't be long before she was found, and he was counting on that fact. Then they could finally start the game. He didn't doubt for a second that the voice was right. That what he had left clearly visible was grotesque, not his thing at all. Most people who would see it would find it offensive. So the visible half was not for himself, but for those who would soon gather here. The more concealed part was a hidden message within a hidden message. That part of her body was his real message. He did not want them to look at this message too quickly. He had placed the lower part of the body so that it would have the optimal shock effect on those who would soon gather here. It would temporarily keep the detectives from looking away. He did not want them to look too quickly at the hidden part with the double-hidden message. Where would be the fun in that? All that methodical preparation and then all the work at the site itself, all for nothing. Both halves of her body formed a special collage, a real work of art. Whatever she had been in her life, she was now just a puppet, a filler on the stage. An important prop and a negligible one at the same time, depending on which eyes looked at her.

The voice. That oh-so-famous and infamous voice in his head had said it was going to be fun to play. He never doubted for a second that the voice was right. By now, he was well-versed in killing. After all, he had gotten away with it for over twenty years without ever having a finger pointed in his direction. It was only since the voice had made itself known that he had wanted to create works of art. If he was capable of regret at all, it wasn't that he had killed the girl. Nor that he had exhibited her so openly, as if she were a museum piece. After all, art should be displayed for a competent audience. No, his regret would be that he had not played with her a little longer.

He closed his eyes. In the dark, it was better to rely on your ears than your eyes. Somewhere he heard the coastal streetcar, probably one of the first of the day. Most likely empty, except for a sporadic early bird who was on his way to God knew where at this inhumanly early hour. Other than that, he heard nothing to indicate the presence of another human near him.

"Nice, nothing to spoil this."

He thought grimly. From his pocket he pulled out a brand new Huawei, the P50 PRO. Not because he was a fan of the brand, but simply because it had a fantastically good camera. The device had never been connected to the Internet or a mobile network, simply because it had never had a SIM card and would never get one. The device had one job, to take pictures and then be destroyed. He meticulously took a bunch of pictures and then abruptly turned around. He walked away from where he had just left the corpse of a young girl.

"Let's see how quickly he comes to play. Let's see if I can push him, as the doctor calls it, into the abyss with no way home..."

With an evil grin on his face, he disappeared like a ghost in the night. He uttered one word aloud:

"Okidoki..."