Claire Stanfield

Circus Murders

'Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end.' 

-David Niven

The tent flap was opened, and someone slipped inside. Pitter patter of rain covered up the sound. In the middle of the area, a man was practicing his juggling. 

The lamp was blown out. The man started. 

"Who is it? Joker? Stone?" The juggler called out in the inky dark of the large tent. His head moved, trying to find movement within the tent.

"What is this, some kind of joke?" 

A hit to the back of his head was his only answer. The man blacked out, shards of the lamp laying scattered around the puddle of red. 

Claire was known as the Red Joker at the circus. He was a trapeze artist, and a very good one at that. Unfortunately there were murders at the circus Claire was at, it seemed to be the dealings of a serial killer.

Claire watched from the sidelines, just going about his day. He observed everyone, from the bumbling of stagehands and nervous performers. The ever confident ringmaster, and sarcastic lion tamer. 

And by the second killing, he had a definite answer. 

A note book full of personal day by day happenings by the circus killer was left on top of the body. Filled with close scrutiny of every person in the circus.

Claire took care of the killer, but in doing so, the fact that there was another killer in the circus was found out. So after one more year, Claire left. Carefully, quietly, and leaving no one with suspicions aside from a few astute people who wondered.

An elderly woman told the stories of the circus folks to her grandchildren. One person she told the fears of was a young redhead, who always 'had a smile on his face and his head in the clouds'.