LEFT OF SINISTER

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

It didn't faze Candy the least little bit that Earl was so shocked that the story of having 64 deaths under his belt was not just some fantasy conceived by a man who may have killed a few people and yet his vain glorious dictates he exaggerate his statistics. Of course the death of one man is as bad as the death of a million in some sense, but the idea that one person could set for themselves the goal of killing someone they deemed unworthy of continuing to live for every year they have existed as it were, minus their own soul as they perceived it, was unfathomable.

His words in Earl's estimation were nothing but the twisted logic of a man who has a death wish, but hasn't the wherewithal or courage to take their own life and thus chooses surrogates for the one he longs to be his victim namely himself. And since these surrogates can only substitute for him for a given period thus he has to endlessly seek out new victims, one for every year he has had to suffer his miserable existence.

Earl had read enough on the subject of serial killers over the last few years the subject of interest to him what constituted a serial killer. And there was also the question he very much pondered upon, and that was had a series of intentional deaths ever actually been beneficial to the society at large. He hoped that could be seen as a possibility. Only time would tell if such would ever come to pass he was certain, beyond his time he hoped. The thief on the cross Dismus to the right of Jesus found redemption for what he had done.

It was certainly a philosophical contradiction for him to take this anecdote about the origins of a religious tradition to equate it to, but such was his quest to resolve the quandary he had found himself in from the start of his relationship with his son-in-law. The madness that possessed his brother was beyond comprehension for him and whether the result of some illness of mind or body or due to some damage to his frontal cortex seemed no longer relevant now.

He not only had to be stopped for the welfare of many innocents but also to prevent the possibility of curious inquiries into his history bringing extemporaneous information to the fore and the resultant jeopardy it posed for some a daunting possibility. And too he couldn't let the Dugan name get besmirched beyond the bounds of acceptability, permanently to become perhaps at some later date an epithet to hurl at others thought to possess a lesser character.

He hadn't for the moment determined which particular profile of serial killer Candy fit into, a family annihilator perhaps. If not that he was certain he had read of someone like him in the myriad of tales related to the subject by the various authors he had read who had the advantage of interviewing the consultant profilers who had been employed at the FBI and had investigated many of the cases. Their work had turned it into a vital part of the forensic investigations which helped in the apprehension such disturbed individuals. And as he watched and listened Candy became ever more agitated and manic moving with the zest of a younger man or someone who was using speed and the drug driving them beyond limits.

Over the course of the next two hours he got a lecture on various subjects and Candy always at the end of them pointing out to his brother what was the obvious answer to whatever the question was, resolving in his mind the raging debate as to how to achieve it.

He heard some poetry, tracts on philosophy, political science. One moment he was advocating a dictatorship of philosophers as Plato had suggested were best to rule, the next a benign rich elite who are first rate philanthropists. After all he insisted FDR had been a rich patrician. He also advocated executing some rich people like the Kochs, indict their father's corpse, dig it up and charge it with aiding and abetting Josef Stalin and Hitler as well he declared at one moment of inspiration.

He suggested instances where you might have to use nuclear bombs. He said having children should require a license and castration for sex offenders was best for all concerned, not with a knife of course, but chemically, the humane way.

"You know Earl they should still put people's heads on pikes at the goddamn city gates–I bet the sight of some rapist's head at the county line would deter any number of the slime that pass among the community around these parts. Mind you I know I'm a crazed killer, but the way I see it I'm taking preemptive action on behalf of that very community. Shit I hate to have to keep referencing that frat boy Bush, but that's the only honest way to put it. You know I'm like that dredge the Merritt down at Carolina Beach getting the silt to acceptable levels." was an analogy he felt was appropriate for himself and what he was compelled to do. 

 "By god Candy you're a remarkable individual I must say." Earl said upon hearing that. "Ah dear brother we're making headway I see, you're coming around. That is an example of just how persuasive I can be." he said very much delighted with himself.