Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan (Death Creates an Artist)
Fin
Sarah had just been reading the suicide note of Tobias Good. She thought that she would apprehend the killer, so she went to the house of John Hale. It was different to Tobias’ house - it was well kept; the gardens all in order. The walls were whitewashed, and so was the picket fence in front of the house. The roof was thatched and it all looked quaint. Sarah hated anything that looked quaint.
She walked up to the door and knocked sharp and fast upon it. When there was no response she tried again and again until she thought it pointless to continue knocking. She sat on the door step and thought about what Lars would’ve done. Then she remembered what he did when they went to the Good mansion and no one was home.
Sarah went around to the side of the house and looked at the side door. Damn, locked! She thought. She studied the door again and saw that wedged between the grill and the fly wire was a note from John. The note read, “Sarah, I’ve gone to see Josh. Below are the directions to his house.” Sarah was a bit fazed at the fact that John knew she was coming around to his house, but nevertheless looked at the directions and drove off to Josh O’Riley’s house.
She drove frantically the murder was almost solved, she could almost taste victory. She reflected on the journeys she’d had with Lars and now, when she solved this case, there’d be no one looking over her shoulder, no one giving her instructions on what to do, and more importantly, no one to answer to when things didn’t go as planned. As much as there were the good things about solving this case in her eyes, there was also a pang of sadness as she realised that there would be no more help for her, and no heavy Finnish voice to guide her through what to do. She was about to become top dog within the murder squad and that meant that she’d have to advise the DCs on what to do. That thought scared her.
After fifteen minutes of travelling Sarah had finally arrived at Josh’s house. It looked almost identical to that of John’s but it had shingles on the roof, not thatch. The door had also been painted; it was not the dull brown of the cottage she had just seen, but a vibrant red that could be seen from two hundred metres away.
Up to the door she walked her hair flying wildly in the violent wind. Upon the door was a knocker, three times she knocked and unlike at John’s house, an answer came instantly. In the doorway was the frame of Betty Good, her hair was in a tight bun and she looked incredibly mean. Behind her Sarah saw the loose curls (more like frizz) of John’s hair and knew that behind him would be Josh.
Through the door she walked, not noticing the greeting that had been given to her by Betty, all Sarah noticed was the colour of Josh. He was as pale as a ghost and Sarah had no idea why. She leaned in close to Josh, who was sitting at the table and asked, “Is everything alright?”
“Not really,” came Josh’s unsure reply, “I need to tell you something, I haven’t been able to sleep since the murder of Thomas. You see, I love Betty and I would do anything so that I could have her. Now I know she has a right to choose after the death of her husband, and that Thomas loved her too. Even knowing all this didn’t help me one bit.
“The green eyed monster took a hold of me. No one was allowed to love Betty Hale but me, I thought. It was bad enough that she had been tainted by that animal Tobias. Then when John told me that Thomas loved Betty, I went crazy. I was so crazy in fact that I decided to eradicate all of my competition, and that meant destroying Thomas Danforth. So I did. I was the one who killed Thomas Danforth - take me now, lock me away, just make sure I can’t hurt another.”
Once all of what Josh had to say was done Betty, fell to the ground and as loud as she could screamed four words; “I love you too!” Sarah shunned this exchange and began to arrest Josh. There was no resistance and it was done quickly. She then walked him out to the car. Both people looked back and saw that Betty was on the ground crying and that John was comforting his mother. The three of them would have made a perfect family, thought Sarah as she got into her car. She sighed as she closed the door. As if she would ever have something like that she thought.
*
Sarah had just finished the paperwork that came with arresting Josh and was sitting down to enjoy herself when she noticed that the office which used to be Lars’ had been cleared and the name plaque had been replaced, instead of the usual one that read “Lars Hietainen” was one that said “Sarah Smith”. Although Sarah was excited that her promotion had come, she was saddened to see that all of Lars’ things had gone and that he had left the PD. The she noticed that there was an envelope on her new desk.
Immediately she recognised that beautiful script of Lars. Sarah smiled at this; she never quite understood why Lars wrote with a quill when ballpoint pens were so much easier and quite a bit cleaner - although Lars was exceptionally neat with the quill. She turned the note over and saw Lars’ family seal. She ran her fingers over the cool golden wax. It seemed a shame to destroy it so she went back to her desk, took out her letter opener and ran it along the top of the letter. Following this she slid it out of the envelope and began to read.
“Dearest Sarah,
I am so sorry to have left without really telling you - why? And where? So I thought to write this letter, explaining everything. I’m not dead, but you’ll never see me again; trust me.
I would like to begin this letter by telling you about my life in Finland. I was a prodigy, learning how to play piano at such a young age, and actually being good at it. I was academically brilliant and all my teachers loved me. Through all this my life was not as great as it seemed on the outside. Yes, I had that group of friends that no one was going to take away from me, but I longed for more, no one actually liked me - they just admired me for my brilliance and I got quite depressed over this.
You see, when everyone has friends and you don’t you feel so alone… so isolated. My parents loved me, but it was still a cold world into which I was being brought up. All of my friends were having fun together but I was never accepted into the groups that they made. My life didn’t seem too fun to me.
Past high school I moved onward and upward, finishing my university degree with flying colours and then going into the work force. At my first job I excelled at finding killers so I was almost instantly promoted to the rank of DCI. Still, I had very few friends so I gave myself entirely to my music and my work.
Eventually I got so wrapped up in my work that I learned all of the mistakes that all the killers I had caught had made, I learned everything they had done. In learning all these mistakes I knew how exactly to cover them up.
As well as this isolation I threw myself into there was an added isolation - my parents had cancer and were dying. So I decided then and there that I would create the perfect murder so that I could do two things; thank my parents for all they had done by putting them out of their suffering and train a new DCI to be as good as me.
I killed my parents easily, exactly as I had killed Tobias Good Sr. They were easy to kill, weakened by their disease – yes, Tobias Good had cancer also. Once I had killed them I wrote a note explaining to the DI exactly what I had done and why I had done it. Also it explained how that they could solve the crime, and in the letter I taught them how to be as good as I am now.
From the moment I had done that, I was free of Finland and moved on to find better and bigger places. However every five years, on the anniversary of my parents’ deaths I would kill a friend who had cancer so I could explain to someone under me how they would solve all their crimes. Eventually I got a thirst for blood and every time I killed I know got a thrill that was so sublime it added to the reasons I killed. The authorities didn’t care that I killed - they knew that I was only killing one person and knew that they could save thousands more; and I only ever chose the old and the diseased. So I suppose they turned a blind eye.
Below are all the details you need to know about how I killed Tobias Good, and all the clues I left for you. You would never have been able to guess it was me, I know, but I set it up to look as though someone had done it - John Hale - including a phone call to tell him that the body of Tobias was in the room. So without further ado here is the chapter in this story which I like to call “Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan” because you are about to become an artist.”
At that Sarah stopped reading. There was still another page, but tears were falling from her eyes. She could not believe this of her sweet Lars, the man that couldn’t kill anyone. Silently she tucked the letter away in the top draw and looked at it only once again in her whole life.
*
Fifteen years after Lars had left Sarah was just as good as he was, she knew all the ins and outs of the killers’ mind and was glad that Lars had done what he had, for now she was the artist. Every time the anniversary of Lars’ parents death she would silently thank Lars for saving all the lives she had saved.
Fin
She walked up to the door and knocked sharp and fast upon it. When there was no response she tried again and again until she thought it pointless to continue knocking. She sat on the door step and thought about what Lars would’ve done. Then she remembered what he did when they went to the Good mansion and no one was home.
Sarah went around to the side of the house and looked at the side door. Damn, locked! She thought. She studied the door again and saw that wedged between the grill and the fly wire was a note from John. The note read, “Sarah, I’ve gone to see Josh. Below are the directions to his house.” Sarah was a bit fazed at the fact that John knew she was coming around to his house, but nevertheless looked at the directions and drove off to Josh O’Riley’s house.
She drove frantically the murder was almost solved, she could almost taste victory. She reflected on the journeys she’d had with Lars and now, when she solved this case, there’d be no one looking over her shoulder, no one giving her instructions on what to do, and more importantly, no one to answer to when things didn’t go as planned. As much as there were the good things about solving this case in her eyes, there was also a pang of sadness as she realised that there would be no more help for her, and no heavy Finnish voice to guide her through what to do. She was about to become top dog within the murder squad and that meant that she’d have to advise the DCs on what to do. That thought scared her.
After fifteen minutes of travelling Sarah had finally arrived at Josh’s house. It looked almost identical to that of John’s but it had shingles on the roof, not thatch. The door had also been painted; it was not the dull brown of the cottage she had just seen, but a vibrant red that could be seen from two hundred metres away.
Up to the door she walked her hair flying wildly in the violent wind. Upon the door was a knocker, three times she knocked and unlike at John’s house, an answer came instantly. In the doorway was the frame of Betty Good, her hair was in a tight bun and she looked incredibly mean. Behind her Sarah saw the loose curls (more like frizz) of John’s hair and knew that behind him would be Josh.
Through the door she walked, not noticing the greeting that had been given to her by Betty, all Sarah noticed was the colour of Josh. He was as pale as a ghost and Sarah had no idea why. She leaned in close to Josh, who was sitting at the table and asked, “Is everything alright?”
“Not really,” came Josh’s unsure reply, “I need to tell you something, I haven’t been able to sleep since the murder of Thomas. You see, I love Betty and I would do anything so that I could have her. Now I know she has a right to choose after the death of her husband, and that Thomas loved her too. Even knowing all this didn’t help me one bit.
“The green eyed monster took a hold of me. No one was allowed to love Betty Hale but me, I thought. It was bad enough that she had been tainted by that animal Tobias. Then when John told me that Thomas loved Betty, I went crazy. I was so crazy in fact that I decided to eradicate all of my competition, and that meant destroying Thomas Danforth. So I did. I was the one who killed Thomas Danforth - take me now, lock me away, just make sure I can’t hurt another.”
Once all of what Josh had to say was done Betty, fell to the ground and as loud as she could screamed four words; “I love you too!” Sarah shunned this exchange and began to arrest Josh. There was no resistance and it was done quickly. She then walked him out to the car. Both people looked back and saw that Betty was on the ground crying and that John was comforting his mother. The three of them would have made a perfect family, thought Sarah as she got into her car. She sighed as she closed the door. As if she would ever have something like that she thought.
*
Sarah had just finished the paperwork that came with arresting Josh and was sitting down to enjoy herself when she noticed that the office which used to be Lars’ had been cleared and the name plaque had been replaced, instead of the usual one that read “Lars Hietainen” was one that said “Sarah Smith”. Although Sarah was excited that her promotion had come, she was saddened to see that all of Lars’ things had gone and that he had left the PD. The she noticed that there was an envelope on her new desk.
Immediately she recognised that beautiful script of Lars. Sarah smiled at this; she never quite understood why Lars wrote with a quill when ballpoint pens were so much easier and quite a bit cleaner - although Lars was exceptionally neat with the quill. She turned the note over and saw Lars’ family seal. She ran her fingers over the cool golden wax. It seemed a shame to destroy it so she went back to her desk, took out her letter opener and ran it along the top of the letter. Following this she slid it out of the envelope and began to read.
“Dearest Sarah,
I am so sorry to have left without really telling you - why? And where? So I thought to write this letter, explaining everything. I’m not dead, but you’ll never see me again; trust me.
I would like to begin this letter by telling you about my life in Finland. I was a prodigy, learning how to play piano at such a young age, and actually being good at it. I was academically brilliant and all my teachers loved me. Through all this my life was not as great as it seemed on the outside. Yes, I had that group of friends that no one was going to take away from me, but I longed for more, no one actually liked me - they just admired me for my brilliance and I got quite depressed over this.
You see, when everyone has friends and you don’t you feel so alone… so isolated. My parents loved me, but it was still a cold world into which I was being brought up. All of my friends were having fun together but I was never accepted into the groups that they made. My life didn’t seem too fun to me.
Past high school I moved onward and upward, finishing my university degree with flying colours and then going into the work force. At my first job I excelled at finding killers so I was almost instantly promoted to the rank of DCI. Still, I had very few friends so I gave myself entirely to my music and my work.
Eventually I got so wrapped up in my work that I learned all of the mistakes that all the killers I had caught had made, I learned everything they had done. In learning all these mistakes I knew how exactly to cover them up.
As well as this isolation I threw myself into there was an added isolation - my parents had cancer and were dying. So I decided then and there that I would create the perfect murder so that I could do two things; thank my parents for all they had done by putting them out of their suffering and train a new DCI to be as good as me.
I killed my parents easily, exactly as I had killed Tobias Good Sr. They were easy to kill, weakened by their disease – yes, Tobias Good had cancer also. Once I had killed them I wrote a note explaining to the DI exactly what I had done and why I had done it. Also it explained how that they could solve the crime, and in the letter I taught them how to be as good as I am now.
From the moment I had done that, I was free of Finland and moved on to find better and bigger places. However every five years, on the anniversary of my parents’ deaths I would kill a friend who had cancer so I could explain to someone under me how they would solve all their crimes. Eventually I got a thirst for blood and every time I killed I know got a thrill that was so sublime it added to the reasons I killed. The authorities didn’t care that I killed - they knew that I was only killing one person and knew that they could save thousands more; and I only ever chose the old and the diseased. So I suppose they turned a blind eye.
Below are all the details you need to know about how I killed Tobias Good, and all the clues I left for you. You would never have been able to guess it was me, I know, but I set it up to look as though someone had done it - John Hale - including a phone call to tell him that the body of Tobias was in the room. So without further ado here is the chapter in this story which I like to call “Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan” because you are about to become an artist.”
At that Sarah stopped reading. There was still another page, but tears were falling from her eyes. She could not believe this of her sweet Lars, the man that couldn’t kill anyone. Silently she tucked the letter away in the top draw and looked at it only once again in her whole life.
*
Fifteen years after Lars had left Sarah was just as good as he was, she knew all the ins and outs of the killers’ mind and was glad that Lars had done what he had, for now she was the artist. Every time the anniversary of Lars’ parents death she would silently thank Lars for saving all the lives she had saved.
Fin