Chapter 7

As he drove away from the pharmacy the flight response kind of started to fade away and he was hit with a realization. He had found the Autopsy killer. The brutal serial killer about whom nobody knew anything and even after six murders, police had not a single clue about was found by him.

Arthur felt good about himself. He was not the loser the world was trying to convince him of. He was about to leave the town again. Going back to the motel. But then he suddenly pressed the breaks. His car skidded on the highway; the rubber slipped on asphalt like a skate on ice.

The drivers behind him honked and shouted. But Arthur ignored them. "I can't run away anymore", he said to himself and took a U-turn. He entered back into the town. He parked outside the diner he had turned eyes away from a few days ago. He found his laptop from beneath the heap of clothes on the back seat.

Taking the laptop with him in the diner, he settled in the glossy red seats and ordered what he used to order with Nadia and Daniel. Hamburger, milkshake and cheese fries. He flicked open the laptop and wrote I am not going to be a failure anymore. I'll chase the Autopsy killer. I'm not afraid.

He ate his burger and fries in peace as nothing was wrong in his life. Then sipped the milkshake with a paper straw like he was celebrating a Sunday with his family. Arthur was preparing himself to face the worst to get back to the best in his life.

He had to get back to his home, he had to finish his novel in time, he had to get his life back. And if that meant following a serial killer, he will do it. But he needed to do some preparation first. Arthur left the diner and drove to a supermarket.

There he bought a binocular to observe the serial killer from a distance, sets of gloves in case he had to inspect the crime scene, and lastly a can of pepper spray for self-defense. Arthur had training in the shooting but right now he had no money to buy a gun.

Even if he had a gun, he couldn't afford to harm the killer. He had to learn from him to give the gory details the publisher had wanted. He planned on revealing the identity of the killer after finishing the novel. A novelist and an off-duty cop nab the dreaded Autopsy killer, he imagined the headlines.

He left the supermarket and reached back to the pharmacy. This time he maintained a good distance and used his binoculars to keep an eye on the killer. It was late afternoon; Arthur covered his windows with clothes to stop the harsh sunlight. Shirts, jeans and shorts peeped out of each window making the car look like a flea market on wheels.

Few customers came, and the killer went in and out a few times. But nothing noteworthy yet. The truck was still nowhere to be found. Arthur splashed some water on his clothes to keep him cool. He didn't have enough fuel to let the engine running. He drank some water and again started to look through his binoculars.

The sun went down, the air got a little cooler, Arthur put the clothes back. Only after ten o clock, he spotted something. The killer went behind the pharmacy and removed a plastic sheet that was covering some barrels. Arthur drove his car a little ahead to get a clear view through his binoculars.

Arthur sees the killer removing the barrels one by one to reveal the truck. Arthur zooms his lens and recognizes the truck from that night at the airport parking. The killer then gets into the pharmacy and switches off the lights. Arthur spots him bringing a handbag and a carton and locking the pharmacy doors.

As the killer is carrying the bag and the carton to the truck, Arthur focuses on the carton. It is a box of portable pregnancy test kits. The killer put them on the passenger seat and drives out. Arthur put down his binoculars, turns up his car and starts to follow the killer.

The killer roams around the colleges, hostels, clubs and party houses of the town. To Arthur, it appears that this is how he searches for his victims. They drive around the town for two hours. Arthur stops when the killer stops and he moves when the killer moves.

"Maybe finding targets is a difficult task, with six kills spreads over the last four months the killer might go home most nights without any kills," Arthur thought a little too loudly. But in some dark corner of his mind, Arthur or a part of him did not want the killer to go home empty-handed tonight.

He had been spying for hours, he faced heat, was hungry and was following a truck for the last two hours. It was more effort than any other writer put in their research work. And a darker corner of Arthur's mind wanted results out of this misery. Even if the results included somebody losing their life tonight.

Arthur was feeling a little sleepy by now, but he did not let the killer get away from his eyes. They entered a middle-class suburb, much like Arthur's own neighborhood. There were cars parked outside one house and loud music could be heard coming out from the closed windows.

The killer spotted a girl leaving that house and started to follow her. Arthur turned off his car and sunk in his seat. He wanted to see what happens now, like someone waiting for a movie to start. Arthur saw the truck slowing down by the walking girl. The girl seemed to have stopped walking.

The girl and the killer started to talk. Arthur couldn't hear them. His binoculars didn't have any night vision. So, he relied on his own eyes to see what was going on. The girl looked inside the truck. The killer offered her something. And the girl took it in her hands. And then went in the truck.

"Maybe she is taking a lift," said Arthur. The truck moved ahead, Arthur turned on his car, but the car is not starting up. He twists the key again and again but the car is not starting. Arthur sees the killer going ahead and taking a right turn.

Arthur curses his luck and slams his hands on the steering. He takes a deep breath and tries again. He twists the key slowly. This time the car starts up. He presses the gas pedal flat; the car zooms straight. Arthur takes a very risky, very sharp turn.

But the killer's truck is nowhere to be seen. He is gone. Arthur lost him.