Malcolm

Prelude

I am what I am. I have no qualms about that. I have been aware of my true nature since childhood. I am aware of my urges and to what those urges could lead. But, I see no reason why I should prey on the weak, the old and the helpless. I have read about my kind. I have some insight into their behavior. They seek out a certain segment of our society. They seem to be guided by an unseen hand. The answer to this is as clear as it is hidden. And even though I was brought up Catholic, I am not a religious man. But those who are religious would say; they are doing the bidding of their master. There is some truth to that. However, that is not the case with me. I fear God and not much else. I seek to fulfill my own personal self-gratifications and to cultivate my own insatiable urges. My name is Malcolm, Malcolm Forbes. If you are weak, helpless and unchallenging, you have nothing to fear from me. If you believe yourself to be strong, untouchable and a master of the universe, you and I will be having a conversation. Again, my name is Malcolm and soon, it will be time to PLAY.

Chapter 1

It was a sullen day. The weather was mild. The feel was dry and chased. This is a small town. The name of it is Chesterfield. It is located in North Carolina. It was an out of the way town with a small population to match. People here kept to themselves. They minded their own business. They were not the sort to pry and peer into the dealings of others. This is why he liked living here. He is Mr. Orin Smidt. He is a quiet man. He was in his late thirties. He was of average height and build. He wore glasses not because he needed them but because it made him look more intelligent and amiable. He drove a Cadillac but that was his work vehicle. He had a second vehicle. This second vehicle is a Chrysler minivan. The rear seats to the minivan have been removed. The van is dark grey in color and has blacked out rear windows. He has a ranch style home with a basement. And for his purposes, it was of great use. He is a man who, like this town, kept to himself. He was an accountant by trade. But when not tending to his one man accountancy practice, he was busy hunting children.

Mr. Smidt did not long for money. He had inherited quite a bit of it from his paternal grandparents. The grandparents were big in forestry. They owned large amounts of stocks in the two largest lumber companies in South Carolina. As for Mr. Smidt's parents, his father had died of cancer. His mother is in an assisted living center. He was in charge of all of her finances. By all accounts, his parents were, in a manner of speaking, good parents. They provided him with a healthy upbringing. To all who knew him, he appeared quite normal and unassuming. There was no history of abuse, sexual or otherwise. He simply went bad and that's all that can be said of him.

Mr. Smidt likes to inflict pain on small children ages 9 through 12. Even Smidt did not know why it was this age group that attracted his perverse attention. He only knew that he was compelled to cause harm to them and their families. It began for him in his late teen years. He enjoyed the suffering of others. He especially enjoyed making them suffer more when the victims were younger. He had dabbled with torture in his twenties but never actually killed. It was not until his early thirties that he started abducting and murdering.

And today, he has a new victim. His name is Johnny Norwell. He is ten years old. He was in a South Carolina Wal-Mart store when he got separated from his mother. Orin Smidt approached him and asked him if he was lost. He said, I'm looking for my mom. Smidt said, I'm with security. I'll help you find your mom. He took little Johnny by the hand and led him to the nearest exit. Johnny asks several times, where are we going? Smidt said to the boy, To your mom. I promise. Johnny had his reservation. But Smidt told the boy he was with security. And Johnny trusted authority. Orin Smidt led Johnny out of the store and to a minivan. At this point, Johnny knew something was wrong and tried to run from Smidt. But it was too late, the man had Johnny in a vice grip. He shoved him into the minivan. He climbed in after Johnny. He chloroformed the little boy. He then secured him to the floor of the minivan. He then got into the front seat and off they went.

Mrs. Amanda Norwell is speaking with a sales associate. She is asking about a particular cooking ware that she cannot find. The associate tells her the item is out of stock but expected more on Wednesday. Wednesday is delivery day for re-stocking items. She tells the associate thank you and reaches for her cart. It is then she realizes that Johnny is not with the cart. She looks around and calls out his name. There is no response. She walks around, up and down several of the nearest isles. She still does not see her Johnny. She starts to panic. She begins calling out his name, louder and louder. She is becoming frantic. She does not see her boy. By this time, the sales associate that was helping her hears and sees her. She comes over and offers to help. The first thing the associate does is contact store security at the nearest phone. She tells them that there is a missing boy. She asked Mrs. Norwell for a description of her boy. Mrs. Norwell gives them the description. She says, He is about 4'9 inches tall, brown hair, brown eyes. He has a short buzz cut. She says, He has on dark blue jean shorts, a white Mickey Mouse t-shirt and white Nike tennis shoes. The associate relays the description to the security personnel and hangs up. She then looks at Mrs. Norwell and tells her, Security is looking for your son. They are also on the way here to speak to you."

The store security persons arrived to where Mrs. Norwell is located and identify themselves. The first one to arrive is Harry Chandler. He has been with the stores security department for almost ten years. He wanted to be a police officer but could never graduate from the academy. He was a bad test taker and kept flunking the hand written test. He went through the academy twice and flunked out on both tries. The second person is Louise Jamison. She has been with the stores security department a little over four years. After high school, she got pregnant. The father left town and wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. She looked around for a job and this one was available. She has been here ever since. Both she and Chandler enjoyed their jobs. They like helping people. But they especially like catching thieves. They were good at it.

They went back to the office. They notified the store and all personnel of the missing boy through the store intercom. They gave a description of the boy and what he was wearing. They reviewed the store digital tapes which recorded everything and everyone in the store. They located Johnny and the man who had accompanied him outside the store on the recorded video. They tracked him to the exit he took the boy through. They kept checking. They found him in the east parking lot. They tracked him in the parking lot as much as they could. They lost him and Johnny in a blind spot. At this point, their job was over. They contacted the police.

Chapter 2

The Wal-Mart is located in Leon County, South Carolina police jurisdiction. The police arrived a few minutes after being contacted by store security. They immediately approached the situation as an abduction of a child. They put out an all points bulletin on the boy and the man seen with him on the digital tapes. The amber alert system was activated. They ask security questions about the cameras in the parking lot. Chandler and Jamison both explained where the cameras were in the parking lot and where the blind spots were in the parking lot. The police were frustrated by the gaps in the parking lot camera coverage. They ascertain that the man who took Johnny knew of the blind spots in reference to the cameras. He parked deliberately so as to avoid identification of his vehicle. They then resorted to traffic signal cameras at all four corners of the store exits to the street. They sought out cameras from business stores and banks in the area. With all this effort being spent on cameras that may have captured images of Johnny Norwell and his abductor, it would take time to review the footage once they were gathered. In situations like these, time was one luxury they did not have.

The case was turned over to the detectives division of Leon County. The abduction fell in their jurisdiction. The lead detective in charge was John Wyatt. He was a twenty year veteran of the Leon County Police Department. He had joined the force right out of high school and worked his way up to detective. He was a muscular and stout man. He was a no non-sense sort of person. He was to the point and very efficient. He went to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Norwell that afternoon. He wanted to know if there was anyone they suspected of perpetrating this act against them. They said no. They did not know of any such person. Mr. Norwell was the manager of the Leon County Chevrolet dealership. His wife, Mrs. Norwell, was a school teacher. They both were very well liked in the community and had no enemies to speak of.

Detective Wyatt took all this into account. He asked, Have you seen any suspicious persons in your area, here or at work? The Norwell's answered, no. Wyatt asked, Was there anyone working for you here at the house that had contact with Johnny. The Norwell's answered, no. At this point, Detective Wyatt became very worried. He started to realize that this was the work of someone with no connection to the Norwell's. This means that finding the boy would be more difficult if not impossible. Worse of all, He realize there would be no ransom demand. The boy had been abducted and not kidnapped for ransom. The perpetrator or perpetrators of this crime were not interested in money. He would wait before telling the parents of his suspicions in case he was wrong.

The digital tapes from the businesses and the traffic cameras around the Wal-Mart had come in. There was nothing on them to help with the finding of Johnny Norwell. They decided to check out of state license plates but that would take a while. The detective and his subordinates started to check the area for registered sex offenders. They compiled a list and plan to go door to door. With twelve hours having gone by, the chance of finding Johnny Norwell is beginning to decrease substantially. The detective knows from his training that the first forty eight hours are the most critical. It would soon be time to contact the FBI and bring them in to help. The possibility exist that the boy has been taken out of state. Because of this, the FBI would be called in to coordinate a multiple state search. Detective Wyatt however was hoping to get lucky and find the boy in his county, unharmed. The door to door search of registered sex offenders had begun. So far, there were no leads leading to the boy. The person who took him may stay out of state. If that was the case, this abduction could quickly escalate to a homicide. The detective could only wait and chase every investigative avenue available to find the boy.

Chapter 3

It was a sunny day in South Florida. The temperature was a constant 80 degrees with the usual humidity. Malcolm Forbes was up early as usual. He lingered in bed thinking. He was thinking about the dream he had last night. It was about a man who liked abducting children. In the dream, he got bits and pieces of the whereabouts of the man. He got a facial image and build. He now had to do his research to find the man. That should be easy enough. The dream gave him an image of the house and county the man lives in. He got a partial name but could not be sure if it was factual. Dreams were dreams and only led to leads not actual hard facts. But these dreams had served him well in the past. And he knew that they would continue to serve him well in the present and in the future.

These dreams were brought on by an herbal tea he drank. He had discovered this herb from an Indian Shaman of Serbian decent. The Shaman explained to him how his ancestors would smoke these herbs in order to commune with the spirit world. The herbs would place the Shaman into deep trances that allowed them to traverse dimensions. These trances could lead to communing with the spirit world. The spirits, which were your ancestral spirits, would provide information to which you desired according to the Shaman. One could access ways to solve problems dealing with everything from troubles at home to troubles with the world. The Shaman explained how he should guide himself in the dreamscape so as to understand what he was seeing. He explained to him how to control the dream so as to extract information from it. The Shaman told Malcolm that the dreams were not always what they seemed. They could have deeper meanings then what you initially comprehended. They can and do sometimes relate to the past, the present or to the future. One had to be diligent in their interpretation.

Malcolm had taken this advice to heart. And after each dream would go online and research his dreams. He would look for the signs that made the persons in these dreams of interest to him. Malcolm did not simply research online but also utilized spy ware to gather information. Malcolm was a bit of a tech junkie. While it could not be said he was a gifted hacker, Malcolm knew where to go to find the tech he needed to serve his purposes. He knew of a hacker community that made all sorts of illegal tech ware available for a price. And, Malcolm was not shy about purchasing. There were many times in the past when Malcolm installed spyware in personal computers of others to gather information. He searched for hidden accounts storing information of second and third properties owned. He searched for calendars detailing activities and whereabouts. He searched for diary's and entry logs detailing activities. He searched for incriminating evidence. With this information, he could be sure of the person he was dealing with or was going to deal with. There would be no doubt that this was a formidable adversary.

Malcolm lived on South Beach in what used to be a synagogue. The property had been sold and converted to residential living. It was a large property with many facets to it. Malcolm bought it in disrepair. He gutted the property and re-modeled it to his liking. He kept some of the features of the old synagogue and added new ones. He kept the stain glass windows. He removed the altar and its' surrounding motifs. He added a state of the art security system. The building was about 20,000 square feet in size. It had an upstairs which housed three bedrooms. The downstairs comprised of a living room, a media room, an office and the kitchen. The downstairs also included a private chamber. This room was somewhat subterranean. It had its uses. There was a roof top deck as well as an outside patio. He had a ten person Jacuzzi installed on the roof as part of the deck. In the garage, he kept his 2012 black Chevrolet Tahoe. It was a special edition with all the bells and whistles. He had custom rims and wood interior. He had an Alpine audio system. The Chevy was an extended version. It was able to carry eight persons at a time. Malcolm's lifestyle reflected that of a person living the South Beach lifestyle. It was the perfect home for him and his pursuits.

One of his pursuits was the study of mixed martial arts. It kept him physically fit. It also kept his fighting skills sharp. He enjoyed it immensely. Another one of his pursuits was currency trading. This is how he made his living. He was quite good at it. And, it provided him with a higher than average lifestyle that most others could not afford. Those were some of his many pursuits but one served as his sole singular passion. He lived for this. He was consumed by it. And, he had the ability to pursue this passion with absolute resolve. Malcolm Forbes enjoyed hunting human beings. He liked finding them, tracking them and killing them. He was not particular about sex, race or religion for that matter. He simply enjoyed the hunting of them. A long time ago, he decided that he would hunt those that were the most threatening and challenging. He saw it as big game hunting; the more dangerous the person the more enticing the hunt.

This morning he had a new target. The targets name was Smidt, Smidt of Leon County. There was a forest involved with Smidt. There was lots of numbers surrounding him. There was also a boy, a little boy. He was not the first boy involved with Smidt. This Smidt had been busy for many years it seems. He was a hunter also. But this man hunts children. This was the kind of man Malcolm reveled in hunting. A man who saw fit to terrorize and kill children. The fact that he killed them did not bother Malcolm. That was the nature of things. The strong dominated and hunted the weak. But amongst men, it should be different Malcolm thought. It's the fact that he would go after such a weak and non-threatening prey. Malcolm asked himself, "Where was the challenge, where was the suspense, simply put, where was the danger in this sort of hunt." A child posed no foreseeable threat to a grown man. He was disgusted by this man. He wanted to meet him and in Malcolm's terms, have a conversation. The dreams had adhered to Malcolm's preferences. They brought him almost always the big game. This Smidt did not appear to be a small man. He appeared to be a man of average build but strong and sinister. He seemed to have a kind face but it was a false façade; that much was evident from the dream. Malcolm thought, We would soon know, up close and personal.

Chapter 4

After rendering Johnny unconscious, Smidt secured him to the floor of his minivan. He left the Wal-Mart parking lot and headed west. He made his way to a derelict part of town nearby. When he arrived, he got out of his vehicle. He had a utility box in the rear of the vehicle next to where Johnny laid unconscious. He opened it and removed a North Carolina license plate. He replaced the current South Carolina plates he had on the vehicle with this new one. He then went to the side of the vehicle where he pealed of an adhesive to the vehicle covering light grey stripes to the vehicle. When he was done with both sides, he returned the South Carolina plates to the utility box. He shut the sliding door and re-entered the vehicle. He was satisfied that he had altered the appearance of the vehicle sufficiently so as not to be identified.

He made his way to I-95. He headed north to North Carolina. He knew the trip back would not take long. As usual in these cases, he was worried about capture. He knew they would be looking for the boy. The process of getting him from where he took him to where he lives was the harrowing part. He drove at speed limit to his destination. He avoided breaking any traffic laws that would get him pulled over by the police. He was especially worried about state troopers. It was dark out when Smidt arrived to his home. He had five acres. There were no prying neighbors to speak of. Once on his property, he could proceed with his plan for the boy in sheer anonymity. As he approached his property, he took out his cell phone. He accessed a program on it relating to his home. Using his cell phone, he opened the gate, unlocked the front door and turned on the lights. He then accessed another program on the cell phone and turned off his alarm. As he pulled up to the front door, Smidt was overtaken with a feeling of glee and delight. He loved these moments before the start of his procedures.

He took the boy to the cellar. The boy was unconscious so he carried him. Once in the cellar, he placed the boy in a cage like structure. He had cameras wired to the cellar and that particular room. He would be able to monitor the boy from upstairs anytime he wanted to. The cellar had equipment for surgical operations. He also had tools for building and manufacturing. He had used this room several times before. On each occasion, he was thoroughly satisfied with the results.

His aim was simple. He wanted the boy to suffer, among other things. He wanted the boy to get to a point of giving in to anything he required. He would start by starving the boy to the point of death. He would give him water but nothing else to start. In cases like these, one reaches the point of death by starvation in about two weeks. This was a child so the time would be shorter. Smidt knew from experience it would take half the time for this to occur. Once the boy had reached the brink of death, he would pull him back. He would feed him and console him. He would then start the process over, again and again. He would do this until he knew he had the full attention and cooperation of the boy. He would then subject the boy to drugs that would break his will if there was any will left. Once this had been done and the boy properly initiated, he would then start his true work.

Smidt went upstairs. He went to his room. Upon entering the room, he went straight to the bathroom. He turned on the shower. His bathroom was quite peaceful. It reminded him of the bathrooms found in the Ritz Carlton hotel suites. He undressed. He took of the hairpiece he was wearing. He removed the false beard. He then looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was pleased with his muscular appearance. He worked out quite a bit to stay fit. He then wondered how long it would take for the spray on tan to fade away. This was the first time he had used it. The store sales person he bought the equipment from said ten days maximum. He always used disguises but this was the first time he had altered the appearance of his skin color. He stood there staring at his face, arms and torso. He liked it. It altered his appearance quite nicely he thought. He entered the shower and bathed. He bathed for a long time. The water was hot and that is how he liked it. It reminded him of hot springs mineral water from underground wells. He wanted to wash away the dirt of this world as he deemed it. He wanted to be clean for what was to come next.

After exiting the shower, he dried himself off. He put on a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt. The t-shirt was black and green. The t-shirt had the pyramid of a dollar bill on the front. He went from his room to his office. He sat down behind his desk. He turned on his computer. He had a 42-inch television monitor for a computer screen. The computer powered on. He immediately accessed the security monitors to the home. He accessed the cameras to the cage where Johnny was being held. He panned over to the desk in the cage. The book rested on the desk undisturbed. Smidt shook his head at the sight of this. He whispered to himself, We'll see about that.

Chapter 5

It was Monday morning and Malcolm sat in front of his laptop in his office. He had been trading currencies all morning. In one of his trades, he had shorted the euro against the dollar. He entered this trade a month ago. It was now time to close out the trade. He had made a substantial gain and was pleased with the results. He was what was referred to as a swing trader. A swing trader is someone who opens a trade and left that trade open for more than one day. Malcolm's trades could stay open from days to weeks if not longer. He had several other trades open but they had not reached the expected range to close them out as of yet. He did have some losers but those trades had been the first to be closed out. He took minimal lost on those trades as usual. The thing about trading currencies or any other form of financial instruments was to know when to cut your losses. And Malcolm knew when to cut his losses as well as when to let the winners run.

He turned the laptop off and headed for the shower. He bathed and then got dressed. He put on some cargo shorts, a nautical t-shirt and a pair of Nike sandals. He got his wallet, cell phone and keys. He headed out of his home and started walking towards Lincoln road. As he approached Lincoln, he found a taxi. He got in and told the cab driver to take him to the Regions Building on Brickell. The cab driver did as he was asked. Upon arriving to the building, Malcolm paid the cab driver and got out. He walked to the front of the building and entered the lobby. He headed for the elevators and once inside, pressed the button for floor 15. When he got to floor 15, he exited the elevator and headed to the offices of Lambert and Associates, Wealth Managers. He entered and approached the receptionist in the waiting room. The receptionist greeted him and asked if he had an appointment. He responded with a yes. I'm here to see Ms. Lambert. He then gave his name. The receptionist looked up his name and greeted him accordingly. She then told him to take a seat. She said that Ms. Lambert would see him shortly. Malcolm said thank you and sat in one of the comfortable seats offered in the waiting room. He liked this office. It was both modern and old world. It gave the appearance of money and success. And if someone is going to manage your money, should that not be a pre-requisite?

Ms. Lambert entered the waiting room and greeted Malcolm. She wore a navy blue dress suit. She looked stunning as usual. She was tall and slender. In another