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Downtown South

Bryce was fresh out of the shower, drying his hair. He heard the phone buzz on the counter.

I’m here

“What’s the hurry? You want me to come down dripping wet?”

B R T
Coffee?

He hurried up drying off and getting dressed. Luckily, he had set out some clothes ahead of time. He was dressed and on his way downstairs in no time.

No thx

He was zipping up his coat as the elevator descended. When the doors opened, she was standing there. “Good morning.”

“Hi, Veronica. What’s our agenda?”

“I thought we’d start back at the place where this all started.”

“That seems as good a place as any, but why?”

“Well, we might find a clue.”

“A week later? What’s to find?”

“So, what’s your big idea?”

“Basically anywhere but there. This guy never strikes the same place twice. I printed some maps of where he’s been so far.”

“You color coded them?” She held the page up to inspect the key. “Oh, wow. It’s not just color coded. You’ve got little icons.”

“Yes.” Bryce said. “I told you the other day that it seems like he started making trouble nine years ago.”

“Is that significant?”

“As it turns out, it looks like he’s working his way through the Twelve Days of Christmas.”

“What?”

“According to the articles you gave me and what I found online, what he did in previous years seems to be related to the gifts mentioned in the song. So, the first four years, he didn’t really get on anyone’s radar. It looked like random acts of animal cruelty with a few cases of bizarre criminal mischief.”

“And in year five he started taking gold rings?”

“If it was only that simple. This guy is all about mischief and mayhem.”

“So, what did he do?”

“He burned a couple of Olympic flags even though not all the rings are gold. He painted gold rings on people’s windshields.

He shot fake gold rings through people’s windows with a slingshot. All kinds of crazy stuff.”

“So, last year it was Maids a Milking. What did he do? Drop bags of coal on wet nurses?”

“No, it was maids and he dropped milk on them. Buckets, balloons, big gulp cups…”

“Wow, he is a nut.”

“Exactly. The question is, why did he do something so potentially lethal? He’s just been a crazy nuisance until now.”

“I don’t know, but he darn near killed me. I’d like to see him stopped.” She put her fists on her hips. “Shouldn’t you have your camera?”

“Camera?”

“Hello! Photographer? Shouldn’t you bring your camera for Krampus hunting?”

Bryce reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small black object. He pressed a button and the lens extended. “Have camera. Will travel.”

“Ooh, fancy.”

He rolled his eyes and pressed the button to retract the lens and put the camera back in his pocket. “We ought to start with a trip to the police.”

“Which precinct? This maniac has been all over the city.”

“Well, your bag fell in Downtown South. Seems to me that if Krampus is escalating this year, they’d probably be the most interested in finally stopping him.”

“So, do we just drop in or do we need an appointment?”

“I think we’ll get the best response if we drop in. It’s easier to blow somebody off on the phone than it is in person.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“Just a couple of blocks, actually.” He extended an elbow to her. “Shall we?”

They walked arm in arm for a few blocks until they’d reached the modern facade of the precinct building. As they headed for the door, Patrol Officer Littman was coming out.

“Officer Littman.” Bryce said.

“Mr. Wescott.” Littman held the door for them. “We were planning on getting in touch with the two of you.”

“Oh?” Veronica said. “Did you find something on this Krampus guy?”

“Who?” The policeman was visibly confused.

“She found some news items about somebody we suspect was responsible.” Bryce explained. “We were coming in to see if we could share our findings with you.”

“The case has been turned over to Detective Masi. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to her office.”

“Did you find anything on the roof?” Veronica asked as they followed him through the halls.

“We found some footprints. You’ll see those in the report the Detective is putting together.” He led them to a doorway. Just inside the door, a Police Administrative Assistant sat at her desk. “Hi, Jack. They’re here to see Detective Masi.”

A woman looked up from her computer. “Terry, who do you have there?”

“Hey, Detective. Wescott and Montes from the bag drop last week.”

She stood up and came to greet them. “Detective Masi.”

“Veronica Montes.” She shook the detective’s hand.

“Bryce Wescott.” He shook her hand and followed her back to her desk. “We brought this map for you to have a look at.”

“Oh, thank you.” She looked at the printout. “Oh my. That’s very detailed. Are those color coded icons?”

“Yes, I put a different color and icon for each year. From what I read, it seems like this Krampus is working his way through the Twelve Days of Christmas.”

“Krampus?” The detective seemed surprised.

“That’s what the TV people said.” Bryce explained.

Detective Masi nodded as she looked over the map more closely. “Can you send me a soft copy of this?”

“Sure.”

“Do you have the layers separated by year?”

“No, but I can do that before I send it over.”

She gave him her card. “My phone and email are on the card. If you could send that over to me with the years broken out in separate pages, that would be very helpful.”

“Yes, absolutely.” Bryce said.

“Did you see something we’re not seeing?” Veronica asked.

“I guess that depends on if you saw these patterns.” The detective said. She spun the paper for them to see. “If you look at just one of Mr. Wescott’s little icons and follow it throughout the map, it’s like a follow the dots drawing. He’s following a pattern.”