10

At 10:16 in the morning of the second, a mounted patrolmen in Central Park heard some commotion in a thick bushy section of the park behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He rode over by the bushes where he found a frantic, unleashed dog barking and scraping away. Its frustrated owner was trying to get her dog to come. The patrolman scolded her for not having her dog on a leash. As he turned his horse to ride away, he saw the body.

She was lying neatly on the ground as if she was in a coffin. She was an elderly woman, maybe in her eighties. She had been tucked back under some bushes and partially covered with leaves. Her hands were folded across her chest. She looked like she had been placed there by a mortician. Her neck was cleanly sliced by a garrote wire. On her forehead was a yellow post-it note. The patrolmen radioed for help.

When the crime scene unit arrived and secured the area, the post-it note was taken from the victims forehead. Written on the note was:

Time of death: 11:55PM

The first day of themonth

Score: GAMER 1SPARKY0

That same afternoon, another hand delivered letter arrived at theTribune for Sparky Blake.

DearSparky:

Because of that unpleasant headline GAMER DUD, I may have to do a double next time. Maybe an elderly couple. Sort of like your parents. Isn’t thisfun?

GAMER

Sparky Blake called his parents out in Jersey. As soon as he had satisfied himself that they were all right, and not planning any trips into the City, he took the latest letter to his boss. They ended up on the sixth floor again. In about five minutes, a police inspector arrived in the Board room to take possession of the letter. The Inspector confirmed the Central Park discovery, but would give no further details. He told them that the PC would probably have a press conference later in the day.

Efforts to develop information about the person who delivered the letter were unproductive other than that the security officer it was handed to said the guy looked like a homeless bum.