Queen Media Collective

Mr. Nickel thought a little more about waking up on the back porch as he got ready for the next day.

“What the heck happened?,” he thought to himself as he got ready to get in the shower.

Waking up on the back porch had him thinking of that voice in the car. The voice was scary to him and waking up a little more frequently on his back porch was starting to have him thinking of picking up therapy again. As he stepped out of the shower, he tried to shrug off the thoughts of something bad happening when his cell phone rang.

“Mr. Nickel!!! My baby’s gone! He’s gone!”

“Ms. Armstrong, what is going on? Who’s gone?”

“They found Kevin dead this morning a few streets over from the community center! My baby’s gone!”

Ms. Armstrong screamed and cried into the phone and all Mr. Nickel could think about was that voice in his car again. Instead of giving into that, he was able to contain himself well enough to speak with Ms. Armstrong. He told her he would be on his way to the community center to see if any of the kids knew anything and then he’d come over to visit with her.

After he hung up the phone, he began sweating, wondering what that voice in his head had done.

As Mr. Nickel was gathering himself at home, Detective Collins and Porter were on the way to the scene of the crime. All the while, both were thinking on the possibility of Mr. Nickel being the man behind the murders. While not many could fathom it, the wheels were turning in both of their heads about how this could have happened. Detective Porter remembered the breakdown of Mr. Nickel when he wife was found dead and he remembered the mental anguish he survived. With that out there, he began to believe even more that Mr. Nickel had to be involved. Something inside him just told him that he was. While he believed that, he knew he needed evidence and without that, there was nothing he could do.

As Collins and Porter pulled up to the scene, they hopped out the car and went straight to where the body laid. One thing they noticed that disturbed them both was Kevin’s lips being cut off. The word “silence” was carved into his chest with a knife. The scene was gruesome.

“You think this was a rival gang that did this? You know he was involved with the gangs around the city.”

“No Collins. Maybe it was made to look that way.”

Both Collins and Porter continued to look around the scene of the crime for clues. Collins was looking to solve the murder while Porter was looking for things to link the murder back to Mr. Nickel. Both would come up empty-handed as there were no fingerprints, no murder weapon and no car tracks anywhere around on that street. It was almost as if the killer popped up, killed Kevin and disappeared.

“This has got to stop,” said a frustrated Detective Collins.

“He has to slip up eventually.”

Collins and Porter hopped in their vehicle and headed towards the community center.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nickel was pulling up to the community center to question anyone he could.

“Hey Keith, do you know anything about what happened to Kevin?”

“I don’t know anything Mr. Nickel.”

“You weren’t with him at the end of yesterday?”

“No sir. He was pissed at you the last time I saw him. After that, he said he was heading home to chill for a minute.”

“Okay. Well, let me know if you find out anything.”

“Okay Mr. Nickel.”

Keith left and headed home. As soon as he left, Detective Collins and Porter pulled up.

“Mr. Nickel. Can we have a moment of your time?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“You have any information for us in regards to the murder of Kevin Armstrong?”

“All I know is his mother called me this morning crying on the phone over him. I’m here today trying to gather information on his murder and asking the kids if they know anything.”

“Do you know anything Mr. Nickel?”

“What do you mean Detective Porter?”

“I mean exactly what I said. Do you know anything?”

“I only know that he is dead and a killer is on the loose detective. Other than that, I know nothing.”

“I think you know more than what you’re telling me Mr. Nickel.”

“I think we are done Detective Porter. Have a nice day.”

The rather tense discussion was over after the exchange between Detective Porter and Mr. Nickel. Collins was ready to tear into Mr. Nickel while Mr. Nickel was not very happy with Detective Porter and the feeling that he was trying to accuse him of the murder.

As Mr. Nickel made it into his office, he was still frustrated but also concerned. While he was able to play things off with Detective Porter, he wasn’t able to fool himself. He knew something was going on and that he was involved. He was concerned about the things he had been through in his past and those things coming back to life. He had been staying up later than usual and waking up in different clothes more regularly and that was not a good thing.

“Hey Cary, you enjoying this excitement?”

Mr. Nickel felt a cold breeze come over the room as he heard the voice talk to him.

“There will be more. Time to clean up the streets. No prisoners left. You just continue to be you and I will handle the rest. Thanks for the interaction with that punk Detective Collins. He is getting a little too close. ”

“Stop it!”

“No. It will never stop!”

Mr. Nickel was losing it in his office. He had Detective Porter after him, the voices going off in his head and he had the murder of Kevin Armstrong to deal with.

Then, as he sat in his office, one of the kids came running into his office yelling “They found a glove! They found a glove at the scene of the crime!”