The Beast of 1977 (Book 1)

Chapter 32

"Good morning. I'm Brad Wayne for Action Seven News. I am here on this cold, gloomy morning in front of 909 West Seventh Blvd, where a gruesome murder took place just last evening between eight o clock and eight-thirty.

Twenty year old Isaac Mercer was gunned down in this house behind me after what one detective deemed a domestic violence dispute. Now, details are still sketchy at this hour. Apparently, authorities are keeping very tight-lipped on the situation, but I am here with a neighbor. Your name is, ma'am?"

"My name is Mrs. Selma Godfrey."

"Okay, Mrs. Godfrey, are you able to tell our viewing audience at home just what exactly took place here last night? What was it you heard?"

"Well, at first, me and my husband saw Lynnette's boyfriend run into the house from the alley. He was out there talking to some man. I think they were out there foolin' around; up to no good. Then we heard them arguing. Next thing you know, we hear some kind of animal. Poor ole' Lynnette starts screaming like she's being killed. That's when some policeman ran up in there and shot the thing."

"Okay, ma'am, when you say policeman, are you referring to Detective Linus Bruin" All content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.

"I reckon that was his name."

"Now, Mrs. Godfrey, you mentioned that Detective Bruin shot this animal that both you and your husband supposedly heard, is that right?"

"Yes it is."

"Did you see anyone carry the alleged animal out of the house, ma'am?"

"Well...no, but I sure heard something terrible in there. It sounded like a mad dog or something like that."

"Thank you, Mrs. Godfrey. As you can see there are various, wild stories from multiple sources. Once again, police are informing us that a domestic violence dispute inside is what led to Mercer's death. Right now as we speak, we are receiving information about both Isaac Mercer, as well as a very interesting bio on Detective Linus Bruin. It seems that Mercer had spent two and a half months at the Ashlandview Psychiatric Facility just north of here. We tried to contact Mercer's presiding physician, but he was unavailable for comments. From what we are receiving from Ashlandview, Mercer suffered from chronic blackouts which led to bouts of amnesia and paranoia. Now, if the name Isaac Mercer sounds familiar, that's because just three days earlier he was abducted by the late B.O.D. kidnapper, but managed to elude his captor. Detective Bruin was also involved in the case. From what we are still gathering, Detective Bruin himself spent four months in and out of a state psychiatric community, due to numerous mental breakdowns and domestic abuse."

"This is bull...t, man! How can a cop kill somebody for just domestic abuse? That cat just ran up in there and shot that man right in his own house for no reason whatsoever! Ain't nothin' changed a damn bit! Police are all pigs and they're all out to kill us blacks! Just one more dead n...a as far as they're concerned! And now they're runnin' up in people's homes and killing us now! None of us are safe!"

"Okay, um, we apologize for that disturbance, ladies and gentlemen. Anything can happen when you're doing live TV. As you can see behind me, tensions in this community are at an all-time high. Now, investigators are probing into this case as we speak, wondering just what cause of action, if any, led to Detective Bruin gunning down Mercer. Besides a revolver that was owned by Ms. Glover, there was no other weapon in the house. As for this alleged animal that was heard inside the home, police were not able to ascertain such a detail, or any kind of forced entry on the part of Mercer for that matter."

"I hate the fuzz, man! I hate all pigs!"

"Once more, we apologize for the disturbance, ladies and gentlemen. Just to recap, twenty year old Isaac Mercer was shot dead last night here on West Seventh Blvd by Detective Linus Bruin. Mercer is survived by his fiancée, Lynnette Glover, their two year old son and Mercer's father. Stay tuned to Channel Seven for more late breaking news and reports as this bizarre and tragic.