The Candy Cane Killer

Tis the season . . . It’s Christmas time and Sister Leeanne is walking the snow-lined streets of Shadwell when she spots a homeless man sitting on the kerb. How are you tonight, my child? Do you need sustenance? The vagrant is a young man named Karl Hartley. He stares up at Sister Leeanne with hopeful, empty eyes, and agrees to accompany her back to the nunnery. After all, what does he have left to lose? His life. Karl wakes to find himself naked and tied to a metal pole, a candy cane with a blade embedded in it placed in front of him. Then a speaker springs to life and barks orders: You will use the candy cane. You will slice your wrist. You will bleed out. You will die. The next day, Detective Inspector Bethany Smith gets a call. There’s a body propped up against a tombstone in a local cemetery. The victim is Karl Hartley . ..M.F