My wife and I are beside ourselves right now. This is the type of thing you see in the movies, but now it’s happening to us.
Yesterday evening, a little after six, my wife and I were in the kitchen cooking dinner when my six-year-old (almost 7) son Kyle walked in from the back patio. He was holding a folded piece of paper in his hand and had a strange look on his face. My son is constantly drawing (and loves to read and write) so this usually wouldn’t have stood out to me at all, but he’d just come in from hitting the baseball off the tee and really had no reason to be holding a piece of paper.
My son is the type of kid who wears his emotions on his sleeve. When I asked to see the piece of paper, I could tell he didn’t really want to give it to me because he flashed his typical I’m gonna be in trouble if I do face. I insisted, and he finally handed it over. Here’s what it said:
Dear Kyle,
I know this note may sound scary,
(your daddy will think it is),
but grownups don’t know
how friendships can grow
when kids are just left to be kids.
And what a kid you’ve become, Kyle!
You’re growing as fast as a weed.
Last night off the tee
you stroked it for three
and your team took a two-run lead!
Yes, I’ve been watching (a while now, its true).
I think we would make perfect friends.
You’re a kid through and through,
And I am one too,
even if just for pretends.
The problem, I fear, is your parents.
(I doubt they would let us hang out).
One is just rude,
the other a prude,
church-going, pure, holy, devout.
I’ve got an idea
(can you tell my hand’s shaking?)
for me and you getting together!
Tomorrow at three,
you can come and see me
at the address attached to this letter.
But please (pretty please!)
don’t tell your dad!
Your mom and he won’t understand.
Just come by yourself,
I’ll be dressed as an elf!
And we can even hold hands!
Would you like that?
(You will! You really will Kyle!)
We will have (my oh my) so much fun!
So I’ll see you at three,
by the sycamore tree,
where our two kindred souls become one!
There was an address scribbled at the bottom of the page.
3 Orange Circle.
I knew immediately it wasn’t a prank.
Carrie, my wife, is the youth group leader at our church. And Kyle did just have a tee ball game last night. Orange Circle is only one street over from our street, and I’m pretty sure lot 3 is the corner lot on the culdesac, which has an empty house with a large sycamore tree in the backyard.
Was this sicko really watching Kyle’s game? What would have happened I hadn’t seen him with the letter?
I shouted for my wife to come read it. When she did, she flipped out, and ran for the phone to call the police.
I flipped the note over, and on the back was some more text. I couldn’t read it at first, but quickly realized it was written backwards, I’m guessing so Kyle couldn’t have read it. To read it, I had to hold it up in front of a mirror:
And now (just in case)
if your Dad’s reading this,
it’s time to tell him a story.
If your mom flaps her hole
Or your dad tells a soul,
I’m afraid things might get rather gory.
On the 10th of July,
1995,
A woman named Susie went missing,
Susie, you see,
(unlike you and me)
wasn’t careful about who she’d been kissing.
I kept her a while (but old things get so boring!)
and in time I had gotten my fill.
I threw her away
and to my great dismay
the hunger I felt plagued me still.
I tried to bury it deep down inside
(where nothing down there can escape).
But lately it seems
I see Kyle in my dreams
And that hunger can no longer hide.
Now that you know what I’m capable of
(more than both of you can comprehend),
if one word is spoken,
then children get broken,
and Susie will have a new friend.
The police arrived in a half hour and we showed them the note. They told us to stay inside and lock the doors for the remainder of the night. The man had obviously been in our (fenced-in) back yard, which made me sick to my stomach and had me cursing myself for not installing the security camera I’d gotten for Christmas.
Nothing happened last night, thank God.
This morning, I got a call from the detective assigned to our case. He’d reviewed the list of missing persons cases from 1995 and something had turned up.
Suzanne Kerrington went missing July 10th, 1995, just as the note said. The last person to see her alive was a friend who saw her at the 24-hour gym they attended together. Susie had said she’d met someone new and wanted to get a quick workout in before getting ready for their second date. Susie was never seen again and the man was never identified.
And, maybe the worst part, was Suzanne’s address.
3 Orange Circle.
I’m supposed to meet with the detective later this evening.
What should we do?
UPDATE: The detective just called back. They’re sending an unmarked patrol car with two plainclothes officers to 3 Orange Circle at 3 p.m. today. Kyle’s teachers have been notified and he’s safe at school and won’t be going to recess today. I’ll update tomorrow with any news.
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