It was dark. The little boy Parker was not alone in the forest. The rain was giving all in, but the storm had hardly begun… Sounds. Parker could hear sounds he had never heard before… Pain. Tears. He could hear that as well. One man. One woman. The man was killing the woman. He was killing her right in front of the boys eyes.

 

Parkers blood was frozen in his vains. His heart was beating fast, and he could not move. It was cold. The sounds… It was the sound of carving a knife through skin and into the flesh. It was the sound of blood. He wanted to see no more.

 

The woman tried to fight back but the man was stronger than her. She got out a weak scream, but the man hit her to the ground. Parker could clearly see that the man was angry. He hit her. He kicked her! She could not move anymore. It was dark.

 

«Parker McCulloch. A twelve year old boy. Live in Lipley. A little place close to the small village Fair Oak, between Liverpool and Birmingham in England. This boy… This boy was unfortunate. He is now sitting under a tree in the middle of the forest between Lipley and Fair Oak. He has just seen a murder. A murder of his beloved neighbour Carol. »

 

A man. A man dressed in black. A large man. This man. This man was that man. This man was soaking wet. Carols blood was all over him. It was dark. Carol was lying on the ground. She was a slim person. A beautiful person. Her hair was usually blond like the sun itself, but tonight it was brown and red from the mud and her own blood. It was crucial… It was dark. Too dark for Parker to know where the wounds were. He tried to see what the man looked like. He could not see his face.

 

Parker lay on the ground, behind a couple of bushes. His clothes were muddy and his face was full of tears. He loved Carol. She had always been there for him. She was about 20 year old, but had taken care of him like he was her own brother. He loved her. Grief. Parkers heart was torn a part. He was mad! Who had the right to do this? Who had the right to hurt his Carol? Nobody. That was the answer.

 

Parker watched every move the killer made. He was cold. The killer was cold. He gave her one last kick, before he actually went down on his knees. Parker was surprised. The killer started making noises. Crying noises. He was crying! Suddenly it looked like he put himself together again and picked up his knife. He turned around, and he turned around fast! His eyes spotted Parker within a second.

 

The mind froze. Parker mind froze. It was as if the world around him stopped, but he knew it had not. He knew he had stopped, but not the world. The killer moved fast from the point that he looked at his new victim, to running after it. Before Parker even had registrated it, he had gotten up, running for his life. The rain poured, and the forest was tight and slippery. Parker didn’t know were he was going, but his heart was pounding and the fear was driving him mad. Panic was the word. How was he going to survive this? Someone was breathing heavily in his neck, and he knew who.

 

Tears of desperation came. Parker did not know what to do, or what to not do. He ran as he ever could. Faster than he knew was possible. – Help! He managed to cry out, and suddenly it happened. The breathing stopped, and he could not hear any footsteps behind him any more… He did not stop to run, but he stole himself a look back. The killer was on the ground. He had obesity tripped and hurt himself.

 

It was dark, but there were relief. Parker was in shock. He looked around while he was jogging. Home was his destination. Home, was where he was going. He was not going to break down now, so he would not let his feeling out just yet. Only there was just one thing… He didn’t know if he ever was going to ever again. Shock. The shock was going to eat him up from the inside.

 

Parker McCulloch made it home and he made it without any more problems. He came home but did not tell his mother of anything that had happened. Did not feel for it… He took a shower and went straight to bed, where he fell a sleep at once. Everything was fine. So fine that Parker started wondering if it had ever found place. At least that is what he thought…

 

Already the first second he had set his foot outside, he felt watched. I was like someone was staring at him, and every move he made. Nervousness… Parker had to see if they had found the body yet. He had to know. The trip through the forest was like a rollercoaster. Never safe. Someone was watching. He knew it. After a while he could finally reach the crime scène.

 

Carol Boxer was found. The place was full of cops, detectives and doctors. Almost the entire people of Lipley and Fair Oak were there as well. A great disaster had struck the villages. The week passed and the detective Mr. Loyd Murdoch had asked all the villagers for information. Parker could not shake the feeling of being watched, and when the cop came for a visit, his nervousness did not exactly calm. It was not that he had anything to hide, but he knew that if he told someone about the happening, he would fall apart. That was not his dearest wish right now.

 

Parker did not know if the killer knew who he was, but he had a slight feeling that he was after him. He was scared. The killer could be one of the villagers for god sake. The thought had hunted him all week. He stayed in his room most of the week, and he hardly spoke to anyone.

 

Eight days after the murder, the police had found a suspect. It was Carol’s husband, Sam. Sam was a generally kind and loving person. Parker was shocked the moment he heard the news. Sam was a rather small man. Not nearly as tall and strong as the man Parker had seen. This was a mystery.

 

Parker had felt passive and uninterested in all things after that night, but now he felt life again. He knew what he had to do. Sam was not the guilty one, and Parker knew that. He had to tell inspector Loyd Murdoch. It seemed that he had taken some special interest in Parker, since he acted so strangely. This was his chance.

 

It was dark. Just as dark as the evening Carol was murdered. The only difference was the street lights. Parker swallowed. He was only twelve year old, and he should not have to go through this. It was like a nightmare that would never end. One of those where you wake up and notes that you have peed on yourself. A nightmare so cruel that you get afraid of the dark for days and weeks. It was dark…

 

Parker stepped out on the street, on his way to Fair Oak to see Mr. Murdoch. He had to admit to himself that he was scared. Damn scared. Someone was watching him. This someone was going to kill him tonight. He tried to think of something else, but not with any success. «I’m feeling rational, so impossible…» Getting away with murder…, by Papa Roach. He hummed the melody for himself.

 

Quietly Parker walked to Fair Oak. The chances to make it were slim, but he was going to do his best. Sam did not deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison. Sam was a good person. «Getting away with murder…» He had to go through the forest to get to Fair Oak, and while he did that, he could hear footsteps and moving bushes.

 

When Parker finally sat his foot in the Fair Oak streets, he could see someone looking at him by a corner. His heart was beating fast. What was he going to do? Run? Pretend he didn’t know that he knew? He just didn’t know! I want my mummy…, he thought desperately. Mr. Murdochs house (That he had rented while solving the case) was just a few houses away, and Parker could clearly see it. So close to his target. He knew where it was, because all of the kids had made such a big fuss about it, and had pointed wildly on it, when they had been going home from school.

 

Parker tried not to look at the corner the guy was watching him from, but it was a real challenge. He focused on Mr. Murdoch door. Not long now…. The shadow of the man moved, and he could not help it that he jumped. The killer knew. Parker had to swallow hard. He was between him and Mr. Murdochs door. Save me… He whispered low. Tears came back, and he was sure that this was it.

 

The shadow came forward in a major speed. Parker stopped. This was it, he was sure! – Help! he yelled in the hope that it would stop everything. – Help! Please! After a few seconds of looking at the murder, Parker recognized him. It was the baker in Lipley. Mr. Hazzard was his name. Charles Hazzard. Finest baker within miles. Parker did not understand anything. – Mr. Charles? he asked confused. What was going on? – Parker…, young Mr. McCulloch…, what are you doing out so late? Does your mum know? He asked friendly, but it was something cunning in his voice.

 

Parker did not trust him. Not a bit. Charles tried to come closer, but Parker would not let him. – Do not come any closer, he tried to say brawly, but it just sounded like he was in a voicechange. – Show me your hands, he continued. The baker had both his hands behind his back, but now that Parker mentioned it, he took them forward. Mr. Charles Hazzard had the perfect bodybuilding to match the killer.

 

Parker was slow. Before he had registered it, Mr. Murdoch had come in the picture. It took some time before he had realised that the baker was pointing a gun at him, and Loyd was pointing a gun at the baker. This was wild. Parker could not do anything else but to fall over, and that is just what he did. All the feelings he had been holding inside, was pouring out.  He could not stop crying, and he could not stand on his own legs. He fainted.

 

This is what happened. It turned out that Mr. Charles Hazzard was having a love affair to Mrs. Carol Boxer. Charles had gotten so mad at Carol because she did not want a divorce, that he had killed her. He had suffered from anger management. It really was not more complicated than that, but the reason Sam Boxer had gotten the blame, was because they had a severe fight over their marriage, that night. Unluckily Parker had tripped right in to the whole thing when he was going home from a friend in Fair Oak.