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Crime scene.
The other cops had already strung up tape and pushed the rubberneckers back.
Luke stared at the stabbed couple and, a few feet away, the clown whose face had been peeled off like a mask.
A heavy wave of déjà vu hit him.
That method of killing was way too distinctive.
He started flipping through every heavy-hitter file he and Clarice had read the day before.
Good thing he'd listened to her and checked them all instead of fixating on Myers.
Clown costume. Fat build.
One name clicked into place.
John Wayne Gacy.
The serial killer who dressed as a clown and murdered thirty-three young men.
The more Luke looked at the bodies, the more they matched the file.
He pushed through the crowd and found Chief Woody standing with his hands on his hips, glaring at the corpses like they'd personally offended him.
A young officer was giving his report.
"Chief, the ME's on the way. Two victims confirmed as local residents. The third one's face is too messed up for ID right now."
Woody nodded, grim.
Luke jumped in.
"Chief, I think I know who the clown is."
That got Woody's full attention.
"He's one of the heavy hitters who escaped when the prison collapsed."
"Oh?"
Woody's eyebrow lifted, suddenly interested.
"So he's another piece of shit that deserved to die?"
Luke nodded.
"Serial killer. John Wayne Gacy. Life sentence."
Woody's face actually showed a flash of genuine disappointment.
"Damn shame. I would've loved to put him down myself."
Luke gave him a confused look.
Woody shot back, "What? You didn't become a cop to personally smoke these bastards?"
The young officer beside them shook his head without thinking, face going white.
Woody glared at him.
"Blame those goddamn hippies. They've turned this whole generation soft. Back when I made chief I earned it by dropping over three thousand convicts myself."
He turned back to Luke, tone shifting.
"Luke, you know that prison. Give me a rough count on how many actually got out."
Luke thought back.
"About twenty or thirty of the real heavy hitters. The regular cons? Too many to count."
Woody pressed.
"You think those heavy hitters are gonna behave themselves now that they're free?"
Luke remembered the chaos inside the prison and gave a bitter laugh.
"They won't last a few days before the itch gets too bad."
"Good. Looks like sending you undercover was the right call after all."
Woody actually looked pleased for once.
It only made Luke more confused about what the chief was really planning.
Woody didn't ask anything else.
Once the ME bagged the bodies they all headed back to the station.
Back at HQ the chief didn't organize any search parties. He just told everyone to keep their mouths shut and not leak a word about what happened.
Luke watched Woody's slightly smug face and felt nothing but suspicion.
This wasn't the chief's usual style. By now he should've had the entire department tearing the city apart.
Even after Luke got home to his apartment he still couldn't figure out what Woody was playing at.
Until the next morning.
Luke got a call and rushed to the station only to find the place swarming like a kicked anthill.
Every reporter in Miami had shown up, cameras and mics pointed at a hastily thrown-together podium like sharks smelling blood.
Chief Woody stepped up under the flashing lights.
He straightened his tie, face set in just the right amount of solemn regret.
"Dear citizens, I'm Chief Woody of the Miami Police Department.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you some bad news. The Miami prison collapsed for unknown reasons. We've done everything we can, but a large number of extremely dangerous inmates are still at large."
His voice boomed through the speakers and carried down the block.
Even people who hadn't left their houses heard it.
"The entire city is now in unprecedented danger! Just last night a young couple in love was butchered by one of these escapees.
"As chief I take full responsibility. But as a member of this city I'm furious at their arrogance and lawlessness."
Luke stood in the back of the crowd and finally understood.
The old lunatic was going for the big play.
Woody took a deep breath, looked straight into every camera, and roared with everything he had.
"Effective immediately, the Miami Police Department is issuing a highest-level wanted order for every escaped convict!
"From this moment on, any citizen who personally captures one of these fugitives…"
He paused, sweeping his gaze across the sea of lenses, then bellowed one word at a time.
"…gets a hundred-thousand-dollar reward!"
The crowd exploded.
Woody thrust his fist high, face twisted with righteous fury.
"Dead or alive!"
In seconds the entire city knew.
In an era when blood still ran hot, a hundred grand drove everyone insane.
In a quiet suburban house a mild-mannered accountant pulled a revolver from under his bed, eyes burning.
"One grab and my embezzlement hole is covered."
On a poor neighborhood corner gang members stopped their usual small-time hustles and passed around newspapers printed with the escapees' photos.
"Boys, payday just walked in. One good score and we're set for the year."
Some bold high-school kids even ditched class to form their own bounty-hunter club.
"If we bag one, Jenny from the cheer squad will definitely go out with me!"
Even the beggar on the corner dug through trash cans for the wanted list.
"Perfect. I can get my house back from the court."
Outside the gun shops downtown lines stretched around the block. People fought over ammo and weapons like they were Black Friday deals.
Money turned the city into a war zone.
The escaped convicts who had just tasted freedom suddenly found themselves swimming in an ocean of armed civilians.
All of Miami had become one giant hunting ground.
And every person in it had become a hunter with a gun.
In front of the podium the reporters scattered like birds, chasing the next big story.
Chief Woody looked at his handiwork with satisfaction.
He turned to head back inside.
That's when Luke stepped forward and blocked him.
"Chief Woody, why did you do this?"
Woody grinned, confident.
"Ha! Kid, you think I did this for the thrill?"
Luke stared at him, still not getting it.
Woody dropped the smile and lowered his voice.
"Those three bodies last night were a warning shot.
"It told everyone in this city that nobody gets to sit on the sidelines.
"Not even the politicians."