Murderer Bill

by John Grant

About the Author: John Grant has written over 80 books. His fiction has included novels like The World (1992), The Far-Enough Window (2002), The Dragons of Manhattan (2008) and Leaving Fortusa (2008), as well as numerous short stories, some of which have been collected as Take No Prisoners (2004) and Tell No Lies (2014). With artist Bob Eggleton he created the two "illustrated fictions" Dragonhenge (2002) and The Stardragons (2005); the former brought him a Hugo nomination.

Excerpt

“You see that man over there?” said my mother.

I followed the direction of her nod. The sidewalk was dusty and my sandals were plastic and blue. I must have been about seven.

“He’s Murderer Bill,” she added.

The man on the far side of Harmony Street looked like just an ordinary man. Dark suit, blue tie, white shirt, shiny black shoes. He could have been a bank manager, a politician or one of those guys who comes to the door asking people when was the last time they thought about Jesus.

At the moment, a yellow supermarket carrier bag wrapped around his hand, he was bending down to pick up the poop his golden retriever had just plopped.

I didn’t say anything. So? He was a murderer. Everyone had to be something.

Mom read my thoughts.

“Not just any old murderer, Denny,” she said. “He’s the Murderer. Murderer Bill.”

I was wondering if, assuming I played my cards right, she’d buy me an ice cream after we’d done getting the Sunday groceries.

“Good kids don’t have anything to worry about,” my mother was saying. “But bad children—that’s something different.”

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