THE MIDNIGHT LEDGER
Truth in Ink, Fear in Power
October 17, 1945
A SECOND SACRIFICE: VIDA KILLER OR SOMETHING FAR WORSE?
By D. Wendworth
DUNCASTER—Another body, another failure of the Metropolitan Police. This time, the blood pools not in the shadowed alleys of our forgotten poor but at the doorstep of power itself.
Lord Edwin Blackwood, esteemed Minister of Trade, was found dead in the early hours of yesterday morning. His remains were discovered at the heart of an unholy tableau—positioned within a five-pointed star, red spider lilies blooming grotesquely from the wounds that drained him of life. His house staff will not speak, save for one shaken footman who, before the police could silence him, whispered of the flowers "growing" from the corpse itself. But of course, the Metropolitan Police assure us this is mere hysteria.
Perhaps they said the same of the widow, Eleanor Hargrave.
Only three nights prior, the lady of St. Giles Square was found lifeless in her private chapel, her body arranged as if in prayer, facing the east as if awaiting salvation. Clutched in her hands were wilting vida flowers—the same cursed blossoms that, in old folklore, bloom only where the dead refuse to rest. Yet, according to the Commissioner, these cases are unrelated.
Unrelated—despite the symbols. Unrelated—despite the floral offerings. Unrelated—despite the creeping terror in the hearts of Duncaster's citizens.
The whispers in the smoke-filled parlors say it is the work of the Vida Killer, the assassin who strings bodies together like pearls on a rosary. But I ask: would even such a creature dare provoke the city so openly? Would even they leave their victims to be found?
Or is this something far worse?
Two dead. Two warnings, unanswered. And yet, the Metropolitan Police shuffle their papers, sip their brandy, and assure us that all is well.
How many bodies must bloom before they see the roots of this rot?
How many more will follow before the city dares to ask:
Who truly holds the knife?
D. Wendworth