Dirty Water

By Jesse Lee

The Boston Strangler—immortalized in popular culture including the 1960s' one-hit wonder "Dirty Water"—might yet live on in another, even more sinister form. In Covid times anyone might be a masked criminal but this one's disguise, you could say, is their lack of disguise. Such villains have always been among us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wildside Press Black Cat Weekly
• Release date: Feb 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781479467020

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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

DIRTY WATER, by Jesse Lee

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Copyright © 2023 by Jesse Lee.

Original publication by Wildside Press, LLC.

wildsidepress.com | bcmystery.com

DIRTY WATER,

by Jesse Lee

The Esplanade is the stretch of public green space that extends for three miles one way along the Boston shore of the Charles River from the Boston Museum of Science to the Boston University (BU) Bridge. In addition to providing a beautiful natural landscape, the park is home to the iconic Hatch Memorial Shell, various historical monuments, recreational facilities, and over five miles of pathway for walking, running, or biking.

—https://esplanade.org/the-esplanade/

* * * *

When the walker first spots the person in the Red Sox cap, he knows this is the one. His heart knows, revving up. The person is alone, plugged into some kind of fast music, moving their shoulders to it. The walker takes out his own earbuds in order to fully focus on what is happening on the Boston Esplanade on this muggy July evening. Sun about to set, fewer joggers and bikers and pedestrians than usual. Air quality warnings are keeping people inside.

This past year and a half has been a war, and the walker is a foot soldier on a solitary mission. Not his first mission, and not his last. He stays a good quarter block behind the target, scoping from an angle. The person is easy to keep in his peripheral vision because of their bright orange T-shirt, which clashes with the red of the cap.

They’ve both just passed the docks, usually crowded with sunset peepers at this time of day but now nearly empty. The target slows a little. Dark clouds are rolling in overhead and a shifty wind has started up from the water. The target moves over to the side of the path and the walker watches them digging in their front jeans pocket for something, which they then hold up in front of their face. When