All that was heard was a scream, and bang, and a thud. Those were all the clues that the witnesses in the New York City apartment building could give. Alice was at the end of a cold damp alleyway, in a puddle of her own blood mixed with rainwater on this cold February, 2017 day. The residents of the apartment came out and called the police. The first residents to see the body were Jessica and Chris. Jessica and Chris were married and both 30 years old. When they came downstairs and saw the body Jessica shrieked, “I think it’s a dead body! It is a dead body! Chris call the police, I think I’m going to be sick.” Chris called the police describing frantically the scene, ”There is a dead body…blood all over… 28th avenue and 5th street.” Police Officer Joey told him, “Calm down and wait for Police Chief John and I to get there, he will ask you some questions.” With that they exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

Police Chief John asked them some basic questions. While searching the body he found the letter L engraved into her hand. “We didn’t see that before,” said Chris. “I will have this brought to a safe location and alert the girl’s relatives. You two should get some sleep.” John brought Chris and Jessica up to the apartment and left to go to the police station ten minutes later feeling quite tired. He dropped off the body and told his men the evidence given by the witnesses. “What do you think the letter L stands for?” questioned Sergeant Phil. “I have no idea, how about you Bill?” said John. Bill looked deep in thought but could not figure it out. John, Joey, Bill, Phil, and officer’s Jack and David all agreed that tomorrow they would go back to the apartment building and ask the owner if he had any video recordings. They would also ask around for any witnesses.

John got home to his wife Layla very late that evening because of the events of that day. She greeted him with a warm hug and he told her of the details of the day during dinner. Layla could not believe Alice was murdered. The last time she heard from her was in a fight two years ago. “Okay, I am going to get some rest, you coming?” asked Layla. “No, I want to figure out this case and what that L could mean,” said John. “Okay but don’t stay up late, you need some rest,” said Layla. “Okay, I love you, goodnight.” John stayed up for a couple of hours making phone calls and looking at his files when he decided to go to sleep.

John, Joey, Jack, Phil, Bill, and David all met up at the police station the next morning. They rode in separate cars to the apartment building. They found the owner, Mario, in his kitchen eating breakfast. “Hello sir I am Police Chief John Gardiello,” said John. “Hello officers,” said Mario nervously. They got right down to business and Mario told them that he did have video recordings for them to look at that showed the alleyway. “The camera is in the basement window pointing towards the alley”, said Mario. The policemen talked to Mario and other residents and asked them questions until night time. One man named Shaun seemed to be quite agitated about the whole incident. They all decided to go downstairs and look at the tapes.

The basement was pitch black and there was no light coming in from the windows. It was very damp in the basement and it smelled extremely bad. The officers felt around the walls for a light switch but could not find one. Phil told Jack to go out and get the flashlight from his car. Jack left and the officers decided to try and find the camera instead. After five minutes the officers heard Joey say, “I got it!” They all decided to go back up to Mario’s room to watch the tapes.

When they got to his door they saw it was open. They all drew their guns and searched the house. They found Mario sitting up on his bed, with an apparent grin on his face. When Phil moved closer he saw a trickle of blood running down from the side of his mouth. Mario was dead, and had two O’s carved on his hands. They put the tape into the television to see who the killer was. The only thing they saw was a male Caucasian shooting Alice. They could not see his face but there was only one male Caucasian in the building. His name was Shaun. John and Bill went down to get Shaun. The rest of them stayed upstairs.

Meanwhile, Layla was worried because John had not called and it was very late. She decided to get in her car and drive to the apartment.

Ten minutes had gone by and David, Joey, and Phil wondered why John and Bill had not brought up Shaun yet. They went down to his room and found the apartment wrecked, and blood dripped on the floor. They searched the room and decided to go to the basement. On the top of the staircase they saw John lying down. He had blood smeared on him. They walked to him cautiously. He was alive. “I’m alright,” said John. He told them that they talked to Shaun and told him about the letters and the tape. Shaun had fought them and ran into the basement. Bill chased him down there but he was to hurt to go. I will be all right, but go find Bill,” said John.

The officers went into the basement and found Bill sitting next to a dim fire. His back was towards them. When they turned him around they saw a knife sticking out of his chest. He also had the letter k engraved on his hand. The officers were shocked and they got up to go and tell John what happened. Just then the fire went out.

Layla had gotten to the apartment and was about to enter when she met up with Jack. Jack advised her not to go in there because he was radioed that there was another murder in there. Layla was so frantic to see her husband that she tried to get in anyway. “Mrs., I can’t let you in,” said Jack. In one swift movement Layla retrieved a knife from her handbag and stabled Jack in the arm and chest. She left his dead body and ran into the building.

Shaun was hiding when he heard three thuds and a couple of squeals. He lit his second match and had a look at what was going on. He saw three men dangling from nooses. He recognized them as Joey, Phil, and David. There was letters written in blood cross their chests. The letters were u, p, and an exclamation point. He put together all the letters and spelled out “Look Up!” He turned his head upwards and the last thing he saw was John jumping down from a ledge with a knife at him. When John finally killed him he turned on the light switch and he heard Layla coming down the stairs. They glared at each other for a second then ran forward and kissed each other. Two minute later they were riding away in a stolen cop car. The next day the Headlines of the New York Post said, “Beware of Two Escaped Mental Patients from a Clinic in New Jersey.” Their names were John and Layla and they were husband and wife.