DIRECTOR'S OFFICE, THE RADCLIFFE LUNATIC ASYLUM, OXFORD
T o meet with the Pillar, Dr. Truckle prepared himself by swallowing two pills at once. His meeting with Professor Carter Pillar wasn't going to be easy. There was a reason behind the Pillar's repeated escapes. It killed him, not knowing it. Pillar the Killer was definitely going to bargain for something. Dr. Truckle had to find a way to compromise with him.
Under no circumstances could the doctor lose his job. It was all he had. After a money-draining divorce, ten years of serving at the asylum, and all the secrets the government had buried with him here, he could just not afford it. His kids had just been admitted to Oxford University, and his responsibilities had doubled. He also had his eyes on the young nurse in the secret ward that hosted prestigious people from Parliament. Insanity was a disease that spread to all classes and factions.
If Interpol and the FBI had just succeeded in convicting this lunatic Professor Pillar, Dr. Truckle wouldn't have been stuck in this position now. But like always, the small fish had to clean up the big fish's poop.
Giving time for the pills to take effect, he changed the channel on his big-screen TV. The news had nothing to talk about but the Cheshire Cat killer. The madman who left his victims dead and grinning.
"Boy," Dr. Truckle told himself, "that little Alice in Wonderland book drove the world insane. It's just a children's book, people."
The news showed recent footage of the Cheshire Cat sending a message to the world. It was a headshot, and he wore the orange mask of a grinning cat. It very much reminded Dr. Truckle of his childhood puppy named Garfield—which he loved to snuggle with and nibble at like a mouse. The Cheshire Cat's voice in the footage was distorted, but the words were clear:
"This is a message from the Cheshire to the world. Stay away from me and the people I am involved with. This is beyond the FBI, Interpol, and any other authority in the world. The girls I kill have nothing to do with you. It's a Wonderland War. Stay away. You've been warned."
Dr. Truckle wasn't sure if it were the pills or the Cheshire's monotonous voice that sent a shiver through his spine. The madness he'd just heard on national TV was beyond his years of expertise. It reminded him that the world was mad, in and outside of the asylum. He stood up and adjusted his necktie to meet with the Pillar. But before he did, a third pill wasn't a bad idea.