Behind the Staircase

by Michael Peterson

There was no Old White Guy gang—not that it would have helped, nor a gang of Liberal Democrats, which would have been even more impotent, like being armed with celery in a knife fight.

This quote is everything.

I knew then (Ok, I knew earlier) he was nuts—what kind of lunatic shoots himself in the balls? Even worse, what kind of lunatic admits it?

wanted his GED, and when he finally passed, he was so proud. He wept.

“This is the only thing I’ve ever done in my life that I could be proud of,” he said. With two murdered women and his nuts shot off, I knew this was true.

“Have you ever talked with John about his religion?” I asked.

“I told him that he was like every Mormon I’ve met. He’s smart, clean, attractive, polite, articulate, but fucking nuts.”

TRUTH. Well... minus attractive.

I went back to John. “You ever talk to O’Hanlan?” “Yeah. He told me I was nuts.”