The walls were grey and cold, and breathing was getting more
and more difficult the longer I stayed here. I needed to do my job as soon as
possible to escape from this godforsaken island. This was one of the symptoms
of being an elite in news business.
The elderly gentleman walking in front of me was named
Broadway. Grey coat and matching pants, brown beard covering his face, and
wrinkle free expressions made it really hard for me to nail down his age. He
didn’t stoop, but he clearly had experience in his tone.
“So, Mrs. Bich, do tell me how this facility fascinates
you.”
“Please, Mr. Broadway, Alexandra is fine. Or even Ms.
Bishoff.”
“Ohh. Wasn’t Bishoff your maiden name? You’d prefer I used
your ex-partner’s name?”
“It actually doesn’t matter to me, Mr. Broadway. If you need
to refer me, any name would do just fine. Personally, I don’t prefer my family
name because of the negative connotations people attach with it.”
The conversation seems very redundant to me. There was
nobody to be seen anyone around us. So even if he decided to call me ‘Hey’ or
‘Girl’, it wouldn’t matter. I was already disappointed about me being the third
journalist to step into the Operation Alcatrax’s base.
After Kazama’s article about that Anthony guy, the news industry
blew up. Everyone was on the list to pay this island a visit. The only problem
was FBI, who was accepting the visits one representative at a time. Everyone
from journalists to mental school students wanted a piece of that pie. And the
one representing Operation Alcatrax was Mr. Broadway.
Being the third in line didn’t please me, but there were
only finite number of people convicted here. And I’d be the one to expose
another one of the criminals hidden from the world.
“So, Mr. Broadway, out of all the names, only one caught my
eye. I hope you can shed some light over that.”
“And who might that be, Ms. Bichoff?”
“This lady, Sven Igor.”
“Hmm…” said Mr. Broadway, as he was opening the door in
front of him.
The room had one table two chairs on opposite sides with a
wooden cabinet behind one of the chairs.
Mr. Broadway sat on the chair in front
of the cabinet and pointed me to sit opposite to him.
I sat and said,” Mr. Broadway, I hope you don’t mind
speaking with me. I have to go on air with the story later in the evening.”
Mr. Broadway leaned forward and chirped, “I’ll be sure to
catch that live, Ms. Bishoff.”
All this wastage of time was making me restless.
“Mr. Broadway, Sven?”
“Oh yes. After my seniors opened the doors to public, I
forgot that sharing details was part of my job too. Forgive me.” He stood up
and turned around to investigate the cabinet.
I set my recorder and my notepad by the time he tossed a
brown file in front of me.
“Her documents.” Mr. Broadway said while taking back his
seat.
I opened the dusty file which had only two documents. Her
birth certificate, and her admission form.
I was trying to look for more details, but either of the
documents didn’t give much away.
|
NAME
|
SVEN IGOR aka ‘WHITE
LIE’
|
|
AGE
|
36 [at time of
conviction]
|
|
SEX
|
FEMALE
|
|
SCALE
|
6/7
|
|
OPERATION
|
CONFINEMENT
|
|
RELEASE
|
NONE
|
“These are the extremes of her life. One is when she was
born, and the other states her final resting place, that is this facility. Do
you have something more for me?”
“Not in any paper, I’m afraid. But I have enough data on her
to make your trip worthwhile.”
I put the tip of my fountain pen on paper, and Mr. Broadway
started speaking.
“Once, in Ukraine, lived a doctor. She was very beautiful,
and coincidentally, she ran a beautification shop. A very capable
dermatologist, making herself the talk of the town. She was known for her high-end
solutions regarding skin, specifically the face. She was the one to put ‘beauty
before anything else’ kinda gal.”
Sounds pretty standard. Still can’t understand why she
was put into this building.
And what does 6/7 means?
“It was said that she improved a lot of deformed faces due
to natural causes or damages. Now for somebody so famous, looks matter much
more than what is on the inside. That comes later, but she found the most
handsome guy in Ukraine to merry. Unfortunately, that guy was impotent. And
when it was time to impregnate our Mrs. Igor here, he used his friend’s semen
to fulfil the task. Who, wasn’t the most attractive individual by conventional
means.”
At this point, Mr. Broadway’s story had lost me into the
abyss of boredom. Thank god this guy wasn’t a news reporter.
“Anyways, she gave birth to a girl, which had some
deformities in her beauty from her birth father’s side…”
Mr. Broadway knew how to execute a comeback. The entry of
Igor’s own child was a welcoming twist.
“…She wasn’t fair like her mother. She wasn’t even as
beautiful of a baby Igor would have wanted. But the full bloom of a child comes
out when she is in her adolescence. And thus, years passed by, and Igor’s child
demonstrated no signs of following her mother’s beauty standards. That made Igor
really sad…”
“I’m sorry to cut you off Mr. Broadway, but may I ask how you
would know all her history?”
“Ms. Bishoff, she told me herself. Am I losing you in all
the talk?”
“Not really. As you tell me more and more about Sven, I proceed
to make an image of hers in my mind. Right now, I have a vague blueprint of
hers which points towards her bubbling insanity. Am I correct?”
Mr. Broadway moved her hands and rested his face over his
palm, stroking his beard while he said,”
Yes Ms. Bishoff. You have quite the
perspective.”
I felt pride in my ability to deduct. This wasn’t my first
rodeo, after all.
“So, you’d agree that this is a mental cell, and she is confined
here due to her mental stage.”
“That would be one reason, yes. But eventually, I’ll have to
disagree, Ms. Bishoff. She’s here because of the crimes she committed while in
her absent mental state.”
Well then get on with it, old man! I don’t have all day, I
wanted to say.
“One day, while treating a patient, she thought of making a
mask for her daughter’s deformities. This idea fancied her, and she invited the
patient, a girl of eighteen, to the dinner. That night she made her husband go
out with his daughter while she prepared a bed for the guest’s arrival. After a
jolly dinner, Igor showed the young lady around the house, and when they
reached the bedroom, Igor struck the back of her head with a pan, rendering her
unconscious.”
Go On! Go On!
“When the young lady woke up, her arms and legs were tied to
an operating table, while her head was locked in a single position to limit movement.”
Go On!!
“Igor reached her new patient with a scalpel and ran in all
over her face, including her nape, hairline, her breasts.” ‘Your face is bigger and rounder, but I’d
have to make do.’” Said Igor as she traced the measurements of her daughter’s
face on the young patient’s.”
GO ON!
“When the markings were all done, Igor touched the young girl
with the scalpel and peeled her face off of her skin to obtain a beautiful mask
for her daughter.”
The room fell quiet. Mr. Broadway stopped speaking and has been
looking at me for the past two
minutes.
“What do you think of all this, Ms. Bishoff?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Broadway. But this question baffles me. First,
why does it even exist? I’m not here to represent my moral grounds. And second,
who cares? My answer wont change Igor’s fate. Also, I don’t think it’s that big
a deal to put her into secluded environment. If anything, she should be in the
county, not on a deserted island under your care.”
“What would you describe as a big deal then, Ms. Bich?”
Why was he using that name?
“I guess I can see her perspective as a mother. We’re very
protective of your children. Maybe this is another case of the same thing, the
only exception being Igor’s methods. I mean, if I could improve my child’s life
with somebody other, I’d gladly do it.”
Mr. Broadway removed his hand from under his chin and ran it
over the table, smiling as he did it.
“You have perspective, I’d give you that. but I didn’t lay
out all the facts. I never said there was only ONE murder. And I also didn’t say
that the single method was used in her murder spree.
I was suddenly regretting by aligning my beliefs with Igor.
“You see, first murder was just an attempt. For perfection,
she peeled off six other girls’ faces. And not just that. she started running meat
cleavers over the parts of their skin rich with muscles. That meant the thighs,
buttocks and arms were peeled off like cutting a chicken apart.”
My stomach was churning my life upside down.
“Eventually, she got addicted. She poured concentrated
Hydrofluoric Acid on her daughter, making her skin come off like a candy out
off the wrapper. She dressed her up into her victim’s skins like a doll. And when
she got bored, she poured Hydrochloric Acid on her own body, tossing that Ukrainian
Beauty out the window. She saw it as an opportunity to dress herself up, so she
started inviting her old patients to her home for the sole purpose of ripping
them apart. When we caught the wind of it, we captured her to limit the number
of causalities. There were eighteen women Igor killed for herself, and seven
for her daughter, including the daughter herself. And that, is why Sven Igor is
in permanent confinement in here, and not in County, Ms. Bich.”
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t retort.
I stood up, collected my things and started walking towards
the dock.
Saying no word, Mr. Broadway followed.
After reaching the dock I turned around and asked Mr.
Broadway a question.
“Where was the husband in all of this?”
“That, Ms. Bishoff, is a different story.”
I turned around and stepped into my ferry that’d take me to
the mainland.
“Ms. Bishoff, I hope I see the news in the concluding parts
of your segment.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because what we’re doing is completely standard. I hope you
don’t capitalize on it to pull in numbers. You won’t be doing anyone a favour. This
isn’t breaking news, please don’t market it as such.”
The ferry started its motor as Mr. Broadway finished talking.
That night, I went on the television live and reported the beasts
that nested in Operation Alcatrax as the headline of my segment.
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