After a day of window shopping, Agatha Kitchner walked into Tina's Diamond Boutique on a Monday afternoon. She asked the woman behind the counter to see a diamond necklace. The store owner, Tina Johnson, obliged and showed her the necklace.
While Mrs. Kitchner was admiring the necklace, Mrs. Johnson was distracted by another customer who had just walked into the store. The customer was a tall man with a ball cap pulled down over his brow. A pair of mirrored sunglasses covered his eyes. Mrs. Johnson did not welcome the man with the usual flair of a potential customer coming through her shop's door.
"Oh. You're back," she said.
"Do you have it ready?"
"It'll just be a moment." Mrs. Johnson went into the back room. The man followed her.
Mrs. Kitchner took advantage of this moment and slipped the necklace into her pocket. She then pretended to be interested in other items in the store and engaged in small talk with Mrs. Johnson. After a few minutes, she thanked Mrs. Johnson and left the store.
She walked briskly to the second bus stop she saw. Her husband was at home, working on their car. The bus was her only means of getting away.
Hitchhiking was out what with the maniac they were calling the Void on the prowl. All the witnesses who had seen or encountered the madman said he had no recognizable facial features. It was as if he had no discernable face.
Tony Kitchner was in the garage working on the car. Looked like the starter. A fried ignition was just what he didn't need right now. The car had to be operational by Monday. He couldn't afford to miss another day of work.
The 518 bus screeched to a stop at the corner. Tony saw Agatha exit the bus. She walked directly home. She didn't wave to Phyllis Norton weeding the flower beds in her front yard. Didn't answer the Stebbins boy when he asked Agatha if she wanted to buy a lemonade from his stand. She didn't even look in the mailbox. This wasn't like Agatha. Any other day she'd be her friendly self.
"Tony, I need to talk to you about something. I did something terrible and I don't know what to do."
"What happened, Agatha? You're scaring me."
"I stole a diamond necklace from Tina's Diamond Boutique."
"Why would you do something like that?"
"I don't know. It was impulsive. I was just looking at it and before I knew it, I had slipped it into my purse. I don't even know why I did it. I guess I just wanted to know I could still do it."
"Agatha," her husband said, his voice low. "Do I need to remind you we're on probation?"
"I know, I know. I don't know what came over me. I had one glass of wine at lunch. But now I'm terrified that I'm going to get caught and go to jail."
"We need to return the necklace, Agatha. That's the only way to make things right."
"But how? They'll know it was me. And what if they call the police?"
"We'll go there and tell them the truth. We'll apologize and offer to pay for any damages or losses. We'll take full responsibility for what you did."
"You're right. That's the only way. I can't keep living with this guilt."
"We'll do it together, Agatha. I'll be there for you every step of the way."
" Thank you, Tony. I'm so sorry I did this. I don't know what's wrong with me."
"We'll figure it out together, Agatha. We'll get through this."
They went into the house so Tony could wash the grease off his hands. They'd have to take the bus back into downtown Port Pinnebog.
"You know," said Tony. "We're going to be downtown. We should just eat down there."
"I don't know if I'm in the mood for a night out."
"You'll feel better after we return the necklace. Now put on a face and something for a night out at Club Nello."
Agatha smiled. "Club Nello? I can't remember the last time we went there."
They dressed for a night on the town, even if they had to take the 613 back into the city. Nello's was the place for jazz fusion.
The 613 bus dropped them off a block from the jewelry store. The security guard remained seated reading a newspaper. The large headline announced, 'The Void Strikes Again'.
A woman waiting at the stop quickly stood as the doors opened. She boarded before Agatha and Tony could disembark.
"I'm sorry," the woman said. "I don't mean to be rude but an odd thing happened a few moments ago and I just wanted to get somewhere safe."
The security guard looked up from the newspaper. "What happened?"
The woman pointed at the headline. "I think I saw him!"
"Saw who?"
"Him! The Void."
The bus driver looked at Agatha and Tony. "You folks still want to get out here?"
Agatha looked at the name embroidered on his jacket. "It's our stop. We're just going to--"
"Nello's," Tony said. "Thanks for the lift."
"It's my job!" The driver laughed.
"You folks be careful," the security guard said.
"We will."
The Kitchners exited the bus. The streets fell quiet after the bus pulled away. Agatha squeezed her husband's hand. They walked in the opposite direction of Nello's Corner Bar. Tina's Diamond Boutique was two blocks away.
Even with her husband at her side, Agatha didn't feel safe. The stories of the Void prowling the streets of Port Pinnebog troubled her.
The walk to the store seemed endlessly longer than her getaway earlier in the day. Most of the shop windows remained dark. A few had lights on for the clerks and cleaners preparing for the next day. Agatha saw a few employees watch her and Tony pass. She heard the click of doors being locked.
No lights were on at Tina's Diamond Boutique. They found the door ajar. Inside, they discovered Tina Johnson, the boutique owner, sprawled on the floor. Panic set in as they tried to wake her, but she remained unresponsive. They feared the worst, wondering if Tina had been attacked or if something more sinister had occurred.
As the police arrived at Tina's Diamond Boutique in response to a burglary alarm, they were shocked to find Agatha and Tony standing over the clearly dead Tina Johnson. In the tense moments that followed, the police searched the suspects and found the stolen diamond necklace on Agatha. The police also discovered cash missing from the register and assumed since Agatha had the necklace, any cash Tony had on him was taken from the till. Agatha and Tony were arrested.
Agatha and Tony were tried separately. The prosecutor showed the Kitchners were in a poor financial situation. Paul Detweiller, the assistant prosecuting attorney, theorized that after finding the necklace in his wife's purse, Anthony Kitchner decided to go back with his wife and rob Tina Johnson. When she tripped the alarm, Tony Kitchner became enraged and killed Tina Johnson.
At his trial, Tony took a deal. First Degree Larceny and unlawful entry. He received a sentence of no more than ten years. He'd be eligible for parole after two years of imprisonment.
As for Agatha Kitchner, she pled guilty to grand larceny of the necklace. She offered a dramatic explanation under heated cross-examination from assistant county prosecutor Candace O'Herily.
"I admit I took the necklace. It was a stupid thing to do. We're strapped for cash since the taconite ore mining has slowed. I thought maybe I could pawn the necklace downstate. But I assure you, Tony did not take any money and he did not kill Tina Johnson!"
From the witness stand, Agatha begged her court-appointed attorney, the police, the county prosecutor's office, anybody at all to talk to the bus driver.
"His name is Phil. He drives the Lonely Street 613. He'll tell you about the conversation the security guard had with the woman who said she saw the Void."
Candace O'Herily objected. "Your Honor, at this point this so-called public menace the Port Pinnebog press has labeled 'The Void' has been blamed for everything from my son's missing homework to Mr. Fulton's bad breath."
Alvie Fulton, the public defender twice disciplined by the bar, looked up from the doodles he drew on his yellow legal pad. "I object!"
"Withdrawn."
Judge Carl Zilinski banged his gavel. "Everyone settle down. Now, Mrs. Kitchner, the thing is-"
"The thing is you're all afraid of having to find the Void. Well, don't worry, you won't have far to look because he's sitting right there!"
Screams erupted in the courtroom. A man seated at the front of the gallery jumped up and ran from the proceedings.
Later, everyone there at the moment the disruption occurred gave different descriptions of the man. The only aspect they agreed on was he appeared to have no face.
Before being led away, Agatha turned to her friend and neighbor, Phyllis Norton, who had sat behind Agatha each day of the trial.
"Get me some help!"
"Who?"
"Someone good."
They were pulling on Agatha's arm to take her to jail.
"I'll do what I can."
Handcuffed, Agatha pulled away from the deputy leading her out "Take all the meat out of my freezer. It's yours."
The door closed. Agatha hoped Phyllis got the message.
***
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
So midway through this experiment, I realized I wasn't getting what I wanted from the AI prose. I didn't care for the writing. I was giving the AI names, places, situations, and it was pumping out prose, but it lacked heart. It read like a dissertation. I went back through it and edited it into what is here now. It's not great but it's better.
I found I had to tell the generator things like 'Tina Johnson was asleep on the floor...' to get around using the word murder. There were long passages of exposition so I started giving the A I a word count; out of 100 words I'd get twenty I thought were usable. After a while, the whole thing began to feel like a Dick Tracy comic strip or a Shadow serial episode.
I am more fascinated by the AI pictures, generated with information like 'auto mechanic by Rembrandt, garage and car by Edward Hopper' or 'gangsters by Matisse, jewelry shop by Norman Rockwell.' That was how the Void emerged. For the record, I never suggested race or ethnicity. Just 'character type' plus 'location'.
Is it art? Well, that's the question we still struggle to define. To some, absolutely not. To a more digital generation, absolutely maybe.
But what do I know? I'm just a boomer.
There'll be at least two more chapters. That gives me the trilogy: Beginning, Middle, End.
I'm interested in your thoughts. Comment away regarding the story.
I came back a couple of weeks later to tweak the Kitchners's story, change some images. The whole mystery around Phyllis Norton stems from Tony and Agatha Kitchner. There were events I needed to enhance, clues I needed to drop.
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