Hatter in Wonderland Chapter one

Hatter in Wonderland

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Chapter one.

May third, 2008. Jonathan Hatter enrols in nut house. Who will catch Rabbit now?
July third, 2008. Two months, no murders. Has White Rabbit stopped?
December twenty-fourth, 2008. No present from Rabbit. James Woke investigates old leads.
March sixteenth, 2009. Woke v. Hatter. James Woke investigates claim that Hatter is the Rabbit.
April first, 2009. Hatter let off. No April fools from Rabbit.
A person started cutting out another newspaper headline.
October third, 2009. Rabbit case closed, Rabbit has vanished down his hole.
The person stood up, and threw the leftovers of the news paper away. They turned and pined the new clipping to the wall of his room in “the Aliceon Insane asylum”, know to insiders as, “The mad wonderland”.
“Hey, Jonny! You got mail!” The man turned and saw someone slip a letter under his door.
“Thanks.” He said, smiling at the figures back as they walk off. The man stooped, and picked the letter up. He looked at the back of it, and turned it over. He froze. In big, black, curled letters were the words, “My Dear Mad Hatter.” He carefully opened the letter, and read what was there. It was written in gold ink, in a very neat style. As he read, the colour trickled from his face.

         “My Dear, Mad Hatter.” The letter began. “It has been two years since last we matched wits with each other. A couple had tried before you, but you have managed to earn a special place in my heart. You are the first to have come so close to catching me, dear Hatter, and it’s been far more fun than with your ancestors. Retirement has been very quiet for me, but as you well know, I am not one for keeping quiet for long. I am taking up my mantle, and starting up again. It’s no fun without you. So come get me Hatter, and let’s see just how far the rabbit hole goes.” The letter was signed with the picture of a white rabbit, looking at a pocket watch and tapping its foot.

         Hatter looked at the letter, and then moved to the door. “ORDERLY!” He shouted. One walked into view, and looked at him in a questioning way. “I’M CHECKING MYSELF OUT!” The orderly looked at him, then shrugged and radioed someone. Jonathan picked up his possessions, and started taking down the newspaper clippings. He stopped on the last one, and shook his head sadly.

         May third, 2010. Two years with out a wonderland murder. Has Rabbit moved on?

         The orderly opened the door, and gave him a fresh change of clothes, and a razor. Jonathan nodded his thanks, washed and shaved in the small wash basin mounted on the wall, and got changed. He straightened his brown, and looked at his badge. Sighing again, he packed the suitcase that he had brought with him, and started on his journey out of the asylum. As he passed the check points, he could feel a heavy weight twisting up his stomach. He forced a brave face on himself, while in reality he was as nervous as a cat in a dog pound. The Rabbit had contacted him. The serial killer that he had devoted a large chunk of his career to catching had told him that he was going to start killing again. He stopped at the last checkpoint, and signed his name. As he turned, he saw a big, bald figure, with a large bristly moustache walking towards the asylum. The figure stopped when he saw Jonathan.
“Hatter. I want a word with you.” He said.
            “Chief Grieves.” Jonathan replied, slightly stunned that the chief was there. “Fancy seeing you here. Actually it’s a good turn of fate. You see, I was just coming to see you and ask if I…”
“Do you want your old job back?” The chief cut in, looking around warily. Jonathan was stunned. He had just been about to ask that question.
“…May I know why?” Jonathan said nonchalantly. He knew that the chief didn’t exactly approve of him, and he didn’t exactly like the chief. The Chief looked uncomfortably around him.
“We…err…we have need of your…specific….knowledge.” The chief sighed and gestured for Jonathan to come closer. He then whispered in his ear. “He’s back.”
Hatter sighed. “I suppose that you mean our colourful friend.” The chief nodded. “…oh bugger.”
The chief held out a gun holster, and several clips of ammunition. Hatter looked at them, sighed, and took them. He strapped them on, and tried a weak smile. The chief grimaced slightly. Hatter made a mental note to practice his weak smiles, and placed the spare ammunition in his pocket.
“Lead the way chief…And I want my old desk. If I’m coming back, then that desk is mine.” The chief growled to himself, and led Jonathan to the car parked just outside.



Jonathan walked into the precinct, and looked around. It was very much the same as it was when he had left. Cramped, crowded, and comfortable. “Honey, I’m home.” He muttered to himself. He started towards where his desk had been, when he saw a familiar face, scowling at him from over the desks. Jonathan smiled to himself. James Woke, his old partner, shook his head, and pushed his way over to Hatter.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that you need to sign out every time that you leave that nut joint of yours, I’d have arrested you on suspicion of murder.” James growled. He never talked normally, just growled at everyone Jonathan noted, not for the first time.
“He struck just before the chief went to pick you up, and found you signing yourself out. Left another quote on the body. We haven’t been there yet, so unload your stuff, and let’s get going.” James leant close to Jonathan’s ear, and softly growled, “It’s good to have you back Jon. I’d hand the case back to you, but it’s my responsibility now.” He straightened up, and glared at Jonathan. “I hope you remember where your desk is.” He growled in his normal volume, before stalking off. Jonathan watched him go. James wasn’t what he had expected when they first met. He was, as his University roommate would have said, “Built like a brick shithouse.” James had the body of a rugby player turned bouncer, and the face to match. His attitude wasn’t much better. Jonathan had seen him take down a suspect just by grabbing them in a powerful bear hug.
When he finally did get back to his desk, he saw that everything was still there, just with a layer of dust on them. There were a couple of cards on his desk, and a large box. He opened the cards first, noting that Chrissie, the ballistics girl, had chosen a card with a picture of a shiny gun on it, while Chester, a fellow officer, had opted for a card with a quote from Tommy Cooper. Jonathan rolled his eyes, opened the box and froze. Inside was a large green hat, with a note on the top. He carefully picked the note up, trying not to get fingerprints on it, and read what it said.

It was written in that curved handwriting, with the same gold ink. “Welcome back. Let’s hope our relationship works out this time.”

Jonathan swiped the layer of dust from the desk top, and dropped the note on it. He carefully lifted the hat out, and dropped it next to the note as if it had burnt him. The hat was green velvet, slightly crooked, with a band of black silk around where the rim met the main hat part. Jonathan looked back in the box, and saw a tea set sitting there. He carefully lifted it out, and sniffed the cups. Satisfied that there was nothing wrong with them, he checked the contents of the tea pot. All that was in it was a dark liquid that gave off a smell that he found comforting. He looked around, and grabbed one of the people that were employed to give out mail.
“Hey, you can’t just grab me like that!” They complained feebly, tugging at their arm in a futile attempt to break free.
“Who put this parcel on my desk?” Jonathan snapped.
“I-I Didn’t put it there!” The man yelped defensively.
         “I don’t care if you didn’t, who did leave it here?” Jonathan asked, letting some anger seep into his voice. The mail boy gulped and looked around.
“I-I w-w-was paid to p-p-put it there, tw-tw-two hundred, for just putting a box on your desk, I-I-I th-thought it m-might be urgent m-mail, s-s-s-so I d-did it!” The mail boy was shuddering, and looked as if he might cry. Jonathan sighed, and looked the man in the eyes.
“What did the guy that paid you look like? It’s very important that you remember.” The mail boy closed his eyes, and took in a shaky breath.
“I-I didn’t s-s-see him…j-just heard him b-behind me, and saw the p-p-package.” The mail boy tried to pull away again. “C-can I go now? I-I-I have lots of other mail t-t-to deliver.” Jonathan nodded begrudgingly, released the man’s arm, and sat down in his chair. He subconsciously poured himself a cup of tea from the teapot, added two spoons of sugar, and poured in some milk. He raised the cup to his lips, and paused before drinking. He took a deep breath, and let the smell of tea wash over him. He placed it to his lips, and drank. He sighed inwardly as the warm liquid coursed down his throat, and seemed to warm his entire body. He smiled as he put the cup back down, and turned his computer on.
“Hello again Jonny boy!” A sleazy voice came from behind him, and Jonathan had to stop himself from whirling around and hitting the person. Instead, he calmly looked over his shoulder, to look at the man that had just materialised there.  The man wore a grin, which stretched from one side of his face to the other. He wore the usual police uniform, apart from the purple rimmed glasses he had perched on his nose.
“Oh...hello, Chester.” Jonathan said. He gestured to the card. “Thanks for the card mate.” Chester nodded, and his grin split open, showing many white teeth. Jonathan was reminded of a shark before it attacked. Chester glanced at Jonathans screen and froze, his grin dissolving.
“Ermm…Jonathan…you may want to look at your screen.” Jonathan’s brow creased as he frowned. He turned and looked at the monitor. His frown vanished, replaced by shock.
The Wall paper of the screen showed a tea party, with the Mad Hatter, March hair, and Alice. On the screen, in the bottom right corner, was a white rabbit, holding a pocket watch, and tapping its foot. Every now and again, the rabbit looked at its watch, and then tapped it. Jonathan moved the mouse over it, and it put the watch away. Jonathan clicked on it, and it jumped. A message appeared on the screen, saying, “Catch me if you can!” The rabbit icon pushed the rubbish bin aside, and jumped down a hole that appeared there. When it had vanished the screen went black, before showing his old wallpaper of a Victorian house.
“...Well that was different.” Chester said, before patting Jonathan on the shoulder and walking off into the throng of bodies. Jonathan locked the computer, finished his tea before putting the rest of the set and the hat in his bin, and picked up the note.  He started for the elevator, when he bumped into Chester again, who was being shouted at by a woman.
“Please miss, just calm down.” He was saying, trying his infamous charm to save his aching ears. His efforts earned him the complete opposite, as the woman cried out with an indignant yell of,
“CALM DOWN!!! YOU’RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN WHEN THAT MURDERER KILLED MY HUSBAND?” She deteriorated into tears, and Jonathan grabbed Chester.
“Chester, I need to take something down to the lab, don’t let anyone touch my desk.” Chester nodded and grinned at him.
“Have fun with the white queen!” He said, before renewing his efforts to comfort the grieving widow. ‘At least,’ Jonathan thought to himself. ‘I think she’s a widow. It’s either that or it was a lover, and she’s claiming it was her husband so she can get the personal effects’ Jonathan stepped into the elevator, and punched the button for the lab area.

He stepped out of the elevator, and realised that he didn’t know the new lab technician. The old one had quit two days before he signed himself into Wonderland. In a way, he was more nervous about being outside again, than chasing the rabbit. At least he knew that the Rabbit hadn’t changed much. He stopped before the door, calmed himself down, and opened it.
The first thing that Jonathan noticed when he stepped through the door was that everything was white. The floors and walls were a brilliant white. There was a woman standing next to a computer. She had white hair, and was wearing all white. Even her lipstick was white. The woman turned to him and smiled. Jonathan nodded in acknowledgement, but stared at her eyes. They were white, except for her black pupils. He cleared his throat, and held out the note.
“I…err…I need this analysed. Can you check it for finger prints, particulates, and run a handwriting check on it?”
“Don’t give me the easy tasks will you.” The woman said jokingly. She walked over to him, her white high heels clicking on the floor as she did, and took it from him. “I’ll need your fingerprints, so I know which aren’t yours.” Jonathan just shrugged.
“They’re already on the system. I was a suspect in the case I’m working for a while.”
“Aah. So you’re Jonathan.” She smiled again, and held out her other hand. “I’m Elizabeth Snow.” Jonathan shook the offered hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’d love to chat, but unfortunately, I have to go. Call me if you get any results.” Jonathan turned and briskly walked to the elevator.

“Where the hell have you been Hatter?” James growled as Jonathan stepped out of the elevator and headed for his partners desk. James met him halfway.
“Taking something to the lab. Where’s the body located, and how soon can we be there?” Jonathan let the questions out, as if nothing had changed. He noted with some satisfaction that his old partner growled in irritation.
“I’ll drive.” Was the only response that he got.
“Fine by me Woke, fine by me.”