S01x02 - END
General Summary
Whitmer Cleaning Services
a 'special cleaning services' operating in Coast City, specializing in crime scene corpse removal. Gordon Whitmer - moved to Coast City 14 years ago. Began working for Dural Cleaning, another 'special cleaning' company, where he learned the ropes. After 4 years, split off (amicably) to form his own company. Maintains good relations with former associates. Described as "wise, insightful, and a little odd" by friends.Brent Stall - longest employee, has worked for WCS for 10 years. Moved to Coast City from a neighboring town after high school, and began working for WCS.
Joe Calo - worked for WCS for 4 years.
Tina Ross - worked for WCS for 2 years.
Victim 5
Julian Esperga
(Victim 5) -age 32 -no college education. -gig economy worker, also collecting social security benefits. -found in his apartment, on March 2nd in advanced state of decay. -cause of death appears to be hemorage, due to a neck wound. difficult to verify due to saw obscuring wound detail. -during cleaning procedure, skeletal remains are discovered beneath the floor. -Gordon Whitmer was originally supposed to perform the cleaning. -Victim's death was reported, and a cleaning requested from WCS, but because the victim was found in a suburb of Coast City, the data was not immediately coallated and flagged as an "END" victim. An interview with Esperga's parent revealed that he turned his life around after a suicide attempt. After that, he "found God", which they assumed meant he had returned to his Catholic gate. However there is no evidence of Christian worship in his recent history, not any such artifacts in his apartment.Skeletal Remains
Edgar Roam
After Julian Esperga's suicide attempt, he was mandated to visit with a psychiatrist once every month upon his release from a state psychiatric facility. Edgar Roam was that psychiatrist. He told investigators that Julian had mentioned his renewed interest in religion, but no specifics.Encounter with "END"
After getting a report from the CCPD that Joe Calo - an employee of Whitmer Cleaning - was the latest victim of END, the team decided to place the remaining employees in protective custody. Arriving at Brent Stall's apartment, there was initially no answer, but Dave Mossberg noted that the front door had recently been picked. Hearing a loud thump from inside, Mossberg decided to kick the door open. Inside, they found Matt Stall (Brent's brother) handcuffed and kneeling in the entryway. His son, Andy, was holding on to him. Further inside, Brent was grappling with a man in a red painter's smock and mask. He yelled out "It's END! He's here!" before getting struck in the head. "END" then jumped off the balcony - on the fourth floor. Mossberg ran after "END", while Olivia ran to the balcony. She saw that an awning had broken his fall, and saw him limping towards a nearby forest preserve. She managed to shoot him in the shoulder, but he continued running. Mossberg chased after him, but lost him in the forest. He did managed to recover the blood soaked painter's outfit. Arriving at Tina's apartment, Annabelle and Delilah realized she was romantically involved with Joe Calo. Frank Crowley used his magical abilities to calm down her emotional state so they could get her to a safe haven. Back at the Jefferson, Adam has made a startling discovery. The skeletal remains, Gordon Whitmer, and the blood sample from the red jumpsuited "END" all share the same identical DNA.Meet Gordon Whitmer... again.
Travelling to investigate Gordon Whitmer's house, Olivia and Mossberg were surprised to discover a man with a gun waiting for them - Gordon Whitmer. Or, rather, a seemingly younger version of Gordon Whitmer - closer to age 45 than 62. He told them: 'Whitmer 'C': "You have such bad luck."Mossberg: "We?"
C: "You investigators. You keep finding the wrong leads." Greene: "What do you mean?"
W: "You're asking all the wrong questions."
G: "What are the right questions?"
C: "Who is END?" "Aren't you END? We shot you." C: "I am not END. But I know who is. And I will tell you. But you have to let me go." Convinced by 'Gordon C's' argument, they allowed him to leave. He took Olivia's number, left his gun (which was later found to be registered to Julian Esperga.)
Victim 6: Joe Calo.
Performing a ritual allowed Francis ‘Frank’ Crowley to percieve the realm of Twilight, where he observed Joe Calo's ghost. Calo's spirit was weeping, hands over his face, and repeating the words "I'm sorry." Searching the house, and interviewing the neighbors, Annabelle and Deliliah discovered that Joe Calo had lived in this house years ago, but it was now basically abanadoned.Apparently, he had lived here with a wife and daugher, who had been tragically killed in a car accident.
Session
Previously, Korbin had arranged to have a psychiatric session with Edgar Roam. While Delilah distracted Edgar, Korbin was able to gain access to his files and skim through them, looking for details on Julian Esperga. However, while scanning the files, he noted that several of ENDs other victims had ALSO been seen by this therapist. This marked the first connection between the victims (besides the ones that worked for Whitmer cleaning) that had so far been established. Before they investigators could determine exactly why this might be, another victim was found.Victim 7: Gordon C
The body of Gordon "C" was found in the woods, in the typical END pattern.Unlike other victims, he was left out in the elements. A park ranger discovered the corpse. A nearby tree had a chain and handcuffs near to it, as well as several days worth of food wrappers and water bottles. It seems that someone kept Gordon C here for some time before his death. While investigating the death, Olivia Greene recieved a phone call... from "Gordon". "If you want to catch END, go to this address, right now." The team did so, only to discover an END crime scene in progress. Following a trail of bloody footprint, they opened a closet to reveal Matt Stall, dressed in a red painters suit.
He admitted to them the he was END.
The End
Epilogue
Phone call to Olivia Greene: "Hello. I'm glad you were able to resolve things. There are a few loose ends, however. First, I'd like you to go to Edgar Roam's office. I've left a tape for you there - it's for your ears only. Not for the police. I hope it helps you find some closure.Second, I'd like to make sure that WCS cleans the office. But, please, do not tell Brent about any of our conversations. He's going through enough, as it is. And he truely doesn't know anything. He was just caught in the middle.
Good luck, Detective. And farewell. I doubt we will ever meet again."
Contents of tape
Roam: Hello. You must be Mr. Casey.C: Yes, for now.
R: For now?
C: Yes.
R: I see. Well, what brings you in, Mr. Casey? What would you like to talk about?
C: Three things, really. First, I hope you don't mind, but I told your secretary you wanted her to go home for the night.
R: ...you did?
C: I can be quite persuasive. And I wanted to speak with you uninterupted.
R: ...and, why is that?
C: I think you have some idea. Julian, Angie, James.
R: ....are you.... END?
C: (laughs) No. No, I'm not. But thank you for confirming my suspicion.
R: Suspicion?
C: Yes. I assumed you must have noticed that someone was cleaning up after you. Tell me, did you guess at END's nature?
R: You mean...?
C: Yes. That END wasn't 'killing' anyone. That he was going to the houses of those who had commited suicide, desecrating their corpses, and arranging them in the END pattern. He was, in effect, a fake serial killer.
R: ....
C: Of course, to know that, you would also have to know that these individuals had committed suicide. But that's something of a specialty of yours, isn't it, Doctor?
R: Who are you?
C: For now, I'm Mr. Casey. But perhaps it would make more sense to you if I said I was Gordon Whitmer? I'm sure you wondered why END would 'kill' him. And, in fact, "Gordon Whitmer", or some version of him, has been END's only real victim. All the others were dead by their own hands before END began his work. Which raises the question - can you murder someone who can't die?
But as for me, after I leave here, I'll be someone else. I've been someone else a lot, you know. For a long, long time.
R: What do you mean?
C: Well. That brings us to the second reason I'm here. You see, I'd would truly like a counciling session.
R: Regarding what?
C: I seem to be a man who can't die.
R: ...what do you mean?
C: You see... for as long as I can remember, I've been unable to truly die. When I die, a few hours later, a day or so at most, I awaken in a secluded area, completely naked, and around the age of 45.
R: ....
C: My previous body still exists, identical to my new body in every way - aside from any aging. I can age, get sick, and 'die', but I always 'reset' a day or so later, and have to pick things up again. It makes living quite difficult.
R: How so?
C: Well, just imagine it. Say I make a life for myself in some town, and live from age 45 to the end of my days. The next day, I'd be alive again, aged 45. It's not like I can just pick up where I left off. It takes a lot of time, a lot of planning, to create new identities. It's gotten harder than ever in the last 50 years to do so.
R: ...and how long have you been doing this for?
C: Honestly? I've forgotten. Oh, no, Doctor, don't stand up. (rustling).
R: ... I see.
C: I hope you don't mind the gun. I promise, I have no intention of shooting you. But I don't want out session to be interupted.
R: So, what are you, then?
C: I'm not sure, truly. Some people have called me "God". Julian was one of those. He was a troubled young man. Tried to kill himself, but I accidentally interupted him. Well, he interupted me. Or perhaps we interupted each other? He found me trying to dispose of my own body some 15 years ago. He was already your patient at that time, wasn't he?
R: ...yes, I believe so.
C: Yes - it wasn't his first suicide attempt. You really played a long game with Julian, didn't you? Strung things out before convincing him to kill himself?
R: ...
C: Please, understand. I'm not blaming you for anything. I'm just genuinely curious. Why wait so long? Or was it that Julian's state of mind wasn't conducive to that particular form of cooercion until recently?
R: ...the later.
C: Ah, I suspsected as much. So the reason for his recent mental fragility was...?
R: He said that, "God no longer needed him."
C: Yes. Yes, I thought as much. He was so upset when I told him I wanted to retrieve my bones. See, I'd figured out a way to dispose of them at sea, but I hadn't counted on just how much looking after my corpse had meant to him. An oversight on my part, to be sure. I often have trouble relating to... well, 'normal humans', I suppose. How could I, after all?
R: And how does 'Gordon Whitmer' fit into the END case?
C: Ah, thta's really the most absurd part of the whole thing. You see, 15 years ago, a young boy stabbed me to death, as I was recovering in the woods from a previous, unrelated death. Before I died from that stab wound, I told the boy that I "forgave him" and that "this was all a dream". It seemed like such a shame that a young man with his whole life ahead of him should ruin it all in a moment of teenaged passion, particularly by 'killing' someone who coudln't die.
When I woke up again, not far from where the boy had found and stabbed me, I went to retrieve and hide my corpse. It becomes very bothersome to get rid of the things, you know. Particularly when there turn out to be so many in a short period of time.
In any case, the boy returned - I presume to hide the evidence of his crime. But I was already there, and when he saw me, he paniced and fled. I assumed, at the time, that this would be the end of it.
Not long after that, I encountered Julian, preparing to hang himself in the same woods. He saw me carrying my own body, and was shocked. We got to talking, and he asked me if I was 'god'.
I couldn't exactly deny it. After all, I have no idea about my true nature. Maybe I am? Wouldn't that be something.
Anyhow, Julian offered to look after my body, and I took him up on his offer, and set him up with an apartment in the city that I had previously arranaged. Julian was, as I'm sure you're away, quite pliable mentally. A nice young man, but somehwat gullible.
R: ...
C: But you knew that. That's how you were able to convince him to kill himself. Subtly. Just by dropping certain hints, certain bits of innudendo.
R: Yes. But how does that tie into "END"?
C: Ah, well, that young man, the one who stabbed me? He is END.
R: I see.
C: Or rather, he became END. I'm not sure why, exactly. But after I left my bones with Julian, I started a new life for myself here in Coast City. I started the Whitmer Cleaning Services, taking on a new identity, and learning more about corpse disposal. Initially, I was hoping to learn how to better get rid of my own corpses, but the time I spent with the people working this job proved to be rather enlightening. They have such an interesting perspective on death, you see. And, truth be told, I suppose I wanted to be closer to 'death' in some way.
C: So, I started a 'special cleaning' company. And I hired some strange people - people who, for their own reasons, wanted to be 'close to death', to 'see the dead off' with respect and dignity... there were a number of reasons for it. But I found it interesting. I found those people interesting.
And then, about a month ago, I met the brother of one of my employees for the first time. And what a surprise - it was that young man who had stabbed me so many years ago.
It made some kind of sense. His brother - my employee - had once confided in me that the reason he took on the job was because of his own mother's suicide. It had scarred those two brothers - in different ways. Neither of them could live a truly normal life. One lived the life of a man with a strange, death focused job. The other, outwardly, had a perfectly normal life - but secretly...
R: He was "END".
C: Yes.
He had grown up - become a family man. Had a good job. But when he saw me, I could see the panic in his eyes. He feared that his past crime would be revealed... that I would tell his brother.
I told him, then, to not worry. "Everyone has a bad dream once in a while," I said to him. But... he wasn't persuaded.
A few days later, he ambushed me, and killed me. Again.
C: It's been fairly chaotic since then. He actually managed to kill me a third time, if you can believe it, while I was trying to resolve things. Oh, and the police and those poor detectives... they must have been truly confused by all the 'me' they kept turning up. It really threw them off the trail for a while, but I think they have it now. They'd even managed to sniff out some part of your involvement, by the end.
But, that's all over now. He's been caught in the act, and the truth will come out soon. Both about him, and about you. R: Me?
C: Yes. While I was following him around, I figured it out. As I said, the young man, his mother had killed herself when he was a small boy. I suppose this gave him some kind of insight into the minds of other people who were prepared to take their own lives. He could 'see' it on them. And so, when he saw someone who he thought might kill themselves, he'd check up on them. And when he found someone who had done so... well, he got to work then. As "END".
R: Why?
C: Oh, you still don't see it? To spare the families.
R: What do you mean?
C: (laighs) You truly are some kind of narcissit, aren't you? Or perhaps a sociopath?
Well, just imagine it. To lose a loved one to suicide. Wouldn't you almost prefer it to have been murder? The work of a madman? No the selfish, pained act of a loved one? A loved one that, perhaps, you failed?
No, this way the bereaved would hold in their hearts hatred for another, not doubt about what they might have done differently, or doubt about what they might have done to cause it.
It was a kindess, what he did. Or at least, that's how he saw it.
This way, no one would have to experience the pain that his brother did. There would be pain, surely, but there was no avoiding that. But this way, at least, that pain could be externalized. Perhaps eased by that externalization.
And that brings us back to you. It seems, that without even realizing it, he had stumbled across a few of your patients.
C: I must say, it's a rather impressive feat. To convince someone, even someone who is already depressed, to take their own life in such a subtle manner.
R: Thank you.
C: You're rather welcome. Although, while I can appreciate the skill involved, I must tell you I find your activities quite boorish.
R: You do?
C: Yes. I, who have far more life than anyone could ever want, envy people the ability to die. R: ...I can see how that might be the case. C: But more than anything, I empathize with the desire to live out a normal life. To live, grow old, and die... and not to return.
R: ....
C: But, I can't really do that. It's a shame. So instead I 'play house' for a few decades at a time. I meet intersting people. I try to fill my days with them. And then, in time, I die, and must begin all over again. But that isn't really life. It's just an imitation.
R: ....
C: (rustling) But you, you have decided to use your considerable skills of persuasion to convince the vulnerable to end their lives. And I can't help but wonder - why?
R: There is no real reason. I simply can, so I do.
C: Truly?
R: Truly. I wish I could explain my own pathology to you, but I suppose I just have no concept of 'life'. I don't 'feel' the presence of 'life' in others, or in myself, so I cannot understand it. Therefor, I try to understand it by creating it's absence in others.
C: That is... quite sad.
R: I agree. And you, who have no concept of 'death', that is also quite sad.
C: I agree. We're quite a pair, arent' we?
R: Yes.
C: I'd like to thank you, Mr. Roam. This has been quite an intersting conversation.
R: You're very welcome. I've enjoyed this conversation as well.
C: It really is too bad that you have no concept of death.
R: Why is that?
C: Well. That brings us to the third thing...
(tape ends.)
Report Date
08 Apr 2022
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