Please note that this book contains descriptive accounts of acts of violence and abuse. Readers who are particularly sensitive to this type of content are advised not to read this item.
“The Beast” – excerpt from the book:
In one month, Clifford killed as many children and teenagers as he had in his entire life – a bloody rampage that could not escape the attention of the police. Even though they had Olson under sporadic surveillance after he tried to sell them information that only the killer could have, few people still believed that this man was responsible for all the crimes. Nothing they could find in his file suggested he was capable of such atrocities, and . The investigation dragged on, and more and more people involved believed that they were only dealing with a false lead that was wasting valuable human resources – in their opinion, Olson was a waste of time. After all, there were so many serious criminals who fit the profile they created much better.
Officers from the task force continued to observe Clifford and witnessed several minor crimes, including two quite lucrative burglaries. Something like this wasn’t a surprise to them – they knew his story. By the way, this issue also explained where he got his income from, since his “businesses” were clearly shells. But these kinds of things didn’t really interest them right now. They let him walk free, not even bothering to question him. They had a prey to catch that was much more valuable than some petty thief plundering houses.
Yet there were a few lower-ranking officers who, contrary to the general trend, focused on Clifford. These men thought there might be truth behind his offer; it’s possible that during his travels through the underworld, he encountered a terrible killer. These officers reported the same thing to their superiors day after day: although they were expected to do so, they never once noticed Clifford contacting anyone who could be a potential suspect. But as they followed this guy, they began to come to their own conclusions.
His erratic behavior, his use of drugs, his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde behavior changes when he thought no one was looking at him all greatly disturbed observers. Over time, they began to seriously consider the possibility that this man would never meet the killer because he was one himself. And even in their free time, they made sure that someone always kept an eye on Clifford. While they didn’t manage to do this all the time, at least they knew they were monitoring his next actions. This only increased their suspicion. Except that at the time he was actually striking, he wasn’t being followed. But that was soon to change.
Clifford acted as usual, completely unaware that he was accompanied by a police shadow. In fact, there was no pattern to his actions even when he wasn’t doing anything suspicious – he moved around the area in an almost completely random manner, driving around for hours and talking to everyone he met, but never making contacts longer than a short chat. It was as if he lived in his own world. During these rides, he was observed drinking alcohol and taking pills, but the drugs seemed to have no significant effect on him. They didn’t change it. He was in an altered state of consciousness so profound that alcohol and drugs no longer had any effect.
These disorderly trips of Clifford were considered to be the cause of the greatest losses for the authorities. According to senior police officers, valuable resources and time were wasted. Olson’s trips lasted a long time, and he covered very long distances during them – and nothing brought any results. Meanwhile, the costs of fuel used have already grown to the level of a small fortune. But one fateful day in August, it all suddenly paid off.
Clifford had been driving up and down Vancouver Island for hours when he finally approached a pair of hitchhikers on the side of the road in Ucluelet. The policemen sitting in an unmarked car saw everything. Olson rolled down his window and leaned out to talk to the girls. Both were teenagers and fit perfectly into the pattern of victims of the wanted serial killer.
The routine and extremely boring task of following Olsen suddenly turned into the most dramatic and tense moment in the young officers’ lives. They watched the man slowly and calmly say something to the girls – almost as if he was not interested in anything. Like he didn’t care if they got in his car or not. This was no different than all the previous times he had pulled over to the side of the road to chat to someone. A completely normal and unquestionable thing… unless he was the killer.
If he was indeed one, investigators had just witnessed an attempt to abduct more victims. And the moment the girls got into his car, anything could happen to them, and the officers would spend the rest of their lives loathing themselves, haunted by the knowledge that they could have intervened and saved these girls.
Beast promotional materials – Wielka Litera
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
