An Obsession with Justice!

A Matt Spenser Mystery

If you know and care about someone on the autism spectrum, you might be searching for a literary character that has some of the quirks and talents we love about our ASD friends and children. Dave Angel, who runs Parenting Aspergers, has written a great book with an autistic lead character, Matt Spenser, who is out to get justice! Dave has allowed me to share a chapter from his wonderful book here.

A dead body in a snow-dusted park. A young man OBSESSED with justice. Will they kill him before he discovers the truth?

CHAPTER 11

Amy felt scared in the bathroom and wished she could be anywhere else. But she  splashed cold water on her face and went back down the wooden stairs. She was  determined to see this through now. Amy returned to her original seat, sat down, and  slid her shoes off on the floor. She thought she could run to safety quicker without heels  if she needed. 

“I topped up your drink, babe. Don’t want you getting thirsty.” 

“Thanks.” Amy felt shaky from the adrenaline racing around her body, so took a  large gulp of her drink to settle herself. Instantly she regretted it as she experienced the  slightly better taste of juniper berries, and realised that Slim had topped her drink up  with gin. She didn’t need more alcohol, she was desperate to stay in control. 

“You were thirsty.” Slim smiled and checked the fat gold watch on his wrist. He  estimated that in around thirty minutes the white powder would take its desired effect  on Amy. 

“Why don’t you tell me more about you, Slim, whilst we relax? I really enjoyed  your story so far.” 

Slim was happy to oblige and talked more of his harsh upbringing in Pakistan.  The beatings and abuse at school, the abject poverty they’d all suffered. He enjoyed  talking to Amy because she was such a good listener. He almost felt sorry that in about  thirty minutes she’d be rendered unconscious and he’d break her neck. But Slim was too  twisted in the dark recesses of his mind, to ever really worry about someone else. His  brutal past had beaten every last drop of empathy out of him. 

Twenty minutes after drinking the gin Amy began to feel nauseous. Her vision  began flickering, but she could just about make out Slim smiling at her. She could tell it  wasn’t a warm smile. Amy’s body felt weak and unconnected to her brain. She felt  panicked at the sudden vulnerability she now felt with this vile man sat next to her. 

Amy tried to stand, but her legs didn’t feel right, and so she swayed slightly for a  few seconds. 

“You feeling tired, babe?” Slim smiled, then his voice became lower and more  menacing: “Well I guess you will do, Amy, as you just drank a couple of roofies in that gin. You know, Rohypnol. I always kept it on hand for date nights like this. Very soon  you’ll be asleep... forever. I saw the texts you forwarded from my phone. You came here  to fit me up, so you’re going to die.” 

Slim was so close to Amy she could smell his foul breath with each word he spat  at her. Amy desperately tried to think, but her brain was so foggy it was hard. She  glanced at the floor and saw her high heeled shoes. Concentrating hard, she forced her  right hand down and grabbed one. She pulled back her arm with all the force she could  muster, and hit Slim in the face with it. Blood spurted from his nose, and Slim screamed  wildly. 

Amy managed to force her legs to move her off the sofa, grabbed her bag, and  slowly crossed the room towards the front door. Slim got off the sofa to stop her. He  walked slowly towards her. In Amy’s current state he knew he did not need to hurry. His  vast frame made her options of escape extremely limited, there was no way she would  make it to the front door. She had to retreat. The only place was the bathroom. Maybe  she could lock herself in and call for help. She turned for the wooden stairs and began to  climb in a slow drunken fashion. Slim waddled fast towards her and lunged to grab her  legs. Amy just avoided his outstretched hands and scrabbled up the stairs. She somehow  willed herself on to the bathroom, and bolted the door shut. 

Taking a huge deep breath, Amy pulled her phone from her bag and dialled 999.  But nothing happened. She tried again, but still no connection. Amy wondered if Slim  had jammed the phone signal, but her phone was displaying four bars. “What have you  done to the phone line in here, you sicko?” 

Slim laughed “No point calling the popo, Amy. I blocked emergency numbers  from here a year or two ago. In fact, that was the last time someone died in here.” Amy dialled Matt. It rang, and he answered quickly. 

“Matt, help. You need to call the police.” 

“What? What’s going on, Mum?” 

“Phone the police. I’ve been drugged. He’s going to kill me.” 

As soon as Matt heard the fear in his mum’s voice, he began to feel it too, so  strong that it stopped his brain from being able to fully process the situation. “Matt. Matt. Matt.”

Want to know if Matt and his neurotypical brain succeed in solving the murder and saving his mother? You can order it here!

An Obsession with Justice