the seventh letter

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edwin lash was an ordinary guy. once,when he was working in a supermarket stocking shelves with cans of carrots and lima beans, the guy working beside him turned to him and said: "i was going to say something but i forgot what it was." and then he went back to putting cans of sliced beets on the shelves. edwin thought about it. then he thought about samantha.

"so, what is this all about?" larry and tania were in the office early. "it's probably some kind of code," said tania. "lima beans, carrots, sliced beets - it has to mean something. or maybe he is just setting something up for tomorrow." "tomorrow he will be up to 128 words. pretty soon he is going to have to start working at this." "no. he just has a program - he can probably produce a billion words. so what? the important thing is to catch him." "at least he's going to start paying some postage."

the eighth letter

the sixth letter

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tania and larry were waiting for the mailman on the corner a block from sally's apartment. a cold wind blew down the deserted street. "what kind of person becomes a mailman in today's world?" asked tania. "it used to be an honorable profession. people used to wait for the mailman, maybe invite him in for a cup of tea." "oh god, that is so sickening. look, here he comes." the mailman was short and thin and had no particular age.. larry walked up to him and grabbed his mailbag. the mailman tripped and fell on the sidewalk . larry looked in the bag. it was almost empty. "how's it going, buddy?", larry looked down at him. "you like a little h c, huh? had any yet today? before you met me, i mean?" the mailman stood up, gasping. tania took the bag from larry and went through it. there was another letter for sally, postmarked osaka. she ripped it open.

the first time edwin saw samantha a cold wind was blowing down broadway. he was walking to work then a vision of loveliness in a blue dress stepped from a coffee shop.

"now he's changing it to a story ", larry pointed out. he carefully counted the words. "32 words. so he's sticking to that." "it doesn't make it any less obscene." the mailman looked up at them. "can i have my bag back, please?" larry flashed his badge. " u-c-u. what do you know about these letters, hey?" "detective, sir, i'm just the mailman. surely you can see that." "you got a name, buddy?" "mac". "and what is your number, mac?" "89H-4J75T-3309SP-563298 ." "89% human, hey? should we bring him in, check him out?" larry looked over at tania. "let him go. we'll check him out, maybe get back to him later"

the seventh letter

the fifth letter

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tania and larry were waiting for sally johnson.
tania was restless. "maybe we shouldn't wait - maybe we should go meet her."
"she'll be here soon enough. let's look at these letters- what's the first thing you notice about them?"
"that they are absolute psychotic filth."
"i mean besides that. look - the first letter is one word, the second is two, the third is four and the last is eight - each one doubles the last"
"so?"
"it means if he goes on for a month the letters will have to be as long as the encyclopedia brittanica. i think he has a problem there."
"let's just catch him before he has that problem. ok. anyway, here she is."
sally didn't look thrilled to be there. tania stood up .
"thank you so much for coming at such short notice, sally. this must be so frightening for you. larry, maybe you could take her coat. have a seat, sally, please."
sally sat down and handed tania the fifth letter as larry was hanging her coat up.

the first time i saw you i was swept out of my brain by overpowering love

"this is a real escalation" said tania. "for the first time he actually implies contact with you - that he has actually seen you."



the sixth letter

the fourth letter

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tania kelly stood at the window looking out at the tall buildings and the morning rain. it was a slow day in the unspeakable crimes unit, where she was a senior investigator. after awhile she turned back to her desk and her partner, larry lyndon was waiting there with a thin folder. "take a look at this, it just came in." tania had joined the police because she sincerely hated ignorance and oppression, particularly that perpetrated by organized religions. larry had entered the police force by winning a lottery. they made a good pair. tania was average sized but lean and muscular and had been a miss galaxy contestant (fourth runner-up) before joining the force. larry was average in just about every way. tania took the folder. it contained four pieces of paper, with only a few words on each. "a woman in level 15 got these - in the mail. in a mailbox on the ground floor of her apartment building." tania glanced at them. "over how long a period?" "the last four days. she reported them this morning so she might get another today." tania looked grim as she read the first three. when she came to the fourth she went white. it read: me love you baby you so totally beautiful she put the letters back inn the folder. "is the woman here now?" "no, she went to work. she'll call us if she gets another today." "this can't wait, get her up here right now." "ok, but take a look at this - her serial number." larry took a piece of paper out.of the folder. tania started to read it aloud. " number 1H3- " "1H - 100% human." tania nodded. she was 80% human herself, but never thought about it. larry was 89%, and thought even less about it.

the fifth letter

the third letter

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on the third day the letter was postmarked from denver colorado. it read

me love you baby

sally had bought a tofu sandwich and a bottle of mineral water on her way home. when she finished them she lay down on her mattress and stared at the ceiling without watching a show.

the fourth letter

the second letter

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the next day when sally got home from work she was only a little surprised to find another letter. this one was in the same plain envelope with no return address but postmarked from caracas. she opened it. it said

love you

she stared at it for a few seconds. the lobby was deserted as usual. she put it in her pocket and got in the elevator and went up to her room on the 51st floor. she heated a small macaroni and cheese dinner and watched her favorite show.

the third letter

the first letter

sally johnson had no relatives and no friends so she was surprised to find a letter in her mailbox when she came home from work. sally looked around. the mailboxes were beside the elevator and were old and almost always empty. she opened the letter. it was postmarked buenos aires and had no return address. it contained a single sheet of paper with one word: love she put the letter in her pocket and got in the elevator and went up to her room on the 51st floor. she made herself an organic peanut butter sandwich on spinach bread and watched a show.

the second letter