Dexter was dressed up as a cowboy.

"Why are you carrying a sports bag," his wife asked.

"I'm Doc Holiday from 'Gunsmoke', and this is my medical bag."

Marsha was dressed in a bridal gown, with a veil and tiara. Dexter knew it meant more than just wearing a costume. It was for the benefit of Art Russell. He heard Art was going to be wearing a tuxedo at the company Halloween party they were on their way to.

Once there, Marsha spent more time with Art than she did with Dexter. When she danced with Art, their costumes made them look like a married couple. Art had divorced his wife, and it was final just last month.

The party was going full tilt. Marsha finished dancing with Art when Dexter walked up to him. He jammed a hypodermic needle into Art's chest and emptied the contents. It was only seconds before Art fell to the floor, dead within minutes.

Marsha started screaming and people ran over to see what had happened. Dexter walked over to the main door and locked it. He took his guns out of the holster and fired a shot into the air, letting everyone know the guns were real and loaded.

"Sit down, be quiet, and you'll be unharmed. Try to be a hero and you'll die. I know a number of you have already called the police about Art, since I hear the sirens."

My name is Detective Bruce Burns. When the call came in, I headed over as fast as I could. You see, I was in charge of the Halloween Murders going on for the last ten years. The department brought me in four years ago.

The MO's were always the same. On Halloween, often at a party, a man was killed. The murderer used a hypodermic needle laced with high doses of rat poison. Once it entered the bloodstream, the victims didn't stand a chance.

What made it so hard to catch the killer was that we could never find enough evidence to connect the murders. A big part of the problem was he or she would only kill one person a year. We assumed they were always in costume, which made for an easy getaway. A couple of times a person wearing a sad clown costume was at the same parties the crimes were committed at. The police never found the clown though.

We didn't have any idea where or why the killer would strike. Sometimes it was even in the next city. The only thing we could be sure of was that it kept happening. The victim would more than likely be a married man with a high income. It would occur near Halloween and there would be a hypodermic needle involved.

This party was on the third floor of an Elk's lodge. Reports were that an Art Russell had just been killed by a Dexter Manowitz. Witnesses said he stabbed him in the chest with a hypodermic needle.

Once I got to the building, I called the third floor extension.

"I'd like to speak to Dexter," I said to the person answering.

"This is Dexter. I'm ready to tell my story, but I will only do it once. I want to speak to Detective Bruce Burns. I've been following my story and he seems like a reasonable man."

"I'm Detective Burns, Dexter. How can we get together without any more violence? The building is surrounded and there's no way out. Why don't you let the people go and come out yourself? Then we can talk."

"No, I don't think so. You can come up here with a tape recorder. I'll tell you my whole story, but I need your word that you will not have a gun or weapon of any kind on you. If I see one, or if your swat team tries to enter before we finish talking, I'll start shooting people."

"No need for anyone else to get hurt. I'll be coming through the main entrance. Please just take it easy and don't hurt anyone."

As I entered the party room, I saw approximately sixty people in costumes. They looked nervous but not overly scared. The door to the fire escape was closed and locked from the inside. There were no windows on this floor, so the swat team couldn't get a shot without bursting in.

"Lock the door behind you," the man I assumed was Dexter said. "Open your jacket and turn all the way around."

"Dexter, why don't you let these people go? You have me as a hostage," I replied after following his orders.

Dexter really didn't seem like the type of man one would be scared of. He was on the short side, and weighed maybe a hundred and fifty pounds. No one would have ever figured him as a killer.

"Look people, I'm not here to hurt anyone else unless I don't have a choice. I am the 'Halloween Killer', and I'm going to give Detective Burns my story. Whoever wants to leave, you may. For those that stay, you will hear first hand about all the murders, and why they happened. For those who want to leave, go one at a time out the back fire escape," Dexter said, facing the crowd of people.

"You little asshole! You don't have the balls to shoot anybody," a drunk named Jack Randle said as he went to rush Dexter and play the hero.

Dexter shot him in the leg, and everyone screamed. Jack fell to the floor, writhing in pain. His wife grabbed a tablecloth and wrapped it around his leg.

"You stupid ass. I told you I would shoot if anyone provoked me. I could have killed you. But I know you slept with Marsha, and I wanted your wife to hear about it."

Marsha started crying. The look Jack's wife had on her face said she knew Dexter was telling the truth. She slapped her husband hard across the face before turning to Marsha.

"You bitch!" she yelled across the room.

Another person spoke up and asked if they could still leave.

"Go ahead," Dexter said, waving his gun toward the emergency exit.

"The swat team will be outside the door. Tell them not to fire. Be sure you give them all the information on what you observed here before they release you," I said to the nervous looking man wanting to leave.

It surprised me that only twenty of the sixty people actually left. I guess they really did want to hear the dirt that went on in Dexter's life. Jack Randle left so he could get treatment for the gunshot wound. His wife decided to stay. I later found out they were close neighbors to Dexter and Marsha.

Dexter started out by giving me a lot of information. He and Marsha had been married for thirty years, with five grown children and six grandchildren. Dexter was an accountant, and had been ever since he graduated from college.

As he continued talking, he revealed that he was thirty-one when he met Marsha at the local library. She was only eighteen at the time. Marsha was having trouble with her bookkeeping and Dexter asked if she needed help. At the time she was a chunky girl with braces. The two of them became friends and started dating after she graduated.

She was his first and only real girlfriend. He thought he was her first and only, but found out much later it was nowhere near true.

Dexter said he treated her like gold and gave her anything she wanted. When she got pregnant, Dexter was very happy to marry her. Within four years they had three kids. Marsha was a stay at home mom since Dexter made a good living for his family.

After the youngest of the first three kids was born, Marsha told Dexter that she wanted to work. It would give her a chance to get out more and they could always use additional money. Apparently she had met an old friend who told her about selling real estate.

The couple talked about it, and both agreed it would be good for her. She started by taking classes in the evening. After she received her real estate license, she got a position at Russell Real Estate.

Dexter talked about how life for their family was a busy one. He had a nine to five job most of the time, though Marsha worked by appointments. She spent a lot of evenings at her job.

In the following three years, they had two more kids. Dexter's mother only lived a few houses down the street from them, and was available to watch the children on short notice.

As the kids got older, life became even more hectic. Between Dexter and Marsha, they did their best to attend all the special functions the kids were in. Often Dexter would have to go by himself. They had kids in scouts, 4H, band, and sports. He said he really didn't mind because he loved his kids and his wife.

After Marsha started working, she went on a strict diet and began to exercise. She had just trimmed down before becoming pregnant with their fourth child. As soon as he was born, she started right back on the diet and exercise program. She did the same thing after their fifth child. That's when she had her tubes tied, since they decided five kids were enough.

Dexter said that she really looked good and their sex life even improved. He mentioned when they first made love they both felt awkward. He said Marsha was the aggressor in their sexual relationship. She talked with her girlfriends and they told her new things to try.

Marsha didn't think twice about giving oral sex, Dexter added. She loved it but always laughed when he came quickly. He mentioned that he was a little reluctant about going down on Marsha, but since she did it for him he did the same for her.

The one thing Dexter said about his sex life was that Marsha was always willing and waiting. Even though he was short in stature, his member wasn't. After seeing a few other cocks in some movies that he and Marsha rented, he knew he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Dexter, we've had a dozen people come to us over the years claiming to be the 'Halloween Killer'. They all wanted the fame for some ungodly reason. I'm here now because you used a hypodermic needle to kill Art. Why should we believe you are the real killer and not just some copycat?"

"I'll tell you everything you need to know, starting with Joe Bussy," said Dexter.

"Joe wasn't the first victim, Dexter," I replied.

"I know. John Kane was, but it all started because of Joe. It was eleven years ago when Marsha wanted to go to a Russell Real Estate function. They had a party at the Holiday Inn to celebrate forty years in business. At the time, Art's father was in charge of the business."

"How does that fit in?" I asked, trying to put the pieces together.

"Art Sr. died five years ago and Art Jr. became the president. Marsha wanted to go, but one of the kids had a ball game. I told her to go ahead. After the game I would run over to the party.

"For this celebration, they invited former clients as well as their fellow employees from other branches. I didn't know most of the people, just a few from Marsha's office.

"When I got there, Marsha was in a two-piece bathing suit in the pool. She seemed to be having a good time, so I didn't bother her. Instead, I sat down at the bar and ordered a soda, since I don't drink. I've tried it but just don't like it."

"Go on," I said.

"Anyway, I was sitting next to Joe Bussy. I had never met him before. He was pretty inebriated and talking up a storm as he watched Marsha. He told me she was the best piece of ass he had ever had. I was shocked. I couldn't believe he was talking about my Marsha.

"It seems he worked with John Kane, who had bought a house from Marsha. The guy told Joe that she gave fringe benefits. She would fuck and suck her clients until the deal was closed. So since he was in the market for a house, Joe said he went to see Marsha. He got the same treatment. She fucked him four times till the deal was closed. After that, she wouldn't see him again. I was totally lost for words, and couldn't think," Dexter said, looking around the room as he paused.

"This Joe guy told me it had happened seven years ago. I honestly didn't know what to think. Had she really been cheating on me all this time? I had to find out more, but I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt till then."

"OK, so what convinced you that your wife cheated on you and why the revenge after so many years?" I asked.

"Marsha didn't change. She still acted the same to me and the kids. One evening after she left to show a house, I went up to the attic over the garage and got down all our past records. We never threw anything away in case we needed them later.

"I went back to when Marsha started working and looked at her daily planners. They had all her appointments and sales in them. It was almost like a diary of her life. Everyone she saw and talked to.

"I came across John Kane. I read how many times his name was listed in her daily planner. She also had an index at the back giving facts about the prospect. I noticed letters after some names. Then some, but not as many, had the letter 'HS'.

"It took me quite a while to figure out the code. But when I did, everything fell into place. 'A' was for appointment, 'P' was for prospect, and 'S' was for sold. 'NS' and 'HS' were for no sex, and had sex. One thing I noticed in the 'HS' notes was that the home buyer or prospect had to have more, or as much, to lose as Marsha did."