The Long Game

It was the summer of 1988. Up on the 9th floor of Block A, on the Easterhill Estate. Apartment 3 on the 9th floor was home to Andrew Stevenson, a music teacher and organist at St Agatha’s Church. This evening, he had the company of his friends Henry Duggan, a local banker, and Colin Mellor, a hospital porter and local swim coach. Andrew and his friends had a terrible secret. They had a sick, uncontrollable predilection for young men. Very young men. These men were BAD PEOPLE. VERY BAD PEOPLE. They are the monsters of which I speak. On tonight’s sick menu were two young men from the estate. One had been promised some “physiotherapy” for his growing muscular frame by his swim coach. Coach Mellor. The other promised an opportunity to make some extra money by doing some “errands” around the area. Their names were Joseph McKenzie and Daniel Belvidere. They were both 10 years old. Both young men would be forever changed by tonight’s events. In completely different ways… One would become, at first, a local gang member, then later, would become a feared captain in the organized crime fraternity that controlled large swathes of the city. The other would become a well respected local doctor who specialized in geriatric care. They would keep the events of that night hidden from the world for years. Until now