December 15, 2024
It’s been two weeks since Candle Face’s Master Shadow left a riddle for me to figure out who he is. My mind has been on overdrive since then, trying to put it all together. I’ve been sitting at my desk for hours now, hunched over my computer and a stack of notes with a stiff neck and burning eyes. It’s well past 3:00 am, and I can still feel the lingering heat in the air from that night two weeks ago. My wife is asleep down the hall, blissfully unaware of the chaos I’ve allowed into our lives. The crystal ball rests on the center of my bookshelf behind me like a guilty secret. It’s been inert in the days since the attack, its surface clear and still. No sparks of red light flicker inside, no silhouettes swirl within. Yet I know what happened was real. My throat is still a bit sore from where that monstrous hand hoisted me into the air.
Before I lose my mind, I need to document the results of my ongoing investigation. Two weeks ago, after the Master Shadow vanished back into the crystal ball, it left me with a cryptic riddle:
I was freed to kill but bound again.
My name is yelled, though I bring silence.
Look where the broom sweeps, and you’ll find my mark.
Shortly after the Master Shadow’s visit, I grasped at the first symbolic interpretation that came to mind: fire. I reasoned that fire, when unleashed, kills indiscriminately, only to be snuffed out (“bound again”) once it’s contained. People shout “Fire!” in fear, yet fire’s aftermath often leaves a silent, charred landscape. And ash, what remains of a burned home, must be swept up. “Look where the broom sweeps” could mean ashes. It wasn’t a bad guess in my rattled state. At the time, it made a neat sort of sense.
But as I continued my research over these last two weeks, I realized it’s too simplistic. The Master Shadow is too cunning and personal to be something as impersonal as a mere element. This entity’s words and actions suggest a deliberate taunt, a clue meant to be deciphered. And so, over many late nights since the attack, I’ve been investigating every angle.
As a former investigator, I know that sometimes you have to list out all the possibilities before you can narrow them down. The riddle gave me three main clues:
Freed to kill but bound again: This suggests a cycle—someone once restrained, then released, allowed to do harm, and then restrained once more. “Bound again” strongly suggests a person who was captured, imprisoned, or otherwise contained, freed at some point, and then recaptured.
My name is yelled, though I bring silence: The name is shouted, perhaps as a warning or a cry of alarm. If it’s a person, their name might have been notorious, invoked in fear or anger. Yet this entity “brings silence,” which might mean death. Although initially I considered the word “Fire!” here, over these last two weeks I’ve leaned toward something more human, something that leaves lasting scars rather than just ashes.
Look where the broom sweeps, and you’ll find my mark: The broom is the most peculiar part. Why a broom? What mark would it leave or reveal? If not ashes, could it refer to something else involving a broomstick? Or is it symbolic? Two weeks of searching helped me realize this might be literal, pointing to a killer known for using a broomstick.
Many murderers have nicknames that evoke certain images—Jack the Ripper, the Night Stalker, the Boston Strangler. Two weeks of late-night research and re-checking my old case files, and still nothing definitive until I searched specifically for a “Broomstick killer.” Surprisingly, it led me to Kenneth McDuff, known as the “Broomstick Killer.” Before committing fully to McDuff, I also considered other avenues:
Mythological or Urban Legends: I thought of witches, Baba Yaga, and the idea of “Witch!” being yelled in old towns as a warning. But witches and broomsticks felt too mythic, not modern. And the Master Shadow seemed tied to a more recent evil.
Firearms and Shouting “Fire!”: In the following days after the attack, I reconsidered my initial guess. Guns don’t really connect with brooms, and they aren’t “freed and bound” in a legal sense. That path went nowhere.
Other Killers or Criminals with Cyclical Freedom: I spent many hours over the last two weeks revisiting notorious criminals who were imprisoned, released, and then killed again. The U.S. criminal justice system has seen its share of such cases. Names like Ted Bundy came to mind—he escaped and killed again. But “Bundy” wasn’t yelled as a warning, nor was there any broom connection. Most such criminals lacked that unique broomstick element I needed.
Returning to the broom clue was my breakthrough. Kenneth McDuff was infamous in Texas, known for a brutal killing spree and for using a broomstick as a weapon in one of his earliest murders. He was sentenced to death (bound), then later paroled (freed) due to legal changes and prison overcrowding, killed again, and was eventually captured, tried, and executed (bound again) permanently. His life and crimes match the riddle almost too perfectly.
Now, does McDuff’s case fit the rest of the riddle?
“My name is yelled, though I bring silence.”In Texas, McDuff’s name was synonymous with judicial failure and terror. Communities cursed his name and shouted it in anger, protest, and outrage at the system that let him go free. In this sense, his name was “yelled” as a warning and condemnation. The silence he brought was the silence of the grave—his victims and their families left in mute horror.
“Look where the broom sweeps, and you’ll find my mark.”McDuff earned the nickname “Broomstick Killer” due to his use of a broomstick in a murder. This line directly references that nickname, guiding me to him as if the Master Shadow wanted me to know who he was.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve also connected another dot: a newspaper snippet about a prostitute named Crystal, murdered in north Austin. I recall a lost soul named Crystal who reached out to me on May 24, 2024. She mentioned her killing in north Austin. At the time, I assumed it was a Candle Face follower directly behind her murder. But now, seeing Crystal’s name linked to McDuff’s known or suspected victims, I’m convinced that the spirit I spoke to was one of his victims. Was McDuff, a Candle Face follower, killed in her name and now rewarded for his work by becoming the Master Shadow?
Had Crystal’s spirit been trying to guide me towards McDuff’s identity all along? Two weeks of re-reading old notes and comparing dates and details suggest she may have. If Candle Face can summon or control the evil spirits of history’s worst murderers, then the Master Shadow’s appearance and riddle serve as a grim test. Now that I may have solved it, I feel both satisfaction and dread.
Could there be another killer who fits this pattern? Someone else freed, bound again, associated with a broom? After extensive searching, I found no one else so uniquely tied to this particular weapon. McDuff was paroled, killed again, and then executed. It’s a well-documented historical chain of events. The broomstick detail is too specific to be a coincidence.
I should also address why I first thought of fire. That night, two weeks ago, I was reeling from the attack. The Master Shadow’s grip was searing hot, and my mind latched onto the idea of shouting “Fire!” as a warning call. In hindsight, the personal nature of the riddle, the historical weight, and my investigative instincts all point to a human monster, not a natural element. Fire doesn’t care who it kills, and it doesn’t make threats about returning. The Master Shadow does.
The fact that Candle Face can conjure or channel the spirit of a notorious murderer like McDuff speaks to her power. McDuff’s name is a byword for legal failure, cruelty, and terror—precisely the kind of energy Candle Face might exploit.
Two weeks have passed since the Master Shadow’s attack. In that time, I’ve grown more certain of the Master Shadow’s identity and purpose. If he truly is Kenneth McDuff’s spirit, then I’m dealing with something beyond a mere haunting. Candle Face might be leveraging the psychic remnants of killers to enforce her will or terrify those who oppose her. I think I remember from somewhere that the worst of Candle Face’s followers who kill for her become shadows. But I can’t remember where that came from. In any case, The Master Shadow said he’d be back. I believe him.
For now, I will keep documenting everything. I understand more now than I did on the night of the attack. Knowledge is the only weapon I have, and I’ve spent the past two weeks wielding it to solve this riddle. The connection to Crystal’s murder provides a heartbreaking link: a victim’s lost soul reached out to me months ago, and only now do I understand the significance.
Now that I may know the Master Shadow’s identity, I feel a strange calm settling over me. I’ve ripped back the wool Candle Face tried to pull over my eyes. If I’m right about the Master Shadow’s identity, then perhaps by naming him, I can find a way to destroy him along with Candle Face.
I’ll continue researching Candle Face’s methods. How are these killers’ spirits summoned or contained? Are there historical precedents for this kind of necromantic practice? Over the next days and weeks, I’ll dig deeper into archives, old ritual texts, and reported hauntings. Crystal’s story might hold further clues.
For tonight, I’ll put these notes away. The clock is edging toward dawn, and my eyes are heavy. Two weeks have passed since the nightmare began, and I’ve made progress. I think I’ve identified the culprit behind the riddle. He’s likely Kenneth McDuff - the Broomstick Killer. And I know he’s under Candle Face’s control.
The Master Shadow promised to return, but this time, I’m better prepared. I understand the enemy I face. That will have to be enough for now.
Key To Understanding
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