What a Creep!

Seriously, I can’t get over how absolutely terrifyingly creepy the character of Holmes is. Guys. This is not your average murderer. Think Criminal Minds - This man is seriously messed up. He is a predator, preying on the weak, including the elderly woman who owned the pharmacy, and many young women who have ‘mysteriously’ disappeared after staying in the apartments he is renting out, or working in one of his stores. This man is a genius, coming up with scheme after scheme, each more disturbing than the last. 

As Holmes is further characterized through his actions and descriptions, he becomes a more sinister character. The fact that he can put on such an act – appearing to be a fine gentleman, wooing Myrta for his wife when he was already married – this act that Holmes puts on is terrifying, as it proves his power to deceive, and trick people into believing his innocence.  Even when his wife and child seek refuge from the sorrow of Holmes’ preoccupation with the women and wealth of his new enterprises, Holmes is able to maintain the admiration of Mytra and her parents through his visits to their home, and promises of a better future, as well as gifts to each.

It gets worse – Holmes begins to make more serious schemes, and begins to construct a building that has sinister purposes. He creates apartments, and retail stores to lure women who will be flocking to the area to visit the nearby World’s Fair, and also builds in some strange apparatuses into the building. Why would Holmes need a greased chute that starts in a hidden location and goes straight to the basement? A large airtight vault? A soundproof room? A kiln that is large enough for human bodies?

Holmes is not only smart enough to develop these plans, but he is smart enough to avoid suspicion, always firing construction workers and hiring new ones so that nobody really knew what he was up to. Nobody was given enough information to see the piling up of suspicious evidence.

Through each description of Holmes, forever in opposition to the World’s Fair / Burnham plot, Larson continues to drop hints, and explain the horrors of Homles’ psychotic tendencies.  Everything continues to build, with each revealing trait or scheme adding to the suspense of how terrible Holmes will be once his victims begin to arrive to see the World Fair. This suspense is killing me.