The Billy Club Bastard Case Files: Until Only Roaches Remain, The Index

Until Only Roaches Remain is the third anthology in The Billy Club Bastard Case Files series and the sixth and final release in Vigilance, Season 1. It follows Mickey Malloy, the burnt-out former P.I. as he drinks and fights his way through every weird case the Office can throw at him. On the way he comes face-to-face with Mafia hitmen, real-life mad scientists, the Maryland Goatman, ghosts, Nazi assassins, and a disturbingly numerous group of folks inspired by his masked vigilante moonlighting.

Until Only Roaches Remain is available as a Kindle ebook, in paperback, and as a DRM-free ebook.

In the first story, Mickey gets dragged up to New York City to work the strange murder of a real-life mad scientist. All he’s got to do is crack the case, dodge mobsters and militias, hitmen and reporters, then get out of the Big Apple in one piece. The Case of an Old Dead Guy is a novella that ran from March 1 to April 5, 2024. (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.)

Three Cases of Mayhem and Mad Science was initially released as a con-exclusive zine, but this trio of odd stories had to get their day. Consisting of three super-short one-offs, these cases see Mickey running all over the South in the pursuit of potentially supernatural killers, strange lights in a widow’s basement, and an even stranger light appearing over a sleepy beach town. The Case of the Cocoa Beach Mystery Light, The Case of the Baton Rouge Rougarou, and The Case of the Hellmouth ‘Neath Maddie Hobart’s House premiered at SCHorror 2023 in zine format and on Substack on April 19, 2024. (Read them here.)

A dire shortage of officials sees Mickey in Kansas on the hunt for whatever could have scoured an entire farm to bones and dust overnight. He’s paired up with two quirky scientists and a quickdraw federal agent, and together they’ll have to fight through their pasts and some of the grossest obstacles he’s ever encountered to get to the bottom of it. The Case of the Devouring Storm is a six-part novella that ran from April 26 to May 31, 2024. (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.)

The last trio of super-short cases was so much fun that is was followed up with Three More Cases of Mayhem and Mad Science. This trio of tales sees Mickey and company running up against a strange creatures in the Maryland woods, dire seance calling on the long-gone spirits of the traitorous dead, and an unlikely character taking a tentative step toward following in the Billy Club Bastard’s footprints. The Case of the Maryland Goatman, The Big Apple Bandito, and The Case of the Confederate Ghosts were released June 14, 2024. (Read them here.)

Weird corpses seem to be Mickey Malloy’s bread and butter. When a young woman is found desiccated and petrified in a DC hotel room, he catches the case. Little does he know that he’s not the only person hunting for the elusive killer, and his methods aren’t as novel as he’d hoped. The Case of the Calcified Costumer ran in six parts from June 21 to July 26, 2024. (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.)

Until Only Roaches Remain concluded where The Secret Files of Lucky Ford left off, with a volcanic, blood-red sky rising from the east.

Days later, the first issue of the Bastion Americana Freedom Journal dropped, a newsletter which blew the lid off the Office’s secret affairs and distributed millions of copies overnight to a terrified and paranoid populace, both on the American home front and simultaneously to American bases overseas. The front page is featured below, with a transcription following:

Bastion Americana Freedom Journal

Only the Truth, for True Americans
Free to Patriots
Issue I, 18 July, 1943
Arnold Pondletter, Editor-in-Chief

Classified ‘Most Secret, by order of the O.C.U.O.’

Main Article:

SHADOW GOVERNMENT REVEALED AFTER VOLCANO RAVAGES ITALY

SECRET FOREIGN OFFICE CONTROLS AMERICAN TROOPS, REFUSES BLAME FOR THE BLOODY DAWN

Naples, Italy – An earth-shattering eruption shook the entire Italian peninsula earlier this month, reportedly caused by an Allied bomber attack in the seismic-ally-active region. The civilian death toll is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands and rising, and a thick cloud of ash is blocking out the sun for most of Europe and North Africa. Even in America you can see the blood-red stain on the eastern horizon, THE BLOODY DAWN.

Local agencies and brave whistle-blowers are reporting that this catastrophe was intentionally caused by a secret cabal within the Allied nations known as the Office for the Cataloging of Unusual Occurrences.

According to a former member, this foreign organization spends American lives like two-headed nickels, throwing them away to commit atrocities in their wars. Anonymous sources to this Journal suggest that there are Office annexes surreptitiously spread across the civilized world, with dozens operating without oversight here in America. Their alien interests range from spying on American citizens and leeching American resources to outright kidnapping, theft, and assassination. Rumors of secret prisons could not be confirmed, but the missing fathers and mourning mothers are evidence enough.

Although our 'leaders' continue to deny fault for the catastrophic attack or any involvement with this Office, evidence is mounting that knowledge of these clandestine activities goes all the way to the socialist elements in the White House. As of printing, no American politicians had admitted complicity in these affairs, though we are collecting information on every Washington gutter dweller with any link to these subversive operations, and the list is shockingly long already.

America is not a country to be run through with foreign agitators, or to fall prey to alien influence. Our corrupt, manipulated 'leaders' have already allowed themselves to be swallowed up by overseas interests, and our men have paid for this folly in blood. How many families have an empty seat at their tables that will never be filled again? How many beds will be cold tonight, with wives widowed by needless war crying - (cont'd p. 6)

This article includes a photo of Mount Vesuvius erupting with the caption: Mt. Vesuvius, erupting after an Allied bombing attack upon orders from the Office. Photo courtesy of New York Herald Tribune.

Secondary Article:

FOREIGN AGENTS LINKED TO ATTACK ON AMERICAN CIVILIANS IN CAPITAL

Washington, DC – Newly revealed information from a brave informant within the Office for the Cataloging of Unusual Occurrences has linked Office activity to the brutal attack that took place at the Warner's Earle Theater not two weeks ago.

Dozens of prominent business leaders were injured, requir-ing lengthy hospitalization. The incident was initially reported as a gas leak and that mass hysteria was a side-effect of exposure, though the Journal has obtained reports proving the attack was a test of an advanced weapon created by the Office for use on American civilians. The Bureau of Investigation claims that survivors of the attack - (cont'd p. 3)

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Copyright © 2024 Daniel Baldwin. All rights reserved.

Written and edited by Daniel Baldwin. Art by Bruce Connors.