Chapter 3 Part 2

********
It took me more than an hour to get back to my apartment above the General Store, next to Will Brown’s Coast to Coast store. I couldn’t bring myself to go past the store so I parked in back and walked up the back entrance. I started to feel really bad about Will. His death was fairly straightforward; nothing pointed towards fowl play, but I would still like to know what had happened to him out there on the hill. Even in his death, he might have seen something. For now, I mourn his death, but not for long. He was just another piece of my past that would haunt me forever. I’ll have plenty of time to cry for him.
Oh, Shit. I forgot. The thought hit me as I flicked on the lights to my apartment. I was supposed to talk to Will’s wife. Damn it, I can’t believe I forgot!
“Forgot what?”
I jumped. “Jesus Christ! Will you stop doing that?”
She laughed. “Man, you are jumpy lately. You need to do some yoga or something to help you clam down.”
“If you would stop sneaking up on me I most likely wouldn’t be so jumpy.”
She made some sort of guttural ‘tsk’ at me and said, “Soorrrrrr-rrrrrreeeeee.” She walked around the room to the couch and slumped herself at the end.
“Comfortable?”
“Uh-huh. Thanks.” She yawns.
“Long day.”
She shrugged.
“What did you do?”
“Not much.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me about my day?”
“Oh, yeah! How did it go? Did you go out to the car?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Do have the case solved already?”
“No.”
She made that guttural ‘tsk’ again. “You were supposed to have this done by now.”
“I’m tired, Kat.”
“There’s a little girl out there alone and scared. Frankly, I’m not sure why you are here, when you should be out there looking for her.”
“It’s dark out there. And it looks like it’s going to snow again.”
“That is such a lame excuse.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Are you ‘thinking’ again?”
“Yes.”
“About?”
“I’m thinking that I need to go and talk to Will’s wife.”
“Who is Will?”
“He owned the Coast to Coast store.”
“Have I met him?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Where is he?”
“In the morgue. Two of them went in.”
“Were they both yours?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Damn. You do have a puzzle.”
I nodded my head in agreement. “Will, supposedly, died of exposure. The woman- damn it! I forgot to get her name from Kelly.” I huffed with disgust in myself. “The woman was killed by the man who took Kylie.” Damn it, I cursed myself. How could I be so stupid? I wanted to cry. In Kat’s words, where the hell am I? “Kat, I gotta go. Rain check on dinner?”
“Sure. But you owe me big-time!”
“Will I see you tomorrow?”
“Are going to the morgue?”
“I go where ever you go.”
“Then I shall see you there.”
I smiled at her. My head hurt as I tried to think of all of the things I have forgotten. I got into my Jeep and drove to the Brown’s house. The roads were clear while just a few flakes still fell from the sky. The lights were on downstairs in the living room so I went to the front door instead of the kitchen door as I sometimes did if I was patrolling in the morning. They were both early risers and I had an open invitation for morning coffee and possibly an egg or two, warm biscuits and always right-out-of-the-oven cinnamon rolls with homemade icing. I started to drool just at the thought of them.
She opened the door and smiled at me. “Hello, Molly. I didn’t expect to see you back so soon. Come on in. Would you like some tea?”
“Thank you, Marissa. That would be fine.” I sat down on their lush red velvet couch. Stepping in the Brown’s house was like stepping into the 1940s. The house had once belonged to Will’s grandparents. When he and Marissa were married in the Sixties, they signed the mortgage over to them and retired to Florida. The old victrola still stood in the corner where it was placed nearly seventy years ago. The lace that draped over the back of the couch was handmade by Will’s great grandmother. The lamps were his grandparents’ wedding presents. The rugs are so old that there were wear patterns from foot traffic, but if you lift the couch, you would be able to see at least twenty-five inches of original pattern. The wallpaper had been changed in the early eighties, when the original paper started to peel, but Marissa decided to keep it close to what had been there and special ordered a similar pattern. I know this because my brother and I were hired to help put the new paper up. I can still taste the fresh lemonade and an occasional splatter of wallpaper paste when we would ‘accidentally’ get messy whipping chunks of it at each other. Just don’t look behind the armchair.
“Here you are.”
“Thank you.”
She sighed as she sat down next to me. Words escaped me so I just took a very cautious drink. She spoke first.
“That Tam is such a nice man.”
“Yes, he is.” Why would she mention him? I wondered.
“He was so polite when he stopped by this evening.”
“Tam was here?”
“Oh yes. I asked him in, offered him some tea, but he just stood the foyer, hat in his hands. Will had always liked Tam. ‘Fine young man,’ he would say. I suppose that’s why he felt it was his duty to come over and tell me about Will.” She took a sip of her tea. Her lip quivered a bit as it hit the hot surface, but her hands stayed steady and smooth. Mine, on the other hand, trembled slightly. I couldn’t believe that Tam didn’t tell me he came here already. At least Marissa knew the truth about her husband. Finally.
“It’s been four weeks since he disappeared. I’m glad that he is not alone anymore.” She smiled at me. She looked so young for her age, and me, I felt twice my age. And looked it, too. “I appreciate you coming by, Molly. Will always liked you and your family. How is your mother doing? Was it a nice funeral?” She took a sip of tea. “It is so hard, isn’t?”
I started to itch.
“I lost a husband of almost forty years. I don’t know what I would do if I had lost one of my children. And so young...” She made a noise with her tongue and I just wanted to run away, screaming. I really liked Marissa, but her sympathy was poison. She was coping well with her loss; I was not.
“Yeah, well, I just wanted to make sure you were ok, and to see if you needed anything.”
“You are such a sweet girl. I am surprised to see you back so soon. I have a lasagna dish in the freezer for you. I was going to bring it by when you got back, but I didn’t think that was going to be until Wednesday. Did you have good driving weather?”
“Fine.” Yeah, fine.
“Dinner is almost done, would like to have a bite?” I took a deep breath. This was not the time to lose it. I smiled. It hurt. I shook my head no. She smiled a knowing smile, an understanding smile. “I’ll bring over the lasagna tomorrow on the way to the shop.”
“Thank you so much, Marissa. But I’m the one who should be bringing you dinner.”
“Oh! That’s sweet, but not necessary. I’m fine. I’ve been able to say goodbye to Will on my own terms.” She looked over into the darkest corner of the room and winked. I pretended not to notice and continued to sip my tea.
“Ah, well,” she said in the lapse of conversation. That was about all I could think to say, too. I finished my tea for an excuse to leave.
“Thanks again for the tea, Marissa. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She smiled and nodded. She was so happy that she could cook for me. Being of the older generation, Marissa knew the importance of comfort food. But not even all of the lasagna in the world could bring my little sister back from the dead. I excused myself and started off for the police station.
I got about a block away from the Brown’s house and I had to pull over. The tears flowed forth like never before. All through the funeral I hadn’t cried, well, maybe a few tears, but nothing like this. The feeling I had all the time I looked upon her frozen face made me more confused than any other feeling in my heart. I have seen several hundred dead faces over the course of my career as police officer, detective and sheriff and I had never had the need to mourn any of them, but when that face is the face that appears in your memory as bright and alive, smiling and laughing; the feeling of apathy turns into love and from love, complete and incredible sorrow. This face I mourned, because this face I loved.
The time was almost 7pm when the flow of tears finally subsided. I dried off as best as I could, but I could still feel the burn in my eyes. Who cares? I drove into the station lot and parked next to Tam’s truck. Colleen had already gone home and Kelly was still on the hunt. Tam looked at me as I walked through the door, but he didn’t say anything. He just came up to me and held me. That was one of the things I loved about him. I never need to say anything. I don’t even need to look at him. He was able to read my thoughts, I was sure of that and I was glad of that, because I don’t really feel like talking, ever, ever again. And I was even gladder of the fact that Tam doesn’t need to say anything to me. He knows there are no words; nothing that exists in this world of words that would make any difference in the way I was feeling, nothing that he could say that would in any way ease me. The only thing he needed to do was to hold me, and he knew this, and for that, I was so grateful.
I dried my eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time.
I leaned against Colleen’s desk as Tam brought me a cup of tea.
“It doesn’t taste very good but it’s warm.”
“Thank you.”
“Why are you back? I thought you were going to turn in early for once.”
“When did I say that?”
“You didn’t. You left early, so I thought...” He waited for me to catch up.
“Oh. Yeah, I suppose I was going to, but... I remembered a few things and...” I took a deep sigh. My breath was still off and I found it hard to try to right it. I took a couple of deep breaths, tried to calm myself at the same time. I think it was working. Tam has a calm affect on people. I think that was another reason why I loved him.
“I have it under control. You don’t need to be here,” he said softly.
“I know you do. I stopped by Marissa Brown. Seems that you beat me to it.”
“I didn’t want you to have worry about it.”
There was a silence. Then he said, “I should have told you that I was going over there.”
I shrugged. “I’m glad you did, but I wish you didn’t feel like you had to do it alone.”
Another pause. “Molly,” he said, “I loved Will, too. You know what he meant to me. I felt obliged... to at least... let her know what we found...”
I couldn’t help it; I started to cry again. It wasn’t even me that cried, it was like my eyes still had some tears in them that they needed to get rid of. It wasn’t me, I swear. Tam waited for the shivers to subside. He moved closer to me. I felt his body heat next to me. I silently wished that he would hold me again, but my hands gripped the teacup tightly, leaving no room open for an impromptu hug. Damn me. It was ok. I was ok; I just leak a little.
“Molly?”
“Yes?”
“I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him.
The CB on Colleen’s desk started to hum. We both lost ourselves for a moment as we looked at the machine in anticipation of a voice, but nothing came. In any case, it broke the tension a little and Tam stood up and walked over to the stack of files and papers he had been looking through before I came in.
“I did some research on Sara Olny.”
“Who?”
“Sara Olny, the Jane Doe.”
“Ha, that’s why I’m here. I forgot.”
He smiled at me. He had such a warm smile.
“She was originally from Wisconsin, but moved to Iowa for school two years ago. During then and now, she left school and lived in Chicago for a while. Her records are scattered; she signed up for classes but never finished them. She also had several places of residence in Chicago. We think she was on her way home for a visit. She still had another three hours to go.”
“Near Rockland?”
“Yeah, just east of there.”
“Have you contacted her family?”
“They are on their way down to identify her.”
The parents are coming here to identify the body of their daughter, their child. I felt dizzy and incredibly warm. My breath left me. The last thing I remember I had lowered my head and could see the ugly brown tile pattern of the station floor. I blinked my eyes and realized, slowly, that I was sitting on the ugly brown tile pattern of the station floor with Tam cradling my head in his arms. He had a paper towel in his hand soaked in cold water pressed against my forehead. I had the image of my mother and father having to go to the morgue to identify the body of their youngest daughter. A sight I couldn’t quite imagine, but also a sight I wish I had been there for. I could have held hands; I could have given a shoulder for them to cry on. I could have done something, what exactly, I don’t know. I just felt so far away from everyone. I think I needed them more than they needed me.
“You ok?” He whispered to me.
“No.”
He kissed me lightly on my cool forehead and rocked me like an infant. I didn’t mind. I felt like an infant, it seemed only fitting that I’d be treated like one.
“I’m taking you home.” I nodded. I let him. I let him walk me to his car; I let him walk me to my apartment; I let him undress me and I let him kiss me. I let him stay the night and I let him make me pancakes for breakfast.

Chapter 3, Part 1 Fear is the ultimate excuse for someone to not do what someone doesn’t want to do.

I drove out to the spot where they found the car. Another four miles and I would find myself at Grandpa’s cabin. I thought briefly that the suspect would have gone there, but there was nothing left of the place- the floors, the walls, the roof, it was all destroyed in the fire. There was a shed that might still be there, but after twenty years of neglect, I doubt that it still stands.
Tam came up to greet me. Kelly had beaten me to the scene. He followed Tam and I laughed to myself about what Kat had said- Kelly did look like a little puppy, bounding after Tam, so happy and jumpy. Tam turned to him before they got too close and Kelly headed off in the other direction, just as happy as the second before.
“Hey there, Boss. Anything new on the home-front?”
“Besides Kelly beaming with helpful joy?”
“Really? He did good? He just got here, too. Didn’t say much. He just grinned.” Tam looked into the direction Kelly went and shook his head in wonder of the kid.
“Well, he didn’t do bad. The information he gave me may be very useful, I just don’t know how yet.”
Tam laughed. I followed him over to where the car had run into a large Maple tree near the side of the road. Skid marks, footprints, no blood. Tam had taken photos of everything. He gave the tour; footprints lead to the North, they gave a good lead in the snow. Two units were already sent to follow them. Inside the car left little for detail except for the fingerprints on the steering wheel. In the trunk he found small bits of blood and blond hair. There were also bits of torn cloth, chunks of still frozen and melted snow, and one small toy in the shape of kitten, pink, attached to a hook that kids, in general, like to hook to their backpacks. I’m sure she snatched it off of her backpack so that she could have something that would comfort her as she was being taken from the world she knew. Now that we have the kitty, I wonder if she had anything that would comfort her now.
“Boss? Come over here and take a look.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a burn mark on this tree. The car itself doesn’t look like it burned, just smashed, but the tree here- look- it’s burned about one-foot square, just about the impact.”
“Could it have happened before the crash? At another time or another accident?”
“Ah, that’s what I thought, but feel it- it’s still warm.”
That is was. Warm to the touch as Tam had said. Tam had turned his attention away from the tree as another squad car pulled up behind us.
“Molly,” he nudged at me. I glanced behind me to see the squad car pull up with its bright lights still on. I was more interested in the burn mark than who this joker was. I growled under my breath at the interruption. I swallowed my annoyance as I turned to greet the approaching officer.
“Mark Gaunt, from County,” he introduced himself.
“Mark, how are things?” I stretched out my hand and he took it.
He shrugged his shoulders and continued. “I have a message from Tom. He has a few questions about the body found on the hill.”
“About Mr. Brown?”
“Yes.”
“Tom sent you fifty miles to find me? Why didn’t he call?”
“He said he did, but no one answered.”
“At the station?”
“Yes; I called the office and a... Colleen answered. She said she paged you, but you never answered. She said she was sure you were in the office, but, like I said, no one could get through to you.”
“Oh.” It must have been during my time on the floor. I blushed a little, but then felt the blood quickly flood away.
“You ok?” Asked Tam.
“What?”
“You look a little pale.” He moved closer to me and put his hand on my arm.
I looked at him like he was crazy. “Yes, I’m fine,” I lied. “I had stepped out. I guess I just missed him.”
“Can you come down?”
“What?” I had another feeling of not quite knowing where I was.
“Down to County, can you come down to talk to Tom?”
“Now?” I didn’t want to go. I was so tired, hungry, confused, and slightly miserable. I knew that if I went, it would be hours before I could sleep, even longer before I ate, and it seemed like forever until I could get some alone time. But I didn’t tell him what I was actually thinking, so I lied and said that I wasn’t comfortable driving the distance that late at night with the weather so volatile.
“He really needs you tonight.” He sighed. He had come all of this way for nothing.
“I’ll be there first thing tomorrow morning.”
Tam chimed in, “I’ll drive you.” I looked at him with gratitude.
“Tam and I will be there by 8 a.m.”
He didn’t want to give in, I could see it on his face. He was on a mission and didn’t want to leave empty handed. Mark sighed again and gave a resigned “Ok.” He got into his car. He immediately flicked on the lights, which blinded us. I thought it might be rude to just leave and go back to the tree, so I waited until he pulled away, Tam stood vigilantly by my side. We had to shield our eyes from the bright glare. Mark moved around a little inside the car, probably called Tom to tell him that I wasn’t coming. After a few minutes he backed up and pulled away. Tam and I stood there and quietly watched him drive away. I knew he wanted to ask me why I didn’t want to go tonight- ordinarily I would have jumped into the car and sped away with the excitement of something in fruition. He could tell, though, that this time, there was something holding me back. If he had asked, I would have had to lie to him. How can you tell someone who looks to you for leadership that you’re tired and you just don’t want to. Kat will yell at me when I tell her what happened tonight.
“Tam, do you have all of your photos?” I asked with dry lips.
“Yes, Boss,” he said solemnly.
“Can you have the car towed back to the station?”
“Yes, Boss, I can do that.”
“Ok,” I let Tam do his job and turned to find the man-child. “Kelly?”
“Yeah?” He ran over to us.
“I’m leaving you in charge of this. Tam and I will be heading down to the County Morgue tomorrow. I want you to follow up on the units out there already and I want you to follow those tracks, take backup if you need them and see if you can borrow a couple of Daniel McCreeny’s dogs. We’ve used them before. They know the area well. I want you to call me the second you hear anything or come across anything. And I mean anything- do you hear me? I don’t care how insignificant you may think it is, I want to know everything you see and everything you don’t see. All right?”
“You got it, Molly.” Kelly gave me a little salute, which I ignored.
“Ok. I’m going home. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Ok.”
“Tam?”
“Yes, Boss?”
“Thanks.”
“Your welcome.”

Chapter 2 Pieces fall together like a puzzle that doesn’t fit, unless you force them...

I stopped cold in the snow. Tam turned around, opened his mouth to say something but then saw what I was starring at. There were bits of glass around my feet, sitting comfortably on the snow. Then I smelled it; rum. The bottle had smashed against a tree trunk, spraying the rum to make a half loop to the east, indicating that the person who threw it was standing down the hill, facing west. There was also the same set of footprints Tom had found leaving the area. Only these were leading up the hill, towards the schoolhouse, not away like the others. The rum was still slightly wet against the tree. He must have smashed it right before he took Kylie. My heart skipped a beat at the thought that I could have disturbed these footprints by my carelessness, but I pushed the feeling aside and told myself to be grateful that I saw them when I had. I took some photos of the glass shards and the rum spray and Tam collected as many pieces of the glass as he could, all the while snow lightly floated down on us, making our job very difficult.
“Do you think we got everything?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think so. The snows really coming down, now. If we stay out here much longer we won’t find anything new anyway. Take those shards up to Tom, will ya? Ask if he can get any prints or DNA off of them.”
“Sure thing, boss,” he said as he started to climb up the hill. I stood still in the snow, just looking around. Tam looked back at me, “You coming?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”
“You want me to wait for you?”
“Nah, go ahead. Ask Tom for a ride back.” My voice drifted of somewhere, couldn’t tell you where.
Tam nodded, “Ok.”
“And Tam?”
“Yeah?”
“Make you first priority Jane Doe. See if you can find anything on her- if anyone in town was expecting her...” My voice trailed off again and my mind started to spin.
“You got it, boss.”
I stood there for another minute, just looking around, watching the snowfall; watching it land softly on the ground. Thoughts went spinning through my head, yet I didn’t really think of a thing. I started to make my way up the hill, but the under-layer of snow was slightly frozen and very slippery, so of course, I slipped and fell about ten feet before I caught my foot on a sapling. My heart was racing and I tried to calm down. Stupid. I should have known better. I grew up on these hills, snow and no snow. I knew the ways of winter, but at that moment, I knew nothing. I sat there in the snow, ass freezing, but in a way it felt good; it was just what I had needed- a moment of frozen thought; the man came from the east. Did he drink the rum? Was he drunk? Is it worth my time trying to figure out where he came from instead of trying to focus on where he had gone with Kylie? He had a car belonging to someone who didn’t live in the town... an out of state license... of course! I smacked a mitten-clad hand to my forehead. I called out to see if Tom or Tam were still around. No one answered. As quick as my 33-year old legs could move, I scrambled up the hill back to my squad car. Damn me for not having my phone on me and I had stashed my radio back in the car at lunch. I was out of breath as I made it to the Jeep...
“Colleen?”
Static.
“COLLEEN!!”
Static.
“DAMN IT!! Is there anyone out there? Please respond!”
“Sorry, Molly. Potty break. What’s up?”
“Colleen, where is Kelly?”
“He’s getting us some coffee. Tam just came in frozen to the core. That fool walked back-”
“Put Tam on.”
“Ok, but let him warm up first...”
“NOW! Colleen, this is important!”
“Ok. Ok, hang on... Tam? It’s Molly...” I could hear the receiver rustle as it was handed over to Tam.
“Yeah, Boss. What’s up?”
“Is the paperwork Kelly filled out on his Red-light Runner there?”
“Yeah, right on top.”
“Read it to me.”
“Ok- Car- Tan 1996 Chevy Impala Four-door Sedan. License Plate XLK897 Iowa. Heading North on Main; ran the red light at Main and Hatfield; driver male, Caucasian, brown hair, blue eyes, unshaven with strong jaw line.” Tam snickered. “Strong jaw line?”
“Tam, find me that car.”
“What about Jane Doe?”
“She belongs to that car.”
“The Red-light Runner?”
“And I think that man killed her and has Kylie.”
“I’m on it. Tam Out.”
My head felt woosey. I leaned against the Jeep to steady myself, lost my consciousness in thoughts when BAM! Something hit the side of the Jeep. “SHIT!” I accidentally let slip. I looked up to see Kat laugh at me. “You scared me.”
“I could tell. Where were you?”
“When?”
“Just now. I’ve been watching you for the last ten minutes and you haven’t moved, staring at the ground. You didn’t even hear me calling you.”
“Huh,” I said, still lingering in my thoughts.
“What were you looking for, black holes in the pavement?” She gave me a couple of seconds to answer but I didn’t. I did hear her give a little laugh to herself. “Hello? Where are you?”
“Kat, come on. I’m working on a case.” I started to walk around myself in wide circles. I could hear the kids inside the school getting their books and jackets ready for their walks home. A van, in lieu of an official bus, was near by waiting for Dave to take a few of the kids back to their parents’ farms. I could already hear the whispers and murmurs.
“So what is it this time, detective; a murder?”
“Yeah. And a kidnapping.”
“All right! Cool! This is right up your ally! What do we do first?”
“We?”
She smiles at me. Cars started to slowly stream onto the small blacktop parking lot/playground to make sure their kids made it home.
“First, we get into the Jeep and get out of here before we are swarmed with children.”
“And Parents.” Kat made a grimaced face and slid into the passenger seat.
“You know, Kat, it really is good to see you, but... I find it a little disturbing that you think a murder/kidnapping is ‘cool’.”
“You know how much I love to watch you work. Such brilliance, such dedication! You’ve solved every case you had in Chicago.”
“Not every case.”
“Nearly every case.” She sighed, “You’ll do fine. I expect you’ll have this case solved by tomorrow.”
“Oh you think so, huh? I’m glad you have such confidence in me.”
“You are the best. Besides, you have me on your side.”
“Did you bring your crystal ball with you?”
She snickered with irony. “Yeah, sure, and my voodoo doll, too.” She smiled at me and pointed to the corner just before the police station. “Drop me off here. I’ll see you later.”
“You bet.” I watched her walk away.
Kelly was waiting for me in the parking lot. He looked white as a ghost. How can I ease it to him; tell him it wasn’t his fault that he let the Red-light Runner go.
I need a drink.
“Molly!”
“Yes, Kelly?” I barely closed the door as he ascended on me.
“We have the car!”
“Yeah? Where is it?”
“It was found abandoned about 13 miles north of here- near Lake Wilde.”
“Anything found inside?”
“Yes! Lots! We found several bags, a purse- a name for Jane Doe, some books, and a jacket.”
“Anything belonging to the man you saw driving the car?”
“Uh, no.”
“Fingerprints?”
“At the lab. Fingerprints were found on the door, the steering wheel and also on the trunk, which is where we think...”
“... he had Kylie?”
“Yeah.” He sounded so desperate, so sad.
“No one blames you, Kelly. It would have happened the same way if Tam or I had pulled him over.”
“You would have asked for registration. You would have asked for a driver’s license. I wished him to have a good day and sent him on his merry kidnapping way!” He shouted. Ok, yeah, I would have done it differently. I was just trying to be nice.
“You can help me now by telling me everything he said, everything he looked at while you were talking to him, What he looked like- everything, Kelly, do you understand?”
He nodded. He looked like a little boy waiting for his final punishment. It was a costly mistake, but it was a mistake. We’ve all made them and I am no exception. We walked inside the building to find a grim look on Colleen’s face as she filed her papers.
“Kelly, wait for me in my office.” He turned away with his head hanging low. “Colleen?”
She turned to me slightly, papers and files still in her hands. “He’s still on the loose, isn’t he?” she asked in a very hushed voice.
“Looks that way.”
Her hands started to tremble a little. “You will catch him, won’t you?” I could understand her fear. She had three children under the age of fifteen who attended school with Kylie White.
“I’ll do my best.” I didn’t resist the urge to place my hand on her arm. “Your kids will be fine, Colleen. Don’t worry.” She nodded at me with tight lips. “Did Ron pick them up?” She gave me another tight lip nod. “Ok, then. They’ll be fine. We’ll find Kylie.”
For the first time in a long time, I had a bad feeling about the events that took place. I couldn’t explain it, but I’ve had these feelings before and they’ve always been right. I walked into my office to find Kelly paging through mug-shot books. I smiled to myself. Good boy, Kelly. He is so desperate to prove himself. I felt a little desperate for him, too.
“Find anything?”
“No,” he said, flatly.
“Could you say how old he was?”
“It’s hard to say. He looked young at first, but when he turned his head, he looked really old. And then when he turned back to me, he looked younger than the first time I saw him.”
“He turned his head? Did you see what he was looking at? Or in which direction he faced?”
A loud rumble interrupted us. The glass panes started to shake. I quickly turned to see several leafless trees bending drastically in the wind outside. Fear struck me. Thunder rolled over the station, and as fast is it began, it stopped. I could feel my heart beat in my chest. It felt like a tornado had just passed over my building. What a horrible feeling.
“He was going north on Main and just past Hatfield. He looked over his left shoulder- past me. It seemed like he was just looking around. I didn’t think, at the time, that he was m-m-menacing.”
I turned my attention back to Kelly. “Are you ok?” I put a hand on his shoulder. He shook a little. “Do you want some water?” He nodded yes. “Some nice cold water on this nice cold, blustery day.”
“The wind really kicked up didn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I responded as I poured some water for each of us.
“Is it still snowing?” Kelly strained his head to see out the window.
“I don’t think so.” I handed him a cup and took a few sips of my own cup. It tasted fresh, so chilled and clean. The coolness reached my nose cavity and stung a little. “In any case,” I recovered, “if the snow hasn’t covered evidence, the wind will blow it away.”
“We’re really flying blind, aren’t we?”
“Aren’t we always?” I muttered.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Let’s get back to the stranger- is there anything else outstanding that you can remember?”
Kelly took a minute to think until the look on his face was one of eureka. “He had the bluest eyes I had ever seen; even bluer than my dad’s. These were so piercing, so icy blue; they startled me.”
Blue eyes, icy blue. The thought of them made me shiver. “What else, Kelly? His hair- what color was his hair?”
“Yeah, his hair...” he proceeded with caution. “His hair. At first, I thought it was blonde, but like I said before when he turned his head, his face looked older- the same goes for his hair. It turned darker, almost like Tam’s hair- that rich, dark brown. But when he faced forward again, he looked blonde again. It was really weird- like one of those holograms that change when you tilt it to the side. This doesn’t make any sense to you, does it?”
“I have to admit, it is weird. But I know you’re not lying to me.” I looked at him straight in his eye. “I know you would tell me everything you know.” I think I used too much stress because Kelly’s eyes grew a little wider. He seemed to be afraid of something- most likely me.
“I’m telling you everything I know, Molly. I swear. I don’t know anything else.”
I immediately broke off my gaze. I was scaring the poor boy.
“I know, Kelly. Thank you. If you do remember anything else, though, please let me know.”
“Of course, Molly.”
“Why don’t you take these books into the lounge? I need to make a few phone calls.”
“Ok, Molly.” He gathered the mug shot books and a few stray bits of paper and left my office quietly. I exhaled long and bit harder than normal. The air hurt slightly as it escaped my lungs, like the burning sensation of the first time I tried a cigarette with my best friend Sherrie behind her father’s tool shed in 8th grade. I hadn’t thought about that memory in a long time. It made me laugh. We were in more trouble for stealing her father’s cigarettes than getting caught for smoking at such a young age. “Get your own,” he said in a gruff voice, “and leave mine the hell alone.” And that was it. Nothing more was said about the matter, and neither of us ever tried it again. How odd it is that I should think about that now.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
“Hey, Kat. When did you get here?”
“Just now. How long have you been gone this time?”
“Not long. Just a stray memory.” I smiled.
“Any progress on the case?”
“Not much at the moment, but I’m waiting for the lab to get back to me on some fingerprints.”
“Well, that’s good! It will give you an I.D. on this asshole, at least.”
“Yes, but it won’t tell us where’s he’s taken Kylie.”
“How do you know that it won’t at least give a clue?”
“He’s not from around here. He might not even know the area.”
“Do you know that for absolute sure?”
“No.”
“Then there is a possibility...” She tapped her finger against her mouth as she leaned on the wall by the door.
“There are always possibilities, Kat. I think, maybe...” I lost my thought.
“Well there’s your problem! You’re thinking too much.”
“I am?”
“Oh, hell yes. I say, stop all of this thinking and get out there and do!”
“Do what?”
“Do what you do best! Solve the case.”
“I suppose I could go for a drive.”
“That a girl!”
“Excuse me?” Kelly knocked on the door.
“Yes, Kelly?”
“I don’t want to interrupt you, but I sketched out a ruff face of the suspect. And I was also thinking about what you said before- about what he did in the car- what he saw or what he said.”
“Do you remember something?”
“Yes. He said some things. A few things actually.”
I can’t believe forgot to ask him about what the guy had said, or if he said anything. Good boy, Kelly. “Go ahead,” I said calmly.
“When I pulled him over, he said, ‘Is there a problem officer?’ and I said, ‘Sir, you ran a red light.’ And then he didn’t say anything, like he knew very well that he had, but didn’t want to admit to it or deny it. And I did ask him for a license, but he said that he didn’t have it with him. He also said that his wallet was at the hotel he and his girlfriend were staying at and that the car was hers. He was using it to get some groceries.” Kelly scratched his head in thought. He continued, “I remember thinking that he didn’t have any grocery bags in the car, and that maybe they were in the trunk. And I told him that he needed to be careful around here, especially in an out of state car. He said that he was sorry and didn’t realize what he had done. But then he said something funny, just after he turned his head to look out of the window. He said, ‘Sometimes, we do things when we aren’t aware when we do them. Like we’re on autopilot; letting someone else drive our minds for a while. We don’t react like we should.’ I wonder what he meant by that.”
“I don’t know.” I tried to scratch everything he said down on the bit of paper. ‘We do things when we aren’t aware... we don’t react like we should.’ It’s true. I haven’t been reacting like I should. Though I’m sure he wasn’t talking about me, personally. But in general, the world- the world wasn’t reacting to things like it should. We’ve all been walking around like zombies lately, reacting lackadaisically to everything that’s been happening across the globe. Or it could be just the ranting of a lunatic.
“Thanks, Kelly. I really appreciate this.”
“Will it help? What he said to me, do you think it will help?” Kelly asked in excited anticipation.
“I’ll let you know. Thanks, Kelly.”
“Sure, anytime.”
Kat smiled at me from other side of the room. She was still leaning up against the wall behind Kelly. She lifted her wrists up, let her hands fall, stuck her tongue out and mimicked the panting of a dog with the same kind of excitement in her eyes as Kelly did. I smiled to myself, knowing that if I’d laugh, I’d have to explain. And I never was able to explain Kat.
“You can go now, Kelly. I’ll call you if I need you,” I said calmly as I pretended to leaf through some papers.
“Oh, Ok, Molly. I’ll be in the office room.”
“Ok.” Kelly left and half skipped to the room my officers shared. Kat immediately burst out laughing.
“Stop it!” I scolded her.
“I can’t help it! He is so cute! With his big puppy dog face- he is so adorable.”
“You are so mean...”
“I am not! He is cute! Don’t you think he’s cute?”
“He’s not my type.”
“You’re just angry because you haven’t been laid in a while.”
“Shut up!” I jokingly snapped at her. She rolled her eyes at me as she sat in the chair across from my desk. I sat down, too. The lunatic’s words still hung in my head. ‘Not aware of what we do- autopilot- don’t react like we should.’ I looked at Kelly’s sketch- the face was jumbled like the pieces didn’t fit, like they didn’t belong on a real face, but the eyes were interesting. They were round and square at the same time. I wondered to myself if these were really his eyes or just a part of Kelly’s imagination.
“Are you gone again?”
“Yes. And you should be, too. I need to get to work.”
“Please let me go with you. I love...”
“...to watch me work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some other time, my love.” I got up and walked around to her chair. Kat pouted at me with her own puppy dog eyes. I kissed her on the forehead and patted her hair. I did miss spending time with her, but this time, something from the far back crevasse in my brain told me that I had to go on alone. I think best when I’m alone, however, I could have used another pair of eyes. My head started to hurt. “I’ll see you later?”
“Fine.” She huffed as she gave me hug goodbye. “You better make me something fabulous for dinner.”
“Deal.”
I was alone. Finally.
I stood in the middle of my office and looked around the room. Suddenly, everything felt so unfamiliar, as though I had never been here before. Where was I? Who was I? My head swirled a little, spun slightly, a tightness gripped at my chest, and then the weight of it all crashed down upon me. I’m not sure how long I was there, but when I came to, I realized I was on the floor. At least I felt like I was back, or at least conscious. It was my office, my name is Molly, and I really need to sweep in here. The dust collected in the corners and around the legs of my desk. The door was slightly open and I could see Colleen walk around the office with papers in her hands. She hadn’t seen me go down. My right arm started to throb a little. I helped my self up on the chair and immediately went for my keys. The small drawer at the bottom of my desk was always kept locked. I opened it to see the array of bottles I kept hidden in there: Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Naproxen, oxycodone, chocolate, small bottles of airplane alcohol, and more chocolate. I reached for the Ibuprofen and the chocolate.
As I loaded a fist full of small chocolate bits into my mouth. I noticed the papers lying on my desk; fanned out to show most of their secrets, the papers themselves held nothing for me, but rather it was the shape that they made. The words on the pages, the lines of direction from Kelly’s crude drawing of what he thought the stranger looked like, the charts and diagrams of the objects found at the school, all looked extremely familiar to me- it was a map. Lake Wilde: the left eye was the island in on the north end of the lake, the edge of the face traced the edge of the water, the diagram of the objects found showed the points of the curves in the road that runs alongside of the lake, and the words from Kelly’s testimony looked like the splattered trees that surrounded it. There it was, as well: the cabin. What was Stalva’s cabin on the diagram represented the old cabin that sat in ruins along the West shore of the lake. I knew that cabin well. It was my Grandfather’s. He had built it in the 1940s. My father’s father’s cabin, we would spend the summer there, which I always thought was strange since our house was only sixteen miles down the road. Often I would ride my bike back to my house and sit in my room and listen to records and later bike back for dinner. If there were one day that I could re-live, I would pick a day when we were all at that cabin. Each one of us kids, mom, dad, grandpa, tons of aunts and uncles and a spattering of cousins. It wasn’t a big cabin, it wasn’t a glamorous cabin, but the family together made it perfect.
My heart began to beat hard. I was also finding it difficult to breathe. Why would this image appear to me? I felt a bit nostalgic for the place. I know it’s only a shell and everything around has grown up to make the yard unrecognizable, but I would still like to see it again. Perhaps I can stop by sometime when I have time. I don’t think the ghosts will bother me. I’m family, after all.

Chapter One

“I am stretched on your grave
And will lie there forever
If your hands were in mine
I’d be sure we’d not sever
My apple tree my brightness
It’s time we were together
For I smell of the earth
And am worn by the weather...”
Sinead O’Connor

Chapter 1 The things that come back to haunt us...
The winter had been especially cruel this year. Since Christmas, we’ve had over 33 inches of snow. There has been no chance of some melting relief with the temperatures being constantly in the twenties or below. We all felt the chill; it was in our bones, freezing our blood, our minds and our emotions. Some found comfort in the arms of a lover in front of a fireplace; others found solace in the warmth of alcohol, while others, myself included, found it easier to just freeze with the winter.
A ten-year-old girl was reported missing Monday morning, January 15h, at 9:37 a.m. The school called the missing girl’s mother at approximately 8:00 a.m. to find out why she hadn’t arrived. It is not uncommon to have a child sick during the cold winter, however, it was uncommon that Mrs. White hadn’t called to let the school know that she was keeping Kylie home for the day. The story turned suspicious when Kylie’s mother claimed that she had dropped her daughter off at the side entrance of the school at approximately 7:24 a.m., six minutes before the bell would ring and signal the start of school. Her teacher claimed that the child wasn’t in her seat, nor had anyone seen her before the start of class. The girl was easily missed; blonde hair, blue eyes, blood red lips and snow white skin- a child like this would be common in any other school, but here, out of only 37 grade school and high school aged children taught together in the two room school house, she was the only one who fit that description. Everyone in the town would eventually hear of her disappearance, but they printed it in the local paper anyway.
Kylie also stood out in the town of 354 people. Everyone knew each other’s name. It felt like a large extended family. On summer holidays, everyone gathered in the park. On the Fourth of July the children would put on a play before a display of bright and exciting fireworks. The Christmas pageant is basically the same every year with songs and dances. A large tree would be placed in the town center and if it wasn’t too cold, everyone would stand outside to watch the lighting. No one disputed the religious aspect in a public place; there was only one place to worship in a 30-mile radius, and most of the townspeople went there. This last Christmas, however, one person was missing from the festivities. Will Brown disappeared three days before Christmas, most likely during the snowstorm. Some think that his car will appear after the snow melts in the spring. I was hoping we would find him before that, but as each day passed it was more and more unlikely that we would find him alive.
Will wasn’t anything extraordinary but he was a part of the town. He ran the hardware store off of Hwy. 51 and Main Street. He had a small Coast-to-Coast Store; barely had any stock, but it had enough for what folks needed around here, and not much more. His wife reported him missing Wednesday, December 21st at 9:24 p.m. Will closes the store habitually at 7 p.m. and when he hadn’t shown for dinner, Mrs. Brown became worried. They didn’t live far out of town, but if the road to their house became snowy or wet, the curve over the hill just before their turn off could become very treacherous. Burt at the County Shed made sure that this road in particular was the first and last road to be plowed in snowy weather. We’ve lost lives there before. But I had a feeling that Will wasn’t there. For some reason, I didn’t think Will made the attempt for home that night. I didn’t think he was alive either.
Christmas came and went. New Years came whether I wanted it to or not. It was off of vacation and back to work in a town where hardly anything ever happens. Then the call came through to the dispatcher that Mrs. White couldn’t find little Kylie.
“Molly? You out there?” Her voice was mixed with static on the radio.
“Yeah, Colleen, go ahead.”
“Could go around to the school house? Charlotte needs you to look into something.”
“Did she say what was wrong?”
“It’s one of the kids; Kylie White. Charlotte said that she never made it class, but Betsy said she dropped her off a little late, but she made it there.”
“Did Charlotte say if Betsy was drinking?”
“Ah-I don’t think we should discuss that over the C.B.”
I blushed a little with embarrassment. “Ok. I’m right around the corner.” I hung up the C.B. and I pulled into the playground. David Johnson met me at the door. He had been the school’s principal for almost fourteen years. He and his wife Shelby, the school secretary, started working here the year I was trying to leave. My senior year in what they called a high school was the worst year of my life. It didn’t matter if I was seventeen; they treated everybody as though they were seven. Now that I’m sheriff of this sleepy little town, I’m no longer considered a kid. I’m a peer. Can’t say how warm and fuzzy that makes me feel.
“Hi Dave. What’s going on?”
“Kylie White is missing.”
“I heard. What makes you think she didn’t just take the day off?”
“She’s ten years old. Where would she go?”
I can’t answer that on grounds that it would incriminate every kid in the town and every adult under the age of thirty-five.
“Has she ever skipped school before?”
“No, never. Betsy swears that she dropped her off, right here at 7:24 a.m.”
“She knows the exact time?”
“That’s what she said.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“No, just Charlotte, and it was over the phone, not in person.”
“Is Charlotte free yet?”
“In about twenty minutes. Recess is at quarter after.”
“Any way I can talk to her sooner?”
“I don’t want to alarm the kids.”
“It might help...”
“ It’s twenty minutes, Molly.”
I rolled my eyes away from him and gave a huff. Bullshit, I thought. This place is so slow moving. Why the hell did I ever come back? “Dave, could you do me a favor and keep the kids inside today?”
“Sure, Molly. No problem.”
He turned to enter the school to make the arrangements. I called the office for some backup. “Colleen? Is Tam there?”
“Yes, he’s here. You need him?”
“Please. Colleen, could also call Tom over at County? We’re going to need some forensics here.”
“Did you find something?”
“Yes, I’m afraid I did.”
“Do you want Kelly too?”
“No, tell him to stay at the office. I’ll need him free to cover us. We might be here for a while.”
“He’ll be mad.”
“That’s just too bad. I need him to cover the town. There are only three of us...”
“Molly? There’s another call coming in. Hang on-”
I looked over the edge of the hill that began at the end of the playground. My eye immediately spied a small pink shoe laying helpless in the snow about ten feet from where I stood. A bottomless pit appeared where my stomach used to be. I’ve seen my share of homicides while I was on the police force in South Chicago. When I moved back here, I hoped, no prayed, that I would never have to see another one. Five years and all was well. Until today...
“Molly?” Colleen called over my radio.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Tam's on his way. Tom is already in the area and will be there in about 15 minutes.”
“Thanks Colleen. Tell Kelly I’ll call him in an hour to check in.”
“No need. He’s headed down there with Tam.”
“What? I said I needed him there!”
“He said not to worry; he’s not staying. He’ll drop Tam off and bring the squad back. Tam's truck is still at Bob’s.”
“Ok. I’ll talk to you later.” They’re here already. The one nice thing about being in town was that no matter where you needed to go, it only took you less than five minutes to get there. The school was on one of the hills in town, the church and cemetery was on the other. To the south was the Highway that led into Brent, another small town about twenty miles away. I could see most of the town from the playground- to the north was Will’s Coast to Coast store, the General Store next to that and my apartment above the General Store. I could also see the Police Headquarters’ back parking lot, Jill McCreeny’s house, and the roofs of several other buildings. The bad thing about living in such a small town was that everyone knew what everyone else was doing. The good thing about living in such a small town is that everyone knew what everybody else was doing and I prayed that someone knew something about all of this. I wrote in my notebook a reminder to talk to Jill and find out if she had seen anything up here this morning.
I walked over to Tam as he stepped out of the car. Kelly didn’t look too pleased with me, but I told him that he would be watching the town. His face lightened up a bit. He gave a wave and headed back to the station. I had Tam immediately rope off the area. We took a closer look at where the shoe lay, and found something else that I wasn’t expecting- two sets of footprints. I had a small twinge of hope.
Tom Weatherfield arrived just after Tam. He told that us that his forensic team has been alerted and will arrive in a half an hour. We gathered around the vehicles and tried to speak in low voices. I saw out of the corner of my eye that some of the students had opened some windows. Rumors spread like wildfires around here. Even though they didn’t know what we were talking about, the police gathered on their playground was still something worth talking about.
“Tom, it’s good to see you.”
“What kind of trouble are you in?”
“Big trouble. There was a young girl reported missing this morning.” I looked back to the shoe. Tom followed my gaze. I think he could tell what I was thinking.
“Let’s take a look,” he said.
We walked over to the edge and peered down. I pointed to where the shoe was found. He nodded. But then he grunted.
“Huh.”
“What?”
“Down there, past those small trees...see that?”
I squinted and starred until an unusual reddish lump came into focus. “What is that?” I asked rhetorically.
“It looks like someone sitting in the snow,” replied Tom. I looked to my right and caught Tam’s gaze. I felt sick. Tom and Tam made their way down the slippery hill to the figure. They reach it at the same time, looked at it and as Tom studied it, Tam stood straight up and gave me very grim look. I knew instantly that it was Will.
I was thankful that there were no windows on this side of the building. 10:25 approached and Charlotte came out of the building. I motioned to Tam to come up and join me while Tom examined the body; Will’s body. Tam stretched an arm out to me as he reached the top, “You ok?” I smiled weakly at him. I nodded over to Charlotte and we walked over to meet her before she could see what we had found.
“Charlotte.”
“Hi, Molly, Tam. You talked to David?”
“Yes. He told me what you said about Betsy.”
“She didn’t sound drunk, Molly. She was coherent and alert. She said she dropped Kylie off and the voice on the radio had said 7:24. That’s how she knew what the time was.”
“Ok. Did she say if she had watched Kylie walk into the school?”
“No, I don’t think she did. She would have said if she did.”
“So, basically, between here and that door, Kylie disappeared.”
Everyone nodded. Tom had called to me from down the hill. Charlotte looked over my shoulder in curiosity. She wanted to ask, but I gave her a concerned look. She took a step back. The bell signaling the end of recess startled all of us. Charlotte excused herself.
“I’ve got to get back.”
“Right, thanks Charl. I’ll talk to you later, ok?”
“Yes, please. Good luck.”
I gave her a reluctant smile.
“Molly,” Tom yelled slightly as he ascended the hill. We quickly walked over to meet him at the edge of the black top. “I just got a call from my group and they’re pulling into the town now. I’ll have them canvass the area, follow those prints, and see if we can’t get this guy out of here.” He glanced at me. He lowered his voice as we approached each other. “You knew him?”
“It’s Will.” I wanted to add, ‘my friend’ but didn’t. “What the hell is he doing here?” I said out loud.
“He’s dead Molly. He ain’t doing nothing.”
I gave Tom a fake laugh. It wasn’t funny. I had known Will for all of my life. I remember when he gave me a lollipop when I was seven. He and my dad had been friends. I haven’t even told him that Will was missing. I didn’t want to ruin his holiday. Tam looked down at him with an expression of real sadness. Tam had worked in his store when he was quite young. No one in the town would give him a job. He still believes that it was because he’s Native American. I told him it was just because he was a punk kid. “Will gave me a chance. Turned my life around. Helped me make something of myself... I knew we’d find him eventually. I just hoped he would still be alive. I wanted him to be alive, but I knew he wouldn’t be. I just wish...” Tam said when we learned of his disappearance.
“It’s ok, Tam. We can put this behind us now.” Will’s red checked flannel was what he had seen from the top of the hill. He was half buried in snow with his frozen fingers rapped around a bottle of Jack Daniels. There was no blood on him that we could see. Tom concluded that he must have passed out and froze to death. One mystery solved, sort of, but it didn’t help with our other missing person’s case. Tom and his team scoured the area looking for clues to Kylie’s disappearance. We couldn’t move Will until the area was completely searched, in fear that we would disturb evidence while moving him. It was a cold day. It had started out nice, 15 degrees, but by the afternoon it turned cloudy and the wind seemed to be picking up. None of us were too glad to be out there, but we had to do what we could. Shelby was kind enough to bring us some hot coffee after she prepared the lunches for the kids. It was almost one o’clock in the afternoon. I couldn’t feel my fingertips. Tam thought it would be best to go over to the Brown’s house to tell his wife that we had found Will. Later, I said. I needed him here right now. A small woman, Mrs. Brown had always appeared to be a calm person. Yesterday, after she had attended mass, she approached me while I was heading towards Carole’s Coffee Shop. She told me that she had a dream the other night about Will. She said that he told her to not be sad, to be happy every time she thought of them and their life together. She said that he wanted her to be happy because he loved her. She also said that if I never find Will’s body, she knows he’s in heaven, warm and safe. I wish I could have felt that way.
Colleen, my dispatcher, came with sandwiches and more coffee. I asked her about our ‘boy.’ “Kelly’s fine,” she said. “He pulled over an out of state license running a red light. He’s still beaming with pride.”
“He didn’t put the guy in jail, did he?” I asked with a full mouth of sandwich.
“No, but I’ll bet you that he wanted to.”
Kelly was so young; twenty-three years old, right out of the academy. He wanted to join the army and “see some action” but his mother scolded him and told him that if he moved away, she’d never speak to him again. If my mother had said that, I would have gone anyway. But Kelly is a good boy, a mama’s boy, and a great sport when we make fun of him. Truthfully, he’s like a little brother to me; a little brother I never wanted. Kelly O’Flannon is his full name. His father was one of the first babies to be born in the town. His grandfather was the first Mayor. He was very Scottish, with red hair and blue eyes, passed the genes down to every generation so far. Every Fourth of July parade, Kelly, his brother Sean, his father and his grandfather would walk down the main street through the town center in traditional kilts, playing the bagpipes. When most people complain about the “noise,” I just laugh. I loved watching them, acting so regale, somehow holding tight to an ancient heritage. I admired that.
“Molly, when you’re done there, I need you to take a look at a few things we found.”
I nodded my head ‘yes’ as my mouth was full of turkey on whole wheat. I had to excuse myself, however. Nature called. I went around to the back of the school. I knew this place so well, that I had once found my way to the girl’s bathroom while studying for a geography test, not having to look up to find my way around the hallway corners. I sometimes walk the walls in my sleep, dream about the all those days spent here, all those days not spent here and wondered hoe the hell I survived. I ran my hands under the hot water for a few minutes. I could feel myself thawing a little. I closed my eyes and listened to the water dripping on the tiled floor. I could hear the water flow down the drain, but I could still hear the dripping. I looked at the floor beneath me and saw that I was standing in a pool of red liquid. The stench of old blood burned my eyes. I saw something move in the mirror and turned around. There was nothing. The only sound that ricochets off the walls was my own heart beat. I saw something from the corner of my eye and I turned again to find my self in the mirror and a man behind my reflection. I didn’t blink. He was a man my age, a little taller, dripping wet. His face was smeared with mud and he looked at me with growling blue eyes and a snarling mouth. He wore an overcoat that was dark from being wet. His hair was stringy, hanging in his face. He raised his fist, gripping a large knife with blood dripping from it. His mouth opened to let out a chilling scream as he lunged toward me. I fell sideways and drew my gun, aiming it at the spot I had just occupied, but there was no one there. There was no blood on the floor; there was no water dipping. Everything was clean and dry. I, myself was sweating, shaking, and panting. I could hear the giggles of a couple of girls in the hallway. I scraped myself together and stood again at the sink. The girls walked in as I splashed water on my face. They went on talking and giggling as I finished. They weren’t looking at me; in fact they ignored me altogether. By habit I looked into the mirror but filched as soon as I saw my own reflection. There was just me. No one else. I wiped my face and left.
I walked over to Tom who was crouching by the edge of the pavement and a row of bushes. There was a sheet of plastic laid out with some items placed on it. I glanced down. First there was the shoe, then a piece of tan and maroon plaid material, maybe a part of her dress, a pink knitted mitten, a piece of lined notebook paper, a gum wrapper, a twig with some strands of blonde hair tangled with it, another piece of material- same colour, and a torn and bloody pink Hello Kitty® backpack. That empty pit in my stomach grew a little bigger, and heavier.
“We found a lot of tracks heading southeast down that hill. Large prints and small prints; up until that tree- the oak. Then there are just large prints, deeper, though, and labored, as if he picked something up and carried it.”
“You think it’s a ‘he’?”
“Yeah, size 14 and a half shoe. Same as Detective Jacks there.” Tom pointed to a tall, heavier set man photographing the prints in the snow. “There’s no woman who could fit that shoe.” Or wrestle with a ten-year old girl and win. Tom pulled me over to a smaller tree near where we stood. “This is where the backpack was taken off. There was a bit of blood here, lying lightly on top of the snow.” Tom shook his head. “Poor kid. He, whoever ‘he’ was, hit her against the tree.” He pointed to a spot where there was blood and pieces of hair imbedded in the bark. Detective Jacks came up behind me. He gave a slight startle. I was still a bit jumpy from before, and finding all of these “clues” weren’t helping to settle my nerves. I tried to shake it off. There was no time for melancholy feelings at that moment.
“Where do the tracks lead?” I redirected.
“They head to the river. Down by Stalva’s cottage,” replied Tam as he reached us. “Are we going to search it?”
“As soon as we get a search warrant.”
“It’s a summer cottage. How are we going to get in contact with Stalva?”
“Call Europe, I guess. You get long distance with that?” I pointed to his cell phone.
“No, not out here. Just Local. I’ll call Judge Baker. I’m sure he won’t object.” Tam began to call up the judge when Tom’s walkie-talkie went off. We could hear him mutter into the receiver as he walked away from us for a few steps.
“No need,” Tom called to us.
“What’s the matter?”
“My guys went down to the cottage. There’s no sign of entry. The tracks lead over to the Highway but they stop there. There’s a set of skid marks on the road going east. We found a woman...” He became silent.
“Oh, no.” My heart skipped.
“She had a head trauma. She probably died instantly. There’s no I.D. on her. John Grimily is on his way over. He’ll take her to my office for a thorough investigation. We’ll have access to missing persons there, too. I’m sorry Molly. For now, we have nothing.”
“No, Tom. We have much more than nothing. This has been quite a morning.” The sky turned a strange blueish grey colour. The clouds showed their affection for us and opened a soft snowfall onto our crime scene. Tom turned his face to the sky with a scowl. “More?”
“I guess we’ll have to call it a day.”
“You go ahead. I want to look at something here. I’ll come by tomorrow morning and check on Mr. Brown- and the Jane Doe.”
“Sure, Molly. I’ll wait for John. He shouldn’t be long.”
“Thanks Tom. I’d appreciate it.”
Tam and I headed back up the hill. To be honest, I didn’t think there would be anything unusual to find on Will, but with everything going on, I didn’t want to miss anything, no matter how small and unimportant it may turn out to be. I looked up into the sky and felt the chilly snowflakes fall on my already chilled face. The snowflakes stuck to my eyelashes, keeping their form until I blinked them away. I watched them flitter to the ground, directing my gaze to something I needed to find.