“Molly? You out there?” Her voice was mixed with static on the radio.
“Yeah, Colleen, go ahead.”
“Could you 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 to 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. “Okay. I’m right around the corner.” I hung up the C.B. and I pulled into the playground. I parked at the south end of the school, near the edge of the pavement that looked over the steep hill. We used to roll down the hill in summer and sled in winter. It led right down to the highway, a dangerous ride, but fun nonetheless. Trees have since grown. Kids didn’t do that anymore.
David Johnson met me at the door. He had been the school’s principal for almost sixteen 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. But that wouldn’t fly anymore; I was the Chief of Police of this sleepy little town. Finally, I was no longer considered a kid. I was a peer.
“Hi Dave. What’s going on?” I asked.
“Kylie White is missing.”
“I heard. 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, she just talked to 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 students.”
“It might help...”
“It’s twenty minutes, Molly.”
“It’s twenty minutes that may be needed to save Kylie’s life.”
He turned a little red. “I thought you took an oath to keep the peace.”
“So?”
“Do you really think that there will be peace in this school with the police crawling around? We have a lot of small children.”
“They’ll hear a bout it eventually.”
“Not now, not on my watch.” He turned his back to me and headed back into the school. He had used that same intimidating crap on me when I was in school. I hated to admit it, but it still worked.
I rolled my eyes away from him and gave a huff. What bullshit, I thought. This place is so slow moving. Why the hell did I ever come back? My eyes glided over the snow like a newly waxed pair of skies.
“Dave? “Could you do me a favor and keep the kids inside today?” I called after him.
“Sure, Molly. No problem.” He called back to me without turning around.
Next, I called the office for some backup.
“Colleen? Is Tam there?”
“Yes, he’s here. You need him?”
“Please. Colleen, could you also call in over to Wausau? 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 fell back on to the small pink shoe laying helpless in the snow about twenty feet from where I stood. A bottomless pit appeared where my stomach used to be. I’d seen my share of homicides while I was on the police force in Milwaukee. 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.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.” My two part-time officers pulled up just as I disconnected.
The one nice thing about being in a small 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 on the other. To the South was the Highway that led into Brent, another small town about forty 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 my Police Station’s 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 glared at me. I leaned into the car and told him that he would be watching the town. His face lit up. He gave a wave and headed back to the station. Tam immediately roped 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, one large, the other small. I had a tiny twinge of hope and a large pang of despair.
Our FBI man, Tom Weatherfield, from the Wausau agency, arrived just after Tam. He told us that his forensic team has been alerted and will arrive in a half 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 exactly what we were talking about, the police gathering on their playground was still something worth talking about.
“Tom, it’s good to see you.” I stretched my hand out and he shook it.
“What kind of trouble are you in?”
“Big trouble. There was a young girl reported missing this morning.” I looked back to the shoe on the hill. 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 and then grunted.
“Huh.”
“What?”
“Down there, past those small trees...see that?”
I squinted and stared 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 reached it at the same time, looked at it, and as Tom studied it, Tam stood straight up and gave me a very grim look. I knew instantly that it was Will. I was thankful that there were no windows on this side of the school. Then again, if there were windows, we might have found him earlier.
10:25 a.m. 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 all right?”
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.”
“Okay. 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 and a slight shake of the head. 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, okay?”
“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 ice covered black top. “I just got a call from my group and they’re pulling into 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 know him?”
“It’s Will.” I wanted to add, ‘my friend’ but didn’t. “What the hell is he doing down there?” 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 remembered when he gave me a lollipop when I was a kid, going with my dad to pick up supplies at his store. 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. I’ll have to tell him now.
Tam looked down at Will 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 always believed that it was because he was only half Native American, with a father whose reputation ran over the edge of his own life and stained his son’s. 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 know we’ll find him eventually. I hope he’s still alive. I just wish...” Tam said when we learned of his disappearance.
“It’s okay, Tam. We can put this behind us now.” Will’s red checked flannel was what Tom 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. His skin was grey, with tracings of blue around his mouth and eyes. 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 were in the process of scouring 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 sunny, 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 students. 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 him 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 knew he was 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.”
“Or shoot him,” I mumbled.
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. Kelly’s mother was gone now, died last year in the spring, but Kelly kept his promise to her that he would stay near his dad and take care of him. His dad made more money than Kelly, so, in fact, it was his dad who was really taking care of Kelly. But Kelly was a good boy and a great sport when we make fun of him. Truthfully, he was like a little brother to me; a little brother I never wanted. Kelly O’Flannon: 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, genes passed down to every generation so far. Before I moved away, the O’Flannons would lead the 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 laughed. 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 first. Nature called. I went around to the door at 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 walked the halls in my sleep, dreaming about all those days spent here, all those days not spent here and wondered how the hell I survived. I ran my hands under the hot water for a few minutes. I could feel myself thaw a little. I closed my eyes and listened to the water dripping on the tiled floor. It splashed, hitting the other droplets that had also fallen. I slowly blinked my eyes open and glanced at the floor beneath me. 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 was my own heart beat, ricocheting off the walls. 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, maybe a little older, a little taller, and 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 cry as he lunged toward me. I fell sideways, sliding on the wet floor. I 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 couldn’t breathe. The sound of giggling girls grew loud 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; 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 that led to the building. 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 color, and a torn and bloody pink Hello Kitty backpack. That empty pit in my stomach grew a little bigger, and heavier.
“We found some tracks heading southeast down that hill. Large prints and small prints; 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 six-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’ is, 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 me 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 the 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?” asked Tom.
“When we get a search warrant,” I said.
“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 Tam’s cell phone.
“No, not until 7 p.m. Just Local for now,” replied Tam.
“Call Judge Baker. I’m sure he won’t object.”
Tam nodded and began to call up the judge when Tom’s walkie-talkie went off. We could hear him mutter into the receiver as he took a few steps away from us.
“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. They... uh... found a woman...” He became silent.
“Oh, no.” My heart skipped.
“She was strangled and has a head wound towards the back of her skull. There’s no I.D. on her. Medical Examiner John Grimily is on his way over. He’ll take her to my morgue for a thorough investigation. We’ll have access to missing persons there, too. I’m sorry Molly. For now, we have nothing.”
“We have much more than nothing. This has been quite a morning.” The sky turned a strange blueish grey color. 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. “Now?” I asked the sky.
“I guess we’ll have to call it a day,” sighed Tom.
“You go ahead. I want to look at something here. I’ll come by the morgue 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.
