Lightning at 200 Durham Street

by Ron Finch

  I believed Walter’s story. I was convinced there had been a real Walter Yost at one time. It was easy to check if I wanted to. I could go to the municipal office and find out through tax records about the farm Walter had grown up on. I would feel more comfortable if I understood what Walter was, though. I knew that I, Joel, was in a body and that my body moved around to different locations. The essence of Walter I didn’t understand. Was he concentrated in one form in a vague shape like a ghost as described in ghost stories? Or was he able to disperse himself? Could he travel freely? Or was he tied to the house somehow? If he could travel, it would be a true out-of-body experience. I guess one way to find out would be to talk to Walter more.

  However, Monday morning was not the time. I had to get back in the real world or I might miss my breakfast and be late for school. There weren’t a lot of regular classes left in the school year. This year, school finished on Friday, June 29th. The last week of June would be dedicated to exams. The thought of summer coming and school ending was pretty exciting.

  I’d decided not to talk to my friends about my experiences with Walter, though there might be a time when it would be necessary or appropriate. At that time, they might better understand what had happened. I still thought a lot about the body Jay and I had discovered. And I recalled what Walter had said to me late Friday night or early Saturday morning after we had had our first extended conversation: “Oh, and I do know about the murder in the bush.”

  That was another big question: How did Walter know? Did he know because somehow he could read my mind? Or did he know because there was some kind of connection between lost souls?

  The phrase ‘lost souls’ seemed a little dramatic, but at the moment I didn’t know what other word to use to describe these essences. It was like they were remnants of great passion stirred by anger and injustice.

  “Joel, quit daydreaming!” my mother hollered. “You’d better get a move on or you’ll miss your breakfast!”

  My mother knew how to get my attention. She’d send me out the door partway through my breakfast to keep me from being late for school.

  I put my thoughts aside and quickly finished in the bathroom and got my schoolbag together. I was at the breakfast table in less than three minutes.

  My mother insisted everyone eat a good breakfast. This morning I had ham and eggs, toast, cereal, and some fresh berries from our patch in the yard beside the house. By the time I finished, I was about five minutes behind schedule. My brother Ralph and sister Emmylou had already left for school, but they had a little further to go than I did. The high school was in the same direction as the elementary school, but the high school was about five minutes closer. I still remembered how happy I was about that fact when I graduated from elementary.

  On the way to school, I walked past Georgie’s house. She waved at me from her front door and ran to join me. We continued down the street and after another two blocks we met up with Jay and Sylvia. We talked about the storm, a conversation that lasted all the way to school.

  We were of two minds about the school and the storm. We would’ve hated to see any serious damage to our high school; but, on the other hand, we had been hoping that downed power lines or flooding might have delayed school for a couple of days. Our part of town seemed to have been spared most of the damage and there was little out of place on our walk. People had cleaned up their yards and the smaller debris had been moved out of the way. Sidewalks were clear, the roads were clear, and school was open.

  There was a lot of talking and laughing in the halls before classes started. Everyone was really keyed up. Between the storm and school coming to an end excitement was pretty high. But when the five-minute warning bell rang everyone calmed down and headed to class.

  Somehow, despite their excitement, everyone got through the school day. Mr. Graf’s math class was the last class of the day and at the end he announced that he was sorry that he hadn’t yet completed marking our trigonometry assignments. A power outage in his neighbourhood had prevented him from completing his marking on the weekend. He told us that, from what he had seen so far, he was pleased with our work. He told the class he would return the papers later in the week.

  After school, the four of us headed for home. We all had things to do after school and wouldn’t get to do our homework until after supper. My parents expected me to be at the store by 4:30 PM. My mother worked in the store a couple of hours each day to give my dad a break for lunch and errands and she usually left for home by 3:30. She would arrive home about the time that Ralph and Emmylou came in from school. My dad and I were usually home for supper sometime between 6:15 and 6:30. All in all, I had had a good day. I was still getting more information about my surroundings than I was comfortable with, but I was handling it okay.

  AT 9 O’CLOCK MONDAY morning, Chief Petrovic, Det. O’Neill, Cst. Herman, and Cst. Smith were seated around the table in the chief’s office.

  It was time to bring the constables up to date on the information gleaned from the Ottawa interviews. As a team, they knew a lot more than they did before they had conducted their first interviews last Wednesday. It was often the case that, once all of the interviews had been reviewed, there would be obvious questions that needed to be answered. The chief, with Det. O’Neill’s assistance, reviewed the Friday interviews in Ottawa for the two constables. It was easy to tell that the constables were surprised by how much the chief and Det. O’Neill had accomplished. They were also surprised by some of the responses the interviewees had given. The chief told them to hold any questions they might have until they completed the rest of their meeting.

  “Our next step this morning,” he said, “is to collectively think back over each interview to see if there is any inconsistency we should note. I’ve invited my secretary, Sherry Simpson, to come in to act as a recorder for these apparent inconsistencies. She’s been sworn to secrecy.”

  Chief Petrovic opened his office door and called in Sherry, who arrived promptly with her notepad. When she’d seated herself, they started with a review of each interview session.

  The chief and Cst. Smith started with a brief recap of the interview with Joel Franklin and Jay Jarvis. There was nothing to note from that interview. The teams then continued with their summaries of the local interviews. At the end of the discussion of all the Wednesday and Thursday interviews of last week, Sherry Simpson still had no entry on her notepad.

  “The Chief and I have talked about this possibility a little bit,” said Det. O’Neill. “Sometimes, when nothing arises from a series of interviews, it leads you to consider whether or not you’ve asked the right questions. Have you made an assumption early in the investigation that is not justified? The chief and I think we may have made such an assumption. We’re just not certain whether we were deliberately misled or not.”

  The constables looked at them. They had no idea what that assumption could be.

  “I can see that Cst. Smith and Cst. Herman are puzzled,” said the chief. “Det. O’Neill, let them in on what has us confused.”

  “During our Ottawa interviews,” Det. O’Neill started, “we came to understand that the cabin in the woods was not a secret. Nurse Bella and Proctor Carter were very aware of it. I’m certain that if we interviewed Ruth Carter and Amos Carter again, as well as the farmers who own land near the bush, most of them would have knowledge of the cabin. I’m sure Louise Carter’s friends in the Chaseford area know of the cabin. I think Alice Chalmers probably visited the cabin. Many others may have visited the cabin as well.”

  “While I didn’t know about the cabin,” Cst. Smith interjected, “it seems to me that we got the impression that no one else knew about it from the boys and their families, and from Herbert and Emeline Derrigan.”

  “Well done, Cst. Smith,” said Chief Petrovic. “That’s the conclusion Det. O’Neill and I came to as well. Sherry, on your page, write down Item 1: mystery cabin? Then put a little arrow out to the right of the last question mark and write the name Derrigan
.”

  It was time for a tea and pie break. Fortunately, Sherry had remembered to bring a pie with her to the office that morning.

  “Until we conduct further interviews,” the chief said when they resumed the meeting, “I see no other questions that have arisen from our local interviews of last week.”

  So they moved on to the Ottawa interviews. For the benefit of the constables, the chief and Det. O’Neill reviewed each of those interviews in some detail. At the conclusion of this review the chief directed a question to the two constables.

  “Do either of you see any inconsistencies in what we’ve just told you?”

  “I have a couple of comments,” Cst. Herman responded. “First of all, I’m surprised by what Bella said at the very start of her interview. When she indicated that Ruth Carter had given her free range to speak about anything. I wonder if she really had that conversation with Mrs. Carter? Did she say this to gain some advantage for herself? Did she say it to steer you in a different direction in your inquiry? I also find it surprising that she never mentions knowing Amos Carter previously.”

  “Cst. Herman, I’m surprised,” said Chief Petrovic, smiling wryly. “You seem to have a very mistrusting and cynical nature. That’s a side of your character I’ve never seen.”

  “I’m sorry, sir. It’s just that some of the things she said sounded too good to be true.” Cst. Herman grinned.

  “Well done, constable. We all need to have that aspect to our personality if we’re going to be successful investigators,” said Det. O’Neill.

  “Sherry, get your pencil ready again,” said Chief Petrovic. “For Item 2 write: check Bella’s statements with Ruth Carter. Below that line write: Bella’s motivation? And below that add: Bella’s relationship with Proctor Carter?”

  “The chief and I want to avoid any more unwarranted assumptions,” said Det. O’Neill. “With the aid of the Ottawa police, and in particular Assistant Chief Rutherford, we are getting a report on the businesses operated by Amos and Proctor Carter. How successful are they, really? So, Sherry, for Item 3 note: Carter businesses. Also, it is apparent that some further interviews will need to be conducted with some of the people we have already interviewed, and with some of the local acquaintances of Louise Carter. A good starting point would be Alice Chalmers. Sherry, Item 4 is: additional interviews.”

  Chief Petrovic said that he and Det. O’Neill would discuss matters further and that they would draw up a tentative interview list. He expected to conduct those interviews tomorrow, on Tuesday. With that, he ended the meeting.

  Tuesday, June 5 to Thursday, June 7

  ON TUESDAY MORNING, the chief and Det. O’Neill interviewed Alice Chalmers.

  The interview confirmed their thoughts about the cabin. Many people knew about it, and Alice herself had been there several times; on several of those occasions with Louise. Alice gave them the names of five other people that she knew had been to the cabin.

  On a hunch, Chief Petrovic asked her: “Do you know if Herbert or Emeline Derrigan has ever been to the cabin?”

  “Yes,” she replied, somewhat hesitantly.

  This prompted Det. O’Neill to ask a question of his own. “How did Louise get along with the Derrigans?”

  “She got along well with Herbert,” she said after a pause. “Herbert helped in the construction of the cabin.”

  The chief interrupted. “How did she get along with Emeline?”

  Alice hesitated once more. “They haven’t gotten along since high school,” she answered finally.

  “Do you know the reason?” queried the chief.

  “When they were young, Louise was kind of sweet on Herbert,” said Alice. “At the time, he was Emeline’s boyfriend. Emeline and Louise had a shouting match about it. That’s all I know.”

  The chief of police decided that this was a good spot to end the interview, so he thanked Alice and she left.

  “A good thing we got that information before our interview with the Derrigans this afternoon,” said Det. O’Neill.

  After lunch, just after 1 o’clock, the chief and Det. O’Neill met once more in the chief’s office. The chief had summoned Cst. Smith to remind him that he was to go out this afternoon and talk to the local farmers about the cabin. Chief Petrovic wanted to find out what the neighbours knew about it.

  “Everyone likes to gossip,” he told Cst. Smith. “You’re a friendly guy. I’m sure you’ll get some information. Whether it’s reliable or not is another question. Away you go.”

  After Cst. Smith left the office, the chief turned to Det. O’Neill.

  “As far as I can see, we have two things to figure out before we head to the Derrigans this afternoon,” he said. “The first thing concerns the Derrigans. We need to decide on the strategy we are going to use when we interview them because we need to ask them some difficult questions. The other matter involves the Carter family and Ottawa. Assistant Chief Rutherford has graciously agreed to help us with any inquiries we have in Ottawa and I want us to put our heads together to produce a list of questions for him. I understand that he has an interview scheduled with Mrs. Carter for tomorrow afternoon.”

  THE DERRIGANS INTERVIEWS were uncomfortable for everyone, but especially for the Derrigans. Chief Petrovic asked Emeline to wait on the front porch so that they could interview Herbert in private.

  “Herbert,” Chief Petrovic started, “why did you mislead us by suggesting that no one had been in that bush for years and that the cabin was unknown?”

  Herbert reddened and licked his lips.

  “The truth is the best policy,” said Det. O’Neill.

  Herbert lowered his eyes. “I do owe you an apology,” he said. “Things just got a little out of control. I said those things to Joel and Jay because I was trying to scare them. So they’d understand the seriousness of going into a big bush when you have no experience. I don’t think Jay’s dad knows anything about the bush. He wouldn’t know whether I was spinning a yarn or not. I didn’t realize I was going to cause you trouble by trying to scare the boys. I just never thought any more about it.”

  “That explanation helps a bit,” said the chief. “But I’m still bothered. Especially after I found out, through other interviews, that you helped build the cabin.”

  Herbert could provide nothing further of interest, so they proceeded to interview Emeline. This time, Det. O’Neill took the lead.

  “Why didn’t you mention that you were related to Louise Carter in the previous interview? I know we didn’t ask you if you were related, but I think you would’ve understood that it might be relevant. What can you tell us about the relationship between yourself and Louise?”

  Emeline hesitated for a moment. “We were childhood friends,” she started. “Back then, our families visited back and forth a lot. My mother was a cousin of Louise’s mother. For years I think we were best friends. Then high school came along and Louise and I drifted apart. As teenagers, we were interested in different things. She was more academic that I was. She had an interest in history and boys. My interests were 4-H and boys. We were still friendly, though, until grade 12, when she took an interest in a particular boy. That boy happened to be Herbert, who was my boyfriend.

  “Herbert and I had started high school together, and we were already good friends before we started dating. Louise wasn’t even aware of his existence until grade 12. Her interest was something I couldn’t tolerate and one day, after school, she and I had quite a shouting match. It was witnessed by a lot of our fellow students. I was quite embarrassed and sorry for what had happened but Louise was made of sterner stuff. I don’t think she was embarrassed at all. But I guess Herbert decided he preferred me because he walked me home that day, calmed me down, and told me he’d be my friend forever. So that day turned out to be a great day all in all.

  “Louise would be civil to me when she saw me at school after that, and I would speak to her, but we definitely were no longer friends. Louise was a very clever girl but she wasn’t always a consid
erate person. It’s true that she did have some friends, but sometimes she didn’t treat them very well. You should ask Alice Chalmers about that. Anyway, Louise won a scholarship to the University of Toronto where she went to pursue her interest in history. I really haven’t had anything to do with her since that day in high school long ago. My mother died 20 years ago and that seemed to sever any connection I may have had with Mrs. Carter.”

  “Were you aware that your husband had helped Louise build the cabin in the bush?” asked Chief Petrovic.

  “Yes, I was aware,” said Emeline. “Herbert and I talked about it and I reluctantly agreed that he could go help. There were several people involved in building that cabin. By that time in her life, I don’t believe she had any interest in Herbert, other than as someone she knew from the past who would be helpful in the construction of the cabin.”

  With no further questions, the chief terminated the interview. He and Det. O’Neill thanked Herbert and Emeline and left. On their way back into town, Det. O’Neill told the chief that he had another matter he was working on in London and would not be back in Chaseford until Friday.

  “Not a problem,” said Chief Petrovic. “There are some details for me to tidy up in this case, and there’s some other police business I have to take care of. Let’s plan a meeting for 9 o’clock Friday morning.”

  “That will be June 8,” said Det. O’Neill, thinking. “I hope you don’t expect me to stay late that day. It’s my wife’s birthday.”

  They both chuckled and Det. O’Neill left for London.

  IT HAD BEEN A GOOD week for me. I was getting more comfortable with my new level of sensitivity and I’d had a couple more conversations with Walter. In particular, I’d quizzed Walter about whether or not he could contact any other essences. He’d said that he could, but that he’d not noticed that there were many others like him nearby. He’d told me that they weren’t aware of one another unless they sent out a message. According to the limited knowledge he had about science prior to his death, he thought he and others like him must be sending out some kind of electromagnetic wave. Which explained why they didn’t know who was where until a signal appeared. Even then, they didn’t know the specific location of the sender unless it was included in the message. Walter had said, however, that he could tell by the strength of the signal whether the sender was nearby or far away.