Sleepless Nights

by Pierre C. Arseneault

  Molly smiled. “I think so. I hear Libby called my aunt Bonnie.” She cracked open one of the cases Floyd gave her. Floyd stood watching her as she put the beers away while talking. “But I think it’s supposed to be hush-hush. Not sure what they’re up to yet.”

  Floyd grabbed his universal remote and turned on the T.V. near him. The first thing he saw was a news break showing the upcoming stories to be featured on the six-o’clock news. Plastered on the screen was a picture of the Brayton Psychiatric Hospital. This was followed by a quick clip of Lester Crandall in leg and arm shackles being brought into a police station on the day of his arrest. The same clip most often used to portray the man later convicted of thirteen counts of murder. He was being pulled along by a few officers through the crowd while he shouted at the members of the press.

  A reporter shouted a question in the chaos. “Why did you kill all those people?”

  To which Crandall shouted in reply. “There’s method to my madness. But there’s also madness to my methods.” Laughing hysterically as he was being pulled through the doors of the station as the press was held back.

  “Crazy fuck!” said Floyd as he was emptying the glasses from the dishwasher, nearly dropping one as the phone rang. “Burnett’s Place!” he was saying even before the cordless phone was to his ear. Floyd extended the phone towards Molly and said “It’s for you. I think it’s your Aunt Bonnie.”

  With an almost empty case clutched against her body while standing behind the door of a cooler, Molly tucked the phone to her ear and pinned it in place with her shoulder.

  “Hello, Sweetie,” she said over the clinking of bottles. “What can I do for you?”

  On the other end of the phone line, she heard a familiar voice speak.

  “Molly? It’s Aunt Bonnie.”

  5

  While neither of them would say it, the house had that too big feeling that often happens after the kids grow up and leave. Standing in the kitchen of their spacious house, Clovis dried the dishes while his wife Raylene washed.

  “You think we should call Anna again?” asked Raylene.

  “You just spoke to her two hours ago,” replied Clovis. “You raised a smart girl. She’ll be fine.”

  “We!” replied Raylene. “We raised a very smart girl.”

  “You mind if I go play darts at the lodge tonight?” asked Clovis.

  “You ask me that every week,” replied his wife as she busied herself scrubbing the pan that had contained the meatloaf which had been supper. “You know I don’t mind you playing in the dart league.”

  “Did I tell you? Dwayne joined the league this year.”

  “No, but Maureen told me,” replied Raylene.

  Clovis dried and put away the large plates they got on their wedding day.

  “You know it’s good that you joined the dart league. It gives you a chance to socialize more with the locals as Clovis McPhee and not just their Police Chief.”

  “I know, Dear. But don’t forget that I did grow up here,” replied Clovis as he took the pan out of his wife’s hands. “I know most of these people on a personal level from way before I was ever a cop.”

  Raylene laughed. “Oh, I know that. Trust me!” she said, pulling the plug from the sink and letting the water drain. Raylene spoke over the slurping sound of the water rushing down the drain. “The looks I used to get when we moved back here ten years ago. The women didn’t like that an outsider had taken one of their handsome men.”

  Laughing, Clovis hung the damp dish cloth on the oven handle. “I highly doubt that.”

  Raylene stood rinsing out the sink as she spoke. “Do you think we need to worry about Crazy Crandall coming to Carlton?”

  Clovis turned to face his wife. “Crandall will be heading to a big city where he can disappear in the crowds.” This was a statement he made with confidence in an attempt to relieve his wife of any worries she may have. But at the same time, he also really believed this to be true. In a small town like Carlton, everybody knew everybody and so a stranger would stand out like a sore thumb. And with his picture all over the news, that would make it even harder to hide in such a small place.

  Raylene grabbed her husband by the waist of his plain old-fashioned blue jeans and pulled him close, with her neck arched to reach him, kissing him on the lips. “You better get going or you’re gonna be late.”

  He walked to the door and took his jacket off the hook and slipped it on. “Any plans tonight?” he asked his wife.

  Raylene thought this to be odd as he never asked her what her plans were. She always told him so he never had to ask. She picked up her cordless phone from the kitchen counter. “Maureen and I are supposed to have coffee and swap recipes. She wants to try my meatloaf that apparently you told Dwayne about.” Raylene smiled. “Now get out of here before you go and get a speeding ticket on the way to the lodge.”

  Smiling, Clovis picked up his keys form the kitchen counter and walked out the back door. Raylene watched him walk past his cruiser and climb into his truck. As he pulled out of the driveway she was already dialling the phone. Placing it to her ear, paused a moment and then spoke.

  “Maureen? It’s Raylene.”

  6

  One major difference that Burnett’s Place had to the bar he idolized in the 80’s hit sitcom Cheers were the flat screen televisions adorning the walls and above the bar. Back in those days, big screen televisions were not a common thing in bars. But these days, you were required to have at least three, if not more. A big screen mounted on the back wall, which was almost always kept on the sports channel. Plus a few smaller screens at various locations throughout the bar giving the option to those not wanting to watch sports. Burnett’s place had four in total. The set above the bar and one in a corner were tuned onto a local channel for the news. At the end of the bar sat on-duty Officer Robert drinking coffee and checking Molly out every chance he got. A few seats down the bar sat Lincoln Tingley who was already nursing his third beer even if it was only eight o’clock. A corner table in the back had four local boys playing a friendly game of cards and drinking beer.

  The ones that stood out like a black cat in a field of fresh white snow were all sitting at the table in the centre of the place. A group of four women, the likes of which Floyd had hardly ever seen before inside Burnett’s Place. He knew them all but he was not accustomed to seeing them in his establishment.

  At this table sat Raylene, the wife of Police Chief Clovis McPhee. She was the only one in the bar who was an outsider, not originally from the little town of Carlton. She sat next to her friend Maureen who was in her stark white work uniform, making her stand out even more. Maureen was from Carlton but was married to another outsider, Officer Dwayne Adams. Across from her sat the colourful scarf-wearing, silver-haired, bespectacled Bonnie Campbell sipping on a gin and tonic with a pad and pen on the table at the ready. Next to her sat plain-clothed, off duty Officer Libby with cell phone in one hand and a near empty light beer in the other.

  Walking to the bar, Molly gave her order of drinks to Floyd for the foursome of ladies. Floyd made the drinks. Lincoln, seeing both Molly and Floyd were within ear shot spoke up.

  “I was thinking. You should put peanuts on the bar like they did in Cheers. Free ones.”

  Floyd handed a drink to Molly as he replied. “I can’t afford to feed you, Thinkun.”

  Lincoln replied, gesturing towards the two machines by the door, one for salted peanuts and the other for barbeque. “But we gotta buy the peanuts from the vending machines.”

  “Yeah, so?” said Floyd as he handed Molly the second drink.

  Lincoln dug out a twenty and smacked it down on the bar. “Gimme another beer and a shot-o Jack. And gimme some quarters with the change so I can buy my own damn peanuts, you cheap bastard.”

  A clearly annoyed Floyd set Lincoln’s drinks on the bar, followed by his change and the
n watched him mutter curses while going to the vending machine to get a paper cup full of peanuts.

  Meanwhile at their table not far away, the group of women were forging plans.

  Libby sipped beer and glanced at her cell phone before speaking. “I called Winston to reserve the Lodge for Saturday night but Jack Ledger beat me to it. Winston said Jack paid for it too. In cash.”

  Bonnie laughed. “Only because his buddy Winston will give him a sweet deal.”

  A smiling Raylene spoke as she sipped her beer. “It’s only normal for him to want to since they all went to school together. A gift I suppose.”

  Maureen took on a serious look as she spoke. “I think Clovis suspect’s something. At least that’s what Dwayne told me this morning.”

  Libby directed a question at Raylene. “His fiftieth birthday is only a week and half away. You don’t think he’s suspects anything?”

  “I don’t think so,” replied Raylene. “Although; he was abnormally curious about what I was doing tonight.” Raylene lowered her voice and shot a glance at Floyd behind the bar. “We’ve been planning on going away for a few days the following weekend like we always do for his birthday. I made the usual plans with him to keep him from suspecting anything.”

  Libby glanced at her cell phone again, more out of habit than any other reason as she spoke. “What about your daughter Anna? Will she be coming down for his party?”

  “She better if she knows what’s good for her,” said Raylene.

  Bonnie gently sipped her gin and smiled. “Winston told me today that he thinks half the town will be there.” She gestured to Molly for another drink as she continued speaking. “He was worried Pinewood Lodge might not be big enough.”

  Maureen replied. “The Lodge will be plenty big enough. I just hope Dwayne doesn’t slip and say the wrong thing.” She sipped her Diet Pepsi as she added, half laughing. “At least he isn’t drinking since he has to work tonight.”

  Bonnie smiled and touched Maureen’s hand. “They’ll be fine. Mayor Jack Ledger’s there and if anyone is a master at changing the subject, it’s him.”

  Raylene smiled. “I can’t thank you all enough for your help.”

  “It’s our pleasure,” said Libby.

  Maureen spoke as she clutched her Diet Pepsi in front of her. “I’ll update the event on Facebook in the morning after my shift and finish confirming all the invites.”

  “Good!” Bonnie added. “I wouldn’t know where to start with that Facebook stuff.”

  “That’s ok, Bonnie. There are lots of calls you can make,” Raylene said with a smile.

  Meanwhile, while sitting on a stool, Lincoln reached over the bar and found the remote. He turned up the volume of the TV above the bar as the station went to a news break.

  The busty blonde newscaster spoke with a serious tone. “Escaped mental patient Lester Crandall was believed to have been seen hitchhiking near the University of Stonevalley. We’re asking people to be on the lookout for this man.” The newswoman paused. “Please note the following clip may be disturbing to some viewers.”

  The news footage showed Crandall wearing prison orange and being escorted out of the courtroom in shackles. As he walked by the cluster of reporters, he laughed and taunted them.

  “You know what goes in one ear, comes out the other and still stays in the middle?” he asked the reporters and before anyone could reply he shouted. “A pickaxe!” Laughing, he was dragged through a doorway as he struggled against the straining officers.

  “Sick Fuck!” said Floyd as he snatched the remote from Thinking-Lincoln’s hand.

  “Stonevalley?” said Lincoln. “You know that’s only fifty nine miles from here.”

  Floyd shot him a dirty look, “Shut up, Thinkun!”

  7

  Across town a person with a very sharp ear in the stillness of the early evening, standing close enough to the building could occasionally hear the thud of a dart hitting a dartboard. Twenty-two local men had gathered at their weekly spot inside the Pinewood Lodge. The log building sat on a gentle hillside on the outskirts of Carlton and was nestled in a thick forest rich with wildlife. A section of forest that was void of any neighbouring cottages or cabins. The only neighbour it had was the Sheppard’s Frozen Foods factory. The only thing separating the factory from the lodge was a section of trees barely thick enough to conceal one from the other. The deciduous trees hid them from each other but were slowly beginning to turn as fall approached. The colourful trees were attracting many would-be photographers. Fall in full bloom would be when the trails around Pinewood Lodge would come alive with nature lovers and digital cameras.

  The Lodge itself was built on the exact same spot the old log cabin train station once sat. It bore a slight resemblance to the previous building but on a larger scale. A logging operation once sat at this very spot, which had inspired the train station’s location. Gravity had help the men logging the forest as it made dragging the logs down the gentle slope much easier. The logs were loaded on the train to be brought to the mill on the other side of the small village, which flourished into the town now known as Carlton. The town still held onto the memories of its history. Much of which was on display in this very log cabin in the form of pictures and newspaper clippings framed and mounted on the walls. Sepia toned photographs of rugged men in suspenders standing next to horses that wore harnesses tied to large felled trees. More photos showed horses tied to wooden wheeled wagons loaded with large logs. Black and white pictures of men standing next to the steam engine train carrying huge logs. Antique axes and eight foot long saw blades were mounted high up on the walls. Other various memorabilia was strewn about including the old railroad spikes that were used to hold up the dart boards which the men played on this very night.

  Mayor Jack Ledger, beer in hand, broke Dwayne’s concentration when he spoke up abruptly. “So Clovis, how’s your daughter Anna doing?”

  Dwayne’s dart flew askew and glanced off a wire on the board and sank into the roughed up hardwood floor. Everyone knew Jack had asked because she was attending Stonevalley University. The same place that now had a serial killer on the loose.

  Clovis sighed. “Good, I guess. She’s dating some kid from her classes. Some kid with tattoos and piercings.”

  Jack, in the process of taking a drink, almost spewed beer all over himself as he stifled a laugh. “What does Raylene think of this?” he said as he wiped a little beer from his chin.

  Clovis stepped up to take his turn at the board. “She says he’s a nice kid. But I don’t trust her judgement.”

  Jack chuckled as he replied. “I wouldn’t either. She married you didn’t she?” His sarcasm getting laughs from many.

  Dwayne asked. “Has Cotton met his little sister’s boyfriend yet?”

  Clovis smiled while calculating for Ernie who was supposed to be the official score keeper. “Cotton is off doing his basic training for the army.”

  “That’s right. I forgot about that,” replied Dwayne.

  Ernie Woodman, manager of the local grocery store and the supposed score keeper piped into the conversion. “Clovis. Did you read today’s Gazette?”

  “About Crandall?” asked Clovis.

  “Crazy Crandall!” said Ernie. “You think he’s coming here?”

  The room grew a little quiet as most of the men wanted to hear what their Chief of Police might have to say. But before he could speak, Winston spoke loudly from across the room. “He’d be foolish to come to a small hole of a town like Carlton.”

  Mayor Ledger shot Winston a dirty look for calling his town a hole, even if it was partially true.

  Clovis poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on a nearby table as he spoke. “He would have to be foolish to come here, yes. Downright crazy, which we all know he is. But I doubt he will. He wouldn’t be able to hide in a small town.” He sipped his water before add
ing. “He’d stick out like Mayor Ledger at the Church picnic.”

  The room roared with laughter at the Mayor’s expense. Clovis smiled at Jack and gave him a wink. A frustrated Jack scooped up his darts and walked over to take his turn at the board before saying. “Are we gonna jibber-jabber all night or play some damn darts.”

  Dwayne slapped Clovis on the back while trying to stifle his amusement at the Mayor’s embarrassment.

  8

  Back at Burnett’s Place, the group of laughing ladies were wrapping up the plans for the birthday bash.

  Raylene spoke as she tucked her cell phone into her purse. “Please don’t tell Clovis I called Anna again.”

  Libby only smiled in reply knowing full well Clovis most likely was doing the same as his wife.

  The most mature of the ladies at the table, Bonnie Campbell fluffed her scarf a little as she set her empty gin glass down. Leaning forward, placing a gentle hand on Raylene’s arm as she spoke. “Remind me again why we didn’t start planning this a month ago?”

  Raylene opened her mouth to speak but before she could utter a single word, Libby replied for her. “Because he would have figured it out, that’s why.”

  Maureen stood up and began to walk away as she spoke. “I gotta pee some fierce. Oh, and Dwayne said he’s pretty sure that Clovis knows something is going on but doesn’t know what yet.”

  “That reminds me, I had better get home soon,” said Raylene as she pushed her chair back and got up. “I can’t get home after Clovis if I want to avoid him asking too many questions about tonight.”

  As Molly noticed the women beginning their departure, she made her way over to their table to bid them adieu. And as she did so Bonnie dug out a few crumpled bills from her purse and pushed them into the palm of Molly’s hand. Smiling she said to Molly. “We were never here, right?”

  A smiling Molly quickly hugged her Aunt. “Sure thing, Aunt Bonnie.”

  Bonnie looked over her thin framed glasses at Floyd and added sternly. “Right, Floyd?”