by C. C. Wall
“So our profile is young women with jobs,” Reagan said. “Should we make them all stay inside? This is ridiculous.” Reagan paced the room. “If we don’t catch this guy today, there will be another murder tonight, and another hand found in the morning. We have to do something.”
“We are on it,” Reed said. “If there is a Sue in the area, we will find her by lunch.”
“And don’t drop the ‘use’ lead either,” Reagan said. “If that makes sense to anyone, follow up on that.”
“It could be a drug user,” Dyer said.
“Chuck,” Reagan said. “Can you do a Tox screen on the girls and see if they were using drugs?”
“Could I?” Chuck asked excitedly. He quickly brought it down. “Yes, I can get right on that.”
Reagan looked angry. “What the hell are you all doing then? Git! Move! Vamos!” He swung his beefy arms as if he was herding cattle out of the room. They all started leaving. “Lukas, one minute.”
Lukas stopped. “What’s up?”
“That Hoodie fella,” Reagan said. “I need you to find him. He could be the one doing this, but more importantly, if you don’t find him, I don’t know how I’m gonna keep you around. Finding that guy is the only way that I can see to get you off the hook of that poor Roth girl.”
“I agree,” Lukas said.
“Look, I confiscated Jack Hart’s equipment, photos, computers, hard drives and such. I want you to go through the pictures from Cook’s and see if you can’t find a glimpse of that Hoodie guy,” Reagan said.
Lukas tried to keep his eyes inside his head. “Where?”
“I have it all set up in the evidence room,” Reagan said. “I thought you would be excited.” Reagan smiled.
Lukas went into the evidence and found the small table with Jack’s laptop on it. Moved his finger over the mouse and it came to life. He scanned through hundreds of files. He couldn’t believe how far back some of these files went. Normally, he would want to look through as many as he could out of curiosity but he had to find the pictures from that night at Cook’s.
He found the file. It was called ‘Dick Goes Down.’ Lukas thought that was very charming. There were a couple hundred pictures. He looked at each one closely, zooming in on the image as big as he could in order to see every single person that was there.
“How’s it going?” Sue said. She walked in the room and pulled up a chair.
“Not great,” Lukas said. “How long have I been in here?”
“A couple hours,” she said. “Can’t find him?”
“Nope,” he said. “I have been through every picture in the file. There’s nothing here.”
They looked through a few more. “I can’t believe he’s such a good photographer,” Sue said. “He’s such a prick. It would be great if he wasn’t any good.” She chuckled. “Every one of these pictures are amazing.”
“That’s enough,” he said. “No kudos for this jerk please…” A spark went off in Lukas’s brain. He looked at the pictures again. This time though, he looked at the image file names. “Look! This one is IMG4034 and the next one is IMG4042!”
“I don’t get it,” Sue said.
“That means these aren’t all the pictures,” Lukas said. “Hopefully, he didn’t empty his trash. I’ll just search for IMG4035 and see what we get.”
Sure enough, a photo popped up.
“So he does take bad pics,” Sue said. “It’s all blurry.”
“Let me open the containing folder,” Lukas said. “Here we go.”
A new folder opened with more than hundred pictures in it. At first glance, they all seemed out of focus or blurry.
“These aren’t going to help you,” she said.
“Holy shit!” Lukas said. “Look at that! In the back!” Lukas was excited and tapping the screen with his finger. In the background of the picture, behind all the horribly, blurry images of people, was a man standing still. He was clear as day. His lifeless eyes were staring right into the lens of the camera. It was Hoodie.
“Oh my…” Sue said. “That’t him?”
“It sure freaking is,” Lukas said.
46 - With A Cherry On Top
“One more day in this God forsaken dump.” Jonathan mumbled as he paced back and forth in his cell. “I can not wait to get out of here. Eugene will rue the day he decided to cross wits with Jonathan Kensington!”
Dakota rolled over in his cell. His eyes were still shut. “Could Jonathan Kensington please keep it down? Some of us like to sleep when staying in a God forsaken dump.”
“Oh, shut up, you!” Jonathan said.
“If these bars weren’t here man…” Dakota drifted off back to slumber.
Jonathan continued to mumble but he did so more quietly than before. He figured he shouldn’t be incriminating himself by saying things that other people can hear.
The door to the cell block opened and Reed walked in. “Jonathan, I don’t know if you want visitors but…”
“Who is it? Who’s there?” Jonathan said. He was anxiously excited.
Reed continued, “I don’t know if you want to see him, but, Eugene…”
“Tell him to toss off!” Jonathan shouted.
“Sleeping!” yelled Dakota from his cell. “I’m trying to freaking sleep man!”
“You too, hippie!” Jonathan shouted to Dakota.
“Please, deputy,” Dakota said. “Could you please shut this guy up or take him out of here. Please!”
“Yes,” Jonathan said. “Take me out of here. Take me to the room where I spoke with my lawyer. He should be coming shortly anyhow.”
“I’m not sure if I can,” Reed said.
“As long as I’m still the bloody mayor, you should do as I ask if you are going to keep me here in your dungeon!” Jonathan said.
With a heavy heart, Reed sighed and got out his keys.
“Thank freaking God,” Dakota said.
Reed opened the cell and took Jonathan out of the block and down into the interrogation room.
“I’ll send Mr. Wellington in to see you,” Reed said.
“Bloody good,” Jonathan said. “And how about some tea? Is that too much to ask?”
“I’ll bring you coffee,” Reed said.
“Good God.” Jonathan rolled his eyes.
Before Reed could come back with his coffee, Eugene helped himself into the room. Eugene had a smile on his face ten feet wide. He had his arms outstretched like he was going to give Jonathan a great, big hug.
“Jonathan, Jonathan,” Eugene said. “My favorite homosexual murderer! I could just kiss you but I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea!”
“What the hell do you want?” Jonathan said through gritted teeth.
“I just want to congratulate you,” Eugene said.
“On what?” Jonathan asked.
“On your impeachment!” Eugene spun around in a circle as if he were waltzing with an invisible partner.
“No one has been impeached Wellington,” Jonathan said. He tried to keep his composure.
“See old buddy, that’s where you are extremely wrong,” Eugene sat down across from him at the table. “I wanted to be the first one to see your face when you heard.” He pulled out the morning paper from his coat and unfolded it. He slid it across to Jonathan. The headline read KENSINGTON IMPEACHED.
“What the hell is this?” Jonathan said.
“I knew being on the inside would be tough, but have you really been in that long that you forgot what a newspaper was?” Eugene smiled.
“This can’t be real,” Jonathan said.
“Oh, it is very real,” Eugene said. “I got them to put a rush job on it before the press ran away with it. We met late last night and BOOM! You are no longer the mayor.” Eugene leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “Now, you are just another murderer awaiting trial. You are nothing.”
Jonathan was shaking. His face turned red. His fists were clenched tightly. “I will kill you.”
Eugene laughed lou
dly. “Did you really just threaten to kill me? At a sheriff’s station? While under arrest for murder?” Eugene laughed. “Can I get that with a cherry on top? Really, you are too good to me Jonathan.”
Sweat was beading off of Jonathan’s red forehead. “I’ll get you for this.”
“Yeah maybe in what twenty to life?” Eugene stood up and walked to the door. “When you get out of prison, this town will be bustling with all the revenue from the Black Star Enrichment Project, which you fought me on by the way. You won’t even recognize the place. More importantly, this place won’t recognize you. You are almost, already forgotten.”
“Wait!” Jonathan yelled.
Eugene took his hand off the door knob. “What?”
“You can’t…” Jonathan couldn’t even think of a thing to say.
“I’ll tell you what,” Eugene said. “Just to make sure that you are gone, but not forgotten, when I become mayor here in a couple of weeks, I’ll have them rename your cell the Jonathan Kensington Memorial Jail Cell. How’s that? Feel better, buddy?” Eugene laughed and opened the door.
Francine was standing there. She looked worried. Her hands were fidgeting on her purse strap. She had bags under her eyes which she did a poor job of hiding with concealer.
“And here’s the Queen Mother now!” Eugene said. “Good morning Francine, you look terrific.”
“Get out!” Jonathan said.
Eugene turned to Francine and said, “Don’t worry dear, he was talking to me.”
Francine waited until Eugene left before she entered the room. She walked slowly to Jonathan and stood next to him. She slightly opened her arms for an embrace. Jonathan stood up and hugged her. He hugged her tighter than she thought he would. A tear rolled down her cheek and she hugged him back just as tight. As they came apart, Jonathan tried for a small kiss but she turned away.
“What?” Jonathan was confused.
“I need some time to process everything and there is a lot you need to tell me,” she said.
Jonathan nodded. “I understand.” He took a step back. “How’s Elizabeth?”
“Your daughter is fine,” She saw the newspaper on the table. “So you know?”
“Yes,” Jonathan said. “The lovely Mr. Wellington was all too eager to rub my nose in it.” He could tell that she felt out of place there and didn’t know what to do. “Please, sit.” He motioned to the chair across from him.
She hesitantly sat down. “I need to know if you did it, Jon.”
Jonathan took a deep breath. “Donald told me that the less you know the better, but as long as you don’t tell anyone, of course I didn’t do it.” He smiled.
She nodded but wasn’t amused. She tried to speak but was choked up. She couldn’t look him in the eye. “Then I will stand by you through this and wear a strong face.”
“That’s my girl,” he said. His face however did not seem very believing. “We have a bigger problem though.”
She lifted her head towards him. “What? What bigger problem?”
“Eugene,” he said. “That worm got me impeached and now is going to run for mayor in my place. We can’t let that happen. He will destroy the town Francine. This town that we worked so hard to make what it is today.”
“Jonathan,” she said. “You have been charged with murder. Do you understand how serious this is?”
“Yes, I understand that it looks serious,” he said. “But I assure you that this is just a formality. They have no evidence that can actually link me to the murder.”
Francine drifted off from him again.
“Look, darling,” he said. “Do you know when they are going to have the special election?”
“I think they said next week,” she answered.
“That is too soon!” Jonathan slammed his fist down on the table.
Francine jumped.
“I’m sorry for startling you dear,” he said. “I just don’t think I will be able to have this blow over and get back out there to assure the town that this has been a terrible mistake by then. You have to understand that Eugene set me up. This whole thing was set in motion because I veto’d his plan on the Enrichment Project.”
Francine finally made eye contact with him. “So you are telling me that Eugene is responsible for all of this?”
“Yes dear,” he said.
“And now, Eugene is running unopposed to be the new mayor?” she asked.
“Exactly,” he said. “We have to do something to stop it.”
They sat there in silence for a moment.
“I could run?” she said.
“What?” Jonathan chuckled.
Francine’s face became more serious. “I could run. I could run against him.”
“You?” Jonathan was quickly running the scenario through his mind.
“You are still loved by the community,” she said. “There are rumors floating around, but no one really knows anything yet.”
Jonathan was still processing the idea. “You could run?”
“I could even play the sympathy card,” she said. “Eugene isn’t very well liked in town. You could run a monkey against him and have a tight race I would think.”
Jonathan’s eyes were getting bigger. “You could run!”
47 - Moe Eastman
Reagan was deep in thought. He didn’t know what to do. He had a choice to make and there were only two clear options. He let out a loud sigh that everyone in the station heard. When that sound was heard everyone knew it is best to just keep their distance.
Reagan looked down at the counter. He knew what the smart thing to do was, but he also knew he should be true to his gut.
A familiar voice interrupted his contemplating.
“How’s it going?” Tom said.
Reagan looked up at him and smiled. “Hey there Tom, You’re looking better.”
Tom was looking better unless you count his bright red, blood-shot eyes and the dark circles that accompanied them. “Still worried, but able to work.”
“Yeah,” Reagan said. “I saw the paper this morning.”
“Can you believe it?” Tom said. “I never would’ve guessed that about Jonathan.”
“Well, don’t believe everything you hear just yet,” Reagan said.
“You look like you were in the middle of something, is everything all right?” Tom asked.
“Yep,” Reagan said. “Just can’t decide if I want bourbon or coffee. The coffee will probably keep me on my toes, and boy do I ever need that right now. But, the bourbon calms my nerves, and boy, do I need that right now.”
Tom rubbed the back of his neck. “I hate to bug you about this…”
“Tom, I haven’t heard anything yet,” Reagan said. “Things have been a little crazy here lately and I was understaffed, but, I have my team back now so I’m sure we will be able to make some headway soon.”
“I just need to know,” Tom said. “He would’ve called. He always calls.”
Reagan put his hand on Tom’s shoulder. “I know.”
“I need help!” shouted a voice from the front of the station.
Reagan looked and there he saw a disheveled man. This wasn’t a shock. The man was Moe Eastman.
“What is it, Moe?” Reagan said.
“I have been calling all week and no one has done anything!” Moe said. “I thought that maybe if I came down here you would take me seriously.”
Reed walked up to the front desk. “You have been calling in reports about a monster, is that right?”
Moe’s nostrils flared. “I know that! Look: I know what you’re trying to say! But there is a damn monster out there by the falls!”
Reagan poured a cup of coffee. “You know that’s probably just Black Star Billy roaming…”
“It’s not Billy damn it!” Moe shouted. He slammed his hand on the front desk. “I know a monster when I see it! Its face was all disfigured and distorted. It was hideous!”
“Can you describe it in better detail?” Reed asked.
“It’s just tall. Pretty thick. Wide, I mean,” Moe said.
“And this monster is up in the falls?” Reed asked.
“It ran up there the first night I saw it,” he said. “It was carrying a girl with him.”
Reagan put his cup down. “A girl? Tell me about that.”
“She was in white and it was carrying her like a married couple, you know, over the threshold.” Moe said.
“And this monster and her, they went up to the falls?” he asked.
“They went that way, yeah,” Moe said. “But that thing keeps coming down the mountain. It’s hunting. I woke up the other morning and it was in my goddamn kitchen!”
“Your kitchen?” Reed said. “What did you do?”
“I shot that fucking thing!” Moe said. “It just let out this scream and ran away back up the mountain.”
Reagan put his hand on Tom’s arm. Reagan knew that Tom would be thinking too much. He looked at Tom and saw it in his face. Reagan whispered to him. “Tom, we don’t know shit. Moe comes down here all the time spouting stuff like this. Keep calm.”
“Listen to me!” Moe said. “I don’t feel safe! I had to go nab Black Star Bear to stand guard at my cabin just to make sure that thing doesn’t come back!”
“Black Star Bear?” Reed said. “You took Black Star Bear?”
“Yeah.” Moe looked at Reed like he was simple person. “It’s not as heavy as it looks. It’s hollow. Backed my truck up and pushed it right in.”
“Hollow, huh?” Reagan said. “What’d you know?”
Reed got out his hand cuffs. “Moe Eastman, you are under arrest for the theft of Black Star Bear. You have the right…”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Moe shouted. “I called you jerks first and you didn’t do anything! I have to protect myself somehow!”
“Hold it Reed,” Reagan said.
“He confessed to stealing Black Star Bear,” Reed said. “And you said yourself that we have to catch who did this.”
Reagan shook his head. “I know I did.”
“Reagan!” Moe shouted. “You can’t be serious! I didn’t do anything!”
“Yeah you did you weirdo,” Reagan said. “You took that damn bear!” Reagan walked over to Reed. “Don’t put him in the cell block though. It’s turning into a party in there. Take him back to his place, in the truck, Have him help you get the bear back to Zoe. Then, we will look into this monster.”
