They all nodded in agreement as they hastily put on their jackets and hats and got out of the stationary silver Scarab and into the awaiting rainy street. Lightning then flashed in the unseen turbulent skies that ominously circled above them as if they had just leapt out into the black heart of the maelstrom. They all knew that today was Dr Sweeney’s day off and that he was currently being followed by the dependable Musil and May but they still all wished to meet as few people as possible for fear of identification. They all then looked tentatively around the empty wet street in paranoid anticipation, secretly feeling that Dr Sweeney’s possible accomplices where covertly following there every move from there secret locations hidden within the surrounding shadowy buildings. Although they saw nothing as they all intently scanned their surroundings, this paranoid feeling of being watched still pervaded all their minds with an alarming sense of frequency.
The apprehensive Fronek then went under Cowles umbrella as soon as he opened it whilst Merlyo and Zalewski’s attention was immediately caught by the movement of a curtain from the shadowy second floor of the next door residential building. They both then eerily saw a withered old woman whom was staring at them with vacant and lost eyes before an angry carer came storming in to her room, shouted at her and quickly closed the curtains with an abrupt disregard for the intrusively viewing detectives. Ness soon joined the two anxious detectives and motioned for them to join him in following Cowles and Fronek whom were already patiently waiting for the three of them halfway up the front garden of the medical practice.
The silent group soon joined Cowles and Fronek as they then proceeded to lead them all towards the rear of the property as the relentless rain drowned the entire area within an ocean of unforgiving misery. The fearless Fronek then surprisingly ran up to the building and looked in through the window whilst using his hands to better see within the darkened property. After a brief moment he then ran back down to the awaiting Cowles and spoke to them all as they continued up towards the rear of the property “Sorry but I thought I may of seen that red art deco owl wallpaper that I mentioned but it’s just an empty reception office?”
As the attentive Cowles walked with the preoccupied and mumbling Fronek under his umbrella, Merlyo whispered to Ness whilst Zalewski casually went to the window to confirm the miraculous escapee’s comments about the medical office “If our ‘dependable’ friends story is true then it’s pretty obvious that the good doctor’s ‘abattoir’ is either located here, in is this grim looking medical practice which looks more like one of those castle’s from a Dracula or Frankenstein movie, or it’s within the funeral home behind us and across the street” Then they noticed that Fronek had stopped up ahead and was looking at the back of the building along with Cowles and a quickly arriving Zalewski. Fronek then eagerly pointed at something above him which was out of view of nearing Ness and Merlyo whilst a worried look then developed upon his withered face, effortlessly revealing his every stress line that had ever developed upon its neglected and sun scorched skin. His eyes were filled with a primal fear that only he could really know and he spoke with a shaking voice upon seeing what his troubled mind had only just recalled a few moments ago in all of its morbid clarity “Look! The patio and the sealed off brick area! I told you so! See! This must have been where I came in and I fell into the sealed off area from up there!”
Ness and his Unknowns all then looked at the distinctive sealed off area that was used by the medical offices and the nearby funeral home to remove unclaimed bodies for burial, cremation or other more lucrative arrangements which primarily involved the selling of body parts to the local universities. The shaking Fronek then hesitantly walked up the patio steps and looked into the window, simply turned and knowingly nodded towards all the Unknowns that his grim tale was now validated by the large ticking grandfather clock within and the darkened art deco wallpapered room. He then slowly walked over to the sealed off area and felt reassured that Cowles was with him, not noticing the other three curious lawmen visually validate his confirmation about the interior of the darkened medical practice. The front medical offices where separate from this rear room which also contained a large wooden table at its centre and eerily echoed with the ticking of the grandfather clock that was indeed stuck at 3:13 am.
Meanwhile Fronek was fully expecting to see the same ghastly sight that had been so horrible revealed to him by the cruel lightening when he was last here but the sealed off area was surprisingly clean with no hint of the horror that he had divulged to the Unknowns only moments ago. As they all walked into the sealed off concreate area by using a concealed gate that was surprisingly hidden, they all theorized that it was defiantly within the realms of realistic possibility that his grim tale had occurred especially knowing what this area was used for. Rain pitter-pattered upon the clean concreate floor and filtered into a crude drainage system that would have conveniently washed away all traces of blood and other potentially valuable homicide evidence down into its overflowing channels. These channels naturally led towards the descending rear of the concreate area which contained the rickety fence and used gravity to clean the funeral homes body suppository area, releasing its filtered contents to an unseen fate beyond.
Cowles said nothing as the preoccupied Fronek then cautiously walked towards his only exit that he had on that stormy night, the lonesome and rusty wire fence that lay at the back of the sealed off area. He momentarily paused and looked back at the funeral home whilst Cowles attentively followed him with his umbrella, looking up to the window of the patio and instantly recalling the troubling emotions of his escape. The window was dark but it still housed a primal feeling of fear for him that he could not stop facially expressing, expecting to see the indiscernible stranger that had chased him that night re-emerge from the shadows at any moment. Nothing appeared however and after a troubled moment or two he returned to the concealing umbrella of Cowles whom had been curiously yet silently observing his uneasy behaviour and was adamant that his words where frighteningly true.
The troubled Fronek then turned his gaze back towards the fence again, not wishing to dwell upon such anxiety provoking memories and slowly moved towards it with the silently curious Cowles, Zalewski, Merlyo and Ness all in toe. The wire fence was apparently in a constant war with the bellowing wind and rain as the years of neglect where written upon its ill-conceived and rattling frame. This unsightly barrier appeared to unofficially separate the sealed off concrete body disposal area from the unruly yet steep woods which lay beyond. It also appeared to help filter out the large amounts of drainage water into the wall of inconceivable gloom which hung unnaturally over the hillsides dark woodland. These foreboding looking woods disappeared in the gloom down the steep grassy embankment that the brave Fronek had leapt into in order to evade his tormentor.
The foolish Fronek then leaned precariously against the rickety old fence in order to look down and see what was on the other side of its steep embankment and alarmed the attentive Cowles, whom thought that he might fall into its unseen dangers which lay in the sightless beyond. Like a beautifully confirming revelation he saw yet more visual confirmations to validate his fantastic story as the wonderful sight of this steep grassy slope led straight down towards the barely visible train yard below. The somewhat relieved looking Fronek then chaotically pondered within his mind how he could have possibly survived such an extremely steep fall which was littered with all manner of rocks and trees. The only conclusion that he could come up with was that his inebriated state must of allowed him to flexibly roll and not become rigid, lessening his chance of fracturing his worn bones and thus drastically improving his chances of survival. Whatever the reason he still had an overwhelming feeling of dread as he looked down onto that foreboding grassy slope as the cold wind buffeted against him from the unseen and gloomy beyond.
The other four had now thankfully joined him in his stoic viewing and all also looked on in disbelief down the unforgiving grassy slope and where unable to conceive how
anyone could survive such a fall. They each silently contemplated how this inebriated escapee could have possibly survived such a traumatic fall down the steep, grassy slope and across such unforgivingly difficult terrain which would have shredded any other man to pieces. After a moment whereby all four silently looked at Fronek’s unbelievable escape route and where punished for this by the harsh rain and wind, Ness cautiously took Merlyo to one side.
The other three continued to silently imagine the spectacular scene of Fronek’s apparently miraculous escape from the Mad Butcher’s clutches as Ness then whispered to Merlyo “So what do you think?” Merlyo instantly replied whilst whispering, adamant that Fronek was not to hear there secretive deliberation “Sure! I think his story sounds creditable and it fits in with everything we know about Dr Sweeney. Not only does he work here but his upstairs home is conveniently located across the street at the Raus Funeral home and he has unrestricted access to the funeral home’s unclaimed bodies. No one would question him if he was covered in blood in the late hours of the night and no one would be the wiser if he was responsible for ‘creating’ some of these unclaimed bodies. He could even clean and sell some of the bodies to the local universities like H.H Holmes did in order to gain a profit from his ‘nocturnal activities’ as well as eliminate the necessity to dispose of them all over the city. If anyone asked any question he could simply say that he was using all the bodies for medical purposes so he’s covered in any event, not to mention this place obviously has a medical theatre for autopsy’s and so on and so it’s a perfect abattoir for the Mad Butchers torture and dismemberment sessions! Everything fits for me! Dr Sweeney’s defiantly our guy!”
The pondering Ness nodded in agreement as Merlyo eagerly continued “Sweeney’s medical colleague of many years, Dr Peterka, converted the second story floor of the funeral home into a fully furnished flat so that Sweeney could stay there through his difficult divorce proceedings whilst he was separated from his wife. Get this! Doctor Peterka also has a dark Sedan which he learnt to Sweeney on numerous different occasions and the funeral home next door also uses dark green Ford trucks to transport there dead bodies to the crematorium. Both these automobiles which were seen acting suspiciously by witnesses prior to Flo’s and the Tattooed Man’s predicted disposal dates. So he’s using both automobiles and alternating them when he disposes of their body parts all over Cleveland in the area’s that he knows best. I suspect that Fronek was drugged by Sweeney with the initial food he had given him in the street and then slowly led around the back of the medical offices where he knew he would not be disturbed. The undertaking facilities for the medical offices and funeral home are a perfect location for many murders to occur because the evidence instantly becomes whatever Dr Sweeney wants them to become, yet another ‘unclaimed body’ for medical dissection, burial or cremation. These unclaimed bodies or ‘murder victims’ where all then disposed of here and this would explain away the blood, body parts and head that Fronek claimed he saw that night. If ever there were too many probing questions asked by either the medical practice or the funeral home management about why they have so many unclaimed bodies, Sweeney could simply dispose of the excess bodies on his own by chopping them up and discarding them all around places in Cleveland where he suspected no one would ever find them. Places that he knew from his childhood here like Kingsbury Run, Lake Erie and Jackass Hill!”
The brooding Ness nodded again in silent agreement whilst looking at Fronek with contemplative eyes before Merlyo continued “It gets better! The funeral home has a second facility on Mead Avenue which is only a short distance from here and it’s mainly used to store unclaimed bodies. Dr Sweeney could have easily also used that place to torture and dismember other victims without the threat of disturbances. Not to mention that the Mead Avenue facility, the Raus funeral home and the Peter-Sweeney medical practice are all located near Jackass Hill which is only a short drive away!” The calculating Merlyo then paused for a minute as he looked across his shoulder and back at the worried looking Fronek, before turning back towards Ness and continuing “The only problem is Mr Fronek himself because he’s not what you would call a ‘reliable witness’. I mean most of his story he’s as drunk as a skunk, possibly drugged and did you hear what he said about the hand being a claw and those evil glowing eyes? Jesus! A good lawyer will rip him apart on the stand if it got to trail!”
The nodding in agreement Ness then looked through the constant rain’s haze at the poor dishevelled looking Fronek whom looked now to be somewhat less shaken as Cowles and Zalewski attempted to take his mind off of the traumatic events by talking about Cleveland’s terrible weather. Ness then spoke whilst looking at the miraculous Fronek with a grim determination in his voice “It’s Dr Sweeney! It has to be! Cowles interviewed the local Undertaker yesterday and he told him that Sweeney enjoyed a ‘special privilege’ whilst working here. This privilege was what you stated before, he was allowed to practice on the unclaimed bodies whenever he wished. He basically had Carte Blanch on these entire three facilities!” Merlyo was happily surprised at this further bit of valuable information that was solidifying their theories about Dr Sweeney’s late nefarious night activities before Ness continued to speak with a concerned facial expression “Regardless of all this I’ll still need something more than the good Mr Fronek’s enlightening story and his dubiously unclear physical description of the Mad Butcher. Your right because he’s not a reliable witness and I have to be certain that the Mad Butcher is Dr Sweeney! I need to give his cousin the congressman as little room to manoeuvre as possible. I need to be 100% Merlyo! 100% sure that it’s him before I act!”
The concerned looking Ness then looked down the steep grassy embankment and to the just visible train tracks that gleamed in the little ambient light below as he listened to the rain tapping off his hat. The calculating lawman then pondered how events may play out if he could not be sure of Dr Sweeney’s guilt and all these troubling events always ended in disaster within his frantically absorbed mind. Merlyo looked at him for a few contemplative seconds before he also took part in the viewing spectacle of Fronek’s miraculous escape route downhill, which was indeed impressive as the route seemed apparently insurmountable for any mere mortal to achieve unscathed. The brooding Ness was deep in thought and carefully contemplated his next move with care because he knew that he could not simply keep up this charade of constant surveillance and misdirection with his untrustworthy investigative teams forever. Ness would have to either take a risk and arrest Dr Sweeney with no evidence and hope for a confession or simply keep up the surveillance and wait for the next murder to occur, hopefully catching the him red-handed in the act. Both grim options where unsatisfyingly unpleasant and so after a few more minutes of contemplative silence Ness finally spoke again, ensuring to keep his voice down for fear of divulging secrets “I’m going to have to think outside of the box on this one and I’ll need to do something a little ‘unorthodox”
As Ness said this word a smile appeared to develop upon his wanting face in eager excitement due to his planned method of action that was begging to take shape within his calculating mind. The smiling Ness then broke his view of the barely visible and muddy escape route below and walked over to Fronek and spoke to him whilst he comfortingly put his arm around his shoulder “Come on Fronek! I’m going to buy you lunch, whatever you want ok? I know this great little Hungarian place that does amazing hotdogs, fries and smoothies! Tell me Mr Fronek, have you ever heard of Wohl’s Hungarian Café?” The awkwardly smiling Fronek looked disappointed for a moment as he replayed the word “smoothie” within his wanting mind before he quickly shook his head and smiled again, not wishing to scare off the charity of a free meal. They all then proceeded to leave the back of the medical practice and scene of the Fronek’s traumatically miraculous death defying escape from the Mad Butcher’s clutches to reward his efforts with both food and drink.
The preoccupied Merlyo slowly fell behind the quickly disappearing group of smili
ng men as his pondering thoughts where momentarily filled with the familiar image of the Lady of the Lakes spectre as she knowingly looked back at him from the darkened second story window and waved. Her wet spectre inhabited the very same window that Fronek had made his escape from and the confused Merlyo politely waved back at her and awkwardly smiled. She gruesomely reciprocated his smile with a twistedly deformed smile of her own whilst she continually waved and slowly drifted back into the darkness of the unlit room behind her. Her childlike and freakishly smiling visage then finally disappeared, leaving just the frantic rain drops running down the glass window frame.
The tired Merlyo had finally come to the realisation that she was helping him solve this blackest of cases in her own uniquely bizarre way. He also felt that she was cruelly luring him towards a blissful and never ending sleep that he would forever relish and cherish, even if it meant that he would never awaken from it. If this eternal sleep was the only way to finish this case and free her soul from purgatory prison then it would be a price worth paying and he now desired this above all else because he had strangely come to love her forsaken spectre. He now loved her as a farther would love his own lost child because she had now become part of him and become unpredictably linked to his sleepless soul.
A few minutes later they all left in the shining silver Scarab and did not notice the large eyes of an unknown creature covertly watching them from the concealment of a tree trunk’s hole. This loathsomely twisted tree looked extremely unhealthy was located on the funeral homes front lawn which was in turn surrounded by colourful funguses of all varieties at its base. Once flourishing green grass however now surrounded its base with its dead matter as the many nutrients within the saturated soil now only fed the insatiable mushrooms desire to spread it fungal spores. The strong icy wind would occasionally make the tree’s swinging branches hit the upper floor window of the funeral home and blessed the tree’s hidden dweller with a knowing touch of death from its absent disciple, whom usually resided within.
The Noir Evil Page 52
