The Real

by James Cole

  “But Claire died in the fire 40 years ago. Monika is too young to be Claire’s daughter.”

  “You’re right,” replied Jeremy. “Maybe Claire is Monika’s grandmother or some other relative. I really don’t know how it all fits together, but I’ve got to believe that Claire and Monika are related and that this is how Monika knows so much about Claire and her lotus. At least we understand a little more about Grady’s involvement in all of this.”

  “I must be missing something,” Jinni complained. “Can you please back up a bit and explain to me the significance of this LotosLand sign and the purple lotus?”

  As quickly as he could, Jeremy brought Jinni up to speed on Claire’s lotus, the Unreal and the ceremony at the old abandoned church. He related more details about the Source and did his best to explain why he believed his dreams to be more than just dreams. He also told Jinni about the houseboat anchored in the lake and how Monika might have located the Source using the maps and methods he unwittingly provided.

  *****

  Jeremy jumped when his cell phone rang. He had meant to turn it off. Against his better judgment, he answered the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Is this Jeremy Spires?” asked a female voice with the flattest of inflections.

  “It might be. Who is this?”

  “Please hold,” she instructed.

  Curious, Jeremy complied.

  Without delay, a gruff voice intruded onto the line. “Who in the hell do you think you are?” demanded Lieutenant Sykes, skipping the pleasantries. “When we catch you – and we will catch you – I’m personally gonna jack you up!”

  “Nice to talk to you, too, boss,” muttered Jeremy. “What do you want?”

  “We need to talk. Tell me where you are and I’ll have someone pick you up.”

  “And let you jack me up?” retorted Jeremy. “I don’t know exactly what that entails but I think I’ll pass.”

  “Tell the truth, Jeremy. Did you kill June Song?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Then how do you explain the earring we found in your apartment?”

  “I found it in my lab, in the cold room drain.” In retrospect, Jeremy wished he had made that simple declaration when he first discovered it 10 days ago.

  “Are you aware it belonged to the deceased and that she lost it the night she was killed?”

  “I suspected as much.”

  “If this is true, why didn’t you tell me what you found?”

  “I wish I had, but at that time, I believed it to be in my best interest to investigate on my own.”

  “And did you discover anything?” asked Lieutenant Sykes.

  “I found out that Grady did not have a key to the cold room and so could not have killed June. Dr. Cain was the only one with access to the cold room; therefore, he must be the killer.”

  Lieutenant Sykes corrected him. “Two people had access to the cold room, Dr. Cain and you.”

  “This,” said Jeremy, “is exactly why I waited to tell you about the earring.”

  “You didn’t tell me anything, Jeremy. I had to get a warrant and find it myself, and, on top of everything, you ran from us. What am I supposed to think?”

  “Can’t you see?” asked Jeremy. “Whoever killed June must have framed Grady and now they are trying to do the same to me.” In a flash Jeremy realized the point he needed to make. “By any chance, was it Dr. Cain who provided the impetus for you to search my apartment?”

  “I can’t say who tipped us off.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t know,” replied Sykes. “The call came in on our anonymous crime tips line.”

  “Well, isn’t that convenient for the real killer,” retorted Jeremy. “Tell me this – how did this person convince you to search my apartment in the first place?”

  “The tipster told us we would find evidence linking you to the murder.”

  “What else did you find?” Jeremy hated to ask, knowing that Dr. Cain had used actual body parts to frame Grady.

  “Nothing,” replied the Lieutenant. “What did we miss? Is there something else you’re not telling us?”

  “No, no, that’s not it at all.”

  Jeremy was confused. Since Dr. Cain could not have known about the earring, Jeremy had assumed that Dr. Cain provided some other evidence by which to frame him and that the discovery of the earring in Jeremy’s condo was incidental.

  “The important thing to remember,” added Jeremy, trying to regroup, “is that the killer had access to the cold room and Dr. Cain had access to the cold room key. Based on that alone, you have to check him out.”

  Jeremy covered the mouthpiece to his phone and, to Jinni, whispered, “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Jeremy did not know how easily the police could track his phone signal, but prudence dictated they exit the premises. Jeremy removed the reel-to-reel tape and stuck it in his backpack. As an afterthought, he snatched up Grady’s notebook, still held within the ziplock bag, folded it in half and stuck it into the inside pocket of his coat.

  Lieutenant Sykes was saying something that Jeremy missed.

  “What was that, boss?”

  “I said, we do not consider Cecil Cain to be a suspect at this time.”

  “Why not?” demanded Jeremy. “Does he hold such a prestigious position that he is above reproach?”

  “No one is above reproach,” insisted the lieutenant. “His alibi is ironclad.”

  “If Dr. Sloan is his alibi, then it’s anything but ironclad,” countered Jeremy. “My guess is that Cain and Sloan are in it together.”

  “Dr. Sloan is not an essential part of Dr. Cain’s alibi.”

  “How so?” prodded Jeremy. By now, he and Jinni had vacated the house and, at Jeremy’s direction, headed for the small storage shed out back.

  “When you saw the two of them leaving the back parking lot of the Facility that night, they were en route to a certain – how shall I say – all-night get-together with a group of male friends.”

  At first Jeremy did not catch the meaning of the lieutenant’s innuendo. When it finally dawned on him, he exclaimed, “I knew it! They’re gay, aren’t they?”

  “I never said that,” Lieutenant Sykes replied quickly. “Multiple partners, er – I mean witnesses – verified their whereabouts. Because of the time required to mutilate the body, it’s simply not possible that either man had a hand in June Song’s death.”

  “But what of my alibi?” asked Jeremy. “I have people vouching for me too.”

  “But not for the entire night.”

  “You’re wrong,” objected Jeremy. “My friend Tavalin was right there with me, all night. He knows I didn’t leave my apartment.”

  “He was there, but he was asleep for several hours, long enough for you to kill June and perform the mutilation.”

  The cop’s declaration caught Jeremy off guard. Tavalin had slept some but they never mentioned that tidbit to the cops.

  “That’s not right,” insisted Jeremy. “You need to go back and check your notes.”

  “I know that was the original statement,” replied Lieutenant Sykes, “but that statement has since been amended.”

  “Amended? By whom?”

  “By your good friend Tavalin, who else?”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Why would I lie?” asked Lieutenant Sykes.

  “Because that’s the game you cops always play. You bluff and lie just to see if you can trick suspects into an admission.”

  “Sometimes we do that,” admitted Lieutenant Sykes, “but not this time.”

  Jeremy did not know what to believe, but his gut feeling informed him that the lieutenant spoke the truth.

  “I don’t understand,” said Jeremy, deflated. “Why would Tavalin change his story now?”

  Sensing victory, Sykes said, “Give up, Jeremy. Come on in and we’ll talk, man to man.”

  “I did not kill June. You’ve got to believe me.”

>   Jeremy flipped closed his phone, killing the connection.

  “That was the police?” asked Jinni.

  “Yes.”

  “What did they say?”

  “Basically, that Dr. Cain could not have killed June.”

  “If he didn’t do it, who did?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Jeremy,” but if we don’t figure it out soon, they’ll have my head on a platter.”

  Jeremy yanked the string to switch on the light inside the storage shed.

  “Shut the door,” he instructed, “so the police won’t see the light.”

  “What are you looking for?” Jinni asked.

  Jeremy scanned the contents of Grady’s shed, looking for something – anything – that might aid him in his mission to first reach and then destroy the Source. There were gardening tools, carpentry tools, a small push mower and a hand-held leaf blower and, on the shelves, various pesticides and herbicides, plus all the miscellaneous items that end up in spaces like this. From that latter category, Jeremy scavenged several interesting items.

  The first was one hundred feet of ski-rope, still in its package. The second was, of all things, a machete, scabbard and all.

  “What are you going to do with that?” asked Jinni incredulously.

  “What can’t a man do with a machete strapped to his side?” joked Jeremy.

  The last item that caught Jeremy’s eye was a pint jar that at first glance looked a little like a pickle in a jar of vinegar. The label, however, told a different story.

  “What is that?” asked Jinni.

  Jeremy held the thick-walled jar so Jinni could take her turn reading the label.

  100 Gms RUBIDIUM METAL (Rb) under kerosene

  DANGER! FLAMMABLE SOLID. CORROSIVE. EXPLODES ON EXPOSURE

  TO WATER OR MOISTURE. HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED. HARMFUL IF INHALED OR ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN.

  CONTACT MAY CAUSE BURNS TO ALL BODY TISSUE.

  “That sounds dangerous. Why in the world would Grady have that?”

  “I have no idea,” replied Jeremy. “This is not something one can purchase down at the County Co-op. My guess is he ripped it off from the Facility.”

  “What are you doing?”

  Jinni watched with disbelief as Jeremy proceeded to wrap the jar in an old towel and gingerly placed it in his backpack.

  “I think you should leave that stuff right here,” she added.

  “You’re probably right, but since my assignment is to destroy the Source and rubidium is highly explosive…”

  “And if the glass gets broken accidentally?”

  “Hopefully that won’t happen,” Jeremy replied, “but if it did, God forbid, I suppose I’d run like hell, especially if it is anywhere near water. It may spontaneously ignite in air but it will explode in water.”

  Back outside the shed, Jeremy remarked, “It’s warmer tonight than it’s been.”

  “Not for long,” said Jinni. “A cold front is dropping down later on tonight, along with some rain. Will that be a problem with the bomb in the backpack?”

  “Not as long as it stays sealed in its jar of kerosene.”

  Jinni smiled. “Don’t expect me to walk too close to you on the way in.”

  “You’re not coming.” Jeremy was adamant. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “But I want to come.” After a thoughtful pause, Jinni added, “I think Grady meant for us to do this together.”

  The rubidium was dangerous, but there was another reason why Jeremy did not want Jinni to come. Though only an inkling, it had less to do with her safety and more to do with his own.

  “You’ve helped enough, Jinni. Go home before the police figure out that you’ve been aiding and abetting a fugitive.”

  Jinni objected, but, at Jeremy’s continued urging, she gave in. She surprised him with a quick hug before she jogged off down the driveway.

  *****

  As Jeremy began the long trek back to the King’s Pinnacle, he contemplated the barrier of the sheer rock walls. He had looked for a way over on two prior trips, all for naught. What, he wondered, was different this time? He considered the three items – the machete, the rope, and the rubidium – which he confiscated from Grady’s shed. Could the ski rope be the key? Was there some way to secure one end of the rope to the top of the wall and climb up that way? What if, like before, he simply could not get up and over those walls? If he could not get to the Source, he couldn’t very well follow through on Grady’s directive to destroy it. And, with the police waiting in the wings, Jeremy knew he could not be guaranteed another opportunity to try. Jeremy had the distinct feeling that it was now or never – tonight was it. After tonight’s digression, he would have to refocus on the problem that refused to go away, that of June’s death and the investigation.

  His phone rang, again.

  “Unbelievable,” he muttered to himself as he wondered why he had suddenly become so popular. Jeremy half-expected it to be the police calling again, but it was not.

  “Good evening, Jeremy.” It was Tavalin. “Are you in jail yet?”

  “Not yet, but funny you should ask. I just spoke to the police. They told me what you told them, and now I would very much like for you to tell me why you said what you did.”

  Tavalin’s tone turned defensive. “I did what you asked me to do, Jeremy. I told the police where you found the earring and how they should check Dr. Cain’s alibi again.”

  “That’s great, Tavalin.” Jeremy’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “Now, what about the other part?”

  “What other part?”

  “The part where you bailed on my alibi,” snapped Jeremy. “Tell me about that.”

  With some snappiness of his own, Tavalin replied, “It’s your own fault, Jeremy. You should not have run, and you should have listened to me when I told you to get rid of June’s earring. You brought this on yourself.”

  “What exactly did you tell them?” demanded Jeremy.

  “All I did was tell the truth. You can’t fault me for falling asleep on the couch and you can’t expect me to lie to the police.”

  “All you had to say was that you stayed awake to watch those two movies and that I could not have left the apartment,” retorted Jeremy. “Would it have been so hard to do that? You know I didn’t kill June.”

  “Look at it from my side,” pleaded Tavalin. “If I lie about your alibi and the police end up pinning the murder on you, they’ll take me down too. I’m sorry, but all I’m really guilty of is falling asleep on your couch and telling the police the truth.”

  Jeremy’s phone beeped. “My battery is almost gone,” he said. “We can talk about all this later.”

  “Where are you now?” asked Tavalin.

  Mostly for dramatic effect, Jeremy replied, “I’m on my way to The Devil’s Crotch.”

  “Why in God’s name are you going there?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” replied Jeremy, “and it’s a very long story.”

  “I feel terrible about the police thing,” said Tavalin. “Wait for me and I’ll help you do whatever it is you need to do. For once I will volunteer for one of your wild goose chases.”

  Jeremy considered the notion a moment before answering. “Thanks,” he finally said, “but I think I better handle this one alone.”

  Jeremy’s phone beeped again. “I’ve got to go now.”

  “I’m sorry, Jeremy, I really am.” Tavalin sounded pitiful. “If ever I had a real friend, it’s you.”

  “It’s okay, Tavalin, really...” At this point, it was easier to excuse Tavalin than to suffer his sniveling. “I forgive you.”

  “Thanks, Jeremy. That means a lot to me.”

  “I gotta go…”

  As Jeremy forged deeper into Reefers Woods, his thoughts returned to the overriding question of the moment: Who killed June? That the police had ruled out Dr. Cain as a suspect forced Jeremy to consider the notion that someone, somehow, might have used his key to access the cold room.
r />   But who?

  Jeremy could think of only two persons who had the opportunity to borrow his lab keys without his knowledge – one of two persons who might have killed June. Both of them, he trusted. Both were also aware of the earring he found in the cold room; either of them could have made the anonymous call to the police.

  The first was his best friend. On the night of the murder, Tavalin arrived at Jeremy’s condo around one a.m. He, therefore, had access to Jeremy’s lab keys, which were in their usual place, hanging from the hook in the hallway. While Jeremy could not picture Tavalin as a cold, calculating killer, he could envision circumstances whereby he might let his emotions get the best of him. June had rejected Tavalin and this no doubt made him angry – but angry enough to kill? One major problem with this theory was that whoever killed June required a large block of time – two hours at the minimum, according to the police – to dissect the body and to carve the intricate symbol into her forehead. It was that very specific time requirement that helped Tavalin’s case the most. Besides the issue of Tavalin’s clothes being in the washing machine all night, Jeremy had been awake enough to remember how the second movie of the pay-per-view double-feature ended. The second movie did not end until after five a.m. and, while Jeremy certainly dozed some, there was no two-hour window available during which Tavalin could have sneaked past Jeremy, borrowed clothes from the bedroom, exited through the squeaky door of the condo, stayed gone long enough to do the mutilation, returned through that same cantankerous door, undressed and returned to the couch unbeknown to Jeremy. Other than the time Tavalin spent downstairs in his underwear waiting for the pizza, he had not strayed from Jeremy’s sight the entire night.

  Besides Tavalin, only one other person visited Jeremy’s condo the night of the murder. As unlikely as it seemed, the circumstantial evidence forced Jeremy to consider that Jinni might be the one who lifted his lab keys, returned to the Facility, killed and mutilated June, and returned the keys the following day when she dropped by. Indeed, thinking as a detective might, jealousy or suspicion of infidelity ranked high up the list as a plausible motive for murder. And, most importantly, Jinni had the time. Unlike Tavalin, she would have had plenty of time after she left Jeremy’s condo to return to the Facility and perform all aspects of the dirty deed. Also, whoever killed June must also have killed Grady. Jinni admitted visiting Grady’s house on that Sunday two weeks back, which was, coincidentally, one day before Grady’s body was discovered behind his house on the edge of Reefers Woods.