Maria sat on the couch and Ramona and Ana sat in stuffed chairs across the room.
“I just wanted to tell you what’s going on, especially about Bobby Martin. I understand that you are seeing him, Ana. Is that so.”
“Yea, but it don’t amount to nothing.”
“That’s not the reason for my question. You know that he was attacked and injured. He is still in the hospital, but they expect to release him in a couple of days.”
Ana stared at her but said nothing.
“You know that your friend Carla Smyth was murdered.”
“Carla is not a friend of mine.”
“Regardless, she was kidnapped and killed.”
Ramona stood and walked to a positon in front of her sister. “Are you trying to say that Ana is in danger?”
“Exactly. Until we catch this nut every teen is in danger. It does not apparently make a difference whether the teen is a boy or a girl.”
“Are you saying that she should not go outside?”
“Not necessarily. Bobby was captured while walking home just after dark. The Smyth girl was taken from home in the middle of the night. There have been other incidents some years ago around here. In those cases, the kids were taken some at night, others in in the daytime. We can’t isolate a time or circumstance. The only thing we can do is be careful, be vigilant, stay away from strangers, and most perplexing of all, don’t let even friends, or even me or your mom approach you when you don’t expect them to be there. Whenever possible don’t go anywhere alone whether day or night.”
When she finished talking to Ramona and Ana, Maria decided to go home to talk to Tony.
Chapter 30
Thad went back to his office at the University and to his computer where he once again opened the sites he had researched earlier and expanded his search. He found the same information about earlier incidents he had found before but also discovered some reports of local folk stories associated with the 1956 incidents that described an Indian spirit that lived in the mica mines and came out to kidnap young people and kill and mutilate them. Those stories seem to imply that this Indian spirit was a shape shifter that could appear as anything it wanted to. It took on the shape of something the observer feared. It read like the old headless horseman stories. Thad was surprised that growing up around here he has never heard these stories before. He found no similar stories related to the 1986 incidents.
What he found seemed eerily like the Indian legend about Matchitehew he had heard from the Indian medicine woman. He decided to talk to Tony about what he has learned and to ask him if he wanted to go see the medicine woman.
When Tony got home from seeing his dad, there was a message on his home phone from Thad. He returned the call and Thad told him that he would like to tell him what he has discovered.
A few minutes later, Maria called Tony on the cell and said she would be there soon and wanted to talk to him about what she has discovered.
Maria and Thad both showed up and they discussed what they knew. Thad told them about his talk with the Indian woman and asked them both to go with him to see her.
Using his cell phone Thad contacted the Indian medicine woman and two hours later he, Tony, and Maria went to see the medicine woman in her office in Richmond.
After they were seated in her office, Thad asked her to tell Maria and Tony what she told him earlier about Matchitehew and to elaborate.
“The story says that there was an evil Indian named Matchitehew who took to killing young people he considered as evil. Appalled by his action, the elders captured him and had him buried alive. But before he was buried, the medicine men cast a spell on him which made him practically immortal put him in a state of suspended animation. Therefore, the Indian would be confined in his grave forever, but the medicine men wanted Matchitehew to further suffer by wakening every twenty-eight years and being awake then for two years so that it would fully appreciate what he was having to endure.
“I did some more research in the legend after I talked to you earlier. If Matchitehew were ever were to escape from his below ground prison, he would not only be free to walk the earth and do whatever evil he wished during a two-year period but he would also be able to call forth Indian spirits to help him. These spirits would be just that, spirits. The could be seen but couldn’t harm anyone except by scaring them to death. Because of that it is important, if he really is free, to prevent him it from finding an Indian burial ground.”
Maria spoke up. “That would explain what happened to our men on the beach. I know of such a burial ground not far from Tony’s home. When we get back, I will make arrangements to post a guard there using the excuse that there is evidence of an imminent grave robbery at that location.”
“What happened to the officers on the beach?”
“They were attacked by a group of men that looked like Indians from the old west movies. When they shot them, there was no effect, but when they swung their batons at the men, the sticks went right through and the Indians disappeared in a puff of smoke.”
“It sounds like Matchitehew has already raised the dead Indian spirits to help him. Watching for him at the burial grounds is an excellent idea Detective Chavez. Another thing I need to elaborate on. If there is a Matchitehew, he can appear as anything he wishes. He can look like one of you, which would make it difficult to strike out at him.”
“We have already seen him do that.”
“Because of this ability, it may be necessary for one of you to destroy him working alone. Further, it will be necessary to use weapons that would have been available at the time of the confinement to destroy him. Modern weapons will not work.”
“We have seen that also. We shot him multiple times with high caliber weapons with little affect.”
She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a stone knife, a stone ax, and a bola type weapon. “These will work if you can get close enough. After you kill him with one or all of these weapons, his body must be totally destroyed by dismemberment and by burning the remains until nothing remains but ashes. These ashes must be then buried deep underground. You already know how to fight the Indian spirits if he manages to raise them.”
“Are you saying that he may reanimate even after we burn his remains?”
“I doubt it, but we really don’t know”
Thad had a question for her. ‘Is Matchitehew his only name?”
“Good question. As you may know Algonquin children are usually given several names. For example, my birth name is Kanti, hence the K in my formal name. My nickname, given to me when I was a teen is Makkitotosimew. Those names were fine until I applied for acceptance to the law school at the University of Virginia. I recognized that no one would be able to spell, let alone pronounce, my name so I had it changed to Shirley. Since I had no maiden name I put it down as Kanti. So, I became Shirley Kanti. Later I married Howard James and became Shirley K. James. The trouble with Matchitehew is that the legend does not list any other names.”
Maria was curious about the names. “Would you mind telling us what these names mean in English?”
“Matchitehew means ‘he has an evil heart.’ Kanti stands for ‘sings.’ My other name ‘Makkitotosimew’ means ‘she has large breast’, which is another reason I didn’t want to carry it to law school. Before you go, folks, please remember that all I have told you today about Matchitehew is just a very old Indian legend. I can’t vouch for any of it as being true.”
Tony stood and started toward the door. “I can vouch for it being true. Thank you very much for your help.”
“Please don’t hesitate to call if I can be of further help. Also, please let me know of the results of your efforts.”
Chapter 31
On the way back to Potaucac, Maria put in a call to headquarters and set up surveillance of the Indian Burial ground. The three of them decided to go to the mica mine they went to earlier to try find the Indian. This time they armed themselves with flairs, helmet mounted flashlights, guns, and the s
tone weapons the Medicine Woman gave them. Maria handed Tony a new revolver, a Glock 22 Gen which holds 15 .40 caliber rounds. Marias had her Glock. Thad toted his 12-gauge pump action shotgun. Thad also had a back pack containing two flairs, three sticks of dynamite, and a lighter.
It is still light outside when they climbed the hill and entered the woods where the mine was located. The mine was dark inside. To start them off, Thad lit a flair and tossed it as far as he could into the mine, lighting it up down to the first bend.
Tony took his weapon out of its holster and cocked it, extending the gun in front of him, he started to lead the trio into the mine stepping slowly and deliberately not knowing what to expect but prepared for whatever happened.
Maria put her hand on his arm. “Tony I think I ought to go first. I’m better trained to deal with this than you are.”
Tony felt like it was somehow an affront to his manhood, but realizing that she was right, stepped aside and she moved in front of him.
Now she was the one walking gingerly.
“Don’t forget that he can look like something he isn’t. If you see me coming at you without warning, empty that Glock into him, and get out of the way so that I can swing this old tomahawk at him. I won’t approach you without warning.”
The mine went along for perhaps fifty yards before splitting into two tunnels.
“Maybe we should split up and go down both tunnels at the same time.”
Maria came back to them. “Bad idea. If we run into this thing we should all be together. We can fight him better together.”
“Maybe you are right. Let’s take the right tunnel first.”
Only twenty-five yards further along hey met a solid wall of stone. They returned to the split and took the other branch. This one went for another fifty yards before it ended in another wall of stone. The entire way along they saw nothing in the mine; no left-over tools; nothing but solid carved rock.
The made their way cautiously back to the mine entrance and outside. The sun had almost set by then and it was getting dark.
They went back to Tony’s house and she fixed each of them a drink and brought them out onto the porch where Tony and Thad were already sitting on the porch to drink them. “Well guys what’s next?”
Tony took his scotch and water from her. “I guess there’s nothing else we can do tonight. I suggest that I the morning we call the Medicine Woman and ask her for further advice.”
Chapter 32
The next morning, Thad came back to Tony and Maria’s home where he again contacted the Indian Medicine Woman and told her what has happened. She told him they must have the wrong cave and must look elsewhere. She also old him that they may have more luck if they look at night. Matchitehew is likely to lay low in daylight but might be out of his cave in the night.
“Why should we look when he is not likely to be there?”
“First, you can establish whether that is his den. Second, if it is, then you can lie in wait and surprise him, instead of it being the other way around. You will need all the advantage you can get to subdue him. Surprise might help.”
On her advice, they decided to try the following night.
Maria went back to the station with doing more research in mind. She was interrupted by the front desk clerk, Betty. “Chief wants you in his conference room for a meeting that’s already in progress.”
Somewhat surprised, she went down the hall into the conference room where she found Chief Maitland, Joe Marshall, the mayor, and Tony’s next door neighbor Commonwealth Attorney Tom Barker.
“Have a seat Maria,” Chief Maitland said. “We have been discussing our disappearances of late.”
Maria sat in a chair along the side of the table next to Joe and facing Barker who sat alone looking stiff in his black suit and navy blue tie, an image enhanced by him constantly running his hands through his thinning grey hair. He looked ten years older that he really was. The result of a rough life Maria surmised. She had never liked the man since high school. Her dislike was enhanced by his constant harassment of Tony.
Chuck Maitland sat at the end of the table nearest the door with his back to it. The mayor sat at the other end. He had moved the large chair away and brought over one of the side chairs to better suit his large bulk. Maria wondered how the man could walk across the street. His puffy lips were stuffed with a large cigar, unlit of course. Even he had to observe the no smoking rules at police headquarters. “As I was saying, this nonsense has to be brought under control Chief Maitland. What are you doing about it?”
“We are conducting a thorough investigation of the matter We have enhanced patrols and curtailed leaves for the time being. Lieutenant Marshall is in charge and Investigator Chavez is actually performing the investigation.”
Barker stood and started pacing. “Is that the best you can do?”
“I don’t follow you Tom. Please explain.”
“Marshall is a hack cop and Chavez doesn’t know her ample ass from first base. Can’t you do any better at selecting people to head this thing. Our children are being kidnapped, beaten up, and even murdered and our police department is ineffective at best.”
“I assure you Tom, Lieutenant Marshall and Inspector Chavez are the most qualified personnel we have for this kind of work.” His voice was higher pitched than usual. It was apparent to everyone on the room that he was seething quietly and another outburst like the last one from Tom Barker might cause some real unpleasantness. Chuck Maitland had been known as a real hot head when he was a young cop but he had seemed to mellow over the years especially since had had gotten promoted to Chief. He knew that to do this job he would have to show a more even temperament and he could do it usually, but he didn’t like Tom Barker either and he was fiercely defensive about his officers.
“Lord help us.”
The mayor intervened. “Gentlemen, this is getting us nowhere. Please control yourselves. We need solutions here not arguments. Do we have any idea who the killer is?”
Maria answered after waiting for a few moments while no one else said anything. “We might have an idea.”
Joe touched her on the arm and shook his head from side to side. “We have been investigating a similar set of crimes that occurred back in 1986. There may be a similarity but we have not been able to identify that perp either. We have fingerprints and eye witness descriptions of a man or men who may be involved but we have not been able to pin it down yet.”
Barker stood up. “Do you mean that you have good descriptions of the perp but can’t trace him down. Have you sent these descriptions to the State authorities and the FBI?
“We have, but they can’t identify him either.”
“What can you tell us about him here?” The mayor seemed exasperated by this line of response from the lieutenant.
“Well, Mr. Mayor. The descriptions are somewhat vague and hard to explain.”
“In what way vague?”
“Well we have various descriptions. Several say he is dark skinned and dressed like an Indian from a 1940’s movie. Others say that he has a different appearance altogether.”
“Such as?”
“I hesitate to offer the description because they are somewhat bizarre.”
“Come on Joe, tell us what’s really going on.”
“The perp has been described as changing his appearance as one watches. Sometimes looking like the Indian I mentioned and sometimes looking like other people, even some from old movies.”
Tom Barker was up and pacing again. “This sounds like something from a Tony Hunter novel. How much does that idiot have to do with this? Wouldn’t put it past me if he was the killer himself.”
Maria had had enough. “Mr. Commonwealth Attorney, I have seen this creature change its appearance.”
The Mayor was out of his chair now. “Change from what to what?”
“He came into the room I was in and attacked us. I shot him and his appearance changed from the Indian to Tony Hunter. Others said that he looked like
me.”
The Chief was standing now also. “All of this is in the official police report of the incident which I will make available to both of you when we end this meeting. Now Gentlemen if you have no further questions we must get back to work.”
The Mayor waddled toward the door. “I look forward to seeing the full report Chuck, and one more thing, the City Council will hold a general population meeting in the High School auditorium tomorrow night. The purpose will be to restore the public’s confidence in their safety. I expect you all to be there and Chuck have your people prepare a presentation showing what your department is doing to protect then public.”
“Mr. Mayor, I object to your directive. Preparing a report with slide show and the like will take valuable time away from our investigation. It seems more important to me to catch this bastard than to have a feel-good display for your voters. Besides there’s little we can tell them as yet.”
“I understand your concern Chuck but I must insist. But please go easy on the shape shifter aspect here. That will just instill fear of something supernatural that we all know does not exist.”
“We will be there, Mr. Mayor, under protest.”
Maria whispered to Joe on the way out. “How does the fat one know that the supernatural does not exist. We have seen it twice now.”
“Once for sure. We don’t know about this one yet. As you know I have my doubts.”
“Yea, I know. Any idea how we go about preparing a demonstration for tomorrow night?”
“Let me worry about that. You just go on with your investigation and just come to the meeting. I suggest that at the meeting you let me and Chuck handle the discussion.”
“Afraid I’ll say something truthful about this?”
“We don’t all agree with you on the facts here.”
“I’m telling you joe that I did see this thing change shapes and so did Tony and Thad. Do you think that Deshawn and Ranson imagined the Indian’s attacking them?”
The Watcher: A Tony Hunter Novel Page 12
