Something in the Dark

by Pamela Cowan

  Austin felt her mouth fill with saliva and knew she was going to be sick. She managed to take a few steps back before she had to bend over. Her stomach roiled and clenched. She swallowed hard and she could hear her ears ringing, but she did not get sick after all. After a few deep breaths she managed to stand upright. She turned to the others. Will was standing where he had stopped, far enough away so that he could not see inside the shed. His eyes were closed. Janice had backed up, as well. Her hands were clamped over her mouth and she was shaking her head back and forth.

  “We need to call 911.” Austin said. “We need to get the police.”

  Her words mobilized them.

  “Should I shut the door?” Will asked.

  “Was it open when you found it?”

  “No. Closed and locked. I opened it.” His expression clearly showed that he wished he hadn’t.

  “Leave it alone. Janice, come on. Let’s get back inside the store.”

  Janice nodded and lowered her hands. Once inside, Austin dialed 911. The sound of a car pulling into the parking lot startled all of them.

  “Put up the closed sign. Tell people we’re. . .

  Hello? This is Austin Ward, 2032 Spring Hill Road, Grace Gardens. I’m calling to report – to report a murder. Yes, that’s right. Please send the police. No. I don’t want to hang on. Just send the police.” Austin hung up the phone. Her hands were trembling.

  “The police are coming. I don’t think we should do anything until they get here.”

  “I have to call my school, tell them I might not be back,” said Janice.

  Austin handed her the phone. Janice made her call and, as she was hanging up, they heard the sound of another car pulling into the parking lot.

  Will went outside to tell them the nursery was closed.

  Chapter 12

  Sheriff’s deputies were first to arrive on the scene. As one officer questioned them about what they had found, another began to string yellow tape around the potting shed. When Austin saw the tape, it made everything seem even less real. It was as if she had walked onto the set of some television crime drama.

  She told the policeman who questioned her exactly what had happened but it felt as if she were somewhere outside herself, listening to the questions and answering in a wooden, emotionless voice. Why wasn’t she crying? Shouldn’t she be crying?

  A pair of plainclothes detectives arrived, and Austin and Janice were taken to different areas of the nursery to be questioned again.

  The one who led Austin to a corner of the store near the register was old enough to be her father, but her father had never been as grim and humorless. His faded blue eyes seemed to lock on hers, as if defying her to look away and signal her guilt. Without taking his eyes off her, he flipped open his notebook and took a pen from his shirt pocket.

  “I’m Detective Clark with the Oregon State Police,” he said, introducing himself. I want you to tell me everything that happened here today. I want you to take it slow, step by step, and as sequentially as you remember, OK?”

  Somehow the firmness of his voice had a settling effect. Austin took a deep breath and began to recount the story, this time remembering to give Bunny’s real name, Naomi. When the detective asked who owned the nursery and Austin said that she did, and that Bunny had worked for her, it felt a little like a confession. It was the situation, she decided. Being questioned, being so pointedly separated from the others, put her on the defensive.

  He asked if all the employees had access to the shed.

  Again, she felt guilty when she admitted that everyone did, and worse, that it was rarely locked anyway.

  “Why is that?” he asked.

  “We don’t keep anything of value in it. Besides, I always lock the gate at the entrance when I leave.”

  “Do your employees have access to the gate?”

  “Yes. They all have keys to the padlock.”

  “Is there any other way onto the property?”

  “Well, it’s not all fenced. The cyclone fence goes across the front of the parking area and along the sides and we lock the stock gate when we’re closed, but the back is open. There’s an irrigation ditch that runs along there and a row of brush and trees so you can’t drive onto the property, but I suppose someone could walk in from there.”

  “What was Naomi’s job?”

  It took Austin a moment to remember who Naomi was, then she responded, “She was a clerk, mostly. Sometimes she helped with planting or feeding or watering, whatever needed to be done. We’re too small to have any specialists.”

  “How did Naomi get along with the other employees? Did they like her?”

  “Everyone liked Bunny,” Austin said, truthfully.

  “Was she married?”

  “No.”

  “Involved with anyone?”

  “She went out with different men.”

  “Do you know their names?”

  “Some of them.”

  “And?”

  “None of them killed her. They were all crazy about her.”

  “Then there’s no harm in giving me their names.”

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t.” She was beginning to get annoyed. She thought a moment, then ran off the list of men that she knew Bunny had dated. “She was seeing Mike Bryant, He’s a cook at the Blue Dolphin. Sometimes she went out with Lance Westerman, He works at the lumber mill, or at least he did. I think she dated a teacher at the high school, Paul something. Oh, and she was sort of dating one of her co-workers, Will Williams,” she added reluctantly.

  It wasn’t until he asked where he could find Will that she realized he was gone. She was too confused to hide her surprise and when the detective saw it he stepped outside and got on his radio. It didn’t take much reasoning for Austin to guess he was radioing a request for Will to be picked up. Will couldn’t have done anything wrong, but the police wouldn’t know that.

  The detective returned and asked again if she had any idea where Will could be found.

  Austin repeated what she had said the first time. She had no idea where he was or why he had left. She had assumed he was out back speaking with one of the officers. He had gone outside to tell customers that they were closed. No, she couldn’t remember seeing him after that.

  She couldn’t tell if the policemen believed her, but she realized she didn’t really care all that much. At the moment all she wanted was for them to go away so she could be alone to think clearly. She was sure if she could just think for a moment she could puzzle out why Will would disappear like that.

  An hour later, instead of leaving, the police allowed Austin and Janice to leave.

  “I have your phone numbers, but please be sure to stay where I can reach you,” the detective said to both of them, though it was Austin he was looking at when he said it. “I am sure I’ll have more questions for both of you later. Also, would you mind telling me how you got that black eye?”

  Austin raised her hand and touched the fading bruise around her eye. So much trouble, so many explanations.

  They met at Austin’s that night and filled her small living room with both their bodies and their anxiety. They sat on the couch in front of the fireplace or drew chairs up from the kitchen to huddle there, in front of that primitive source of warmth and comfort. Austin and Muncie, Janice, Paco and Josh, everyone but Will and, of course, Bunny.

  “Who could have done it?” Janice was asking. “Someone who was going to rob the store? Was it a rapist? What did he want?”

  “How many times do I have to tell you guys? It was Will,” demanded Muncie. “Otherwise, why would he have taken off like that?”

  “It does look bad,” agreed Austin. “But if you could have seen his face. He was as shocked as we were. Isn’t that right, Janice?”

  “Yes. He looked absolutely sick.”

  “Or he was doing a hell of a fine acting job,” said Muncie. “I’ll give him that. How much do we know about him? You ever meet his family? He have any friends?”


  “I don’t think his family lives around here. He’s worked for me a little over two years and I’ve never met any of them or heard him talk about them, for that matter. He does have a couple friends. I’ve seen him with them in town, but he doesn’t drag them to work with him. Why would he? He doesn’t talk much anyway, so why would he tell me about his past if he doesn’t even talk about the present? I just can’t believe he’s capable of something like this.”

  “Why?” asked Muncie. “Because he has a ponytail and wears round glasses and looks like a young John Lennon? Do you buy into that whole peace, love, hippie bullshit?”

  “Of course not. I just think, well, he really loves plants. They respond to him and. . . ”

  “You know that’s a really dumb argument,” snapped Muncie, his voice shaking. Austin knew his anger masked concern. “You think, if someone likes plants that makes him a good person? How do you know Jack the Ripper wasn’t a gardener? Couldn’t someone who really likes plants hate people? I mean, maybe that’s exactly why he liked working with plants in the first place. Think about it.”

  “Now you’re starting to talk about him in the past tense, like he’s gone forever or something,” Austin said. She slapped her hands on her knees and glared at him. “We don’t know why he ran,” she said, her voice rising to a shout. “He could have lots of reasons.”

  “Or just the one. Bunny.”

  They both fell silent.

  Janice said, “This isn’t a good time to let ourselves get upset.”

  Austin sighed, “She’s right. The police said they thought they’d be through doing whatever they do in a few days. There’s a medical examiner and a forensic unit coming in from Medford. What would you all say to closing up until after Christmas? There’s only a few more yard cleanups scheduled. We can finish up this week and then take a break until mid-January. Paco, you and Josh can go ahead and file for unemployment.”

  “You could lose a lots of money,” said Paco. “Christmas time we sell wreathes and Christmas flowers.”

  “I know but it just seems wrong. Celebrating Christmas. Making money. Shouldn’t we be thinking about Bunny?”

  “You can think about her, sure,” said Muncie. “But you're a business person. You have people depending on you. You can’t just close up because you feel like it.”

  “Don’t be so mean,” said Janice. “She’s not saying she wants to quit. She’s just upset that someone she knows just got killed and she, well, we three, saw her. You didn’t see her. You don’t know how horrible it was.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound like such a hard ass. I just…well, I worry about her. She’s my sister.”

  “I know.” said Janice. She reached over and patted his arm. “I didn’t mean to imply you didn’t care.”

  “Hey, I’m still in the room, people.” Austin reminded them. “I know you’re right, Muncie. I know I can’t quit. I guess I just feel like I can’t face going back there right now.”

  “You won’t have to go back alone.” said Janice. “Wait until someone can go with you.”

  “I’ll go,” said Josh. “Just give me a call.”

  “Yeah, your folks would love that,” said Austin.

  “I really have to move out of there,” Josh said.

  “Wouldn’t make them worry less.”

  “I suppose,” he acknowledged.

  “It is more than money,” said Paco, continuing where they had left it. “Remember, you told me last year if the customers learn you have the Christmas things they will return every year. If we are not there this year maybe they will not come again, yes?”

  “Yes, I know you’re probably right,” Austin reluctantly agreed. “We are trying to build a customer base. Damn this mess! As soon as the police are done we’ll open back up, though I doubt we’ll have many customers once word of all this gets out.”

  “And you know it will,” said Janice, reminding everyone how small a town Blue Spruce was, and how quickly and efficiently its grapevine worked. “I’m sure things will look better in the morning. We’re all tired and upset and we all want things back the way they were. We don’t want to believe some monster is out there killing people that we know and care about.”

  “But there is, and his name is Will,” said Muncie.

  “Muncie,” said Austin sharply.

  “Okay, okay, I won’t say any more,” Muncie said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “It’s late. I should be getting home anyway.”

  “It’s too bad we don’t have a butler,” said Janice.

  “What?” they all asked in unison.

  “A butler. You know. They always find out the butler did it.”

  Muncie nodded. “A butler would be very handy right now.”

  “Well, we don’t have one so we’re going to just have to keep our minds open,” Austin said, shooting a glance at Muncie, “and hope the police find out what happened. “I expect I’ll be hearing from them in the morning. Maybe they’ll have some answers by then. Anyway, I don’t want to think about it anymore. I am exhausted. We all are. Get out of here and go home.”

  “Do you want a ride?” Paco asked Josh.

  “Yes,” Josh said. “Thanks.”

  After Paco and Josh drove away, Muncie and Janice each hugged Austin goodbye.

  “You going to be okay?” Muncie asked.

  “I’ll be fine. I’m going straight to bed.”

  “Call if you can’t sleep or anything,” Janice said.

  “I will,” she promised.

  She stepped out onto the porch to wave goodbye as they drove away. The wind was bitterly cold, and as soon as the last car’s taillights disappeared she hurried back inside.

  For all her brave words, the silence left by their departure felt overwhelming. Austin turned on the radio and, a few minutes later, the television as well. It was something she did when she felt particularly alone, as she did tonight.

  She realized she was hungry and put together a peanut butter and honey sandwich and poured a glass of milk.

  After her simple dinner, she started a shower. As she stood under the hot spray she remembered another shower. Was it only a few nights ago? Four employees to worry about. That was what she had been thinking about then. And then there were three. And then there were three. The litany ran through her head, over and over.

  All day she had held back, stayed in control. Now, from the pit of her stomach, a twisting, burning force gathered and broke in a deep sob. Tears spilled from her eyes. She stood under the shower, her face upraised, hot water and tears streaming, and let herself remember that Bunny, silly and vibrant and only twenty-one years old, was gone.

  Chapter 13

  On Wednesday morning a bar of golden sunlight fell in a warm rectangle across Austin’s bed and her dozing form. She stretched and yawned, happy with the world, the blue sky framed by the window, the sound of a bird twittering outside. Then she remembered, and the memory of Bunny’s death drove all the bright warmth away. She got up, moving slowly, as if her bones ached, and she was very tired. Her eyes were puffy and sore from crying.

  There were so many things to take care of. She wanted to be sure the police had contacted Bunny’s parents and she had to call, find out about the funeral, order flowers. She felt lost. She had no experience with this sort of thing. What was the proper etiquette when someone is murdered?

  Of course she couldn’t go to the nursery. The police hadn’t said she could and besides, she didn’t want to go there alone. It wasn’t so much that she was afraid that some killer was hiding, watching. It was more that she was not ready to face the memory of finding Bunny, of seeing that smile slashed across her throat.

  If Will hadn’t disappeared, he would have gone with her. They would have been brave together. She was sure of Will, he had always been a gentle, quiet soul, someone she had worked alongside for over two years. Someone she could share comfortable silences with.

  But what if Muncie was right? Could Will have killed Bunny? She di
dn’t want to believe he was capable of murder, especially not in the horribly brutal way Bunny had been murdered.

  Muncie would be working at his building site. Janice would be at work. Paco and Josh would be by to pick up the trailer soon. Maybe she should go out with them.

  No, she decided, they didn’t have a full day’s work anyway and she was feeling tired and off-kilter, as if she’d like to cry or throw something. Better to spare them.

  Maybe she needed some coffee. She headed into the kitchen to start a pot. The blinking red light on the answering machine caught her eye and she punched the button on her way by.

  She heard her own voice saying, “Hello, you have reached Blue Spruce Landscaping. We are unavailable at the moment. Please leave your name and number and we will return your call as soon as possible.”

  “Hi, this is Blake. I just heard. I’m so sorry. Please call me.”

  She punched the button again, erasing the message, then jumped when the phone rang.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Austin, it’s Janice. How are you?”

  “Fine, I guess.”

  “Busy today?”

  “No. I have to make some calls. You know. Talk to Bunny’s folks.”

  “How awful. Well, I made an appointment for you to see Mark today.”

  “What!”

  “Now don’t get all angry. You said yourself you hit it off fine with him and if ever you needed to talk with someone this would certainly be the time.”

  “But Janice, I don’t want to deal with this right now.”