Chapter 8
PARKED outside the vets, Shaw fidgeted his backside on his car seat. He opened the appointment book and thumbed to the day’s page. The names and times were spaced half an hour apart, from Mrs. Fisher at 9:00 a.m.
Some of them listed the owners and the names of the animals, with some just quoting the pets’ names. He flicked the page to yesterday’s entries. There were twelve appointments up to 4:00 p.m. After that there was a line drawn and below that, the names of two farmsteads. The last one was over at Claymore, with 6:00 p.m. written at the side of the address. Shaw knew the address, a smallholding, rearing mainly chickens and with a few goats. They had dogs, but he hadn’t seen them. The owners locked them in the barn when he had occasion to visit after reports of a stolen prized rooster. The couple, he recalled, were in their late sixties and quite frail. They could be the last ones to see her alive.
He turned the page to Wednesday. A name stood out. Ed Grimes. At the side and under the pet name column was written the name, Vinnie. He ran his fingers down the other names and stopped at Ted Carter, Amy’s boyfriend, and with the pet name Polly. He smiled, thinking he wasn’t the type to have a pet bird. Shaw heard a vehicle before he saw it in his rearview. The box van stopped behind him, and he saw Frank jump out at the driver’s side, carrying the body bag. He closed the book. Pivoting on his seat, he clawed his way out of his car and walked over to join Frank at the side of the van.
“Jesus, Frank. What’s this?” Shaw said.
“What does it look like?”
“Well, going by the sign ‘Hogan’s Burgers’ and the hatch opening, I think it’s pretty obvious what it is.”
“Ah, well see, appearances can be deceptive. It’s your refrigerated vehicle. The only one in a forty-mile radius I reckon, and we have it until Monday. Follow me.”
“Wait here,” said Shaw, as he saw Mike arrive. He wondered where Frank’s mind was at if he thought that he was going to turn up at the morgue in a burger van. Mike greeted him with a handshake.
“Here’s your chalk, and a roll of UVPC sheeting.” He set the roll down and handed Shaw the chalk. “Cut off what you need from the roll and get it back to me so I can work out your account.”
Mike returned to his van and drove away. Shaw walked to the back of the burger van. Frank had opened the back doors and climbed inside.
“Look at this. The chest refrigerator will easily hold Maria’s body,” Frank said, and opened the lid. “Perfect, it must be six feet in length.”
Shaw peered inside while standing on the road.
“It has to be against some hygiene law. We can’t put a body in there. Have you told Hogan why you need it?”
“Well, no. Listen, Hogan doesn’t do burgers anymore, and he hardly ever uses it, only to fetch meat for his butcher’s shop. Besides, we can line it with that UVPC if we cut two pieces off of the roll and put them crossways and lengthways. I can steam clean it when you bring it back.”
Shaw stroked his stubble.
“I don’t know, Frank, I need to think about this.”
“What’s to think about? You need to improvise out here in this neck of the woods. You’d be no good trekking in the mountains.”
Shaw hummed and ahhed, when he realized he didn’t have Stanley knife to cut the sheeting. He thought hard, but he couldn’t think of an alternative to the burger van.
“You’re right, we need to improvise. Trouble is we don’t have a knife.”
“Yes we do. I have my Betsy here.” Frank pulled his knife from its sheath and waved it at Shaw.
Not for the first time, Frank was showing his worth. However, his initiative was on the out-of the-box side on this occasion.
“Okay, we’ll give it a try. How much is it going to cost me?”
“Well, really, only the gas.”
“What does ‘well, really’ mean?”
Frank took off his hat, smacked his lips and dropped his gaze.
“Hmm, well. I mean. Oh to hell with it, Look, I told him you’d scrap the warrant for his unpaid speeding fine.”
Shaw stared at Frank, his expression blank. But inside, Shaw was boiling. He took a deep breath, then breathed out through pursed lips.
“You agreed we need to improvise,” Frank said, and displayed a disarming disposition, with a churlish grin.
“Oh, all right. Give me a hand to cover the tracks.”
Shaw stepped back. Frank leapt out of the back of the van.
He turned to see Jim at the gate, grinning.
“It looks as though Frank is turning you into a townie,” Jim said.
“If I lived here twenty years, I still don’t think I’d be anything but that smartass city guy.”
“Do you want me to take the body to LA? I don’t mind if you think it’ll save you the embarrassment,” Jim said.
“No, I have a job for you. Drive to the Hetherington’s farmstead over at Claymore. It’s the last appointment yesterday the vet made on call out. Ask what they talked about. Insist on taking a look at their dogs. See if any of them look as though they’ve had surgery. I want to know what breed they are. And try to find out if they have anyone at the farm helping them. Then find out what time she left and if she mentioned where she was going. When you get back, I want you to organize a Rota between yourselves to guard the property. For now, wait here at the front. I may need a hand with the body. I’ll take Frank to his vehicle and when he returns you can go.”
“Okay.”
Shaw pondered for a while. It would have been better for him to be asking questions over at Claymore. But he knew that had questions of his own he needed to ask when he arrived in LA. He also felt a need to pay his respects at Cath’s graveside. Thinking about Cath stopped his thoughts in their tracks.
“Amy?” He retrieved his cell phone and dialed Amy’s number. It went straight to voice mail. “Listen, Amy, its Dad. I need you to be careful. There could be a dangerous animal on the loose. Make sure Ted’s with you. Don’t go wondering off alone. I have to go to LA. I’ll be back some time on Saturday. If you get a signal, call me. Love you.”
He looked over at the pathway. Frank had already rolled out the sheeting over the tracks and had foraged some stones from a rockery to hold it down.
“She’ll be okay,” Frank said. “I saw them drive off in convoy. The boys are all adept with a rifle.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Frank, do me a favor, when you and Jim work out a Rota, make sure the property is guarded at all times. But can you work in one of you driving over to Breakers Lake in the morning and making sure Amy is okay. There’s no chance of a cell phone signal over there.”
“I understand.”
Frank disappeared into the back of the burger van with some sheeting, then he returned after a few minutes.
“That’s it, we’re ready,” Frank said.
Shaw grabbed his camera from his box in his car. They walked around to the front door with Frank carrying the body bag.
“Stop!” Shaw said. “We need to find you some protective clothing.”
“It’s a vet’s surgery, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Improvisation. Let’s see what we can find.”
Jim stepped aside, and Shaw followed Frank through reception and into the surgery. Frank looked around.
“There we are; gossamer gloves in that box dispenser.” Frank pulled out a pair and put them on his hands. “I just need something for my feet and legs now.” Frank rummaged on a shelf. “Here, give me a hand to fasten these,” he said, and took three garbage bin liners from a packet.
He looked a sight once the liners were fastened over his legs. The other liner, he fashioned with holes and slipped it over his head to cover his body. Shaw walked ahead through the holding room and into the corridor.
“This is not going to be easy,” Shaw said.
There was no way around the body without he would have to walk on some of the bloodstains to get to her head. He thought the sight of
her would elicit some emotional response. It didn’t. Instead, he floated as if in another dimension, looking on dispassionately. This was serious business. There was a job to be done. Shaw took pictures of the body and the blood splatters. He zoomed in on the neck wound, and took pictures from different angles. The top of her vertebrae was visible and crushed. His mind flashed back to the Bullmastiff back in LA. The injuries were not dissimilar. He lifted her nightdress. There were no wounds to the lower body, no bruises to her groin area. But there was some bruising on her upper chest area, and raking claw marks. He took a final picture, and then pulled down her nightdress to preserve her dignity.
He put his camera away, took out the chalk and marked around the body.
“We’ve got a problem,” Shaw said. “I’m worried that her head will come apart from her body when we put her in the bag.”
“Leave it with me, I’ve an idea.”
Frank walked through to the holding room. Shaw heard a crack, and shortly after, Frank returned carrying a wooden shelf.
“I’ll place this at her side,” Frank said. “You lift her head, and I’ll lift her shoulders, then I’ll tap the plank under her with my foot. If I lift her buttocks, we can slide the rest of the plank under her.”
No more words were exchanged as they worked in tandem until Maria was in the bag and zipped. Shaw was still on his haunches, his head in his hands at the ordeal. He felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Come on, Brett, one final effort to the van and we’re done.”
Working their way to the burger van, and with one final struggle to lower her body into the refrigerator, Shaw wondered how the hell the coroner’s guys could sleep at night.
“I feel like we should say some words for Maria,” Frank said.
“Go ahead.”
Frank took off his hat, holding it at his front with both hands, and closed his eyes. Shaw followed him, and closed his eyes. Frank cleared his throat.
“We’re sorry for having to manhandle you, Maria. Rest assured we’ll find whoever or whatever took your life, for the peace and mind of your relatives. You’re in a better place now, and if the Lord has animals up there in heaven, I’m sure he’ll be mighty pleased of your help in looking after them. God bless you. Amen.”
“Amen to that,” said Shaw.
They climbed out of the back of the van, and Frank closed the doors. Shaw shrugged out of his protective clothing, stashing them in one of the garbage bags that Frank had removed. Shaw opened his trunk and stowed the bag. He retrieved his aluminum box, then locked his car. Frank was already in the passenger seat of the box van when Shaw opened the door. He climbed into the driver’s seat.
“I’ll need to go to the office first to pick up an overnight bag. You wait in here until I return. We need the engine kept running for the refrigerator. I don’t want anyone driving off with Maria. Then I’ll drop you off at your vehicle.”
“No problem.”
Shaw glanced at Frank. He was holding a Hogan’s butcher plastic bag on his knees. There was no need to guess what was inside. He could have bought the meat. It could have been part of the package for cancelling the speeding ticket fine. Frank was right. Shaw thought it would be better if he gave Jim the warrants in future.
On the drive over to the office neither of them exchanged words. Shaw ran up the stairs to his apartment, grabbed his overnight bag, then stuffed it with a change of clothes and his toiletries. Shaw arrived back at the van, opened the door, and stashed the bag behind his seat with the aluminum case.
“Listen, Frank. You frequent Ed’s bar. What type of pet does Grimes have that he calls Vinnie?”
“Vinnie is one of his American Pit Bulls. He keeps in the back yard for security. His liquor store is out back.”
“I need you to wait a while longer. I need to walk over to see Grimes. Shouldn’t be long.”
Shaw walked to the end of his street, turned right, then walked along the main street until he arrived at Ed’s bar. He paused, took a deep breath and entered. The smell of stale beer hit him as he walked over to the bar. The conversation and clinking of glasses had stopped as soon as his foot had stepped over the threshold. All eyes had turned in his direction. No wonder really, when he thought the only time he ever entered there, was to haul fighting drunks off for a night in the cells.
“Have you come to tell us what killed Maria?” asked Grimes, as Shaw hutched his butt on a stool at the bar, then rested his hands on the counter.”
“No, just come to fill you in on progress. We don’t know yet until we get the autopsy report. Someone from the forensic department is coming up here from LA tomorrow. After that, we should know more when we get all the results from them and the medical examiner.”
“You must have some ideas. What are you thinking happened?” Grimes picked up two shot glasses and grabbed a bottle of JD. He filled a shot glass and slid it over to Shaw.
“No thanks, I don’t drink,” he lied, and pushed the glass back to him.
“You mean on duty. I’m a bartender, remember? I can see your hands shaking, and I’ve smelt the JD on your breath at council meetings.” He slid the glass back and winked. “Go on, it won’t bite. Then you can tell me what you’ve found.”
“Like I said, until we get the results, I don’t think anything. I just need to ask you what you know about Maria, that’s all.”
He noticed Grimes earlier attempt at a friendly demeanor change to a scowl.
“What does that mean, questions?” Grimes glanced over to a table and shouted. “Annie, look after the bar, I need to talk to the sheriff in private.”
He lifted the flap to the counter and beckoned Shaw through. They walked through to a corridor and into a small office.
“There’s nothing I can tell you about her that I can think of.”
“Well, you received all the applications to rent out the surgery. I was wondering if she had an address in a letter. I need to find Maria’s relatives.”
Grimes had still been scowling up to that point, when his expression changed to a curled-lip smile.
“Oh, yeah, I never thought. Maria told me she lived with her parents when I interviewed her. I have the letter somewhere.”
Grimes opened his file drawer, running his fingers over the nametags. He passed Shaw a brown file. Shaw opened it. The address on the letter was in LA. He closed the file.
“Mind if I take this? I’m on my way to LA. I can inform the parents.”
“Sure.”
“Incidentally, when did you last see her?”
Grimes raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and then answered.
“Wednesday, I took Vinnie for treatment.”
“Nothing serious I hope?”
“Nah, just an injection.”
Shaw glanced out of the window. Two pit bulls were jawing at a tire. Neither was gaining ground with their tug of war. They didn’t look as though they had any injuries. They were fit. Too fit for him to want to walk out into the yard and to inspect them.
“Good, anyway, I’ll talk to you when I know more,” Shaw said.
“I’ll see you out.”
Shaw followed him and noted Grimes shoes. He couldn’t tell the size, but they looked bigger than his did. The same silence when he entered followed him up until he walked through the front door. He clutched the file to his chest. Grimes’ fingerprints were likely all over the letter.
Chapter 9
AMY was pleased that she had worked her way through wanting to go home after she had recovered from her fainting fit. She still wasn’t sure what she had seen. The gang had convinced her it was probably a deer for it to have been moving so quick, for whatever she saw moving among the pine trees to have appeared as a blur. Only her insistence for the boys to re-site the tents next to the shoreline, away from the woods, made her give in to their bickering.
Ted could take a hike as far as she was concerned. Amy sulked, having not taken kindly to being called a soft ass and acting childish. She sat next to Louise o
n a camp chair facing the woods, the lake to her back. She was far enough away from Ted that he likely couldn’t hear them talking. Gyp sat in front, sitting like the Sphinx, alert and forever scanning the tree line. If Gyp could have understood the explanation that the others had given, he wasn’t acting as though he was buying what they’d come up with.
Tanya and Oliver were making out next to the campfire, some five yards in front of them. Johno had gone foraging for logs to build up the fire before darkness fell. He obviously wasn’t frightened of anything that might be out there. Amy could see that Louise was nervous about Johno being out there alone, despite her saying it he’d be fine.
Amy looked over her shoulder for the umpteenth time, and she watched Ted cast out his fishing line. He sat down, and looked over, his vision meeting Amy’s glare. He waved. Amy turned away, facing front, and without acknowledging him.
“Let him stew,” Amy said.
“Let it drop! He was the first to run to your cries for help,” Louise said.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, he probably called you names out of relief that you were okay. It would’ve ruined the weekend if you’d gone home.”
“Suppose.” They snickered and linked arms. “I’ll wait for a sorry first, and then we can kiss and make up. Trouble is; you know how stubborn he can be.”
Louise nudged Amy’s shoulder with hers.
“Ahem, I think you mean how stubborn you both can be.”
“Well, yeah there is that.” Amy said, then laughed.
“What will you do if you’re still seeing him when you go to uni?”
Amy let out a soulful sigh.
“Don’t know. I’m only just eighteen, I mean, he is cute, and all that, but he is three and a half years older than I am. Last night, he said that he’d arrange weekend visits, but then I reckon all men would say that when they’re aroused. I’m not stupid. It’s only been a few months since we got together. It could fizzle out.”
“Is that why you’re acting standoffish, because you want it to end?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure if it’s because I have other things on my mind today. It’s not exactly my fave day of the year. Last night was like a dream though, especially waking up beside him this morning. I’m worried it was a mistake and I’ll get hurt.”
The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles Page 6
