An Iron Fist, Two Harbors

by Dennis Herschbach

  “I want you to know how sorry I am for your loss, Dave. You must be devastated.”

  Dave murmured something unintelligible, and squirmed in his chair. Deidre thought he was trying to screw his face up, but to her it wasn’t working.

  Jeff continued. “When we exhumed Maren’s body, we searched the area thoroughly for any clue as to who might have been involved in her murder. Unfortunately, we didn’t turn up one bit of evidence, no foreign materials, no weapons, nothing.”

  Deidre had been watching Dave out of the corner of her eye, and she thought he breathed a sigh of relief when Jeff admitted that.

  “Her body was taken to the morgue, where Dr. Coster performed an autopsy. I’ll let her fill you in on what she learned.”

  Judy opened a folder that was sitting on her lap. “I know this is going to be painful for all of you, but I also think you want to know the truth about what happened to Maren. Please, if at any time you want me to stop, or want to be excused, say the word.”

  Judy remained silent for several seconds while she surveyed her audience. Like Jeff, she let her eyes focus on Dave, and held that gaze until he began to fidget with a hangnail on one of his fingers.

  “My examination indicates that Maren was strangled by a very strong person. I base that opinion on several factors. First, there is a small, fragile bone in every person’s throat. You’ve probably never seen it, even on a skeleton, because it doesn’t articulate with any other bone. In examining Maren’s throat, I discovered that bone was shattered. In itself, this would lead to a conclusion of strangulation. Second, there is evidence that two cervical vertebrae, those found in the neck, were misaligned, not enough to have caused her death, but enough to show evidence of a struggle. In my opinion, she was attacked from the rear, by someone with relatively large hands, and who was strong enough to have inflicted mortal damage to her system.”

  Deidre glanced at Dave, and was sure he had tried to cover one hand with the other, but then thought she might be reading more into his actions than really occurred.

  “There are other factors that lead me to believe she was strangled,” Judy continued. “There is no other evidence of her being assaulted. No other broken bones, no bullet holes or stab wounds, nothing that would lead me to believe she had experienced any other trauma than that inflicted to her neck and throat.”

  Through the whole monologue Deidre and Ben sat stoically silent. Dave tried to move nonchalantly as he took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands. His forehead had become shiny, and reflected the afternoon sun coming through the window.

  “Is there any other possibility?” he questioned.

  “Like what?” Judy asked.

  “Some of the guys who came into the bar where she worked were pretty rough. Could they have drugged her?”

  “That’s possible,” Judy agreed. “It takes a while to run a drug screen, and we’re doing that. Did you ever know Maren to use drugs?” she asked, looking directly at Dave.

  “No, nothing like that,” he quickly answered.

  “But, you see, Dave,” Judy rejoined, still focusing on Dave, “Even if she was drugged, that still wouldn’t explain the trauma to her neck. I’m sure you can see that.”

  Dave tried to be smooth with his answer, but it came out more as a squeak than his normal baritone. “I see that. Yes, I see what you mean.” He took a deep breath and seemed to gather himself. He put his handkerchief back in his pocket.

  “There is one more thing,” Judy said, closing the folder for effect. “This may come as a shock to you. Well, probably not you, Dave.” She kept shining the spotlight on him. “Did you know that Maren was four months pregnant?”

  Dave let out a moan, slid off the chair to the floor and onto his knees. “My son. My son. I would have had a son,” he sobbed while rubbing his eyes. When he looked up they were red-rimmed. “How could this happen to us,” he asked, looking at Ben and Deidre as though expecting them to rush to his side. Neither moved.

  “Then you knew she was pregnant?” Judy asked.

  Sounding deeply offended, Dave snapped at her, “Of course I did. Don’t you think she would have told me?”

  Judy pushed more. “When did she tell you?”

  “As soon as she found out,” Dave was getting more bellicose.

  “When was that?”

  “I don’t know, a while ago,” Dave answered vaguely. Judy decided to back off directing her questions at him.

  “Did the two of you know Maren was pregnant?” Jeff asked Deidre and Ben, acutely aware of the stress with which they were dealing.

  Numbed by the news, all they could do was shake their heads. Dave withdrew into his own thoughts and stared at a corner of the room.

  “Judy and I have to get back to town. She’s got paperwork to finish, and I’ve got to close down the office for today. Do you have any questions we can answer before we leave?”

  Ben looked at the investigators through tear-filled eyes. “When will Maren’s body be released to the mortuary? We need to plan her funeral, and want to begin as soon as possible.”

  His words came as a shock to Deidre. In all the turmoil, all she had focused on was Dave’s culpability, and hadn’t given the matter of Maren’s funeral any thought.

  Judy answered immediately. “Her body will be released this afternoon, as soon as I sign off. You can begin making your plans now, if you’d like.”

  Deidre looked at Dave. “I assume you’ll be attending,” she said, more curtly than intended.

  “Huh?” Dave came out of his world of thoughts, somewhat confused. It was plain to Deidre that his mind had been far away. “Oh, sure.” He straightened up, and very pointedly asked. “Why wouldn’t I be there? Maren was the one person in the world I loved. She was to be the mother of my child.” Then he blurted out, “All of you think I killed her, don’t you?” It was as though he had lost all composure. “Well, you’re wrong. I’d never do something like that. Why would I? We were happy together, and Maren was there for me all the time.” Dave jumped up. “Enough of this crap. I don’t have to sit here and take your dirty looks or hear your veiled accusations. I know what you’re thinking, and you can shove it.”

  His hands were shaking and his face was beet red. Dave’s rage was obvious to everyone, and Deidre thought he was ready to crack.

  “I’m done with this inquisition,” he barked. “Call me when you know the time of the funeral. I’ll be there.” He slammed the door on his way out.

  “Sorry you had to see that,” Jeff said, comforting his friends, “But we got to him. He’ll be sweating about this meeting, and who knows how he’ll react. For now, let us know if we can do anything to help. Oh, and look, we’re going to get that guy, bank on it.”.

  After Judy and Jeff left, Deidre sat down at the kitchen table. She was totally spent, and Ben stood behind her so he could rub her shoulders. She looked back at him and tried to smile, knowing that whenever her husband was stressed he rubbed her shoulders, as if the touch and action relieved him.

  “Come on. Let’s find Megan and fill her in on what happened. We’ve got a lot of things to do tomorrow,” he said, seeming to just remember his other daughter. It was dark before they located Megan still sitting by the stream. She was cried out.

  Chapter

  Fifty-Four

  THE DAY DAWNED DEVOID of cheer. Deidre went through the motions of putting a few things on the table for breakfast, but no one wanted to eat. Megan picked at a bagel and sipped from a glass of orange juice. Ben sat with a cup of coffee between his hands, rotating it slowly. Deidre busied herself at the sink, doing nothing. Everyone was startled when Ben’s cell phone rang.

  “Hello, Pastor,” they heard him say, his voice lacking any expression. “We’re holding it together as best we can. . . . No, I don’t think we need meals brought out. None of us has much of an appetite. . . . Honestly, we have a lot of planning to do today, so no, I think not. We would like to see you this afternoon to plan her service, though.
. . . Sure, one o’clock will be fine. In your office? . . . Okay, we’ll see you then.” He set the phone on the table.

  “That was Pastor Ike,” Ben explained to the others, before realizing it was a redundant comment. “He wanted to come out, but I said we’d be too busy. We’re scheduled to meet him at one this afternoon.” He sighed. “I suppose I might as well call the funeral home and schedule a meeting with them, too.” No one objected, and he punched in the number.

  *****

  THE FUNERAL DIRECTOR was more than accommodating to the family’s wishes, and said he’d be in his office at ten. After Deidre cleared the table with Ben and Megan’s help, they drove to town, Ben driving so slowly without realizing he was doing it that several cars were backed up behind them as they followed the hilly road. Eventually, he looked in the rearview mirror and realized he was holding up traffic. Rather than speeding up, he pulled over to the side of the road and rested his head on the steering wheel. Deidre rubbed his back, and he raised his head.

  “I don’t want to go through with this, but we have to.” He checked his side mirror and drove back on to the roadway. His first stop was to his parents, and they came out of the house to meet the trio at their car. They said nothing, but hugged everyone tightly, then led them into the house.

  Steve and Jack were waiting at the table. The remains of eggs and toast were on plates in front of them, and Deidre hoped they had been able to get most of the meal down.

  “Hi, guys,” she said as cheerily as she could, but it didn’t come out right. “We’ve got business to do today, and we’d like to have you come help us with some decisions. Will you?”

  Steve ignored her offer. “Did Dave tell you what he did?” Deidre sat down next the boys.

  “No, but that’s not what we should be concerned about today. There’ll be time for that later. We have to prepare for Maren’s funeral today.”

  “Like where she’s going to be buried?” Jack wanted to know.

  “Yeah, like where she’s going to be buried,” Ben echoed.

  *****

  BY THE TIME ALL arrangements were made for Maren’s funeral, the entire family was exhausted. Jack and Steve reacted as typical kids, wondering how they were supposed to act, alternating between being normal boys and grieving siblings. At the same time, they wanted to be active participants in the preparations. When they went to the flower shop, Deidre and Ben made sure the boys were able to express their wishes as far as the flower arrangements were concerned. They opted to have their own wreath beside the casket, with a banner that read, WE LOVE YOU, SIS. While they were at the florist, Megan had an idea the others bought into.

  “I’d like to take a cross and some flowers to the place Maren was buried in the woods,” she said. “I can do it alone, but I sure would like company. Does anyone want to come with me?”

  Jack and Steve jumped at the opportunity, and Ben and Deidre, although they had reservations, said they’d come along. The florist had crosses on hand, and put together a bouquet for them. The drive to the Drummond Road was only twenty minutes, and they arrived as the sun was dipping behind the treetops. Ben figured they had time to walk in, leave the flowers, and make it back to the car before it got too dark.

  The group talked among themselves as they trudged up the trail to a spot where it was obvious people had been going into the woods. As they got closer to where Jeff had said the burial site was, everyone became silent, and it was as though they were approaching a holy spot. They found an open area under the massive pine tree, but before they could move any further, there was a crash in the brush off to their left. Startled by the noise, everyone froze in their tracks, their hearts beating wildly. Ben expected to see the white tail of a deer disappear in the underbrush. Instead, he caught a flash of the back of a person, darting around trees and running deeper into the woods. Ben sat down so he could catch his breath. The others looked at him for some hint of what they should do.

  “That was a man!” Jack exclaimed. “What was he doing here?”

  “How do you know it was a man?” Ben asked, a little taken aback by his son’s conclusion.

  “He ran like a man,” was Jack’s reason.

  Ben calmed his voice. “Let’s not assume we know who it was. You can’t always tell if a person is a man or woman by their gait. I think all we can say is that it was a person. Do any of you agree with Jack?”

  Steve was hesitant to voice his opinion after hearing his brother rebuked. Megan said she couldn’t tell, but figured the way the person had plowed through the brush, it was probably a man. Deidre remained silent, but only one name came to mind, Dave.

  *****

  AS SOON AS THEY arrived home after placing flowers where Maren’s body had been found, Ben phoned Jeff and reported that someone had been poking around the gravesite. There was little hope of isolating footprints, because so may people had been involved in the recovery of her body, and anyway, there was nothing illegal about curious onlookers. Jeff thanked him and said he’d check the site in the morning, just in case.

  The boys, Megan, Deidre, and Ben spent the evening trying to think of things to do, but nothing seemed to matter. The day had been exhausting, everything that could be said had been said, and as a group they felt stranded in time. Deidre suggested they all go to bed early. The funeral would be in two days, and there were still loose ends to tie up before then. By ten, the lights were out, except in Megan’s room. She looked through her and Maren’s high school yearbook, bitterly remembering the joys she and her sister had shared, joys that would never be again.

  *****

  THE NEWS THAT MAREN was pregnant when she was murdered troubled Jeff, and he couldn’t understand why. He told himself it was natural to be upset by the circumstances, but there was something that kept eating at him. Finally, more to give himself some closure than anything else, he asked for and received a warrant to allow him access to Maren’s medical records.

  “Mornin,’ Jude,” he said as he leaned on the counter. “How’s everything?” Judith Prig, Jude as everyone called her, knew this wasn’t a social call, and ignoring Jeff ’s attempt to make small talk, smiled and asked, “What do you want, Jeff? I know you didn’t come just to see me.” She patted his hand. Jeff thought this was one of the perks of living in a small town, a lot less red tape.

  “I’ve got a warrant to access the med records of Maren VanGotten. Can you get them for me?”

  Jude briefly looked at the court document before saying, “I want to show this to our director before I get them, just to protect my behind. Be right back.”

  Jeff heard her talking to someone behind a partially open office door, but couldn’t make out what was said. Then he heard someone walk down a hall, heard a printer hammering out copies, and in minutes Jude appeared, a folder in her hands.

  “There’s an empty office in here.” She motioned to where she wanted him to go. “This doesn’t leave the office. Okay?” Jude placed the folder on a table as Jeff nodded and took a seat. He opened the folder to the latest entry. His eyes skimmed over the introductory details:

  Patient Name: Maren VanGotten

  Sex: Female

  Age: 21

  Reason for Visit: Suspected Pregnacy

  The patient was examined for signs of pregnancy and it was confirmed she is approximately four months pregnant. She informed me that she has not seen a doctor to this point, and needed confirmation. The patient was given information relating to sustaining a healthy pregnancy, and appeared to be relieved when told her condition seemed normal at the present time. The patient requested that an ultrasound be performed, and one was ordered. The results revealed that she was pregnant with a boy, and that everything was normal. Another appointment was scheduled for a month from this date.

  The last three words of the report caused Jeff ’s eyes to move to the top of the page to where the date was stamped. It was May 3 at 8:45 in the morning, two days before Maren disappeared.

  Jeff sucked in a deep breath of air.
He decided he’d wait until after Maren’s funeral to tell the family about this discovery.

  *****

  DEIDRE WOKE EARLY, long before the alarm went off, and slipped out of bed. In the dimly lit room she could see the outline of her dress, the one she had selected the night before to wear to Maren’s funeral, hanging from a hook on the back of the closet door. Her first thought was that it looked too much like a ghost.

  She tiptoed to the kitchen, and as quietly as she could, filled the coffeemaker with fresh water, poured grounds into the basket, and set it to brewing. In minutes she was sitting at the table, a steaming cup of her favorite drink between her fingers. She hoped she would make it through the day without falling apart.

  She watched the eastern sky first turn gray, then become streaked with pink, and finally saw the red rim of the sun rise. At that time of the morning, against the perspective of the horizon, she could literally see the movement of the sun, and within minutes, it was a red ball in the sky. Wisps of fog rose like thin plumes of smoke from the frost-covered field as the ground warmed, and a profound sense of sadness swept over Deidre.

  Her thoughts turned to the several conversations she had shared with Pastor Ike, and this morning she turned his words over in her mind. As she looked at the magnificent sunrise, she thought, Is this all there is to God, sunrises and sunsets? If there really is a God, surely I should be able to sense Him, if He is a Him. Why can’t I just believe like so many people do? But no! I’ve got to think and question. Shit, I’m so angry right now, if He . . . or She . . . or It was standing here, I’d ask right out, “what good are you? If you can do anything, why didn’t you take care of my daughter? And if you couldn’t do anything to save her, then what good are you?”

  Deidre looked at her hands and was surprised to see that her knuckles were white. She consciously forced herself to relax, and circulation returned to her fingers. Before she could come close to resolving her issues with God, she sensed, more than heard, Megan beside her.

  “I love you, Mom,” was all Megan said. She laid her hand on her mother’s shoulder and gave a squeeze, then went to pour herself a cup of coffee.