by Deryck Jason
“Look Doc! I’m not kidding. It freaked me the hell out, and something put a huge line down the corridor wall, took a huge scratch right out it”
“Okay, look, stay in the office and go over the security tapes from earlier, I’ll be down as soon as I can ok”
“Ok good, see you soon.” said Tim, hanging up.
Alone in the office, sitting on his chair Tim looked around. Quietly he picked up a spare collapsible deck chair and wedged it firmly under the office door handle.
MacNamee sat up in bed trying to process the information he had just been given. Hearing the conversation, Greta rolled over.
“Is everything ok?”
“You know, I have no idea.”
Taking the piece of paper with Oates’ number on it, MacNamee started dialing into the phone. In Staunton, Oates was in his office going over crime scene photos from the motel office. He had been sleeping up until a half hour before he arrived at the motel, now he was wide awake. He was particularly curious about the shot of the apparent killer, taken from the video camera. Looking at the face intently, he tried to convince himself it was anything other than what Deputy Lynch had suggested. His cell phone rang loud in the quiet office. At this hour there were very few people in the station, the volume of the ring seemed to remind him of that fact.
“Sheriff Oates.” He answered formally.
“Hello Sheriff, this is Doctor MacNamee returning your call.”
“Hello Doc, thanks for being so prompt.”
MacNamee hated the fact that because he was a Doctor, everyone felt it was alright to call him “Doc.” He felt it was a tacky nickname, unrepresentative of the years of hard work he put in at medical school, not to mention the cost to achieve the title of “Doctor.” But, like so many things in life he knew people would not stop calling him it, so he had stopped scolding people years ago. Instead he sat quietly, annoyed at the fact.
“So” continued Oates “What’s the word?”
“Well, I had my man at Hallcombes check up on Connor and it turns out he’s in there, been there the whole night it seems.”
The deflation in Oates voice was more than apparent.
“Ah, I see.”
MacNamee picked up on the disappointment instantly.
“I can gather that this wasn’t the wonderful news you were hoping for.”
After a moment, Oates brought himself back from his thoughts.
“No, it’s great news for you, but it puts me in a little bit of a pickle.”
“How so?” asked MacNamee.
Oates switched the phone to the other ear and held up the still picture from the video camera.
“I trust this will stay between us?”
“Of course” stated MacNamee confidently, with full intentions of informing Crass on everything that was about to be said.
“We had a double homicide here this evening; pretty brutal actually.”
“I’m sorry to hear that Sheriff” MacNamee said sympathetically.
“Thank you, but the reason I called you is that we have a picture of who we think, might have done it and it kind of looks like a child. Now, Andy Williams stayed in this particular motel the night of the hit-and-run and we thought...”
“And you thought it might have been Connor who did it. Well I’m sorry Sheriff but he’s been in his room the whole time.”
“Yeah that’s right. Look I’m sorry I wasted your time, thanks for your help.”
Oates seemed like he was about to end the conversation before MacNamee interjected.
“Hold on a minute Sheriff. You said it ‘kind of’ looked like a kid. What does that mean exactly?”
“Well, it’s probably nothing…” The Sheriff was unconvincing in his doubt “But my Deputy seems to think the picture doesn’t look like a child at all.”
“Well, what else does it look like?” asked MacNamee curiously.
“A dummy.”
“A dummy?”
“One of those dummies those magician guys use, to make it look like it talks.”
“A ventriloquist dummy!” stated MacNamee, perking up.
“Yeah that’s it. I had to admit it does kind of look like one of them, but that’s ridiculous right?”
“Yeah.”
MacNamee answered as fear churned in his stomach. He remembered the way Connor’s dummy looked at him, and the voice he heard.
“What was the killer wearing Sheriff?”
“A black suit, why?”
“No reason I guess. Well if I find anything out from Connor I’ll let you know.”
“I’d very much appreciate that Doc, thanks.”
“Ok, Sheriff; take care.”
As MacNamee hung up his mind was turning rapidly. A bear’s footprints, a possible killer dummy, none of this could be real. He was fairly sure of this reasoning but still, it was an awful lot of coincidence. He jumped out of bed, anxious to get to the hospital, hoping that when he got there he would finally get some good news.
CHAPTER 21
Gravel crunched under tire tread as MacNamee pulled into Hallcombes. Although he was anxious to get there, thoughts rolling in his head, being dissected by his analytical mind meant it took a lot longer than it normally would have done to arrive. After turning off the engine, MacNamee wasted no time exiting the vehicle. He powered across the parking lot to the main entrance; something was going on in his hospital and he was aching to find out what. There was a buzz around the halls; unusual for this time in the morning. The night staff were lingering, chatting to the morning staff instead of their usual pleasantries before heading home right away. MacNamee walked expressly to Crass’s office. He did his best to body swerve other staff members he met along the way, knowing they would want to know about the strange goings on. Passing up his polite knock he thought it would be best to simply enter Crass’s office quickly and quietly. MacNamee felt tense. Closing the door behind him he produced his cell phone from his pocket. Picking out Crass’s name from his contact list he called him right away. He thought better about using the intercom, any announcements would alert his presence to the staff and open him up to further badgering. Crass answered his cell straight away, as MacNamee knew he would. Usually, a polished professional like Crass would not have dreamed of using his cell phone at work. However today, in light of current events, the old man would have wanted to be reachable at all times.
“Greg, come to the security office” was all Crass said before hanging up. The snappy instruction from Crass did nothing to ease his tension. With a deep breath MacNamee slinked out the office and headed quickly to his destination.
MacNamee entered the security office, the classic shade of “Institution mango” adorned every inch of this room and MacNamee had never liked that, it felt only slightly different to the patients’ room because of it. Crass stood, breathing into his hand next to the sitting Tim.
“Close the door” instructed Crass. As MacNamee obeyed, the old man continued “I’m assuming you saw the sights in the hallway?”
MacNamee hesitated then replied.
“I saw the score on the wall, but I never stopped to search for the prints, I don’t want to speak to the staff right now.”
“Good” said Crass, nodding.
MacNamee looked down at Tim who was clearly shaken and exhausted.
“How are you Tim? You’ve usually gone home by now.”
“Not today Doc, not until you’ve seen this.”
MacNamee simply stood waiting, he didn’t question what it was he was expected to see, assuming his explanation was about to arrive.
“Take a seat in front of the monitors Greg.”
“I’d rather stand to be honest sir.”
“Fair enough” replied Crass who then gestured to Tim to start the video.
Tim took over in the explanation.
“So, I went through yesterday’s security tapes like you asked. I started from lights out, figuring that was the only time something could’ve happened in the halls wi
thout anyone noticing.”
MacNamee nodded in agreement.
“Really…” Tim continued “…There wasn’t much going on for the first hour, but just after ninety minutes...well see for yourself.”
MacNamee stepped closer to the monitor showing a video of the length of the west wing. Connor’s door was mid-way up the corridor, almost half way between the top and the bottom of the screen. The angle of the camera was complimentary of the distance; however as anyone who had ever walked in the west wing would tell you, it was an unnecessarily long corridor.
“What am I supposed to be...”
“Just wait” Crass interrupted.
After a moment the screen shook slightly.
“Wow! What was that?”
The young doctor asked quietly, turning to Crass.
“We think that’s where it landed” said Tim softly, staring at the monitor.
Confused, MacNamee turned back to the screen. Breath-like condensation billowed out as Dixie-whose body was invisible to the camera-got ready to move to Connor’s room. After the condensation moved a few feet the wall beside it started spewing sparks. Bright orange sparks flew from the concrete causing MacNamee’s mouth to fall open. Wide-eyed he watched the condensation and sparks move as one straight up to Connor’s room, where the sparks stopped. The condensation continued billowing for a moment before that ended as well.
“What the hell?” MacNamee was barely able to utter, his throat was so dry.
“Hold on” urged Tim quietly as he gazed at the screen in preparation.
A minute passed. MacNamee wanted to ask what he should be waiting for but he saw Crass and Tim stare intently so he decided to wait it out. MacNamee stepped back when a bright surge of light shone from Connor’s room.
“What the fuck was that?” asked the young Doctor, having had more surprises than he could take these past couple of hours.
“It stays lit for about half an hour before it goes dark again.” Tim said wrapping up the show.
MacNamee turned to Crass who was staring back at him, his wise eyes telling his apprentice that he had no idea what was going on either. MacNamee composed himself.
“Ok, so, best guesses here guys, what’s going on? What was that moving down the hallway?”
“It looked like something’s breath to me.” Tim said slowly.
MacNamee swiveled his gaze back to Crass who shrugged his shoulders in agreement.
“That would be my guess.”
“Ok, I’ll buy that. But there was nothing there.”
“Nothing we could see” stated Tim.
MacNamee was so unsettled by this last comment that he didn’t even realize he raised his voice.
“What does that mean?”
“Just what he said,” answered Crass. “There was obviously something in the hall that night, I’ve seen the prints. But I can’t explain why it didn’t show up on the camera.”
MacNamee relaxed a little. The fact that Crass was ready to accept something beyond the realms of science was cause enough for him to as well. The old man stood, thinking. Although he had a very scientific approach to most matters he was no ignoramus. There was clear evidence that proved there was something in the hallway, something that simply could not be seen by the human eye. Unbeknownst to the three was the fact that the beast was seen by one pair of eyes that night, Connors’.
“Ok” MacNamee relented “Let’s say there was something in the corridor last night, and that was it’s breath we saw in the video, that would have put its height at more than seven feet off the ground.”
“Closer to eight” Tim interjected
“Ok, well there are only a handful of people in the world who could even come close to that, and with the amount of condensation there was...no one has a lung capacity like that.”
Crass and Tim met eyes.
“What?” asked MacNamee, noticing the glance.
“I saw the prints in the floor” said Crass “Tim said he told you they were paws, but I looked at them in the light.” Crass paused, “they look more like hooves.”
“What do we do now then? Call the police? Tell them there was an intruder in here last night?”
“And show them this?” Crass asked rhetorically. “No, Greg, we don’t want to involve anyone else until we know what we’re dealing with.”
MacNamee wondered if this decision was the best one. He felt it was common practice to report any intruder (no matter how unusual) to the proper authorities. But, at the end of the day, crass was his boss and it was his decision to make.
“There’s more Greg.”
MacNamee sighed “What?”
“I took a walk past Connor’s room after I saw the tape, and all his toys are missing.”
MacNamee turned white.
“Did someone take them?”
The image of the ventriloquist dummy staring at him flashed into his head, with the Sheriff’s description of their main suspect ringing in his ears.
“Well someone did yes, but I have the only key, plus the backup in this office, and Tim was in here all night.”
Tim looked up at MacNamee.
“And I sure as hell didn’t go in there.”
MacNamee looked intently at Crass before speaking.
“Ben, you and I need to talk, alone.”
MacNamee had his hands in his hair before the door even closed in Crass’s office.
“What Greg? What’s got you so agitated?”
“You mean apart from that tape?”
Crass scolded him with a look and MacNamee was apologetic.
“I’m sorry Ben. I know what you meant; it’s just been a rough morning.”
“For all of us,” reminded Crass. “Have a seat.”
Again MacNamee would rather stand but he knew that this time Crass’s suggestion was actually a disguised order. The two sat down at opposite sides of the desk. The room was warm, the colors complimented the temperature, provided a very comfortable setting in which to unwind and fill out paperwork. Crass didn’t believe in clutter, his office was efficiently organized without looking barren.
“Ok Greg, spill it!”
“I got a phone call this morning from the Sheriff of Staunton, just outside the city.”
“Oates right?” asked Crass, his memory of Andy William’s death report still fresh.
“Yeah, that’s the guy. Well, he asked me to check on Connor this morning so I called up Tim and asked him to check in on him but…but I’m sure Tim already told you that.”
Crass simply nodded, waiting for the punch line.
“The sheriff told me after I called him back that the reason he was asking about Connor was that they had just had a double homicide over there and they think the killer may be a child.”
“Well of course it would make sense he would ask us, what with Connor’s high profile and the fact his father was killed in Staunton…”
“I totally agree, but here’s the thing. Sheriff Oates told me they couldn’t be sure it was a child. They have a still photo taken from a video camera at the scene which is dressed like the ventriloquist dummy Connor had in his room, the dummy you just told me disappeared sometime last night.”
Upon hearing this Crass simply sat back in his chair and clasped his hands in his lap. MacNamee looked at him with begging eyes.
“Ben, tell me I’m crazy, tell me there’s another explanation.”
Crass looked down at his hands, unable to tell the young Doctor what he wanted to hear. In the silence, MacNamee started to lose his temper.
“Doctor Crass, please tell me there’s another explanation!”
“I’m sorry Greg but I just can’t. Yesterday, sure I would have said there was no way that could happen, but, in light of what we just saw I can’t rule anything out right now.”
“But it’s a toy! It’s not possible!”
“Greg, use your brain! Ignore what you’ve been taught for a moment and look at the evidence. Something made large hoof prints in a solid concr
ete floor. Something which stood eight feet tall and was able to scratch a concrete wall so hard, it created sparks as it moved. Something which was absolutely invisible to the naked eye, a feat in itself utterly impossible to comprehend; and now the boy’s dolls have disappeared from a locked room after a mysterious light illuminated it. I really don’t see how science can explain these facts Greg, can you?”
MacNamee didn’t argue. If he was being honest, he couldn’t really see how the evidence could be explained scientifically either, he just didn’t want to admit it. After a long moment of pondering, MacNamee finally spoke.
“Ok, so what do we do?”
“Let’s make our next move scientifically; the logical step is to talk to the only witness to these events.”
“Only witness? You’re talking about Connor?”
Crass nodded.
“It would be best to let Frieda do it. As we’ve discussed, Connor seems to enjoy making a fool out of him the most so he might be more inclined to give away more information with Frieda.”
“We have to be careful though. If this is going the way we think it is, we’ll have to let as few people knew as possible. We don’t want to start a panic.”
The two men sat silently for a moment; both getting the feeling this whole day was going to get worse before it got better.
Connor Williams sat directly across from Paul Frieda, the colorful table was a stark contrast to Connor’s dark temperament right now. As the realization set in that he had the power to kill, an air of omnipotence was slowly filtering into his body.
“So Connor…” Frieda began. “You’ve probably noticed that people in the hospital are a lot more chatty today.”
Connor didn’t respond, he was aware of the fact but chose not to acknowledge it. Unyielding, Frieda continued.
“Do you know why that is?”
Connor smiled, relishing an opportunity for entertainment.
“I could guess.”
“And what would be your guess?”
“Hmm…”
Connor looked off into the distance, feigning deep thought.
“Probably because of the man in my room, the one who brought the light…”