by S. R. Rashad
He puts the suitcase with her body in it, into his truck. He drives down to Lake Wingra. As he approaches the lake, the sight of the full moon catches his eye, overwhelming him. He finds it fitting that there is a full moon out this night. The full moon, the clear night sky and the glow of the moon and stars glistening off the lake, leaves him without words. He gets out of his truck and stands naked at the rocky shoreline, feeling the chill coming from the cold night lake on his bare skin. He jumps into the frigid dark waters, washing the blood off.
There was healing power to her blood, as there is now to the moonlit lake waters. The bloodletting, the human slaughter, bonds him with ancientness, old pagan sacrifice. Indeed he is a murderer. This he knows, but he is also divine, angelic, a being like no other. Could there be others like him who see the world as clearly as he does. Peter is certain, sacrifices must be made. There will be death, plenty of deaths to satiate he's growing appetite. Now, he is sure of his purpose. He stands naked in the moonlight, cleansed, stripped of all disguises, all veils, all inhibitions and all self inflicted restraints.
He pulls the suitcase from the truck and drags it to the lake. He opens the case, finds large rocks and places them in the suitcase with her mutilated remains. The case is sufficiently heavy enough to be weighted down. Peter pulls it into the lake. He watches as it floats along top briefly, then in an instant, it’s gone, submerged to the bottom of the lake. This baptismal lake, the same lake that cleanses this monster and makes him new, will also hold many of his secrets, a final resting place for many of his victims.
Chapter 6
Even an Ace needs an assistant
The prison is on high alert. Intense red and yellow lights flash everywhere. The loud sounds of the prison’s sirens and alarms reverberate through out the halls and corridors.
The sound is deafening. There is a mad rush of guards, as the place is filled with the busy and scurrying activity of huge guards armed with night sticks, batons and mace. The biggest and the burliest of the guards rushes into the room and takes me by my arm.
“You need to come with me, counselor,” he says firmly.
“Yes, of course,” I say.
I’m led out quickly, surrounded by a half dozen guards. Officer Russo is among them.
“Why all the extra attention, officer Russo? A girl definitely likes attention but this is… “
He responds quickly, probably in hopes of calming my fears before they surface in full.
“It’s just protocol, counselor. You never know if an inmate is thinking of taking a hostage and
a pretty young attorney makes for an attractive hostage, to a desperate prisoner.”
“But, isn’t there a no hostage negation policy?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t stop the prisoners from trying anyway. Besides, they’re murderers and rapists. So, there’s that.”
“Ok. Thanks for the attention then.”
We make it through the maze of stairways, corridors, and hideous lights and sirens in record time. Though it was a tense few moments, it was a bit exciting I have to say.
I see the mother of all trucks and its owner are still here.
“That was quick. What is all the commotion for, Laura,” asks Nancy in an excited voice.
“Prison break they say.”
“Wow really...not your client, right?”
“No, he’s safe in his cell I believe.”
“Exciting, no?”
“Yes, it’s exciting, for sure, Nancy.”
“Do you know if this kinda stuff happens often around here?”
“Not to my knowledge, sweetie, no. I don't think there has ever been a prison break.”
“Yeah, I won’t want a band of murderers and escapees roaming the town, eh.”
“Nor would I, sweetie. Let’s hope it’s a false alarm, shall we,” Nancy says with a reassuring motherly tone.
At the moment, I am set back to a sense of ease. Trying to piece together a strong case for the doctor, is going to be a feat for real, a Houdini kinda feat. I got that scum New York banker off, who was caught red handed with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. That took a ton of fancy lawyering, for sure. The problem is, It weighed on my conscience for weeks and sometimes still sneaks up on me, the things I did for that guy, and now this. I don’t know if the money or notoriety is worth it anymore. Let’s see what the particulars of his case look like. Right now, if I have another weird exchange with the doctor where he rejoices in his exploits, I don’t know what…
As we pull into Nancy’s, I spot one of the firm’s cars out front, a very nondescript black, darkly tinted SUV. It might be inconspicuous in the city, but up here, it says government agent,
movie star, or just plain meddling outsider. Whatever the case, It definitely does not say inconspicuous. Out steps miss low key herself, Jennifer Bromley, “Ms Perky” the office likes to call her. I hope I wasn’t like this when I was fresh out of law school, all bells and whistles and no tact. Everyone at the office loves her enthusiasm, though.
“Hi ho there Laura,” as she waves at me with that annoyingly sweet Bambi smile. She's the kinda girl that's so sweet that it makes you wanna puke.
“Jim sent me to help you with anything you might need. I have boxes of material on the Dr.VonNetzer case in the car and I…”
I interrupt her… “Before you dazzle me with your perkiness, and enthusiasm for the law and this case, I need coffee, ok.”
“Oh, can I get that for you? Um…do you want me to…is that something I should do?” She asks.
“Yes,” I say. It definitely isn’t part of her function but I decide to have a little fun, anyway. Let's test the boundaries of her eagerness. Shall we.
“I’ll go get that, ok.” She begins to head into the café. I call out to her…
“Jen, hon…we are not off to a good start here.”
“How is that, Ms. Danger?” She says bewildered.
“Well, Jen dear, where are you going and what are you getting?”
“I’m heading into the café to get you that coffee.”
“Do you know what you are getting? Do you know what I like?’
“Yes…latte, large, no sweetener, with an extra shot,” she says confidently, with that smile of hers.
Ha, the kid has done her home work, indeed. That’s exactly how I like it. This is going to be interesting. She may work out fine after all.
“Okay then, let’s have it,” I say, hiding my smile of joy. Can't let her think I'm that easily pleased.
Overhearing the exchange, Nancy chimes in… “I like this girl. She is gonna surprise you and keep you on your toes, sweetie.”
“We’ll see, Nancy. We’ll see.”
Nancy laughs loudly…
“Sweetie, I made a pot roast. You two come eat with us later if you like, ok?”
“Okay, Nancy…but, we need to make some headway on this case. It may be a late dinner for us.”
‘Well, as long as you remember to eat and not run yourself or that fine young lady too ragged.”
“Sure thing.”
Ms. Perky comes back with my cup of caffeinated joy. As I scan over the ton of boxes marked Dr.VonNetzer that fill the seats of the SUV. I can see we’ll be working into the wee hours for sure. At least there's help. Besides getting coffee and running errands, let’s see how helpful she is. More importantly, how's her knowledge of the law.
“Thanks for the coffee.”
“You're welcome. This is going to be great,” she says with that perky enthusiasm again. That's gonna be annoying.
“I wouldn't use those exact words, but it will be interesting.”
“I just mean this being a big case, and me getting to work with the top female lawyer at the firm…” She says with excitement.
“I can understand your excitement, but for now, let's just concentrate on the work at hand. Let's get these boxes up to my suite and see about getting you a room here, ok.”
“Ok, Ms Danger.”
“F
rom now on, it's just Laura. Unless we are in court or at the office, ok?”
“Sure, Laura…and I'm just Jen,” she says with a smile.
"Okay, just Jen, It's gonna be a long night, my budding young counselor...I hope you like coffee?"
"Yeah sure."
I just stand by the car, in awe of the damn boxes...
"Great...now the question is...how are we gonna get all these heavy boxes up to my suite."
"I'm sure we can manage, Laura ...I may not look it, but I can carry tons."
She's alright, a little eager and naive, but it's alright.
"Perhaps, you can, young lady, but the first thing to learn, young counselor, is why struggle unnecessarily."
We head into Nancy’s and go to the front desk. I ring the bell. And my lovely, cheerful tiny friend approaches.
"Hello pretty lady, whatever you need, consider it done."
I bat my eyes and smile as I lean in on the front desk, looking flirtatiously at him.
"Oh, that would be amazing. We have a ton of heavy boxes in the car that we need to get up to my suite."
"Don't you worry. Me and the boys'll take care of it...and who’s this, lovely young lady?”
"Another attorney from my firm, here to help."
"Does she need a room here?"
"That would be helpful."
"We have one near you but it isn't as nice, but I think it can work."
"Let us have it then. Charge it to the same account, a two week stay as well. Thanks, you sweet man."
"Anything for you. Your boxes will be up soon. Let me show you the room."
Jen leans in and whispers to me…
“He's a bit odd looking, eh.”
“Don't you worry about that, Jen.”
“Here we are ladies” as he hands Jen the keys to a room across the hall from me.
“Thanks again”
“No problem…boxes coming right up, pretty lady.” He says cheerfully as he heads down the back staircase.
“Jen hon, that's a lovely outfit you are wearing.”
“You like it, Laura? Well, the blazer is Ann Taylor and the dress is a vintage I picked up from a little boutique in Brooklyn. And by the way, I love your Donna Karan suit. Being that you're tall, it looks perfect on you. I can't pull her stuff off, I think.”
“Nonsense, Jen, you could if you wanted to. Besides, I wear her cause the women I admired in law school wore her. I feel it's a great way to pay homage to powerful women who inspire. But for now, hon, my real concern is, do you have any sweats or something a little more practical to put on?”
“Oh yes, I do.”
“Great, Jen, I need you to get changed, then go to the café and get a large thermos of coffee and meet me in my suite in 20mins.”
“Ok, great…wow. We are doing it. Fun.”
“See you, in 20 then.”
She seems to think this is a sleep over or some fun playful gathering of girls. But once she sees what I see, all that merriment will change. After all, we are probing into the bizarre and twisted behaviors of the weird and freaky. Nothing Disney here. Nothing at all.
I decide to take my own advice. As I reach into the bottom of my suitcase, so I can put on something that says, “time to get to work bitch.” And hey, nothing says that better than the NYU Law School sweats I got my first eager year there, as a bright eyed young law student, first in my family to go this far. There are so many good memories associated with these sweats; There is still this little ink spot on the right front pocket from when I snapped the pen in my pocket, from slapping my leg so hard, when I heard the news, the Honorable Judge Martha R. Rosenberg accepted my application to intern for her. Now, that was one tough bitch. I hope her toughness rubbed off on me. At times when I’m feeling most confused about the Law or my Lawyering, I remember her saying, “The law is an imperfect system created by imperfect men but with the sole ideal and intent of putting forth our higher selves.” And boy! do I hope I’m putting forth my higher self. I, also, gained my freshman 15 in these sweats. I thought these pants were gonna burst for real. Not to mention the fact that I was convinced I’d never lose the weight. But in my second year, I was back to my somewhat athletic self. And these sweats got some mileage at graduation ceremony, when most girls wore dresses under their gowns, my roommate and I decided to wear our sweats under our gowns, and it felt so right. After graduating with honors, stacey and I drank Champagne and ate chocolate while lounging in our sweats. It was a blast. And putting these on hopefully, will keep me focused on the “Law” part of lawyering.
Then there’s a knock at the door…
“Hello pretty lady, we got some boxes for you.”
“Thanks, give me a second.”
“Ok,” says the tiny voice on the other side of the door.
It’s been years since anyone has seen me in these things. I hope I don’t look silly.
“Ah, there are those boxes,” as I open the door to my tiny man and his buddies whose arms are filled with the boxes that represent the mountain of work ahead of me.
“Ok, where do you want these?”
No one said anything about these hideous, stained baggy sweats. I can never truly escape my vanity, can I.
“Good question…oh, let me clear off this desk.” I won’t have the need to sit here putting on makeup, anytime soon.
“There, all clear, you can put them here.”
“Ok, you lawyers sure do have a lot of paperwork.”
“Ah, you’re telling me. It’s fine. It comes with the territory.” And one day, I’ll be okay with it. I like to fool myself into believing.
Now, here comes Jen to join the party, in her GeorgeTown sweats. We look at each other and have a good chuckle…
“Excellent choice there, Jen.”
“I can say the same for you, Laura,” we laugh some more.
“Great minds and all of that…”
One of the fellows helping with the boxes says, “I hope this desk can hold all these boxes?” breaking our girlie bonding moment.
“Um, you can put a few on the floor. That would be fine.” I say.
“Now that I see them like this, Laura. It looks like a lot of work.”
“It sure is, Jen. It sure is…so, lets get started.”
“Okay, guys, thanks so so much. This is very helpful.”
“Hey, if I were a lawyer, I’d stay and help more, pretty lady,” says my tiny friend.
“I know you would. Here, take this.”
“No, we don’t want your money,” says my little buddy.
“I insist. It is the least I can do for such helpful fellows.”
“Okay, we don’t want to offend but know I would do it for nothing.”
“I know. I know, sweet man. Have a great night.”
“Now, my eager young lawyer. Lets get to it.”
“Um, which box should we open first? Or should we each take a box, Laura?”
“Well, we need to have a system. Here is your first task. Tell me how would you best handle going about it, Jen,” I say in the hopes of seeing how she thinks.
“Lets see…I would start with this one,” as she picks up the box marked ‘police reports.’
“Good choice…and the next?”
“Um…” she picks up a few boxes, taking her time with each, reading each label and the dates on the labels, then chooses the ones that are marked, ‘witness testimonies and witness accounts.’
“Again, solid choices. Lets go over to the bed and try to lay them out in some kind of order and see where we’re at with the police accounts, ok.”
She begins to lay them out…“Laura, what’s the best way to order them?”
“Lets start with dates, regions and kinds of law enforcement…See, some reports date back twenty years, with events they believe to be the work of Dr.VonNetzer. We don’t want to miss a single report whether it’s our guy, or just someone suspected of being our guy. And the FBI accounts will be more detailed and have better time and place
signatures, and they will cross multiple regions. So we have to get creative with how we organize these reports. They encompass a lot. I would suggest we put the whole thing in a pile marked FBI and handle their accounts separately and more comprehensively,” I say with the utmost seriousness.
“Ah, wait…you know what, Jen, find me the account of his arrest. Lets start there. And then, we will work backwards. Lets see how they caught him. I know what the media believes and we’ll be going through those media clippings as well, but how did they actually and factually apprehend Dr.VonNetzer, that is the focus at hand…oh… and see if we have any CI testimony. Sometimes they include them. So look out for that or what you may suspect could be an informant’s testimony. This could also be vital for finding any inconsistencies.”
Jen can hardly contain her enthusiasm and joy of the moment. She is feeling like a little kid, who for the first time, got picked to play on the team with the big kids.
“Okay, okay, I’ll try not to be crazy, but...wow! I mean, this is so great. You and me here in our sweats, working on a big case. I knew good things were gonna happen but…man!”
I still want to be stern with her, but she is being so cute. I’m finding it hard not to enjoy her company. Being at a top law firm, with so many men, ‘A’ type personalities and old stodgy and hardened attorneys, it’s difficult to remain light hearted and fun. But this girl brings out something that I haven’t been in years, fun.
“Okay, Jen, you can be your enthused and perky self, as long as we get some real work done, deal?”
“Yeah absolutely, You’ll be surprised at how helpful I can be and how much I can get done while still…Well…while still being so darn excited,” as she attempts to cover her mouth, letting out a real girlie chuckle.