Looking and smelling the beautiful Poppy was dragging him blissfully away from the uncomfortable reality of the two macabre bags outside that where filled with nothing but horror. Poppy briefly glanced at the barely visible snow covered bags ahead of the Ford, intrigued at Merlyo’s objects of interest before returning her gaze back to him and speaking in her distinctively southern accent, which had a hint of worry within it “Eliot doesn’t know I’m here but I came because I’m worried about him and what’s happening to him” She then paused before continuing, taking a moment to think about her next words carefully “He’s got a bit of an substance abuse problem and I feel it’s affecting his work and well? I’m worried about him! not to mention he’s meeting with the newspapers later on today, the Cleveland Press, News and the even the Plain Dealer! Plus he’s got a meeting Congressman Sweeney coming up soon also! The more stress he suffers the more scotch and opium he takes!” She stopped as he noticed that she appeared shaken and so he immediately interjected himself with a sympathetic tone “Ok! Calm down, calm down! It’s going to be ok!”
He wanted to hold her but would not let himself even contemplate this troubling thought and so instead he awkwardly put his left hand upon her shaking hands and patted them in a reassuring manner. Poppy then suddenly burst into tears at this lacklustre physical gesture at comfort, to the surprise of Merlyo because he did not anticipate this type of negative reaction. He was then even more surprised when she then placed her head upon his right shoulder and snuggled up close to him as she cried some more. The rigidly motionless Merlyo now felt increasingly uncomfortable and instinctively attempted to recoil back but she appeared to not to let him and snuggled up even closer to his lovingly warm body.
She then continued talking, all the while with her voice shaking and quivering with a sad emotion “I apologise for being such an emotional wreck Peter but Eliot’s been under such pressure recently with cleaning-up and modernising the department and preparing Cleveland for all these upcoming important events. We’ve been seeing in other for a while and… and I care for him deeply but I feel that all the pressure is getting to him you know? The other week when I called out your name in the office and you had that meeting with Eliot, I thought that I might be able to talk to you, seen as we have known each other before and I thought you might be able to help me? When you smiled at me it brought back memories of how we used to talk about everything together and I miss that lost friendship of ours. Anyway, I noticed a few weeks ago that he carries opium pills with him all the time in his waistcoat pocket, in this small little silver pill case and he drinks it with favourite scotch…”
Merlyo pulled away from her and looked at her in a somewhat shocked manner because he was startled at this secret revelation that she was currently divulging to him and upon seeing this reaction she quickly continued, not wishing to stop now that she had opened up the floodgates of secrets “He usually takes a hit when something big is about to happen such as the upcoming press conference and meeting with the congressman but more recently he’s been taking bigger doses for trivial things such as like the other day…” She paused to compose herself and relieve her shaky voice, took a deep breath in and leaned back into her seat so as she was further away from the relieved detective “The other day we went out to dinner at Wohl’s and he went to the bathroom and once he returned, about twenty minutes later, he was acting all strange and slurring his words. Then his personality changed and he instantly became happier and had a blasé behaviour about everything but that’s not the scary part because I’ve only ever known him this way! I thought he was ill beforehand! At first I thought it was just his personality type, something unique but now I suspect that I don’t even know the real Eliot Ness at all. Hell! We don’t even make love anymore!”
Merlyo sat up and chocked on his glowing cigarette’s smoke, almost embarrassed at her divulging such intimate details to him whilst talking in such a matter of fact manner, especially after two years of emotional exile. Upon hearing this he decided to interject himself yet again into this enlightening conversation “Poppy, Listen I appreciate your confidence in telling me all this private stuff and I can appreciate the gravity of your current situation but, I mean what can I do? I barley know the guy!” Merlyo did not want to get unwillingly dragged into something complicated with his boss when he already had four gruesome unsolved homicides on his hands to deal with.
The emotional Poppy replied whilst still shaking and now developing a distinctive quiver in her lower lip “Please help me! This is sad for me to say but you’re still the closest thing that I have to a friend in that lonesome department. I only really know you and Samuel but he’s a little ‘strange’ you know? I know how sad that sounds and I know this isn’t entirely appropriate but, but I think I’m in love with him?” Her eyes where now welling-up with tears as she said the last part of her sentence and he distinctly remembered how much she valued her privacy, which is why he never did find out much about her past or her speculated suicide attempt.
He instantly theorised that it must have taken a lot for her to brave the harsh elements, locate him within this vortex of snow and tell him about the tragic state of her current sad love life. She was a fiercely independent and strong willed woman whose steely determination is why he, and many other fellow suiters, fancied her and found her so unashamedly attractive. So seeing such a privately strong person apparently broken as an emotional wreck within his Ford denotes that she was in immense distress regardless of their past issues. The wily detective then saw a unique opportunity here to solidify her regularity within his lonesome life and confirm the friendship that he had been so nervous to ask for in the past.
He continued to smoke to gather his thoughts and waited a brief moment longer for her lower lip to stop emotionally quivering before he spoke again whilst warmly smiling “Sure ok, I’ll help, I’ll talk to him for you, No problem. Are you sure that you don’t want that drink?” Poppy smiled and jokingly punched the shoulder she had been previously leaning on for comfort only a few moments ago as she finally accepted his gracious offer, glad to have anything to take her mind off of the secretively troubling topic that she had just enlightened him on. She took his whisky flask from beside him and opened it up and proceeded to take a swig, not saying anything as she did so and simply smiling whilst wiping her tears away from under her red eyes.
Merlyo then silently offered her a cigarette and this time she accepted as he lit it up before he spoke again, happy at the positive change in mood within the warm tomb of the now sweet smelling Ford “Listen, why don’t you just talk to him about it? I’m sure he’ll understand and lay off the drugs and booze” Poppy shook her head in disagreement as she replied “No! You don’t understand Peter, he’s a driven man and does everything a hundred and ten percent and this is his only way to relax, take the edge off the stress you know?” Merlyo was happy she was using his first name again for the second time that evening, it seemed more personal and intimate as he continued to listen to her intently whilst he smoked “You shouldn’t mix drugs like opium with alcohol, Samuel told me about it and said it affects the heart rate and slows it down. A recipe for disaster or an early grave!”
Merlyo then stopped his frantic smoking which helped calmly sooth his nerves and interrupted her, shocked that she had even spoke to the elusively ghoulish coroner “So you told Gerber about it? That’s great but since when do you speak to Gerber about such things?” An annoyed look suddenly developed upon her face whilst she smoked, irritated at him for breaking her chain of thought and after a moment’s hesitation she replied “There’s lots of things you don’t know about me ‘detective’. Samuel is an oddball for sure but underneath all that strange exterior he’s a really great guy. If you took the time to get to know him you’d understand because he’s different, caring and emotional, not like other men. In fact he’s rather shy and listens to all my issues without judging me and this non-judgemental aspect of his behaviour is what separates him from all ot
her men that I’ve known. Just for the record it’s not what you think, typical men always suspect that if a woman finds a man emotional appealing then he’s weak but it’s exactly the opposite! It shows an inner strength to reveal oneself so openly”
Merlyo was impressed with her detailed observations of the coroner’s behaviour but also wanted to correct her immediately over any misunderstanding about his views of their relationship “I didn’t think anything like that but it’s just that I’m surprised because he doesn’t usually speak or associate with anyone in the office that’s all. Contrary to what you think I’ve tried numerous times to see him outside of the workplace because I actually even feel sorry for the guy being locked away in that morgue all day long with that dreadful company. I’m happy that he has a friend in you, talking of which what do you want me to say to Ness?”
A sudden hard knock then came from outside Merlyo’s window and startled the absorbed detective into a vocal response as he looked to see whom it was “Jesus! Speak of the devil!” A surprised Poppy then leaned over and looked outside his window to see a well-covered up coroner Gerber standing there, wrapped up in a thick brown fur coat with an equally thick brown ushanka-hat upon his trembling head. Only his distinctively round spectacles could be seen resting upon his noise tip, which had dared to brave the cold temperature of the snowy weather. His one hand held up a black umbrella which was fully opened as it effortlessly deflected away the falling snow whilst the other held his signature Gladstone bag tightly.
Merlyo then rolled down the window and heard Gerber’s distinctive voice “Where’s the victim?” to which he replied “She’s over there in the burlap bags! Wrapped up in newspapers! Sorry but I started without you because I wanted to get a look first! Good thing to judging by this weather!” Merlyo could see the excitement in Gerber’s face as he looked at the twin bags in anticipation before the detective continued to speak “I think she may have been put in some sort of cleaning agent solution again because the skins texture is ‘funny’ like the rest, tough to the touch, like bacon! Perhaps you should just go and take a look for yourself!”
By now Gerber was literally drooling with excitement at inspecting the fresh victims remains and awkwardly smiled as he waved at Poppy before then trudging off through the snow and over to the macabre bags. She politely smiled and raised her eyebrows in return as she watched her other friend move deeper and deeper into the snowy weather and almost disappear from view as he finally stood over the awaiting bags. Gerber’s excitement overwhelmed him as he knelt down to examine the contents whilst attempting to also control his unruly umbrella as it buffeted around uncontrollably in the strong and blustery snowy wind.
After they both took a few amusing seconds watching the clumsy Gerber talk to himself from the safety of the Ford’s warm sanctuary, Poppy then spoke again “Well this has been nice, Please talk to Ness if you can, I’d really appreciate it, I’d better go” The mood within the Ford had noticeably changed with Gerber’s unwanted interruption, as if his interference had ruined something potentially special taking place whist it was still in its early stages of its infancy. They both continued to amusingly observe Gerber as he clumsily opened his Gladstone bag and talked to himself whilst the wind and snow attached him. Gerber was so excitable that he only briefly took off his spectacles in order to hastily clean them from the accumulated moister and snowflakes. He then started to hastily take down notes whilst examining the remains of the unfortunate victim, all the while mouth vapour silently revealing that he was having a fully-fledged conversation with himself.
Merlyo then turned to Poppy and warmly smiled before he spoke “Sure ok! I’ll try and talk to him. Listen, if you ever need to talk to somebody about anything, I’m here for you ok?” She lovingly looked back at him with a newly filled familiar warmth within her eyes and smiled before she replied “Sure! Ok! Thanks! I appreciate it!” Then she did something he was not expecting and leaned over and quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek before she then hastily got up and out of the warm Ford and into the apparent blizzard outside. The invading snow and wind mercilessly battered the interior of the Ford as it tried to infiltrate the warm sanctuary of quiet contemplation and surprising revelations. The struggling Poppy finally managed to close the door behind her after some effort and quickly disappeared into the whiteout of the snow before then immediately reappearing and shouting through his window “You take care of yourself!”
The startled detective responded with an awkward smile and an equally awkward wave before she once again disappeared into the surrounding snowy barrage that consumed her. A pleasantly shocked Merlyo sat there with a permanent grin edged upon his face and thought about how much he still longed for her and did not realise how much until being so close to her heavenly presence. It was as though she had stirred something deep within him, a primal force of nature that required his immediate attention and these latent lingering feelings for her where then unfortunately interrupted by the unwelcome presence of a cold coroner Gerber.
The coroner had simply opened the door, leapt into the Ford and started to dictate his findings to an annoyed looking Merlyo “Well detective! You’re wrong! There was no chemical concoction on the skin this time and what you detected was the combination of extreme cold and rigor mortis. This time our unknown killer also waited till riga-mortis set in until he dismembered this one, unlike the all previous ones, so that’s new!” A disgruntled Merlyo then spoke after irritatingly stubbing out his cigarette, annoyed at Gerber’s elaborate intrusion into his warm refuge and his apparent disregard for the intimate encounter that he had with his ex-love “Excuse me?”
Gerber had unintentionally dragged the poor detective kicking and screaming from his paradise fantasy of reminiscing about Poppy and back into this morbidly depressing reality. Gerber then continued unabated whilst smiling, eager to elaborate upon the information requested by the irritable but inquisitive detective “He waited a few hours after death until he dismembered the arm and legs however, like the previous ones however the decapitation took place whilst she was…” He paused for a moment before then finished his alarming sentence, understanding that even for a socially awkward person such as himself, such grotesque imagery was appalling “Whilst she was still alive! He probably ripped her head off using his bare hands judging from the neckline bruising. Yet again there are no signs of any use of other implementations for the head, fascinating!”
As Gerber pondered this unknown motive of the killer in the sightless distance, Merlyo felt particularly ill and instinctively put his hand over his mouth as if to faint a cough before he replied “Oh! I see!” His head was now spinning in a nosedive after just being filled with immense joy and happiness from Poppy’s unexpected encounter to then be filled with such immense horror and disgust. The callas Gerber continued, oblivious to the detectives emotional distress and physical discomfort “Whomever he is, he must be immensely strong! It’s all in the neck muscles you see, rigor-mortis sets in a few hours after death but then, after a while the body will relax again. The muscles in her neck were retracted which means she was alive during the act of severing and thus the cause of death was most likely the actual decapitation itself! Now if she was dead during this process then that’s a completely different story because…”
Merlyo jumped in and interrupted Gerber before he could give him anymore of the unwanted details which were making his already ill stomach even more turbulent with disgust “Ok! Ok! I get the picture, I can wait for the report! I’ve asked the men to search the immediate area for the rest of her. I especially want her head for identification” Gerber looked at him in worrying agreement and then got up and was motioning to leave the Ford when he stopped, turned and said in a more labour some tone “I’d better get back and examine some of these findings” He then awkwardly smiled before getting out of the Ford and unleashing the intruding blizzard from outside again within Merlyo’s private sanctum sanatorium.
The snow attempted to invade the
detective’s sacred warm sanctuary yet again before it was thankfully stopped by the harshly slamming door of Gerber. Merlyo felt a sense of dread flow over him as he looked out at the barely visible officers as they scoured the area in the thickening snow for the elusive head. He then lowered his weary head upon the steering wheel whilst still clutching it and slowly closed his eyes in a vain attempt to catch some well needed sleep. His body was willing him on to escape the juxtaposition of emotions that was swirling within his troubled mind, escape in the only way that he could which was through the elusive act of sleep. He then heard the ominous yet familiar sound of dripping water coming from directly behind him and kept his eyes squeezed closed and simply pleaded “Leave me alone! For god sake!”
The leaving Gerber turned in the snow as he heard this vocalisation and surprisingly saw something rather peculiar, a silhouette of a young girl in the back seat of Merlyo’s Ford whilst he remained still with his head upon the steering wheel. Gerber then momentarily reran the thoughts of his previous encounter with the detective and speculated that he might have simply missed her presence within the back seat. After more thought however he was adamant that he did not and just as he squinted his eyes to get a better look at the apparently wet little girl, the mysterious sight was lost within a heavy gust of snowy wind. He grimaced whilst taking off his spectacles and came in closer as he cleaned them with his finger before then placing back upon his nose and squinted to see that the lonesome detective was in fact very much alone within his automobile. Gerber then raised his eyebrows in a perplexed confusion and secretly suspected that it was a phantom morgana which was created by the snowy weather in combination with his moist spectacles and turned to disappear within the early morning snow.
The Noir Evil Page 15