Fancy Gap

by C. David Gelly

  Now in one stupid moment, Russ Franklin was finally dead as far as he was concerned. He couldn’t use that identity anymore. He berated himself for being so stupid. He had put his daughter in jeopardy.

  Dumb…really fucking dumb, he thought.

  The family at McDonald’s and the clerk at Toys“R”Us were suspicious. The burned-out brake light was his fault. He was lucky the officer didn’t ask to look in the back of the van. Then again, he thought, the officer was lucky. I would’ve shot him dead if that had played out.

  He looked at Katie, who was sitting on the carpet playing with her new dolls. At least she was happy. He undressed and turned on the hot water in the tub.

  It was bath time. He knew that would help him forget his utter stupidity.

  Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub.

  Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub.

  He hummed softly as he smiled and poured the warm water—and touched himself.

  CHAPTER 32

  The weatherman had predicted rain for Fancy Gap for the whole day. They had gone to bed early the night before as Louisa was tired from her trip to West Virginia. Quinn slipped out of bed and wondered what he should cook up for breakfast. He decided that French toast might be the perfect first meal of the day for a rainy, soupy kind of day.

  By the time he had the bread in the frying pan, Louisa came into the kitchen, yawning. She was wearing one of his denim shirts with only the bottom button fastened. Her long, red hair flowed over the collar and her shoulders down her back.

  Quinn smiled as she stopped in front of him. She quickly recognized the twinkle in his eye. She slowly buttoned all of the buttons from the bottom to the top.

  “I know what you’re thinkin’ big man. So please hold that thought awhile because I’m starved and that French toast looks scrumptious.”

  He laughed as he turned a toast over. “That’s fine with me as long as I get to pour maple syrup all over you for dessert later.”

  She winked at him and said, “Forget the syrup sweetie. You get your honey bear out, and let’s play with that later.”

  She blew him a kiss. They ate by the fireplace on the lower level as the cloud deck settled over the house. They sipped their coffee as Louisa told Quinn of the prior day’s activities in West Virginia.

  “For the life of me, Quinn, I have never seen three more fucked-up people than I saw yesterday. The one from Surry County was probably the most normal, but even that was a stretch. He was at least six feet tall, skinny as a lamppost, with long, scraggly, dirty brown hair and nasty, one-inch-long fingernails. The guy who lived there was probably fifty years old and half as tall as the other one. But, I must say, for a short, fat, ugly guy, he was hung like a horse.

  Now the midget or I should say dwarf was a whole other matter. I was certain that it was a child they were with as I ran to the trailer. But as I got closer, I realized that I was looking at something else—and I mean something else!

  She was real short, even by dwarf standards, with muscular legs and widget fingers. She had the tightest, curly, blond hair I’ve ever seen. Now this woman was not pretty. She had a Miss Piggy face with lipstick smeared all over it. Her eyelash extenders were outrageous. And she was one pissed off woman when we burst in on the party because she seemed to be enjoying the not-so-tender moments happening on that picnic table. I think I dreamed of that freak-fest last night. I need to find a way to purge those bad pictures.”

  Quinn was beside himself with laughter. He wished he had been there to see what she so vividly described. Yet he knew what he had seen yesterday was important in some way.

  “Well, Louisa, my day wasn’t quite as exciting as yours. The sheriff and I attended the prayer Mass at the church. When we arrived, the sheriff was overwhelmed by the press. I decided to take the long way around the church in order to avoid the mayhem. It’s a good thing you weren’t there.

  As I got to the door at the back of the church, I heard Father Tony having words with the altar boy. It seems the young man was a little late getting to the service. I saw Father Tony shaking the boy’s shoulders pretty hard. The boy was almost in tears. This is the second time I’ve seen him abuse an altar boy.”

  “Quinn, don’t you think the word abuse is a bit much?” Louisa interrupted.

  “No, Louisa, I don’t. The priest was in a fit of anger both times. It’s one thing to scold a child for being late, but to violently shake his shoulders is a whole other matter. So that little scene simply reinforced what I witnessed last week. But then something else happened. While he was saying Mass, I suddenly noticed his Franciscan knot. Do you know what that is and what is signifies, Louisa?”

  She shook her head from side to side.

  “His robe is bound around his waist by a rope that symbolizes being guided by Christ. The rope is tied with three characteristic Franciscan knots, which signify the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. So, all of a sudden, I see the significance of the rope. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest to you that somewhere in his possession is a piece of white rope that the lab folks could match up with what we found on the trail, as well as with the fragments recovered from Pete Preston’s neck.”

  Louisa sipped her coffee, deep in thought.

  “Quinn, I fully understand what you’re suggesting. But…but I truly believe that Father Tony is a man of faith. I just have a hard time even thinking that he’s responsible for the abductions and Pete’s death. And I don’t think you’ll find anyone else who will even consider that a possibility. That is really hard to fathom…in any way shape or form.”

  “Louisa, I understand your skepticism. You’re much more Catholic than I am. And that’s all right. But I also know that you went to great lengths to protect the Catholic interests whenever FBI investigative resources were used to investigate the sexual abuse of young boys by parish priests in several jurisdictions.”

  “Now just hold on god-dam one minute, Quinn. I don’t know where you heard that horseshit, but it just isn’t true. Those priests received the same kind of professional and ethical treatment any other person would have by the FBI investigative resources under my supervision. And who told you that bullshit anyway?”

  “Well, actually, no one did. I just needed to see how you would respond to the suggestion.”

  She flipped him the bird “Well, you sanctimonious son of a bitch. For you to even suggest that I would compromise my professional ethics just because I’m a Catholic believer is pure bullshit!”

  “Well, that makes me feel better. At least I know that while you might not agree with my preliminary investigative premise, you’ll keep an open mind as I explore the possibilities here.”

  “And just how does Mister Smarty Pants expect to do that?”

  “Well, to begin, exactly what do we know about good Father Tony? Where is he from? How did he get to this rural outpost? Has he had any problems in the past? We need to conduct a complete background investigation on the man. And I mean complete, all the way from his childhood to now. Nothing left out or skipped. Louisa, I think you’re looking at him through rose-colored, Catholic glasses. I know he’s been a contributor to the entire Carroll County community. That’s all well and good.

  But you know far better than I that there are many pillars of the community in jail for all kinds of heinous crimes. That little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me to take a hard look at the man. Frankly, I hope I’m wrong and he’s squeaky clean. That’s a win-win for him, the Prestons, and the community at large.”

  Louisa leaned over and looked intently at him. “Quinn, be careful here. This could be some mighty thin ice you’re skating on. I believe the man is a saint. You’re going to have to come up with some pretty concrete and convincing stuff to change my mind.”

  Just then, Quinn’s cell phone rang. He picked it up and saw the sheriff ’s name displayed.

  “Good morning, sheriff. What good things do you have to share?”

  “Well, Quinn, I know
you don’t have your television on, ’cause if you did you’d already know the news.”

  “Hold on for a second,” Quinn interrupted him, “I need to put this on speaker phone so Louisa can listen.”

  “Good morning to you as well, Louisa,” the sheriff continued. “So it appears our killer was on the move and had Katie with him. He was seen yesterday afternoon with her at the McDonald’s off of Highway 52 in Mount Airy. A family eating there saw them and matched the little girl to Katie’s picture in the restaurant window. The elderly father also noticed they were traveling in a brown panel van with Virginia tags. The father was sharp enough to get the tag number.

  According to the witness, the man with Katie was wearing a Green Bay Packers jersey, cutoff jeans, and running shoes. He was at least in his fifties or sixties and had a black goatee. He could have been as tall as six-feet-five.

  The second place they were spotted was at the Toys“R”Us in Winston-Salem. The clerk there gave basically the same description, except she thought the man was in his sixties. She told the Winston-Salem officer who responded that the little girl seemed to be very happy and called him daddy. She saw them drive away in the same brown panel van. She stated that he put the little girl in the back of the van.

  It seems that they then drove on Highway 52 back to Virginia. A Mount Airy officer stopped them on a brake light out just before the border at Cana. Unfortunately, he hadn’t received any notification yet on the sightings. He did check the driver’s license and registration. It seems that one Russ Franklin of Hillsville, Virginia, was the diver. The officer suggested he get his brake light fixed as soon as possible. The driver was courteous and cooperative. The officer didn’t see the little girl.

  We then sent a number of deputies to Apple Street to visit Mister Russ Franklin. Let me make a long story short. Russ Franklin died four years ago. So now we know that our killer is smart enough to create a new identity for himself.

  The Mount Airy officer thinks the killer is in his late fifties and is fairly tall. He’s well educated and definitely not a local redneck. So there you have the news of what happened yesterday afternoon. What do you think?”

  “Now all of that is really surprising. He drives into North Carolina and stops at McDonald’s in Mount Airy and then drives to Winston-Salem. Hell, none of that makes any sense of all. Why risk getting caught in so many possible ways? That just doesn’t make sense,” Quinn said.

  “Well, in a way, it makes all the sense in the world.” answered Louisa. “He now must certainly see himself as Katie’s father. She probably acted like any other five-year-old and threw a fit because she wanted a new toy or doll. He needed to prove to her that he has all of the parental power to meet her every need. After all, in his mind he’s her daddy. He threw caution to the wind in hopes they wouldn’t be recognized on their little field trip. He has to stop at McDonald’s because she probably has to go to the bathroom or was hungry. Then he thinks the bottom is about to fall out when the Mount Airy cop pulls him over.

  In his mind, he had a very bad day. Yet she’s probably happy because he took her shopping, which reinforces his daddy role. Now he knows that we’re aware that he’s still nearby. He also knows that we know how smart he is because he has put a lot of planning into this whole thing. We also know he is now thinking in his demented mind as a parent. He wants Katie to be happy as his daughter. That is to our advantage, at least for now. We need to worry when he stops thinking like her parent and… kills her.”

  “Well, darn it, Louisa, is there any way to predict that?” the sheriff asked.

  “Unfortunately not, sheriff,” she sighed. “What we have now is a lunatic who is pissed at himself for making so many mistakes yesterday. He could lose it as soon as tomorrow and kill her.”

  “Well, Louisa, that doesn’t make me feel any better. I only wish I had some notion as to who the killer is,” returned the sheriff.

  “Well now, you know Quinn has his mind made up as to who the killer is, sheriff,” Louisa said sarcastically.

  He flipped her the bird and stuck his tongue out at her. Quinn proceeded to tell the sheriff of his suspicions.

  “Sheriff, based on what you just told us, I’m even more convinced that we need to know more about Father Tony. Just think about it: Most accounts yesterday were of a tall man with a black goatee. Father Tony is about six-foot-five and has a silver-gray goatee. What’s to say he didn’t color it black just for the trip yesterday? Then he lightened it up last night. Listen, I’m just suggesting that we need to get more information on the man. Sheriff, do you even know his full name?”

  There was a pregnant pause on the other end of the line.

  “Well, Quinn, actually I don’t. I’ve always known him as just Father Tony.”

  “So there you go, sheriff. We simply need more data. Let me suggest this: I’ll work with Leroy to find out what we can on him.”

  “A word of warning, my friend. A lot of folks here in Carroll County like Father Tony. Be careful you don’t start the rumor mill going about what he might have done. He doesn’t need that, and neither do we. Bad news spreads like wildfire here, Quinn. Some folks might take matters into their own hands if they believe he’s the killer.”

  “Sheriff, I totally understand your concerns. I’ll be careful as we gather the pertinent facts. I’ll separate fact from innuendo. He deserves his day in court, and I’ll give it to him. I won’t nail him to the cross before I’m positive he deserves to be there.”

  “Louisa, the task force is meeting in my office at three this afternoon. Can you make it?”

  “Sheriff, you can count on me being there. We need to see who besides our innocent priest might be a suspect in this mess,” Louisa said, looking at Quinn.

  Quinn shot her the bird again just before dialing Leroy’s cell number. He made arrangements to meet him at the deli for lunch.

  * * *

  He was already seated at the deli when Leroy arrived, wearing light khaki pants and a polo shirt with the Carroll County Sheriff ’s Department emblem on it.

  “You look pretty sharp, Sergeant Jefferson, if I do say so.”

  Leroy laughed as he sat down. Quinn gave him a recap of what his suspicions were. Leroy thought about it for a while and shook his head.

  “That doesn’t surprise me, Quinn. You don’t know this, but I coach the boys’ junior varsity basketball team at the high school. I like it, and the boys like me. I think some of the white boys enjoy having a black coach who knows his stuff. Couple of the boys asked me if I knew Michael Jordan. I told them I did.

  Anyway, a few of my players were altar boys at the church. From time to time, I overheard them talking about Father Tony and how abusive he is. Some of them told their parents that Father Tony slapped them when he was angry at them. I asked some of the ones I knew well if their parents ever reported these instances to the sheriff ’s department. They all said their parents told them to forget about it because Father Tony was a saint and would never do anything like that. I even mentioned it to the sheriff, and he told me he thought the boys were bullshitting each other to see who could fabricate the best story. I didn’t buy that, Quinn. I could tell these boys were telling the truth.

  Some of them were genuinely frightened of the man. They were between a rock and a hard place, because their parents thought it was an honor for them to be altar boys. I even asked a couple of them if he had ever sexually abused them. Two of the boys who suspected him of harboring gay tendencies told me that he had touched them in places he shouldn’t have.

  So, yes, Quinn, I do have my suspicions of Father Tony. I know he’s done some wonderful things for the community, but the boys I spoke to were pretty emphatic. The man may be a saint in most eyes, but he’s sure as hell a sinner in some others, including mine.”

  Quinn looked at him for a moment.

  “Wow, all of that is very interesting and really doesn’t surprise me. So this is what we need to do. I want to talk to the two altar boys I witnessed him g
iving shit to. I need to hear what they have to say. The second thing we need to do is find out as much about Father Tony as we can. Where was he before he arrived here? Where did he live? Has he had problems in the past? We need to turn over every stone. I can just about guarantee that we’ll find something, Leroy.”

  Leroy took out his phone. “Let me get a hold of some altar boys.”

  * * *

  Louisa joined the sheriff at the biweekly meeting of the investigative task force. This was her first meeting with the group. She arrived a little early to meet with the sheriff privately. He poured her a cup of coffee as they sat in his conference room.

  “So what do you make of Quinn’s suspicions, sheriff ?” “Louisa, let me be honest with you. Quinn is in good company with Leroy Jefferson. Leroy confided in me some time ago about innuendos he’d heard from some of the boys he coaches. Nothing concrete, mind you, just talk from kids who might not like the good Father. I personally like him. Not to say that he’s perfect, but I have a hard time thinking he could be in any way responsible for this.”

  “Sheriff, I agree. I get nothing but good vibes from him. But I’ll admit I have been wrong in the past. Please don’t tell Quinn I said that. But I’m usually not wrong when it comes to character. I just think he’s a good and just man. I also know that Quinn is about to tear into his past to find out if there’s something we should know about. And it looks like he’s going to get some great help from Leroy.”

  Just as she had finished her sentence, Levi burst into the conference room.

  “Sheriff, you need to turn on your computer. Hi, Louisa.”

  “Levi, can it wait?”

  “No, it can’t, sheriff. You need to see what has gone viral on the Web…again.”

  The sheriff turned toward his desk and booted up his computer. Levi typed in an address, and a video started to play. The camera panned around a nearly empty room until it focused on a little girl, sitting on a rug in the middle of the room and playing with dolls. The little girl was Katie, and she was naked. A message was painted on her back: “Is she worth only fifty thousand dollars?” The camera then focused on the Toys“R”Us bags lying on the floor. The video ran for a minute and a half.