Duet

by O'Gorman, Brian

  “No...I...”

  “I really needs something right now. I needs....I needs...”

  “What is it June? What do you need?” said Louis.

  “I needs, a cup of tea and a fuck. Can you see to it dear.”

  They tried for another half an hour to get June to talk about the reservoir again, but she wouldn’t be drawn. They left her to her rambling and her tea and made their way back to the car.

  “What do you think she meant by it?” said Greg.

  “Oh nothing Greg. She is too far gone. Perhaps she saw something, but nothing that we could possibly get her to remember. She is away with the fairies. She took a fancy to you though didn’t she.”

  “I’m just glad she had her pants on this time,” said Greg and they both laughed.

  The radio blared. Dispatch passed them a message to go and see John Rogers, he had some information for them.

  “Perhaps he could shed some light on what has been going on around here,” said Louis.

  “Perhaps, if he hasn’t thrown up on the evidence first,” said Greg. He expected Louis to laugh, but she didn’t. He guessed that some things that he found funny needed to be kept to himself. They set off for John Rogers’ practise.

  If you didn’t know Hurndell, you would never even know that there was a vet in the village. The building was tucked away down a side street near the chemists and the local chippy. The chippy, which went by the name of the ‘Crispy Cod’ served the finest fish and chips that would ever cross your lips. It was owned and run by a cantankerous old bastard by the name of Nathan Dane, who would only employ women, worked them hard and paid them badly. His turnover of staff was the highest in any establishment in a twenty-mile radius. But, the customers kept on coming back, such was the quality of the food he produced. John Rogers was a frequent customer, which would explain his expanding waistline and the perpetual smell of stale fish that seemed to hang around him no matter how much he washed. John would have all good intentions of cooking a healthy meal for himself when he got home, but as soon as he stepped of the practise at the end of the day the waft of freshly battered fish would float up his nostrils and he was done. Fish, chips and mushy peas, and a half ton of ketchup for dipping.

  Today, John didn’t fancy the fish and chips much, not after having to dissect the mutilated remains of two deer. His stomach was always off these days and it didn’t take much for him to be sent off into wave after wave of nausea. It could have been his appalling diet, or it could have been the ten to twelve cans of strong ale that he drank every single night. He didn’t know for sure because he wouldn’t go to the doctor and get it checked out. Sometimes there were just things that you were better off not knowing about. He lived with it, and he made the best of it. That was his secret to a long and fulfilling life, learning to live with it and making the best of it. He certainly couldn’t make the best of other people, which is why he chose to work with animals. An animal, no matter what it was, didn’t have the capacity to lie to you, or make you feel bad. They were honest. If they didn’t like you then they bit you, simple as that, and once that had happened you knew where you stood. You could either win it round or back the fuck off. If they liked you then you wouldn’t get bitten and you could befriend them and ultimately you could trust them. But with people, trust was always a hard thing to come by. John had been down the road of marriage once and he had no intention of ever doing it again. In fact, he was more than happy to stay by himself. Just him, his ale and his chips.

  Today was a quiet day, no call outs had come in since the deer this morning, and it would seem that most pets in Hurndell were fit and healthy. He had seen two cats and an ageing beagle during the course of the morning. After that he had asked Mrs Sharman what the schedule was for the rest of the day and she looked at him and shrugged. That meant that everything was quiet. He told her that he was going to get on with the autopsy of the two deer that had been found by the reservoir and to keep the books clear for the next couple of hours. Then he told her that she might as well close up, go home and leave him to it. She shrugged again and then agreed.

  Now he was sitting in his own waiting room deep in thought about what he had found during the autopsy. He was waiting for the two police officers to arrive so he could discuss his findings with them. He was busy listening to the notes he had recorded whilst doing the autopsy and writing the important bits down so he could relay it to the police. The only part that he was having trouble with was the actual cause of death. It disturbed him. It disturbed him to the point where the ale count was probably going to up to about fifteen tonight just so he could get some sleep. He prayed that he wouldn’t have bad dreams. If he had bad dreams, then the ale count would go even higher. He thought that after he had finished up here he might even nip across the main street to the Meadow Arms for a couple of pints of draught before he went home, that would kick things off nicely. He finished writing the notes and removed the ear piece that he had been listening to his recordings on. The room felt deathly quiet after listening to the gruff and croaky sound of his own voice. Most of the time he liked the quiet, there wasn’t enough of that around these days. But today, the quiet bothered him. The dead animals bothered him and the thought of what might have happened to them up there by the water bothered him.

  There was a loud knocking on the door of the practise which made him jump to the point where he uttered a yelp like somebody had stood on his toe. He stood up quickly and went to the locked door with his heart pounding in his chest and a sweat breaking out on his brow. He fumbled with the locks and then was finally able to steady his hands enough to open the door. He saw Greg and Louis standing in front of him and he invited them inside with a sweep of his hand. The two officers stepped inside and he closed the door behind them.

  “Well, you look like you have had a long day,” said Louis.

  “My dear officer, the good thing about a long day is that eventually it ends. Personally I can’t wait for this one to be well and truly over,” said John. He gestured to the seats in the waiting room so the officers could sit down. He went and got his notes from behind the receptionist’s table where he had been stationed and he pulled up a chair so he could sit in front of them.

  “Did you find anything out?” said Greg.

  “Young man, I wouldn’t have called you here otherwise now would I,” said John.

  Greg shrugged, it did sound like a stupid question, but he was very keen to know anything that would help them sort this one out.

  “I have examined the bodies that were brought in and the first thing I can tell you is that I have never seen animals killed and mutilated in this way in my entire career. You can trust me when I tell you, I have seen some pretty weird and grotesque things that have been done to animals, some of them pretty disgusting. I could tell you many stories that would put you off your dinner and make you have nightmares for months, but this is something new to me. I have heard of it but I have never actually seen it before today.”

  “Come on John, get to the point,” said Louis.

  “Capture myopathy,” said John.

  Louis and Greg looked at each other puzzled.

  “Capture what?” said Greg.

  “Capture myopathy. It’s a condition where an animal is chased or hunted by a predator and it literally dies of fright. It normally happens once the animal has been caught, but in this case I think it happened before they even had a chance to run,” said John.

  “So, something chased those deer and they died of fright?” said Greg.

  “In a way, yes. But whatever it was that captured these animals frightened them to death within seconds of them seeing.....whatever it was.”

  “Jeez,” said Greg and looked over at Louis.

  “What about the wounds on the animals, what caused them?” said Louis.

  “Now that is a mystery to me. Just like we have said before, there is no evidence that anything actually bit them or savaged them in any way. If you look at the edges of the wounds, t
he skin looks....I don’t know any other way to describe it, but it looks shrivelled, like it has been subjected to a very high temperature.”

  “You mean burned?” said Greg.

  “No, not really. There is no sign of any scorch marks, no soot or anything like that, no evidence of a fire of any kind, it’s like they were.....boiled for want of a better word.”

  “What the hell could have done that?” said Louis.

  “I don’t know, but there is other weird stuff too. The deer that was lay on the ground, its gullet was shrivelled up like a prune, and its stomach was the same. The skin on that wound was pointing outwards.”

  “What are you getting at John?” said Louis.

  “It looked to me like something was inside that animal and it made its way out in the nastiest way possible.”

  Louis paused for a moment whilst she took the information in. “What about the other one?”

  “Same wounds on the skin, but this one didn’t have anything inside it. All the internal organs are still intact and the skin wasn’t boiled from the inside.”

  There was a moments silence between them all and then Greg spoke up. “So, something burst out of one of the deer and then attacked the other one, leaving no tracks, no trace of any fight and not a drop of blood?”

  “Well, you are the police officers, I’m just a vet.”

  Louis shrugged, “I’m lost. Could it be some sort of chemical attack?”

  John shook his head, “No, there would have been some evidence of corrosion, blisters on the skin, that kind of thing. Like I say all the injuries are clean. I’m afraid this one is a bit of a mystery. The only cause of death I can be sure of is that they died of fright. Something literally scared them to death. The only thing I can suggest is that if any more turn up then you give me a shout and we can see if the deaths are the same.”

  “Should we call someone in? an expert of some sort?” said Greg.

  John looked stung, “I’m doing my best here. I am only telling you exactly what any other vet would tell you.”

  Louis leaned forwards and patted John’s leg, “Fair enough John. We will keep an eye on the situation and keep you in the loop. Can we have a copy of your notes for the Captain?”

  John nodded and stood up with a grunt. “Call back tomorrow and I will have them ready for you.”

  “Appreciate it John,” Louis and tipped her hat at John and then they made their way out of the door. Greg followed her out looking sheepish and closed the door behind him.

  When they got outside again Louis looked at her watch. “Well, it’s four o’clock Greg, time we were knocking off for the day.”

  Greg felt the usual spark of happiness to be heading home, perhaps for some more action. But there was a part of him that wanted to stay on this case. There was a mystery to be solved here and he wanted to know the answers.

  “What do you make of that?” he said, jerking a thumb back at the vets.

  Louis shrugged, “I really don’t know Greg, but I am going to give El Capitan a ring when I get home and tell him what’s going on. Then it’s his call what happens next.”

  “It’s a strange one though isn’t it? What do you think happened up there?” said Greg.

  “I don’t know. Like you say, it’s a strange one, just like you Bub.”

  Greg shook his head at her.

  “Look, I’ll tell you what, I will report it all in and then I will give you a shout. Can’t have you losing sleep over it Greggy. For now, I just want to get into my scruffs and chill the fuck out with a large glass of red. Now let’s get to the station and clock off shall we?”

  “Sounds perfect,” said Greg.

  They were silent in the car on the way back. They were both mulling over the strange facts that the vet had come up with. It didn’t really explain a thing to them. It asked more questions than it answered. Greg found himself going over the events at the old folks home and the things that June Dobson had said. She said she had seen something fall into the water. He wondered if what she was saying was true, or had she been seeing things again. He didn’t want to let it go, he wanted to talk to her again. Surely there was a small semblance of reason in her, even with the dementia she was suffering. He made a mental note to take it up with Louis in the morning. He wasn’t going to mention it now, he knew better than to push Louis when she was tired, he was liable to get a tongue lashing if he did and then she would never agree to it. They arrived at Greg’s house.

  “See you in the morning big shot, like I say, I will give you a shout later let you know what our next move is,” said Louis. Her eyes were half lidded from the early start they had both had. Greg doubted he would hear from her at all. He suspected that she would be asleep in front of the television before she had reached the bottom of her first glass of red.

  “See you tomorrow Louis,” he said and blew her a mock kiss. Now it was her turn to shake her head.

  He closed the door and Louis drove away. She got to the end of the road and then pointed the car in the direction of her home. She couldn’t help but be a little envious of Greg. It wasn’t a spiteful envy either because she liked Greg. Greg made her job fun again and he bantered well with her. She had worked with some people who didn’t quite know how to take her jokes and sarcasm. Some of them would be terribly offended by it or constantly be asking her what she had meant by some of the things she said. She really didn’t have time for all that shit. But then along came Greg, who could not only take a joke, he could dish them out too. She could see how happy Greg and Nicola were together and you could almost smell the chemistry between them when you went into their house. Louis dreamed of being in a relationship just like that, where everything was comfortable and you could just be yourself. She had tried, God knows, she had tried, but it would always get to a point where she felt that she was being utterly stifled by the person she was with. It didn’t seem to matter if it was a man or a woman either, the result was the same, they were both a pain in the arse when it got right down to it. At the moment, she would make do with being by herself and having things just as she liked them. It wasn’t all bad either, she could make her own schedule, go out whenever she wanted and leave the house a damn mess if she chose to. She would keep reminding herself of all these good things when she started to feel that little spike of longing to be with someone who just understood her. The other big thing about it was that she couldn’t quite decide who she was more jealous of, Greg or Nicola. She was comfortable round Greg and he was a nice looking guy, she certainly wouldn’t have kicked him out of bed if she was given the opportunity. Perhaps she could have taught him a few things in that bedroom of hers, or he could have taught her. Either way she dreamed of finding out one day. Then there was Nicola. Greg had really fallen on his feet with her. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, and the best thing about her was, there was no fakery involved with it. She didn’t mind being seen in her scruffs and without her makeup on. They had been to the pub a few times with some of their other colleagues and Nicola had drank pints of ale, burped and ordered pizza on the way back home. She was down to earth and amazing looking and it was a winning combination. She wanted to take Nicola on a tour of her bedroom too. She began to think, as she pulled up into her driveway, that she was due a one night stand soon to get rid of some of her frustration. Not tonight though, she was far too tired to even think about shit like that, let alone get the energy up to actually do it. Scruffs, wine and phone call. That’s what she needed right now. Perhaps pizza too, she had got pizza on her mind now. So her plan was set and ready to execute by the time her key hit the lock on her front door.

  Her house was a bit of a shit tip at the moment, to put it mildly. Cleaning the place hadn’t been much of a priority this last week. She liked to be able to leave the washing up until it had got to a point where she had nothing left to eat off. It was just unfortunate that today was the day when she had run out of clean plates and cutlery all together, so it would seem that she would have to have a washing up ses
sion after all. She sighed and resigned herself to it. She decided to get it done before she went and got changed out of her uniform and into her scruffs. The moment she got changed out of her uniform her mind set itself to relaxation time and the motivation to do anything remotely constructive went right out of the window. She stacked up the plates and bowls on the side next to the sink and began to run water into the washing up bowl with a squirt of washing up liquid. She stood at the sink watching the foamy water rise to the top of the bowl and then she shut the tap off. She was about to grab the stack of plates and drop them in the water when her mind wandered back to old June Dobson. Something that June had said was skittering around her mind like a beetle in a cellar, something that made her feel the slightest twinge of unease.

  Now it’s here, it’s in the water.

  Now she was looking at the bowl of water sitting in the kitchen sink, wondering what June had meant when she had said it. Was there some sort of creature in there? Was the water contaminated somehow? What did it all really mean? What had June seen? Did she really want to be putting her hands in that water? Would she end up like the deer at the side of the reservoir, scared to a point where their hearts had just given up the ghost and then eaten (was that the right word?) Mutilated. Mutilated beyond all recognition. Would Greg have to kick down her door and find her body still stood at the sink with most of its skin stripped off and internal organs spilt on the kitchen floor like link sausages? What on earth could be so bad that it would literally scare you to death right on the spot where you were stood. Could….

  He phone rang suddenly in her pocket, a loud and shrill noise in the stillness of her home. She let out a little shriek and then scrambled the phone out of her pocket. She looked at the screen, her heart pounding and the adrenaline still surging through her veins at a thousand miles an hour. It was Greg. She tapped the answer symbol and held the phone to her ear.