Blind Man's Bluff

by Gene Lembrick

  “I need some air; it’s stuffy in here,” Ida says. “Come outside with me, please?”

  “Sure, see you later, Dominic.”

  The girls head toward the exit and as soon as they get outside, Brooklyn sees Lauren and Vicki arguing, with Chris in between them. Brooklyn stands by the door to watch what is going on, horrified by her two friends’ arguing over her boyfriend. Ida is trying hard to keep from smiling.

  “Stay away from my man, bitch!” yells Lauren.

  “Your man? He’s not interested in you! Besides, why would he want you when he could have this chocolate!”

  Lauren and Vicki begin swinging at each other, as Chris tries to separate them. An angry Brooklyn makes her way toward them. Brandon and Lucy walk outside drinking punch and catching air after their long dance session. They look at each other and shake their heads at the foolishness. Lauren, Chris, and Vicki notice a pissed-off Brooklyn marching toward them, with Ida bringing up the rear. Suddenly, Brooklyn stops in her tracks, raises her hands, and says, “I’m done with all of you!” She walks away. Lauren goes after her. An embarrassed Vicki heads in the opposite direction, leaving Chris standing alone with Ida staring at him a few yards away. Ida runs after Vicki, but not before calling Chris an asshole.

  “Whatever, Ida!” says Chris. He fixes his shirt and says to himself, “The hell with it; I’ll deal with this shit later.”

  Then he heads into the party.

  • • •

  Lauren catches up to a crying Brooklyn who’s walking home. Brooklyn’s is angry now and slaps Lauren so hard that she leaves a handprint on Lauren’s face. Lauren fights back tears from the sting of the slap, but also because her friend is hurting.

  “Why, of all the guys at school, did you fool around with mine behind my back?” asks Brooklyn. “We’ve been friends since elementary school! I share everything with you, bitch!”

  Lauren is holding her stinging cheek. “I deserved that,” she says. “Chris and I go back a long ways also. I’ve always liked him and I was always jealous of you two. My emotions for him got the better of me, but I’m so sorry that I hurt you. Could you ever forgive me?”

  “Is it that serious? How long has this thing been going on between you two?”

  “Since last summer. When I saw him with Vicki I snapped! He played me for a fool!”

  Brooklyn’s face is twisted with shock. Hands on hips, she asks, “Are you kidding me?”

  Brooklyn storms up close to Lauren’s face, and Lauren flinches because she thinks Brooklyn is going to hit her again.

  “All of y’all played me for a fool! I knew he had to be cheating! Well, I’m done with him and as for us, I don’t know if I can forgive you; it’s going to take time. The jerk didn’t even try to come after me. That shows how much he really cares.”

  Brooklyn grows calmer, and is accepting the night’s events. She stares at Lauren, who looks sad like a dog that knows he’s done something wrong.

  “The only pass I could kind of give you is that you’ve known him for so long,” says Brooklyn. “If you like the jerk, all you had to do is tell your girl something; I probably would’ve let you have him. Sister before mister; have you forgotten that?”

  “I don’t know what to say. I’m done with him also. The hell with Chris!”

  They walk home together. Crickets are at their loudest. Neither says a word during their walk to their neighborhood.

  • • •

  Ida catches up to Vicki who’s angry with herself for falling for a playboy like Chris. “Hold up,” Ida says.

  Vicki turns to face her. “What? Come to say ‘I told you so’?”

  “No, not my style, but I did tell you so,” Ida says with a laugh as she puts her arm over Vicki’s shoulder as they walk.

  “Whatever.”

  “I knew all along about you and him,” Ida says. “I even knew about him and Lauren.” Vicki stops in her tracks; she’s shocked by Ida’s revelation. “How did you know?”

  “Because I pay attention to details where most don’t.”

  Now Vicki has an attitude and folds her arms. “Well, then, why didn’t you tell me, old friend?”

  Ida gives her attitude right back. “Because you weren’t honest with me, as well, old friend! Remember that one day at your home when you were talking to that not-important, not-relevant guy from over the summer? I knew damn well that was Chris!”

  Vicki is humbled by Ida’s words and asks, “Really?”

  “Yes, really. Now what?”

  “Well, I am done with him. I am just glad I never gave him any! He wasn’t ready for any of this good chocolate.” She says that with a laugh while striking a sexy pose on the sidewalk.

  Ida says, “Whatever!”

  “I’m sorry that I lied to you,” Vicki tells Ida, with sincere remorse. “I should have listened to you about how much of a jerk Chris is.”

  “Isn’t no telling what that clown would’ve passed on to you, messing with so many girls,” says Ida. “He’ll get his. Karma always wins.”

  “I’ll apologize to Brook,” says Vicki, “but not Lauren! You’ve been a true friend to me since the day I moved here; I should be the same to you as well. We good?”

  Ida hugs her and says, “Forever!”

  “Everyone knows that Brandon is off-limits,” says Vicki. “Do you think I could get one of the twins away from the other?”

  Ida rolls her eyes and says, “Would you get a grip with all of this boy talk! There’s more to life than having a man!”

  • • •

  Jade visits Dr. Buckley’s office a few days after the school party.

  “How was the party?” says the doctor, but Jade isn’t in a talking mood today.

  Dr. Buckley learned years ago to allow the patient to control the dialogue. There are times when patients may not say a word, but usually Jade has something to discuss. Unfortunately, today isn’t a day that she’s an open book. After thirty minutes of silence, Jade leaves the office. In all their sessions for over ten years, this was only the second visit where she refused to talk.

  • • •

  In the police station, Detective David receives a fax from the Meriden police department on the autopsy of Korey Moore, along with a full file on the young lady. He studies the file to see that she was killed by a laceration to the heart organ and internal bleeding due to a collapsed lung. The wounds were consistent with the same weapon that was used on Riley Klein, Austin Lee, and Hailey Peterson. All had died instantly.

  David is focused on staying late, even If off the clock. He walks over to the coffee machine to pour himself a cup. He’s deep in thought and isn’t fully paying attention to the coffee while pouring it into his cup and spills some onto his white shirt. “Dammit!”

  He takes off his shirt and goes to the restroom to try and wash out the deep brown stain. Luckily, the coffee doesn’t soak through to the T-shirt he has on underneath. He forgets to remove the pin that he always wears on duty.

  While Detective David is pulling late hours, so is Dr. Buckley; he is in his office reviewing his notes while writing new ones on his long time patient.

  “I’m afraid that my success over the past 10 years with Jade Hughes has been minimal. She still holds on to bitterness from her childhood. I’ve helped her cover up her pain to others, but I can’t help sensing that those very same feelings are still there just under the surface. I’m doing my best to help her with her anger that she still feels. I believe that my mission truly is to save this young life before it’s destroyed completely. Then and only then will she have a productive future. I just pray that I can help her before she self-destructs…I must help her before it’s too late.”

  It all comes together

  Back at the police station, Detective David calls his wife Halina. “Hey, it’s me.”

  “Hey, how’s your day g
oing?”

  “Stressful. Working on a case that’s getting to me. I feel like I’m real close to solving it.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “There’s something about it that makes me feel like I’m close to cracking it open,” he says.

  “I made pot roast, potatoes, and green beans for dinner,” Halina says.

  “Sounds great, but I’m going to work a little late tonight.”

  “Really, again? Cooper, this is becoming a pattern.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  After a moment of silence, Halina changes the subject. “Cooper, I know I’ve said it before, but I’m truly sorry.”

  She can’t see that he’s gritting his teeth. It’s a topic that he doesn’t want to relive with her.

  “Cooper, did you hear me?

  “Yes, I know you’re sorry, but I’d rather you stop reminding me of what happened.”

  “But…”

  He stops her before she can continue and says, “But nothing. Stop saying sorry. It just reminds me of my childhood friend that I lost and you being my wife, my present day best friend’s deception.”

  “I understand.”

  Cooper tries to lighten the mood. “I thought you were going to say that you were sorry for putting that wedding dress fabric on my shoe on our wedding day.”

  They both laugh, which hasn’t happened in a long time.

  “So you know all about that now?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “My sisters all said that I better do it; don’t break tradition.”

  “I assumed that. I guess it worked.”

  “I love you.”

  Cooper often hears Halina say that she loves him, but he hasn’t said it back since she cheated on him. He leans back into his chair and listens to her breathing for a moment on the other end.

  “I love you, too. Kiss junior for me. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  After he hangs up from the call with his wife, he begins to collect his thoughts on the murders that could be connected to Rossi. He pulls out the file on Austin Lee that he received from the Bloomfield police station. He thinks to himself, All right, Austin, why you? From what I can see you were a good kid. Honor roll student, no problems with the law or school. Why did someone want you dead?

  He puts down that file and moves over to the information on Riley Klein. He continues with his thoughts: So, Riley, you’re the same as Austin. Good student, class president, elite swimmer. However, for some reason you were a target also. Could it be random?

  He moves on to the file on Korey Moore. “Okay, Korey, you were the big break for us by escaping this psychopath. Without your help, we’d be nowhere, but we aren’t where we should be. I got to figure out, why you three? Good student, scholarship to go to college as a swimmer, active in your community. Wow, Ms. Moore, your parents did a lot of moving in your short life: Meriden, New Britain, Newington, and born in East Hartford, Connecticut.

  David gets up from his desk to check on his shirt to see if it’s dry yet. Damn, still wet. He gets a refill of coffee. While he’s pouring, he says out loud, “So Korey used to live in East Hartford.”

  David puts his coffee mug and the pot down and runs over to Korey’s file and reads, “Korey Moore, East Hartford, lived at one time on Morningside Road. He puts her file down and then reviews Riley Klein’s. He says, “East Hartford, Morningside Road!”

  Detective David fumbles through his files to get to Austin Lee’s. “All right, buddy, you’re the final link to make sense of this. Please, please, originally be from the same street as the others. He opens up the file on Austin’s residential life. Bingo. Every victim outside of Hailey Peterson at one time lived on Morningside Road. David’s mind goes to that very same street where the child was attacked by some drug addicts early in his career.

  He begins to relive in his mind the red-haired child who was attacked that day. He remembers being in deep grief about the child for a while afterward. Being a police officer is a mentally tough job; a crime against a defenseless child becomes personal for some officers. David has dealt with a few dozen child abuse cases in Hartford and East Hartford, but the name Hailey Peterson doesn’t ring a bell. He now wonders if she is connected to the attack on the red-haired child on Morningside Road.

  Downstairs, David signs himself into the evidence room to gain entrance. He opens up the homicide evidence box for the case involving Hailey Peterson. He briefly looks at the photo of her dead body and takes a head shot of it with his cell phone. Her face was in good condition compared to her body. He exits the evidence room, checks on his shirt. Crap, still wet. He pulls out of his desk drawer a police windbreaker jacket to wear out of the building. It’s a beautiful fall night, but he doesn’t forget that October weather can be unpredictable. On the front of the jacket is a police badge with his name underneath. The word “POLICE” is in bold letters on the back. He heads out of the station, forgetting to attach his safety pin to his T-shirt or jacket.

  • • •

  On a hunch, he travels across the Connecticut River to the East Hartford police department. Everyone knows him very well from his days there as a uniformed officer. After being buzzed into the secured doors, he heads directly to the evidence room.

  On duty is Officer Wilma Irving.

  “Hello, beautiful.”

  She’s a twenty-four-year officer who, at age fifty-nine, is looking forward to retiring in one year. She’s considered the mother figure of the much-younger officers on the force. She’d once been a sergeant, but grew irritated with her fellow white-shirted supervisors. She demoted herself to get back to plain, old-fashioned police work.

  “Oh, Cooper, you need to stop flirting with me. People will talk,” she says with a laugh.

  He kisses her on the cheek.

  “You look good,” she says. “What brings you to the minor league?”

  “It’s crazy in Hartford, but often you need help from the so-called minors to win in the majors. We’re all family. Wilma, I need to review my case from about ten years ago. It may be connected with a current case I’m dealing with now.”

  “Okay, suga, sign your name in the log, and help yourself.”

  “Thanks, Wilma.”

  David signs and begins to search for the evidence box to the Peterson arrest.

  In a matter of moments, Detective David locates the box containing the files from the Hailey Peterson arrest and Jimmy White’s death. He views a photo of Hailey at the time of the arrest, and compares it to the one he has of her on his phone. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear they were two different people. A hardcore meth addiction is not a pretty thing. As he continues to dig, he sees that the arrest he made was on Morningside Road. He comes across a photo of the victim, the red-haired seven-year-old child. He thinks to himself, Could these murders be committed by this child? Korey Moore had said. “The killer she escaped had red hair,” he muses aloud to himself. “Dominic said that he was followed by a red-haired, masked person that he named Rossi.” He thinks to himself how Dominic has the entire state calling this psycho Rossi now. He sees the red-haired child’s name, Jade Hughes. He takes a picture with his cell phone of Jade, reseals the box, and places it back onto the shelf.

  “Thanks a lot, Wilma. I believe I’ve located what I needed to see,” he says as he signs himself out in her log book.

  “You’re welcome. One more year till retirement for me. I want you to make sure you and your beautiful wife attend my retirement party.”

  “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  As David walks to his car, he scrolls through his contacts on his cell phone until he comes across the name of an old co-worker, James Bruce. They were co-workers with the East Hartford police department. Right around the time Cooper transferred to the Hartford PD, James got hired to work for the F.B.I. in Washington.

  �
��Hello, James Bruce, Federal Bureau of Investigation. May I help you?”

  “Hey, Jim, it’s Cooper David.”

  “Hey, Coop, how are you?”

  “Damn, Jim, you don’t have my name in your contacts? I’m hurt,” Cooper says, sarcastically.

  “Oh, cry me a river,” says Jim with a laugh. “Dude, I lost all my contacts, so I’m glad you called so that I can reprogram you in. What’s up?”

  “Are you on duty?” Cooper asks

  “As we very speak, Cooper.”

  “Good. Jim, can you use your technology to age-enhance a photo of a child?”

  “For Hartford’s finest, right away! I’ll have it for you in minutes. Just text me the picture now if you have it.”

  “Good look, bro’. I’ll send it now.”

  “How many years do you want to enhance?”

  “Exactly ten. And thanks again.” With that, Cooper sends the photo of Jade to his buddy in D.C.

  As Cooper is getting into his Crown Vic, his cell phone rings; it’s an unfamiliar number.

  “Hello, Detective David.”

  “Hi, this is Thomas Bradley of Bradley Florist.”

  “Yes! Thomas, I’m glad you called! What do you know?”

  “I saw your email that you sent me about the Monkshood flower. About if I’ve had any buyers.”

  Thomas Bradley has Detective David’s full attention. “Yes, what do you have?”

  “Last year, according to my notes, a Jade Hughes had me order a dozen. Since that’s not an easy flower to just pick up, I ordered them from Canada. Pick-up was a week later from me.” Detective David is silent; he feels like he has just seen a ghost.