by Matt Drabble
He’d organised the town hall meeting without consulting anyone. The elected officials had all toed the line and congratulated him on an excellent idea. He’d only informed Gaines at the last possible minute. He looked over now at the scowling cop bristling at the end of the row of seats on the small stage.
The town hall held several hundred people at a push and most of the town seemed to be squeezed into the building. He’d organised the meeting to announce that the crisis was over. He’d stand on stage, front and centre and leave no-one in any doubt just as to who ran this town.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he called out with authority as the microphone boomed his voice across the heads. “We meet tonight in celebration as our town has once again overcome the odds and risen above the fear brought into our community. I am pleased to announce that this very evening the man responsible for the heinous acts that have plagued our town is currently sitting in a police cell.” He let the news sink in to grateful faces. “We have once again proven that Denver Mills is an ironclad bastion of community and togetherness that cannot be broken.” He let the rapturous applause wash over him and even had to wave some of the audience down as they stood to acclaim him. “I’ll let Sherman Gaines furnish you with the details,” he added magnanimously.
He sat down and waited for Gaines to stand and walk to the microphone. He’d instructed the guy in the sound booth to lower the microphone volume just before Gaines spoke. It was a petty and childish thing to do, but he figured that he deserved a laugh.
Gaines stood before the microphone and spoke into it, but his words were muffled. Todd smiled at his prank before the volume was increased and the feedback whistled around the room. Gaines stood back red faced to some good natured catcalls from the crowd.
“I think that Mr. Todd has perhaps jumped the gun a little here folks,” he began as Todd looked up in surprise. Gaines held up his hands to hush the anxious faces. “Early signs are that we do indeed have the correct suspect in custody, but nothing as yet has been proven and we haven’t charged the man in question.”
Todd held onto his own anxiousness. Dixon had told him that Tommy Marsh was the killer and that it was a cut and dried case. Why exactly would Gaines be dragging his feet? Was Dixon’s information accurate? Was Dixon lying? Suddenly the hastily arranged town hall meeting seemed a bad move.
“When we have something definite I can assure you all that you will be informed, through the proper channels,” Gaines finished.
Todd knew that the statement was aimed at him and he had to swallow his anger towards the officious prick. Someone was going to get royally screwed for this.
He stepped down from the stage and refused to follow Gaines out of the side door. He decided instead to go through the crowd, declining questions and answering with platitudes only when absolutely necessary. He had to find Dixon. He had to speak to the idiot twins Trinder and Burns and he had to find out what the hell was going on.
Tommy watched in horror as Ally staggered in through the police station door supported by the young deputy. Trinder’s nose was splattered open and he held Ally with one hand and his ruined nose with the other.
Tommy had been left alone in the station’s one jail cell since his arrival late that afternoon. Trinder had offered little in the way of conversation, save to say that Gaines would be in later. About 20 minutes ago Trinder had left for some personal errand which had left Tommy alone.
The station itself looked pristine as did his cell. There was rarely any action seen in Denver Mills to necessitate more than one cell and four employees. His bedding smelled freshly laundered and the toilet positively sparkled. All in all it seemed more like a hotel room than a jail cell. He had been sitting on the bed when the door had crashed open instead of gently swinging and his internal alarm bells had gone off with deafening clarity.
He leapt to the bars and called out. “Ally? Ally what’s happened?”
She turned to him and he could see that she was scared, but seemingly uninjured. She certainly looked better than the deputy.
“Trinder!” He called loudly. “What’s going on? Was it Trotter? Is Ally ok?”
“Shut up shouting!” Trinder snapped back. “She’s fine. I’m the one with a busted nose.”
“So you saw him?” Tommy’s heart leapt with the best possible thought that Trotter had been witnessed by an officer of the law and no-one was dead. He would be set free and proven innocent. “You saw Trotter so now you can let me out of this damn cage.”
“Easy chief. The only thing I saw was your girlfriend’s right hook,” Trinder barked irritably. “And I’m going to lock her in a cell next to yours.”
Just then the door flew open again. Ally screamed involuntarily and Tommy jumped at her exclamation rather than the intrusion. He turned to see Gaines and Doc Norton enter. The old doctor seemed to have aged immeasurably. His usual cheerful demeanor appeared to have fallen from his face and been replaced by a sickly pallor of stress and strain. Gaines was no spring chicken anymore and he too seemed older and frailer than Tommy remembered from only a few days ago.
“TRINDER!” Gaines shouted. “What the hell’s going on here? Half the damn town must have heard your ruckus.”
“Don’t ask me, this crazy bitch just smashed me in the face and went hysterical.”
“He’s here,” Ally cried. “He’s real and he’s out there.”
“Who my dear?” Doc Norton asked gently.
“Trotter,” she stated firmly. “I saw him.”
“Bullshit,” Trinder said as he plugged his nose with tissue paper.
“I saw him,” Ally reiterated.
“I don’t know what you saw Ms Chambers, but you’re clearly upset,” Doc Norton said as he walked over to her. “Why don’t you just tell us what happened?”
Tommy listened intently and kept silent as Ally told her tale. He also kept a firm eye on Gaines as he listened. To his dismay Gaines’ face showed little sign of real interest.
“That’s quite a story Ms Chambers,” Gaines said when she’d finished and Tommy’s heart sank at his tone.
“Oh for Christ’s sake Gaines you don’t believe her?” Tommy asked incredulously as he peered through the bars.
“I believe that Ms Chambers obviously cares about you a great deal Mr. Marsh,” Gaines replied snidely.
“Jesus you’re incredible Gaines. Are you really that blind or are you really that desperate?” Tommy snapped. “What about you Doc?”
“I think that Ms Chambers has been through something traumatic for sure,” Norton said with consideration.
“Bullshit,” Trinder said again.
“Do you really think that Ally would make up a story like this?” Tommy demanded. “Why the hell would she?”
“Well I think that’s obvious Mr. Marsh,” Gaines answered. “If Arnold Trotter has just chased young Ms Chambers down Main Street, then you couldn’t possibly be guilty now could you?”
“You’re unbelievable Gaines.”
“Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
“I know.”
“Now now ladies,” Norton interrupted. “Bickering will get us nowhere.”
“You can’t tell me that you believe this nonsense?” Gaines asked.
“When you get to my age Sherman you learn to never rule anything out.”
“It’s bullshit!” Trinder offered for a third time.
“Young man if you have nothing of contributory value to offer then perhaps you should stay silent whilst your elders and betters converse,” Norton said witheringly. “Might it not be a good idea to check out Ms Chambers’ story? It couldn’t hurt to send your young deputy to have a quick look see? Unless of course you are going to miss his sparkling repartee?”
“Huh?” Trinder said confused.
“Trinder go take a look round,” Gaines ordered.
“This is bullshit,” Trinder mumbled to himself as he took the tissue plugs from his now functioning, if a little swollen nose
.
“Oscar Wilde in a uniform ladies and gentlemen,” Norton announced to the room as the deputy left the station.
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Jeremiah Hogan watched the sun go down and waited desperately for the sky to turn to black before he cracked the seal on the bottle. It was a hard decision that he’d made and a harder compromise to reach with himself. He would never open a fresh bottle until the sun was down. The whisky had decreased in quality over the years as his drinking began to overtake his income. Now he was reduced to bargain basement brands that seemed like a false economy, as it tended to take twice as much to get him half as drunk.
The bugs were out in force and he had long since given up slapping his own face in futile defense. Let them suck him dry, perhaps he would poison a few before they finished him off. His heart was full of regret and sorrow and no amount of alcohol would seem to fill the void that he left for himself. He’d only had good intentions from the start, but they did say after all that the road to hell was paved with such.
He hadn’t showered in days and had barely moved off of his porch as the world fell around his ears. His was a complicated and unwelcome part in the current proceedings that were threatening to destroy his town forever.
He heard the back door open and close softly. Despite the low sound his ears were sharp. He had built this cottage with his bare hands and he knew every creak and groan from the old girl. He knew when someone else was inside and he knew just whose black heart had come home. He had offered shelter and a blind eye but had not thought far enough ahead to think about the consequences.
Heavy footsteps creaked on the floorboards as his house guest went upstairs. He cracked the bottle’s seal figuring that the time was close enough. He drank long and deeply from the bottle swallowing the burning that scorched his stomach as the liquid exploded. He emptied half the dark bottle in one go and waited for the world around him to fuzz and fade.
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Deputy Henry Trinder walked morosely along Main Street and to the diner. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to be looking for. As far as he knew ghosts didn’t leave footprints. He mentally kicked himself as he came up the perfect retort only 10 minutes too late.
The street was still deserted as most people were still in attendance at Adrian Todd’s town hall meeting. He wished that he was there to receive the acclaim and respect that was no doubt flowing. He wore a badge and was therefore entitled to his rightful share. He knew that most people in town saw him as a joke and probably spoke as such behind his back. He knew that things were going to be different once Gaines stepped aside and retired, especially if Freddie was gone for good. That only left the delectable Katy as competition for the Chief’s position. He was sure that he had built up enough credit with Todd by now to receive the man’s backing. And Todd normally got what he wanted when he asked for it.
He reached the diner and saw that the door was hanging wide open. At least the crazy bitch was consistent with the details, he thought, rubbing his sore nose bitterly. He was already concocting a story to explain his injury that would involve several large male assailants and his own heroic efforts.
He stepped inside the darkened building and refused his own fears of the dark by keeping his revolver holstered. He knew that Gaines was going to recall all of the firearms in the morning. He was going to miss the weight of the gun on his hip and the swagger that it gave him.
A noise caught his attention from the kitchen and he frowned in puzzlement. He headed for the sound, striding confidently across the room in defiant motion. He lifted the counter top and passed through into the kitchen. He scanned the empty room and found that one of the machines was still on. The large industrial fryer was bubbling away on the highest setting. Scalding hot oil was spurting onto the linoleum floor as the machine was left unattended. He leaned forward, craning his eyes in the gloom for an off switch. Suddenly a hard blow struck him from behind. He felt a paralyzing pain in his back and his legs buckled beneath him. Strong hands grabbed his hair painfully and he found his face being forced forward against his will into the fryer. He tried to scream as his head was dunked into the boiling liquid, but the volcanic liquid quickly entered his mouth searing the soft tissue. His flesh blistered and burst as his face was submerged and held firmly until the fiery red around him turned into the blackness of oblivion.
22.
TRUTHS AND LIES
Gaines sat brooding in the back office. He’d allowed Ally Chambers to talk with Marsh through the bars of his jail cell. Doc Norton was busying himself in the outer office and keeping a sharp ear out for anything incriminating that passed between them.
Inside he was still steaming at the nerve of Adrian Todd in calling a town meeting to announce that the crisis was over without consulting him first. So little ever happened in Denver Mills that the landowner’s almost daily encroachments rarely raised above a mild annoyance. But now the man was entering in dangerous territory. The only problem was that Gaines was probably the man in danger. Their small community was undoubtedly thriving during hard economic times, but at what cost? His “going with the flow” was getting harder and harder to swallow. He had not always wanted to fall in line, but he’d soon learned that there was no-one willing to authorize an investigation and no-one willing to sign a search warrant on Adrian Todd. This left him with little room to manoeuvre, only unfounded whispers and suspicions.
A part of him had been terrified that his visit with Trotter had been the catalyst to murder, but at the same time he knew that Adrian Todd would be on the magician’s list and that Trotter would care little for search warrants and due process. Still it had been more than a relief to find that Tommy Marsh was now the number one suspect and that he was currently sitting in a comfy jail cell. But something still nagged at his insides; an itch that danced just out of reach and refused to be scratched no matter how hard he tried.
He had Marsh’s medical history. A history of psychological problems categorized as potentially dangerous. He had a childhood trauma that could very well be swimming to the surface to drown the man. He had Dixon’s witness statement that seemed rock solid on the surface and yet he still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it, no matter how he acted outside of this office. He believed firmly in doing things the right way and at the minute that meant treating Tommy Marsh as the prime suspect in the absence of further evidence.
He picked up his phone and dialed Katy. The young deputy would have been a rock to him at the moment. With Burns gone walkabout and Trinder stumbling around moaning, Katy seemed necessary. With reluctance he dialed her number. It was her night off and he should have been able to cope without her, but he needed her.
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“I wish that I could tell you to get out of here and go home,” Tommy said sadly as Ally held his hands through the bars. “But unfortunately this is probably the safest place in town at the moment.”
“Maybe I should slug Gaines next time and find myself in the cell with you,” she smiled gently in reply.
Tommy smiled genuinely and it felt good. Despite the dire predicament it was good to have her so close.
“Did you doubt me?” He couldn’t help but ask.
“For a while I didn’t know what to think,” she answered honestly.
“So what made up your mind?”
“You mean apart from the manic chasing me down Main Street?” She laughed.
“Apart from that,” Tommy smiled back.
“Dixon,” she said frankly. “When he told me his story and I looked into his eyes, I knew that he was lying.”
“What a mess” Tommy sighed.
“No kidding” she smiled back.
“Ah you crazy kids,” Norton interrupted. “Just kiss her you fool,” he said to Tommy.
Never one to shirk medical advice, Tommy poked his face through the bars and followed doctor’s orders.
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Deputy Katy Jacket pulled into the police station car park. She didn’
t dare look at her watch for fear of enraging herself further. It was supposed to be her night off and yet anytime there was anything of any note going on it was her that Gaines turned to. She didn’t mind the fact that he saw her as the most capable of his deputies, but what exactly was the point of employing the other two morons in the first place?
She entered through the rear door and into the station. She suddenly remembered that in her haste she had forgotten to cover the red birthmark that must be standing out like a beacon on her cheek. The building was long in shadows as the energy saving night lighting was set. There was very rarely any need for any one of them to be in the station after dark and she could not remember the last time that the cell held a guest.
She walked through the main area, eager for a close up look at Tommy Marsh. As she strode around the corner she was greeted by the site of the mass murderer kissing the owner of the local diner through the bars of his cage. For some reason old Doc Norton was watching on with a big grin plastered across his face.
“What the hell is this happy horseshit?” She exclaimed, unable to believe her eyes.
“Hey Katy. Ain’t young love grand?” Norton smiled at her.
“Have you all gone mad or is it just me?” She asked the room incredulously.
“Oh keep your knickers on. The boy’s no more a murderer than you or me,” the doc answered, still grinning irritatingly.
“I seriously doubt that,” Katy snapped.
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Tommy pulled back from Ally. Their awkward embrace was shattered by the interruption. He stood back from the bars embarrassed at his flushed face and panting chest. He had only just realised that the kiss had been what he’d wanted for a lifetime.
Gaines suddenly appeared out of his office to check on the commotion. “What the hell is going on out here? Can’t I get a moment’s peace to think?”