by Matt Drabble
“But by not coming forward, you denied Trotter a defense,” Gaines said pointedly. “He always claimed that the equipment malfunctioned and that Mary’s death was just a tragic accident.”
“But after everything that you and the doc and Jeremiah told us about the trial it was already a done deal. Would it have even made any difference?” Ally asked hopefully.
“It doesn’t matter Ally,” Tommy said kindly. “We’ve always known what we did was wrong and also what we should have done.”
“But we were just kids,” she said pleadingly. “We were just a bunch of stupid kids, how were we supposed to know?”
“And now there’s blood on your hands,” Gaines spat.
“Well if we’re going to start portioning blame let’s not leave anyone out Gaines,” Tommy barked back. “How about Todd? How about you for that matter? You’ve practically admitted that you knew that the whole case and trial were bogus to start with. We were a bunch of 12 year olds. You were a cop for Christ’s sake! Why the hell didn’t you do something?”
Gaines leaned back in his chair heavily and sighed. The anger that had risen in him so quickly had just as quickly dispersed. “I think that the whole damn town has a share of the blame, me most of all. I was the one that went to see him in the asylum remember, and told him about my theories. I was the one that inadvertently lit the fire under a monster and sent him home.”
“Well none of this is going to get us any closer to stopping him or finding young Katy” Doc Norton interjected. “Might I suggest that we come up with a plan before anyone else dies.”
Jeremiah Hogan woke to a world that seemed worse than his nightmares. The thoughts of just what he had involved himself in were almost too much to bear. He reached for the whisky bottle and found it worryingly empty. The dark liquid’s offering of momentary absolution was all he had to console himself with these days.
He had been a good man, he was sure of it. He had carried his own guilt over Arnold Trotter for two decades. It was a suffocating weight that threatened to smother him in his sleep, a sleep that was full of Arnold’s face and dark dead eyes. He hadn’t been strong enough to speak for the man. To testify as to the young vulnerable boy inside the misunderstood man that the whole town dismissed as a freak. Arnold had always been a little different as a boy and had only grown taller. And yet Jeremiah had abandoned him like everyone else when his words were needed the most. He had left Arnold to stand alone in a witness box and be judged by a town ravenous for justice and desperate to punish the unknown.
He heard movement from upstairs and stirred himself quickly as footsteps began to ascend. He had offered Arnold a place to stay when he had shown up at his door, determined to not fail the man a second time.
“Arnold?” He called softly in the dark.
He was seated in his favourite comfy chair. It was where he sat and drank these days and it held him like an old familiar embrace. The shrouded figure stopped at the foot of the stairs. He could see that Arnold wore the long black hooded cape and he couldn’t see the man’s eyes in the shadows beneath.
“Please Arnold” Jeremiah pleaded. “This has to stop, you have to stop. There’s too much blood on all of our hands by now.”
The shadow moved slowly towards him and for the first time he felt afraid.
“Not yet,” Trotter whispered. “There’s still so much to do.”
“Please Arnold,” Jeremiah tried again desperately. “Whatever you’ve done you have to stop.”
“No,” Trotter said through a black smile that Jeremiah could just make out as he drew closer.
“I’m going to have to call Gaines. I’m afraid that you’ve really left me no choice here Arnold.” Jeremiah spoke firmly, striding for the authoritative tone that had served him so well as a teacher for all those years. He stood and walked with his back to Trotter for the phone that sat on the small side table. His hands trembled as he reached out for the handset and possible salvation.
It took him a few moments to understand that he couldn’t breathe. His arms shook and his legs felt like water. He looked down to see the soft moonlight that drifted through the window glinting off of the tip of sharp silver that protruded through his chest. The long wicked blade pushed through his flesh like warm butter. Trotter leaned forward and whispered in his ear as Jeremiah died.
“I’m afraid Mr. Hogan, that the show must go on.”
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Gaines gave way to Ally as her fingers flew across the computer keyboard far faster than his stumpy digits could ever manage. He gave her his police ID number and password as they accessed every file on the Trotter trial. Denver Mills may have been a small town but the computer age had caught up with them eventually. Everything from the courthouse’s historical records had been finally and painstakingly converted onto a national database.
As he’d feared there was nothing new that leapt out from the flickering monitor. He had tugged around the corners of the case on and off for years. Everything from the Denver Mills side of the trial still held up after over 20 years. The paper trail looked to show a cut and dried case; nothing out of the ordinary and nothing suspicious. There was nothing that they could use to either find or stop Trotter.
“What about trying Jeremiah Hogan again? Maybe if he was Arnold’s only friend then he might be hiding him. Perhaps the long arm of the law would have better luck in questioning him?” Ally offered.
“I’ll try his number,” Gaines said as he moved to the phone.
“What about Trotter’s prison records?” Tommy asked. “Can we access those?”
“Not directly. I can put in a request for them but that would take several days that we don’t have,” Gaines answered.
“I might know a guy,” Doc Norton spoke up.
“Jesus what is it with you? Since when did you become the font of all knowledge?” Gaines said half angry and half laughing as he listened to Hogan’s line ring without answer.
“I was at school with the warden’s cousin, or maybe it was second cousin,” Norton shrugged. “Anyway I think that I could maybe ask some questions on the quiet.”
“Hogan’s not picking up,” Gaines said as he replaced the handset. “Good idea Doc, but you’d have to go up there and talk to the guy in person,” Gaines suddenly stated.
“Oh I’m sure that the telephone would suffice,” Norton answered puzzled.
“No way Doc, this needs to be handled with care.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me Sherman?”
“You’re damn right I am. One old guy limping around here is one too many as it is. If you’re up there, then you’re safe and one less person that I have to worry about.” Gaines said smiling warmly.
“Oh I’m touched Sherman,” Norton said grinning.
“Shut up you old fart,” Gaines said failing to suppress his own grin.
Tommy had been peering over Ally’s shoulder whilst she had been typing away furiously. She had found old newspaper cuttings from the town paper covering the trial. It seemed strange to see captured images of his childhood home. The paper had bought birthday party images with a cheap camera on that afternoon. One of the parents no doubt had obviously sold the photos. Lush green lawns and a cheerful and cheap stage setup were contrasted by the horror, shock, and guilt on the faces of twelve year old children. The photo showed Ally with her face buried in his shoulder under his clumsy embrace. Dixon looked defiant, McEwen’s expression was pure shock, and PJ looked heart wrenchingly miserable. The newspaper’s page scan was divided between the main story and main picture.
Ally scrolled across to the next page and there were smaller images of Trotter and his wife. Tommy was surprised to find his eyes drawn to the woman rather than the amateur magician. There was something oddly familiar about Mary Todd. His memories of that day were centered around the aftermath of her decapitation, but seeing her photograph devoid of heavy smeared makeup and stage costume sparked something.
“There’s something here,” Tommy said ab
sently.
“What?” Gaines demanded.
“I don’t quite know,” Tommy answered thoughtfully. “I need to go back to my house. I’m sure that I can find what I’m looking for there.”
“I don’t think that it’s a good idea for us to be splitting up right now do you?” Ally said with a touch of panic in her voice.
“You’re damn right we’re not,” Gaines said firmly. “Doc, you get your ass on the road tonight. Halsom Prison is the one stone that we’ve left unturned so far. My gut is telling me that something might have happened there. Something is wrong with part of this picture but I can’t tell what yet. Some things just don’t seem to tie in with Trotter and my guess is that that his prison days might shed some light on that.”
“You better get there fast Doc,” Tommy said glumly. “I doubt that we’ve got much time left.”
“What do you mean?” Gaines asked with a worried expression.
“Oh Jesus, its tomorrow isn’t it?” Ally suddenly said looking nervous.
“What is?” Gaines snapped impatiently. “What’s so special about tomorrow?”
“It’s my birthday,” Tommy said. “My birthday and Trotter’s anniversary.”
----------
Tommy made his quick pit stop home with an armed escort. Gaines had insisted in accompanying him. Ally was in the backseat and the Doc was safely on the road to Halsom Prison. Tommy’s thoughts rolled with the latest news that now all three of Gaines’ deputies seemed to be missing. Freddie Burns hadn’t been heard from for a few days now. It had been assumed that as both he and his fiancée were gone, it wasn’t anything suspicious. Especially as neither of them were connected to Arnold Trotter or his trial. Henry Trinder had been sent out to check the diner after Ally had gate crashed the police station, but he was now gone as well.
They had swung by the diner on the way to Tommy’s house. Gaines had ducked low into the building through the open front door with a litheness that belied his age. Tommy had watched from the car impressed until Gaines had returned to the opening and waved them both over. The diner was deserted and most worryingly there were signs of a struggle in the kitchen, but no sign of the deputy. Tommy had locked the building and they headed for his house.
There was something nagging at the back of his mind, something from his past in Denver Mills. A vague fleeting thought of something familiar to do with Mary Todd.
Gaines insisted on going into the house first. Tommy and Ally waited outside until Gaines poked his head back through the door and told them that it was all clear.
“So what’s so important Mr. Marsh?” Gaines asked.
“You know considering that we might all be dead come the morning, do you think that you can call me Tommy?”
“If we’re still alive in the morning, maybe we’ll see,” Gaines smiled.
Tommy made for his father’s study. His father had been a keen photographer. Tommy couldn’t remember a family day out or holiday when his father’s face wasn’t viewing the occasion through a lens. There had been walls full of photo albums, 6x4 snapshots of their lives together as a family.
“So what are we looking for?” Ally asked.
“I don’t know. Just both of you be quiet for a minute while I try and think,” Tommy answered as kindly as he could.
His childhood had been walled in brick by brick over the years. He had erected a barrier against his memories and buried everything in life that was connected with Denver Mills. He sat down in his father’s favourite armchair and tried to breathe in the man’s scent. He closed his eyes and pictured his father smiling, laughing, angry and sad; every emotion that he could conjure. When he and his mother had left the small town behind it had been on a wave of bitterness and recrimination. His mother had never explained to him just why they had left and he’d never pressed the issue. Believing that any mention of his home town would only open the floodgates of memories that he had been desperately trying to keep closed. He could see his mother’s face full of raw anger. He could see his parents fighting and screaming at each other. He pushed through the negative thoughts and tried to remember what they had been fighting about. His mother had never remarried and he couldn’t actually ever picture her even dating after they’d left.
He opened his eyes and stood. He walked to his father’s large bureau. The piece of furniture was sturdy and a heavy solid oak. He pulled down the drop leaf counter and began to pull some of the stacked photo albums out. As a child he now remembered pouring through his father’s albums, devouring the lives and faces of those within. It had always seemed to him that his father’s bureau had been like a glimpse to another world. His mother used to read “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” to him as a young child and he had been fascinated by the thought of a magical world beyond his own. His father’s bureau and the lives and places captured within had been his own secret window.
Firstly he scanned the albums at random, before finding that his father’s meticulous nature had led to him using an effective labeling and filing system. He scanned the labels on the sides of the albums. There were family holidays and baby books. There was a moving day and several for birthdays.
He selected one labeled “School Days” he opened the book and flipped through the pages. The photos were mainly of his parents surrounded by classmates throughout school and college; dances, parties, graduations and campuses. They were heady days of youth and exuberance, with bright futures stretching out as far as the horizon.
It was strange to see his mother captured as a woman. Not as a wife or as a mother, but as a young vibrant woman existing solely on her own plane of existence. She was beautiful with a vibrancy that shone through the still image. Like most children he had only ever thought of her in terms of a mother and never anything beyond that. Now he could see a young woman with hopes and dreams. He could see his parents as two lovers making plans for the world and their future in it.
He flicked through some of the other pages and saw similar images of his mother and classmates. As he went through the pages it was like a time tunnel as the faces grew older. There were some of a party by the lake and some of these showed a multitude of old classmates and spouses. He turned another page and there she was. Mary Todd was wearing a bikini that barely covered all of her. In the image his mother was slightly blurry as his father had zoomed and focused on Mary Todd. The picture in itself didn’t seem so damning, and yet somehow it did. As he turned the pages there were some photographs taken by someone else. There were school reunions with balding heads and expanding waistlines. In some his mother and father were linked arm in arm smiling genuinely. But in other group shots his father’s eyes had drifted to Mary Todd. He could almost feel his father’s regret and dark lust for the woman. Mary Todd was almost always surrounded in the images by men with puffed out chests and sucked in guts. As the album progressed it became more of a devotion to Mary Todd until it was a testament to her. The images were through the years and she was always smiling warmly at his father’s lens. Her eyes were deep and dark, and full of invitation.
“Here,” he said to the others. “This is what I remembered at the station.”
Ally and Gaines leaned in closely over his shoulders to look at the photos.
After a few seconds Gaines spoke. “So what? Your father knew Mary Todd when they were young, that’s not exactly evidence.”
“It is for me,” Tommy replied sadly, thinking back to his parent’s breakup and divorce. “My father had a dark room in the basement. There are some filing cabinets down there. I’m guessing that he kept some of his more private collection down there. If you look I’m sure that you’ll find some of Mary Todd of a more intimate nature.”
“You can’t possibly know that?” Ally said with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Yes, yes I do. My father was the one having an affair with Mary. That’s how I fit into all of this and that’s why it all took place here on my birthday.”
Gaines headed down the basement stairs as Tommy
talked to Ally. “That’s why my parents ended up getting divorced. I can hear them arguing now. It’s part of what I repressed after we left Denver Mills, the reason why they broke up.”
Gaines reappeared at the top of the basement stairs a few minutes later.
“I’m right aren’t I,” Tommy stated rather than asked. He didn’t need to turn around and see Gaines’ hands full of the photos. It was one image that he wanted to spare himself. The look on Ally’s face as she saw the glossy paper was enough to know that he was right. His father had been the unnamed man caught in an affair with Mary; quite what that meant regarding Trotter’s guilt or innocence remained to be seen, and there was really only one man to ask.
24.
GRAND FINALES
Dr. Sam Norton drove through the night ignoring his aching bones and testy nature. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon with the promise of a new day when he finally reached Halsom Prison.
The prison was set many miles from the nearest town and surrounded by inhospitable swampland. The walls were high and dominated the skyline above. The building was drab and grey and seemed to suck the very life from the world around it like a sponge.
Norton slowly passed through the various checkpoints without any problems. He had called the warden from the road.
Rousing Leyland Meeks from his bed had proved to be no easy feat. It had taken all of his persuasive powers to get the man to agree to meet him. They were blood relations which fortunately ran deep in the mindset of the warden and paved the way.
He pulled into a visitor parking space and got out of the car. His back groaned in protest at the unfamiliar long drive and he had to stretch vigorously to regain some of the feeling in his legs. He hadn’t taken the time to change from last night’s strenuous activities, but a quick sniff of his armpit told him that his wardrobe could stand another day.
He strode quickly up to the visitors’ entrance and the door swung open before he reached it. A man stepped out. He was tall and ramrod straight. His hair was short and steely grey and his persona was all business. He looked around Sam’s own age but far healthier. The man’s face was set hard and expressionless. Sam had indeed been in school with the warden’s second cousin, a man called David Spears, but there was no resemblance between the two men.