by Gene Hackman
The policeman assured the fellow that all was under control, though Julie wasn’t too sure.
“My daughter and friend are missing. Would you go with me to spotlight the cul-de-sac? I was down there earlier and thought I heard my friend’s dog, but then nothing. Weird.”
They followed the patrol car. The officer scanned the neighborhood and parked at the end of the street. The light beam cut through dense trees, creating an eerie display.
“Scooter, come boy!” Julie called out. “Hey, Cheryl! Billie!”
They waited; a dog yelped from the direction of the home behind them.
“That house is empty; has been since they built it.” Like an unwanted fly, the busybody had followed them to the end of the street.
Todd and Julie stayed near the police car while the local cops knocked on the door and walked around the house, aiming their flashlights into the dark rooms.
“Think we have something back here.”
Todd and Julie tracked the policeman’s voice. “I can’t see in this high window; might be a bathroom, but there’s definitely a dog in there.”
Julie once again called out to Scooter, who answered with a yelping fuss.
“There shouldn’t be an animal in there—”
All four of them once again looked at the neighborhood fellow.
“This house hasn’t sold. I saw the brokers here today showing the place. I’m part of community patrol; we look out for things.”
“Thanks,” replied the older officer. “Wait back in the street. We’ll call you if we have questions.”
The man trudged back toward the patrol car.
“Listen guys, I’m really getting anxious,” Julie said. “I know it’s not protocol to enter a house without a warrant, but something’s wrong. There’s no way in hell that dog should be in that house. Couldn’t we use probable cause? Bust a window, force a door?”
The older cop flashed his light around while trying to make a decision. “Let’s see if there’s a door or window open; maybe someone broke in.”
The two locals went toward the back while Todd and Julie checked the front.
Julie rattled one of the porch windows.
“Door’s open!” Todd shouted. He walked to the side of the house and saw the lockbox lying behind a porch chair. “Officers, we’ve got a break-in.”
Guns out, the two local cops went in first. Julie followed and flicked a switch on the wall, bathing the front room with light from a chandelier shaped like a wagon wheel. Hearing Scooter scratching against the door, she started to open it.
“Better not until we check everything, okay?”
Julie knew she shouldn’t handle things, but it made her feel like it would put her in touch with Cheryl.
From the older patrolman in the kitchen, “Hold it, guys. We’ve got a long smear on the floor. Looks like blood.”
Julie took deep breaths, pacing the front porch of the house. She called dispatch and brought Captain Walker up to speed. Todd then took over the call. Three police cars and a crime scene van blocked the street. Held back by yellow tape strung up between two trees and the boundaries of the house, residents lined the far curb and milled about in the cul-de-sac.
Julie watched the man on duty. She thought him oblivious to what was taking place. He wasn’t derelict, just doing what he’d been told to do, waiting for his night watch to end so he could traipse on home to Molly and the kids. Julie waited, wishing her evening could also be that simple. She caught herself glancing at her watch once again, wondering if these events on this rainy night with its wispy haze in the distant pines were, in fact, real.
She walked to the opposite end of the porch. Sitting on the broad wood bannister, she tried to calm herself between heavy gulps of air. She smelled damp grass, a warm breeze stirring the pines in the woods. A potted plant swung from the porch ceiling, the creaking noise running counterpoint to the murmuring crowd. She thought this had to be the work of that grinning wet-pants son of a bitch. She was sure of it.
Todd snapped the phone shut and tossed it to Julie. “The captain is on his way out with a couple investigators. He suggested you go home. I told him I didn’t think there was any way that was going to happen.”
“Got it. Right. How about a canvass of the neighborhood? What do you say?”
“I’ll tell the local cops what we’re up to. What side do you want?”
“I’ll start next door; take the other side of the street, okay?”
“Be careful, Sergeant.”
They parted, Julie went to the first house. She stepped onto the porch.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” a woman from the street called out.
“May I speak with you? I’m with the police.”
“Of course. Please, come in.”
The house was an exact duplicate of the one she had just been in. Julie introduced herself and asked the woman if she’d seen anything out of the ordinary that afternoon.
“I work late and don’t get home until dark. Paid the babysitter, had supper, and then this.” She pointed outside to the growing crowd of observers and patrol cars.
“Do you have a number for your sitter? I’d like to speak with her.”
“Hold on; number’s on the fridge.”
The woman went to the kitchen, and a voice from the stairwell called out, “Mommy, can I have a soda, please?”
“No, dear. Go back to bed, it’s late.”
Julie saw a child on the stairs, wide eyed at the flashing lights outside. She wore pj’s that reminded her of a younger Cheryl. Damn.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Julie, and you are?”
“Rose or Rosie, sometimes Pumpkin, and most times ‘Don’t do it.’ ” She smiled.
The woman came back into the room. “It’s late, please.” She pointed upstairs to the child. “Here’s that number.” She handed Julie a piece of paper. “She’ll be cooperative, I’m sure.”
“What’s happ’nin, Mommy?”
“Just the police looking into something. It’s nothing, honey.”
“It must be Halloween. Is it Halloween?”
“No, Rose, please go back to bed.”
Julie turned for the door.
“Must be Halloween. I saw people with scary masks jumping round all fun like.”
Julie moved toward the woman. “May I ask your child a question?”
“Sure.”
“Sweetheart, when did you see these Halloween people?”
“When it got dark, out my window. Where I make up my stories. In the back, they were playing and wrasslin’. It was raining and thundering.”
“Could you show me that window from your child’s room?” Julie asked the mother.
“Follow me.” Halfway up, she turned around. “I hear there’s a kid missing. Can’t imagine what those parents are going through. Christ.”
Julie swallowed hard.
The child’s room looked out onto their backyard, with portions of other properties visible on both sides.
“Where did you see these Halloween people?”
The girl pointed toward the middle of a heavily treed backyard at the cul-de-sac house.
“How were they dressed?”
“The man—I guess the daddy—didn’t have anything on.”
Julie and the mother glanced at each other.
“I mean he didn’t have on a mask like the others.”
Julie waited. She wanted to shake the information from the child.
“I think it was a girl with a mask.” She stopped as if searching for a word. “No, it was a . . .” She looked to her mother for help, and then got her pillow and slipped the cover over her own head. “Like this.” She cranked her head around. “They were tumblin’ on the ground and then they marched off all funny into the woods. It was flashing with lightning.”
Julie felt light-headed and realized she was holding her breath.
“He led them with a rope, Mommy.”
Julie needed to l
eave. She wanted to break into a full run to get to the house next door.
The house teemed with police officers and techs dusting surfaces for prints. She felt they were stealing glances at her. It grew humid; the noxious air felt dense. Her clothes grasped her underarms and bound her thighs.
Someone tapped her arm. She jumped.
“What’s going on, Sergeant? Talk to me.” It was Captain Walker.
“I’m revved up, sorry. A kid next door saw someone lead Cheryl and Billie—hooded and tied—into the woods.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go have a look.”
They stepped out the back door of the house into the yard and scanned their flashlights across the grassy area. Fresh footprints half filled with water led a serpentine-like trail into the woods.
Walker took a quick call on his cell. “We have K-9s on the way in five. Chopper dispatched, also five to ten minutes out.”
It was always the same. The rush of adrenaline from the pitiful trust that seemingly bright people extended to perfect strangers. In this case, “perfect stranger” would be well placed.
The girl stirred in the back of the Bronco. As if he would harm her, heaven forbid.
He smiled, thinking of the young one. It would take planning to explore the possibilities of his newly acquired Teen World.
He kept right below the speed limit—not too slow, not too fast. He recalled a recent scare when stopped for an extinguished taillight. How close the officer had been to his human cargo. “It looks like a lens might have slipped out. Get that fixed as soon as possible. You never can tell; wouldn’t want to get rear ended, would you?”
No, and neither would the young lady tied up and covered in the back of the car. He had driven two hundred miles south before leaving that particular love mate. She lasted nearly two weeks before he tired of her. Annie or Angie—some stupid high school name—a would-be hippy hitchhiker learning the hard lessons of the road. He left her standing on a deserted country lane, shivering on the gravel shoulder. He thought it comical. Her all naked with a hood over her head, looking as if terrified to move. He made a U-turn and watched her pan her head in syncopation to his car’s 180-degree maneuver. The figure in his mirror appeared wistful; probably missing him so very soon.
The Watson couple arrived at the cul-de-sac. “Oh my God. The house. It’s a mess. Look what they’ve done.”
Walker got permission from the local police to interview the brokers. Julie stood off from the trio, having been told by Walker that she was in no state to involve herself in the interview.
“You are, I understand, not only the listing brokers but also the owners of this house. Is that correct?”
The elderly man pulled off his raincoat and hung it over the porch bannister. “Dammit. All you people traipsing in and out making a pure chaos out of—”
“Do I have to ask you again? Are you—”
“Yes, yes, we own this place. We’re also the listing brokers, and we’d like to know what’s going on.”
“When did you last—”
“Who’s she?” Mr. Watson pointed at Julie. “I’ve a right to know who’s in our house, dammit.”
“This is Sergeant Worth. She’s . . . helping in the investigation. Detective Devlin, take the wife down to the other end of the porch.” Walker turned to the man. “Can we get back to the facts? When did you last show the house?”
“Today. Earlier, a nice gentleman from—” He called to his wife. “Where was Mr. Phillips from?”
Walker interrupted. “Answer the question, please.”
“I don’t think he said.” He paused. “Such a pleasant fellow. Why would he break into this house?”
“I’m going to have you accompany me throughout the house except the kitchen and—”
“What happened in the kitchen?”
Walker didn’t answer; just guided the man into the living room. Julie followed.
“I’d like you to tell me if you see anything missing. Don’t touch, please.”
They walked up the stairs, checked the bedrooms and baths, came back down, and looked into the dining area. The man tried a quick peek through the swinging door into the kitchen.
“Please don’t, Mr. Watson. Anything different, moved out of place?”
He cruised around the living room as Todd walked the woman up the stairs. Walker wanted them gone, so he ushered the man toward the front door and called to Todd to come downstairs.
“Would you please have your men take all their paraphernalia?” Mr. Watson asked. “It will take us days to clean this.”
Mrs. Watson came down the stairs. “I’d think your people would have better things to do than listen to music.” She stopped in the front hallway.
Julie whispered to Walker.
He called to Mrs. Watson. “What do you mean?”
“You said, ‘abduction.’ That’s a pretty serious thing to be investigating while entertaining yourself listening to a radio.”
Walker looked at the small unit on the hall table. “That doesn’t belong to us. It isn’t yours?”
She shook her head.
The buzz of a helicopter swept over the crowded street. From the porch, Julie watched the couple disappear down Tranquil Pines Way. The hum of activity surrounding the house at the end of the street gave lie to its rustic name.
“I realize I’m probably more a hindrance than help, but I just can’t leave.” She tried to show restraint. “She’s my baby. I’ve gotta find her.” She looked around. “Would you allow Devlin and me to take a look in back?”
“What do you mean? The woods? We’ve got the chopper and the dogs. Come on, Worth, you know better. Go home, wait for my call. That’s an order.” Walker held a stern look but then melted. “Damn, what a mess,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and walking her off the porch.
“Devlin, take care of your partner. She wants to explore the woods out back. Think it’s better to wait til daybreak so we can see, for Christ’s sake.”
The hounds from the K-9 unit raised hell in the playground area up the street.
“You have flashlights, Devlin? Radios, first aid?”
“We’re prepared.”
“Take care of her.” Walker glanced down the street in the direction of the barking. “Too damn wet for those dogs to pick up a scent. Shit.” He gave a resigned gesture toward the woods. “Officially, you’re off this abduction, Sergeant. I don’t mean to be a hard-ass but gotta say it. I’ll be assisting the locals on this while you—” He hesitated. “While you make your way home. If Devlin leads you on a detour that has to do with that cold case, then that’s on him.” He made his way back toward the house.
“So if I got this right,” Todd said, “we’re cleared to look into past transgressions? Let’s go, Sarge.”
Julie brushed her elbow against her handgun before walking to the corner of the house.
“I’ll get you a coat. I’ve got an extra one in my car.”
“My daughter was in short sleeves, I’ll be fine. And yes, we are cleared.”
Halfway across the wide expanse of tended lawn, from her right, she noticed someone with a flashlight looking at the location where she and Walker had discovered footprints. The beam moved across the lawn and came to rest on her face. Julie shielded her eyes.
“Who is it?” Todd asked.
“I spoke to the lady earlier in the street. I’m part of the home patrol.”
Julie waved her arms. “Get that fucking light out of my eyes.”
“Oh, sorry. I guess with all the excitement, I’ve lost my manners.”
Todd walked toward the man. “What are you doing out here? Do you realize this is a crime scene? You could be destroying evidence.”
The man pulled himself upright. “I have a right as part of the community to—”
“Get your donkey ass back on the street, or I’ll get the locals to lock your inquiring butt in one of the squad cars for as long as we need to, got it?”
“Well . . .” He hesitated, almost stomping his foot, but then headed for the street.
Julie turned north toward the dark silhouette of the woods. In the beginnings of the tall pines, the slash had been cleared, their flashlight beams bouncing off the vertical tall timber. They trekked in silence, Julie now off to the left of Todd. The undergrowth thickened, slowing their progress. In the distance, the chopper, its light source scanning the lawns behind them close to the house. Moving over the heavy wooded area, the beam swept the forest through the rain and tangled crisscross of shadows.
They hiked on, Julie’s light attempting to cover every inch of the location. She searched every ditch and behind each tree, her calls to Cheryl and Billie dampened by the wet forest. Julie heard Todd breaking his way through the undergrowth, coming toward her.
“Sarge, what do you think, should we turn back?”
“I’m going to push on; you do whatever you want.” She panned her flashlight through a 180-degree arc in front of her.
“Sorry, just thought we might be doing something more useful back at the house or headquarters.”
“Yeah, I know. I just have to keep moving; feel like I’m doing something.” She traversed left and right some twenty yards and then maneuvered forward. “Cheryl! Billie!” She knew the chance was slim of them being left in the woods. After ten minutes, they reached a road, with nothing in sight except a dim light a hundred yards to their left.
Julie rubbed her eyes. “Let’s walk this way a bit and then turn back; make another sweep.”
“This time let’s stay closer. I’m worried about you.” Todd followed her down the country way. He sprayed his light on both sides of the muddy dirt road. After fifty yards, Julie, without a word, dove back into the woodland, Todd keeping a safe distance to her left side. They hadn’t been but a couple minutes when Julie called out.
“Devlin, get on the horn! We need an ambulance!”
Todd radioed for Walker and backup. He moved toward Julie’s direction and came upon her crouched over a partially hooded figure on the ground.
“It’s Billie!” She tucked her flashlight under her chin and put her hand to her friend’s neck. “I can’t find a pulse.” She ripped the hood the rest of the way from Billie’s head. “She’s got something in her mouth.” Julie pried the cloth muffler from between Billie’s teeth and then with her fingers cleared her passageway. She turned her friend’s body with Todd’s help and applied rapid pressure on her chest.