by Joshua Grove
1
Father Matthew had read these books at least a dozen times. He wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. Books could only take him so far, so he put the book in his lap and closed his eyes.
“I need a sign,” he said aloud to himself, God, and any other presence that might be in the room. Suddenly the phone rang, startling him out of his chair.
“Well that was fast,” he said to the air around him. He picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Matthew?”
“Hi, Amy! How are you?” He genuinely liked the Lutheran pastor, often meeting her for lunch at the diner down the street.
“Well, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Alan Brickton died today.”
“I did hear that,” Matthew said. “I apologize, Amy. I should have called you right away.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she said. “But I’m thinking that perhaps you and I should meet.”
“What’s on your mind?” he asked, curious about what she might be thinking.
“Well, I don’t really want to talk about it over the phone. Can I come over?”
“Sure. I’m in my study. Just use your keys.”
“Be right there.”
A few minutes later Amy was standing in the doorway of his study. He walked over and hugged her tightly.
“I’m so sorry for your loss. I know you visited with Alan and knew his family when they were alive.”
“It is a sad day indeed.” She looked at him, then looked at the book on demonology that was lying on his chair, then back to him again. “Interesting reading, Father,” she said.
“Yes, indeed.” He wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“Have you heard any of the details surrounding Alan’s death?” she asked.
“Jake O’Reilly stopped by to see me earlier today.”
“What did he have to say?”
“Have you spoken with him?” Matthew asked.
“No.”
“How did you find out about Alan?” he asked.
“Michael Mullins called to inform me.”
“Ah, I see.”
“So, what do you know?” she repeated.
“Jake asked me where I had been all day.”
“He what?” Amy asked, shocked. A petite woman of only five feet, with dark rimmed glasses resting on her nose, she gave the impression of intellect, with a hint of spunk.
“That’s what I thought,” he said.
“Well he never really was the most intelligent man,” she laughed. “Or the most tactful.”
Matthew smiled. “I am not really at liberty to discuss the details,” he said with regret.
“Understood,” Amy said with a raised hand.
“But I can tell you this much,” Matthew began.
“Are you sure you’re able to divulge anything?”
“Whatever is going on here, I think it has something to do with what happened here more than twenty years ago.”
“Is that what Jake said?”
“No, that’s my gut talking.”
Amy paused, pushing up her glasses. Matthew knew she trusted him, and he admired her knowledge of the rich heritage of Christian history, including the darker side.
“Matthew, what are you trying to say?” Although he knew Amy was well aware of what he was thinking, she was forcing him to say it out loud.
“I believe the demon has returned.”
“And you need my help.”
“If you are willing to provide it, yes,” Matthew said.
“You once told me that the first thing you do if you suspect demonic activity is to try to disprove it. How do we go about doing that?”
“We go to the Brickton Estate.”
“I knew you were going to say that,” Amy said with a nervous smile. “And what do we take with us?”
“We take our knowledge of the supernatural, my rosary, and our God.”
“And what will we be looking for exactly?” Amy asked.
“Anything that might point to unholy practices and presences.”
“For example?”
Matthew sighed. “The house itself is a good place to start.”
* * * * * *
2
Dr. David Styles led the stretcher into the county morgue. The morgue was on the lower level of Crimson Falls’ modest hospital. It had its own back entrance, guarded by an electric gate. The only way into the morgue from the hospital was through a special elevator accessed by a special key. David liked having his own special domain where he could work without being interrupted.
Although he would never openly admit it to anyone, even to himself, he was thrilled to have the opportunity to study a corpse that had been murdered. He hadn’t investigated a violent crime since the mock training he received at Harvard. He tried to hide his jubilation though because he did feel somewhat sorry for Acorn Alan.
“Here, put him on this table,” David instructed the three EMTs.
“On three, let’s lift him,” said Jason Styles, David’s only son. “One, two, three.” Together they moved the body onto the cold, metal slab.
“Dad, do you need me to stick around?” Jason asked.
“Yes, I think you might learn something here.” David wanted Jason to take over after he retired, keeping the business in the family. Aside from being the local coroner, he also ran the only mortuary within twenty miles. David looked to the remaining public servants in the room. “If you’ll please excuse us.”
Aaron was the first to respond. “I have orders from Sheriff Blackwood to stay here with you.”
Since David liked Anna and trusted her judgment, he decided to honor it. It wasn’t like he had much choice.
“Right. You can stay. Everyone else – please see yourselves out.” Although David had a somewhat rude demeanor, people had become used to it and didn’t take it personally. Once everyone left the room, David and Jason carefully removed the body from the bag and stood over it, staring. Aaron walked up to join them.
“Take a look at this, son,” David said as he lifted the head to reveal the long, yellow object protruding from the back of the neck.
“What the hell is that?” Jason asked.
“An excellent question. Quickly, stabilize the head while I attempt to remove it.” Jason did as he was told. David placed his fingers around the object and lightly pulled on it.
“It’s in there good,” he observed. He stuck out his tongue as he worked, trying not to do too much damage to the neck.
“It looks like it went in just under the brainstem,” Jason said.
“Good eye,” David replied. After a few pulls, the object was freed. The three men stood in silence as they surveyed it. David noted that it was approximately four inches long. If he didn’t know better, he could have sworn it was a tooth.
“That’s damned sharp,” Aaron said. “We may have the murder weapon.”
“That may be true, but we cannot yet be sure,” David said. “From the looks of it, and I’m just taking an educated guess here, it was inserted into the neck prior to death.”
“This would have killed him, right?” Jason asked.
David frowned. “Well it probably wouldn’t have helped him much.”
Aaron stifled a laugh.
“A strange specimen,” David continued. “From the looks of it, I would say it’s a tooth.”
“Are you shitting me?” Aaron cried. David ignored him.
“Perhaps an animal tooth that has been sharpened. Maybe even a small claw that has been stained.” David laughed at himself for thinking that someone would paint a claw yellow.
“Dad?” Jason asked, excited.
“Yes, you need to drive this to the university and give it to Dr. Bearson. He should be able to tell us what animal this comes from.”
“Are you sure it’s an animal?” Aaron asked.
“As sure as I can be at this point.”
“Is there any part of the autopsy that will help to reveal what may have happened to Mr. Brickton?” Aa
ron asked. It seemed obvious he was not very comfortable with his surroundings.
“Outside of the wounds to the neck, I doubt anything I find will have been inflicted by the killer. But then again, one can never be sure. I need to let the body tell me the story.”
“Okay, then,” Aaron said. “I need to get to the station and let Sheriff Blackwood know what’s going on.”
“Then I suppose you should be on your way,” David urged. “Give Anna my regards.” Aaron walked through the door. Once David heard the cruiser start up and drive away, he turned to his son.
“So what do you think, Dad?” Jason asked.
“I think it’s too early to think anything,” he said. “We are scientists, Jason. We don’t speculate. But I do know two things.”
“And they are?”
“First, whatever this might be is what killed Mr. Brickton.”
“And second?”
“No animal could have done this.” David resumed his work on the body. Jason stood motionless, his jaw slightly open in shock.
“Don’t you have a trip to take?” David asked his son.
“But it’s over an hour away,” Jason said.
“Stop whining. Call Dr. Bearson on your way and let him know you will see him first thing in the morning. Or better yet, if he isn’t busy, have him meet you halfway so we can talk to him tonight.”
“That seems like an imposition.”
“Well, I’m sure Mr. Brickton would disagree. As would the next victim.”
“The next victim?” Jason asked, worried.
“I doubt this is the last we’ll see of this,” he said as he pointed to the makeshift tooth/claw.
“Shit,” Jason said. He turned around and headed for the door and a long drive.
* * * * * *
3
Anna sat down in the swivel chair in front of the switchboard that accessed the various cameras throughout Crimson Falls. A few of the deputies who were off duty were arriving at the station. Damien Gross and Rick Stanley walked into the office.
“Hey guys,” Damien said to the kids.
“Hey Damien,” they said disjointedly.
“I’m in here guys,” Anna called.
“Hey boss. What…” but his voice trailed off as he saw the cameras.
“Yes, welcome to my secret lair,” Anna laughed.
“Sheriff? What is this?” Rick asked.
“These are our eyes that will help us nail this bastard.”
“I had no idea this was even here,” Rick said, in awe of the technology in the room.
“Sheriff Kelly passed this down to me,” she said. “I’ve used it a few times to help locate lost hikers, pets, and a few other things. But aside from that, we haven’t needed it.”
“But why did they build it in the first place?” Rick asked.
“That’s a long story, and not one that needs to be told now. What matters is that we see if we can find our killer.” She flipped master switch that turned on all cameras. Three dozen televisions lit up the room, each with a panoramic view of its surroundings.
“Whoa,” Damien said.
“Cool,” Trevor shouted from behind.
“Trevor, for Christ sake!” she hollered.
“Language, mother,” he retorted.
“Would you please just leave? Have some respect.” Trevor huffed and turned around, heading back to the table.
“Okay. Damien, you take this group of ten. Rick, you take this group. I’ll take this one.” They nodded in agreement.
For several minutes they watched the screens without speaking. Sounds of the forest filled the room, with occasional car horns and loud mufflers.
“Anything, guys?” Anna asked while still watching her group of screens.
“Nothing boss,” they said one after the other.
“Okay. What I’m going to do now is go group by group and play back the footage from the past few days.”
“Won’t that take hours?” Damien asked.
“No, they’re on a trigger. So we may see a lot of animals, but it’s what we have to do.” Anna got up to leave.
“Where are you going?” Rick asked.
“I’m sending John back here to help you. The camera only stays on for one minute once it’s triggered. Let me know if you find anything.”
“Where will you be?”
“I’ll be making some calls.” Anna walked out of the room, smiling at the kids as she made her way to the main lobby of the station. She sent John Felber into her office to help the others. Less than a minute later Aaron Peterson came through the back corridor.
“Sheriff!” he yelled.
“What do you know?” Anna asked impatiently. “I figured you would have sent word by now.”
“Dr. Styles thinks it’s an animal,” he reported.
“He what?” Anna said, momentarily caught off guard.
Aaron shook his head. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong. He thinks the weapon is some kind of animal claw. Maybe an elephant tusk. Or perhaps a bear claw painted yellow.”
It took Anna a moment to process what she had heard. “So the murder weapon was made from some sort of animal bone or something?”
“Yes, Sheriff,” Aaron said. He was breathing heavily, still excited by the day’s events. “Jason is on his way to the university right now to meet with a professor who can tell us what animal it comes from.”
“Well that’s good news,” Anna said. Although David was exceedingly strange, he did excellent work. She found herself being thankful that a brilliant man like Dr. Styles enjoyed remote locations. He could easily have worked at the University of Minnesota Medical Center teaching America’s future coroners, or work as a CSI expert.
“Does he think it was an animal that did this?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. I think he thinks it was a person.”
“That’s what I figured, especially given what Trevor and Sam saw tonight.”
“Right,” Aaron agreed.
“Why don’t you join the others in my office? They will tell you what you can do to help.” As he walked away, she sighed and leaned against the top of Janet’s desk.
“Anything I can do for you, Anna?” she asked.
“Order some food from someplace. I doubt many people will eat, but it’s important that we have something around to munch on. It’s going to be a long night.”
“I’m on it,” Janet said. “Anything else?”
“Well, I think it’s time that I…” but Anna stopped midsentence when Father Matthew and Pastor Amy walked through the doors. Both of them were in their black clerics.
“I thought I might be seeing you this evening,” Anna said as she hugged Matthew then shook Amy’s hand.
“We heard about what happened,” Matthew said. “We would like to offer our assistance. There is something we need to do, but we wanted to clear it with you first.”
Anna’s curiosity was piqued. “Okay, what did you have in mind?”
“We would like to go to the Brickton Estate,” Amy said. Surprised, Anna raised an eyebrow.
“And why would you want to do that?” she asked slowly.
“Honestly, I think we can be of service to you in this dark time,” Matthew said solemnly.
“What he means to say is that I was close to Alan,” Amy said quickly. “I visited him almost every week and I know a lot about how he lived his life. I believe I might be able to advise some of your officers on the scene.”
Anna knew they were hiding something. At the same time, she had known Matthew her whole life. They graduated from high school together. His integrity was beyond reproach, and he had been a good friend and confidant when her husband left. She didn’t know Amy very well, but if Matthew trusted her then that was good enough for her.
“Sure. Any help we can get is appreciated.” She turned to Janet. “Notify the guys and let them know that Father McMillan and Pastor Adler will be arriving in the next twenty minutes.”
“Sure thing,” Janet said
with a bright smile.
“Thanks, Anna,” Matthew said. “I will let you know what we find.”
“Please do.”
“Thank you,” Amy said. “We’ll be in touch.” They left as quickly and as quietly as they had arrived.
At that moment Officer Geraldine MacDonald walked up to Anna. A full-figured woman with brown hair, she kept in a braided ponytail, and an ever present smile, everyone loved Geraldine.
“What was that all about?” she asked as we watched the clergy leave the precinct.
“Pastor Amy and Father Matthew think they may be able to help with the investigation.”
“That seems a bit unorthodox,” Geraldine observed. Anna shrugged her shoulders. “Well I suppose having a murder in Crimson Falls is more unorthodox than priests helping the police,” Geraldine said with a smile.
“At this point I will take whatever help I can get,” Anna sighed. “Have you been brought up to speed?”
“Yeah,” Geraldine nodded. “Janet filled me in on the phone. I brought my daughter with me. She’s asleep in the break room. Janet’s going to keep an eye on her through the monitor.” Anna was happy that Madeline, only nine months old, was safe and sound.
“Where’s Jerry?”
“He’s on the road,” Geraldine moaned. “But I suppose that’s a good thing.” She shook her head. “Never thought I would say that. Well, at least not in the first two years of marriage.” Both women laughed. “Where is everyone?”
“I have some guys in my office tracking the woods, and the rest are at the Brickton estate.”
“Tracking the woods?” she asked.
“Here, let me show you.” Just as Anna turned to lead Geraldine into her office, Rick suddenly filled the doorway.
“We found something. Come quick.” Both women jogged toward the surveillance room. As they turned into Anna’s office, they heard Damien cursing.
“…the fuck is that?”
Trevor immediately jumped out of his chair and followed his mother into the room.
Being technologically savvy, Damien was able to have a single camera shot appear across all of the screens. There in front of them, larger than life, was the body of Sheriff Ron Kelly.
* * * * * *
4
As Jake was walking through the dark forest with his German Shepherd along with two other officers and their dogs, he promised himself that he would run in the next election.