Crowley's Window (Novella) (6 page)

“I said, back it up lady!” The large officer was in her face now, trying to calmly direct her back under the yellow tape, but she resisted his efforts, wanting to get closer to the body, not farther away.

“Wait! I can help. Let me go over to him. If you’ll just let me touch his body I think I might be able—”

“You ain’t touching squat, lady. You kidding me? I told you, this is a crime scene and no one’s touching nothin’ until the chief and the coroner show up. Now get back behind the tape…before I have you arrested.”

“Arrested?” Mister Chollo said, coming to his friend’s defense. “She’s only trying to help you. There’s no need to—”

“Am I not talking loud enough for you people? The carnival music damaged all your ears? I told everyone to step back and I meant it.
MOVE!
” The angry policeman stood his ground until everyone in the crowd had backed away several feet. “This is serious shit, folks. Pardon my French, but someone’s been murdered here. Add that to the missing little girl last night and we have a whole heap of trouble on our hands; all of it centered on this damn freak show. Effective immediately, the carnival is shut down. No one’s going anywhere until my partner and I get a sworn statement from each and every one of you.”

* * *

By noon, the mood around the carnival had gone from bad to worse. The Westchester Police had shut down the ticket booths and roped off the parking lot to keep customers away and the carnies had been rather rudely informed that not only were they not opening for business until further investigation, but that each and every one of them was being considered as a possible suspect in both the murder of Raymond Jensen and the previous disappearance of young Trisha Martin. The carnies were a close family—most of them having no real family outside of the Townsend Traveling Show—and this carnival, as ragtag an outfit and it may very well be, was all any of them had. Collectively, they were shocked and more than a little offended anyone might suspect them having anything to do with effectively closing the show and cutting off their only means of making a respectably living. They were entertainers, not criminals, and certainly not kidnappers and killers. It would have been laughable if the situation wasn’t so deadly serious.

Abby fully expected to be grilled numerous times by the police trying to ascertain the extent of her unusual knowledge of last night’s abduction and she was smart enough to know they’d find out the teenage boy had been the last person to visit Abby before all the chaos had broken loose, so it was no surprise when she was told another police officer wanted to speak with her in private back in her tent. What did surprise her, even shock her a little, was that the policeman turned out to be Officer Beck, the cop she’d developed a silly crush on yesterday.

“Hello Abby,” David Beck said, “Sorry to bother you again.”

“I’d prefer if you called me, Miss Hawkins, officer. I don’t appreciate being labeled a suspect in a murder case just for trying to help. I think we should keep this professional.” She was just being a pain in the ass for no reason. In truth, she rather liked the way David said her name. Liked it a lot, actually; it made her feel all warm and tingly inside, but she needed to put up a stone wall here to avoid being hurt further than she already was.

“Certainly ma’am. I understand.”

Abby could hear the disappointment in his voice, and once again she felt the stirrings of a mutual attraction between them; a dry tinderbox of emotions just in need of one of them striking the first match to start the fire but she pulled back her senses and tried to focus on the moment. She was probably misreading his feelings anyway.

“And just for the record, you’re not a suspect in this mess,” Officer Beck continued. “Not by me, anyway.”

“Why are you here, then? I’ve already told everything I know to a few of your colleagues today. I only met that Ray guy for a few minutes with his brother. I have no idea who he is or why someone would want to kill him. Surely you guys compare notes.”

“Of course we do, Ab…I mean Miss Hawkins. That’s not why I’m here. I don’t really have anything to do with that part of the investigation. I’m working the little girl’s side of the case. Can I trust you with a secret?”

Abby didn’t know what to say to that. Yes was the answer, but she was hesitant to give it. Justified or not, she was still pretty bitter about him lying to her last night. “Why should I say yes? I can’t trust you so why should you be able to trust me?”

David sighed, frustrated and more than likely a little annoyed but Abby stuck to her guns. “You lied to me, Officer Beck. I don’t like liars and I don’t trust men who fool around on their wives.”

“Dammit, Abby,” David said, and didn’t correct himself this time. “It’s not as black and white as that. You may never believe me, and to be honest, I’m not even sure why I care…but I do. I’m a good person. An honest, decent man who’s in way over my head. I wish you’d believe that.”

“Oh yeah? Then when do you plan on telling your wife about your little affair?” Abby was definitely stepping over the line now, and knew it, but the cork was already out of the bottle and she couldn’t seem to help it.

“I already have.”

That stopped Abby in her tracks, taking her completely by surprise. “What?”

“I said I already have told her. Last night. Not that it’s any of your business, but it’s been eating me alive for weeks now. I don’t love my wife; haven’t in years, but she’s still a good person and my friend. I couldn’t run around behind her back. I just couldn’t. I’m not like that. So I told her everything last night.”

A small part of Abby’s heart rejoiced at his honesty but another part of her wasn’t so sure he was telling her the truth. He’d lied to her before; why not again? Hating herself for doing it, she reached across her table past the crystal ball and felt for his arm. To his credit, he never pulled away. As soon as she touched his skin she was transported across the forest and across town to a small red bricked bungalow where her mind’s eye sailed through the walls to stop in the galley-style kitchen. In front of her was Officer Beck, dressed in jeans and a black Pink Floyd t-shirt sitting at a small table talking to a beautiful blond haired woman in her early twenties. Abby was coming into the room at the end of the conversation, just as David was telling her about his affair with a woman named Sally. His wife looked hurt and mad enough to chew through nails, but not in the least bit surprised.

Abby pulled back her hand and broke the psychic connection, feeling dirty and ashamed, like she’d invaded the young man’s privacy more than enough already. She received a snapshot picture of the man sitting opposite her and only now registered how tired and disheveled he looked today. Gone was the confident young man from last night.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had no right to do that.”

“It’s okay. Telling her doesn’t get me a hero’s biscuit or make anything right, but it’s a start and I need you to trust me, Miss Hawkins. Maybe now you will.”

“Call my Abby, okay? Sorry I’m such a bitch. Let’s start this over. Yes, you can trust me with your secret. What is it?”

“I need you to come with me on a little trip.”

“Where? We were told we couldn’t leave the carnival grounds until everything was sorted out?”

“You can’t, unless you’re accompanied by an officer on official police business. I need help…and you might be the only person who can do it.”

“Okay, but what’s going on?”

Officer Beck paused for a moment, either not sure what to say, or maybe not sure he should be saying it. “We found Trisha Martin. About fifty miles from here in a dumpster behind the Walgreen’s store in Gainsville. She’s dead.”

“Oh my god! That’s horrible!”

“Worse than horrible, actually. Whoever did it wasn’t content to just kill her…the little girl was mutilated.” Officer Beck hesitated again, but continued on. “They slit her throat and gouged out her eyes, Abby, and the local police say they can’t find them. The bastard must have taken them with him as some sort of token or grisly trophy to remind him of the kill. It’s sickening but happens more than you’d care to know.”

Abby was feeling a little faint, the news of the girl’s death hitting her harder than expected. All she could think about was how close she’d come to saving Trisha last night. If only the police had believed her sooner. Maybe…

“I need you to come with me to view the body. If you’re up to it, of course? I can’t force you.”

“Why would you want me to do that?” Abby asked, but then the truth hit her and she wasn’t sure whether to be happy David believed in her powers, or mad he’d only come here because he wanted to use her gift to help further his case. “You want me to touch her, don’t you? To see if I can get any kind of read off her?”

“I don’t want you to, no. The last thing I want to do is involve you in this further but we don’t have a clue who did this to her and I’ll be damned if I’ll let them get away with what they’ve done without trying every option available. I know you can do things the rest of us can’t, and I need your help. That little girl’s family needs your help. Will you come with me and at least try?”

What other answer was there. “Of course. When are we leaving?”

“Right now.”

* * *

They arrived in Gainsville in less than an hour with Abby getting her first ever ride inside a black and white police cruiser. For the trip she’d changed into jeans and a light wool sweater and since she’d be out in public, decide to put in the glass eyes her doctor had ordered her years ago. Abby hated wearing them, couldn’t stand the way the cold hard glass orbs felt shoved into her empty eye sockets but she tolerated them every now and then when she left the carnival grounds. Sometimes it was better to be uncomfortable than to be stared at and ridiculed by strangers on the street. Officer Beck didn’t say a word about her new “eyes,” bless him, but did tell her how pretty she looked as he held open the door of his cruiser for her. Probably an inappropriate comment for an officer of the law to say to a psychic-for-hire but in this case it didn’t seem awkward at all and made Abby secretly blush as she climbed into the car.

David drove like a madman on a high speed pursuit, but it was just his natural way of driving apparently, his demeanor was never anything but friendly as they chatted throughout the trip. On the way, he admitted his wife had thrown him out of the house after his confession last night, but said he was okay with that. Relieved even. He’d explained to Abby how he’d never really loved his wife but had gotten swept up in the romance; in love with being in love far more than enamored with the actual woman. Before he could stop and take a breath, they’d married and moved into a little house in Westchester. Three weeks later, he’d joined the force and had been trying to find a way out of their mutually loveless marriage ever since. Beth and he were decent enough friends but that’s all they’d ever be. All they should have remained. Even Sally had been a big mistake. She was a nice girl but David had nothing in common with her. It had just felt good to be with someone, anyone, at the time, but loneliness was no excuse for what he’d done. He’d already called Sally too, to apologize to her and to tell her their relationship, such as it was, was over.

Abby also opened her heart up to him during the drive, confiding in David her memories of growing up psychic and of trying to cope with her blindness at the age of thirteen. She’d never talked to anyone as openly as this and she was surprised to learn how truly little she remembered of her childhood; especially around the time of her Cancer and subsequent removal of her eyes. She’d found a way to cope by just blanking that awful part of her life out. It was awkward telling all her best kept secrets to a relative stranger, but in the end it felt right and somehow Abby knew she could trust David not to tell anyone what they discussed. Perhaps she was being a little naive in her thinking, having only met the man yesterday, but there was a definite connection between the two of them, and with every mile that passed together that bond seemed to strengthen. By the time they arrived at Gainsville General, the town’s only hospital, Abby was happier than she’d been in a long time and had nearly forgotten they had come here on serious police business. She took a deep breath and tried to keep her feet firmly on the ground. It wasn’t easy with David sitting so close to her.

“Okay, this is it,” David said. “We’re at the hospital. I asked the police to leave the girl at the scene but they wouldn’t do it. Too many gawkers crowding around so they brought her here. The town morgue is in the basement and we’re supposed to meet a guy named Chambers. You ready for this?”

“Probably not, but I’ll be okay.”

“I’ll be right beside you. Let’s go.”

David got out of the car and took her by the hand. A myriad of happy feelings and warm mental pictures bombarded Abby but she tried to push them to the side and focus on clearing her mind as best she could. If there was any way she could help catch Trisha’s killer, she’d need to stop thinking about David and concentrate only on the girl. If there was something brewing between her and Officer Beck, and at the moment it was still a big huge
if
, it would have to wait until later. Right now, they both had a job to do.

On the lower level of the hospital, they passed through a set of steel doors and entered a small three room office that made up the town’s morgue. A gray-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard stood to greet them. Dan Chambers, the coroner here in Gainsville, had been expecting them and although it was crystal clear to both David and Abby that he was skeptical her visit would be of any help, he kept his feelings mostly to himself and gave them the thirty second tour of the office and autopsy room.

“We’re a small outfit here, Officer,” Chambers said. “Hardly ever any trouble. Most of my work comes straight from the old age home, to be honest. Basically I just hold the bodies here and wait to be notified by the families which funeral home is coming to pick their loved one up. Can’t say we’ve ever had anything like this happen. Not while I’ve been in charge, anyhow.”