Henry finished his coffee. "You be careful. Whoever killed Jenny is dangerous."
Henry got up to leave. He looked carefully at James as he drank his scolding hot coffee. Henry was just about to offer James police protection until they could find the killer, then James looked up from his cup and met Henry's stare. The look froze Henry in place until James spoke.
"You be careful too. You're going to have to find him."
Pulling himself together, Henry said, "Thank your parents for the coffee."
"I will."
As Henry left, he wished in the back of his mind that the killer would come after James before he found him. All he would get from the courts was life in prison. From James, he would get retribution. But he was a policeman, he would find him first.
* * * *
_The hands turn over the card._
In the light of the solitary lamp, the upside down figure of a cloaked man, head bowed, leaning on a staff with his left hand and holding aloft a lamp in his right, can be seen.
_A slight tremor shakes the hands as they leave the card. A chill penetrates the shrouded room._
CHAPTER 8: The Hermit reversed
The killer opened the refrigerator door, reached behind the food piled in front. He caressed the Saran-wrapped bundle before he pulled it out of the fridge. He gently cradled the bundle. His hands stroked the package, all his, forever, came the thought. His mind drifted back in time. He again was prying open the ribs, watching the slow beating of the heart. His left hand felt the slow throbbing of the organ as his right slit open the artery. Again the warm fluid filled the chest cavity, immersing his hands. Once more the final weak flutter tingled his left hand. He rubbed his face against the cold organ feeling the firm muscular tissue through the plastic wrap. He walked over to the refrigerator. He slid the plastic wrapped heart behind the leftover pot roast and closed the door. The killer then went to a shelf filled with pictures. His eyes scanned the array of faces till they stopped on one photograph yellow with age, a picture of a young girl with a smiling face.
The killer had always known he was different. His strict abusive father and shrewish wife had kept his differences in check. He always remembered the joy he experienced at funerals, his mother's at age six, his father's fifteen years ago, and his wife's five years ago. His laughter at his mother's funeral had earned him a beating that night by his father. By the time his father had died, he had learned the skill of pretending grief. The fear of retribution had kept him in check until just a few years ago. Driving along a rural highway, he came upon an accident. The car had skidded off the road and into a large tree. He stopped his car and went to the wreck. Inside was a man gasping for breath, pinned between the crumpled dash and the seat. A trickle of blood dripped from the side of his mouth. His eyes had a panicked, dazed look.
The killer reached into the wreck and touched the clammy face. He started to giggle at the man who attempted to scream for help between gasps of air. The killer heard another car pull to a stop behind him. His hand covered the dying man's face suffocating him. By the time the _Good Samaritan_ got to the car it was over. The killer collapsed next to the wrecked car, his shoulders shaking with stifled guffaws.
The _Good Samaritan_ patted the killer's back. He said, "That's all right. You did what you could. It was just his time. Let me help you back to your car."
He let the _Samaritan_ lead him to his car. There he sat until the silent laughter stopped. The sadness on his face was genuine when he answered the questions of the local deputy sheriff about the wreck. He was truly sad the death had happened so quickly.
Jenny was the first time he had done the whole killing himself. He had chosen her because she reminded him of the first girl he had ever fucked, years ago. He had bribed Jenny to come with him with free beer and a fifty-dollar bill, then he drugged her beer with a barbiturate. After she had gotten sleepy, he had walked her to his basement. In her dazed state, she helped him remove her clothes, thinking sex would be coming next, not death.
As she drifted deeper into unconsciousness, he got his tools, a knife, hack saw, bolt cutters and a pair of wire snips. He carefully slit the skin between her white breasts. The blood was less then he imagined. He was happy when the cutters worked to cut the ribs apart. He hadn't wanted to mess the incision with the saw. The wire snips opened the artery and then it was over!
Next time he would do it when they were fully conscious. Maybe it would last longer if they were awake? He missed in Jenny's eyes the fear he had seen in the eyes of the man in the car wreck. But now he needed to get a new refrigerator for the basement! He couldn't have anyone reach into the fridge for a beer and pull out the heart, besides he would need the room. He knew who he was going to bring to his basement next and the one after that and the one after that and the one...
* * * *
Sandra and Lori hit it off immediately. After the first few sentences, they each seemed to know what was going through the others mind. Sandra was the first to finish a sentence started by the other. At the end of the meeting, the handclasp turned into a hug.
Lori drove back to the school buoyed by the feeling of meeting a true friend. Even the snarling comments of Kawalski at her taking a half-day of personal leave didn't bother her mood. She smiled when she thought of the surprise everyone would get on Friday. Sandra had told her that she would time the serving of the subpoenas so Kawalski, Shermon and the school board members would all receive them that afternoon. Lori decided to stop by James' place after school and tell him the good news.
When James heard the knocking at his front door, he stopped piling old firebricks against the walls. He didn't know if they were enough to stop a bullet but he had no other ideas. The knocking continued. He placed the brick in his hand against the wall and went to the back of his trailer. A rapid survey of the back yard revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Carrying his shotgun, he went out the back door. He peered around the corner of the trailer prepared for anything but Lori. He tried to speak but nothing came out. Clearing his throat, he finally got out, "Hello?"
Lori jumped when she heard the voice from her side.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. I've had some trouble so I've had to be careful checking who was at my door."
"I heard... "
Lori broke the awkward silence, "I've got good news. The union is filling charges against Shermon and Kawalski. Our lawyer, Sandra, thinks the State might even file criminal charges of blackmail against them... "
"That's good news but I'm not sure if that will help me much. I think I'm out of teaching. The district will never hire me back. With Jenny dead, I'll always have an open record of an investigation of having sex with a minor. The new background-check laws mean that no school will hire me."
"Jenny's dead? What happened?"
"You heard about the body found in Deer Lake Falls?"
"Yes."
"That was Jenny. It was pretty bad, and her being seventeen and all, they aren't releasing her name. I found out because Hakanen talked to me."
"Who's Hakanen?"
"Oh, Henry is the deputy sheriff handling Jenny's complaint against
me."
"They don't think you did it, do they?" For some reason, the thought that anyone would suspect James of murder bothered Lori more than Jenny's death. At the time, Lori dismissed her thoughts, because Jenny was a bitchy girl who always had a snide comment. But later that night, Lori would spend hours wondering if her dismissal of Jenny's death and her worry for James meant more.
"No. Henry stopped by to warn me." James hesitated. He didn't want to alarm Lori. "He thought when the reporters found out about her murder, they might track me down." His own explanation sounded lame to him but he realized the Lori was still in shock about hearing of Jenny's murder. He dropped his explanation with a pause.