Hazy View: Souls of the Vanished (24 page)

“
Yes. I’ll have to make a
turn by Bobby soon.” Andrew says in almost a whisper feeling deeply
saddened for the boy’s loss.

“
I think he’d like that, I
don’t think he’s getting much visitors.” Phillip informs and walks
through the reinforced glass doors.

“
Do you know what’s going
to happen to him once he leaves here?”

“
He would probably go
home, but I don’t think he has any other relatives. Because of his
age he will go into foster care till he’s eighteen.”

“
That’s so sad. He’s such
a great kid.” Andrew replies softly.

“
I think you’ll be here
for a long time, his father’s death really hit him hard. It doesn’t
look like he’ll recover overnight. I feel so sorry for him
though.”

“
Yes it is but I’m glad to
report that we’ll soon put an end to the attacks.” Andrew
assured.

“
Please, we don’t want to
deal with any more of her victims, it disturbs the staff and the
other patients.”

They walked in silence.

“
The doctor’s waiting for
you. You can just go in, he’s expecting you.” Phillip said and
returned the way he came.

Andrew knocked on the door and an old
voice invited them in through the closed door.

Andrew entered while Davis and Martin
remained outside seated in the waiting area in front of the office
door.

“
Good day doctor.” Andrew
greeted.

“
Good day sheriff. What
can I do for you? Doctor Scotts just told me you wanted to have an
evaluation done. Are you going to stand trial for something?” The
doctor asked and seemed truly confused.

“
No doctor. It’s not for
me. I’d like you to evaluate one of my prisoners.”

“
Thank goodness, I’d hate
to think that our new sheriff is buckling under the pressure
already.” The old man replied laughing.

The office was your typical small
examining room, instead of a bed there was a long couch for patient
to lie on and the chair nearby for taking notes. An old pine desk
stood against the far wall with just enough space to move in and
out. There’s no computer or any modern phones, only the type with a
wheel on that you could stick your pen or finger in and then turn
it to the number you required. Once you leave the wheel it ran back
with a grinding clicking sound. An overlarge desk calendar
decorated the desk and a penholder held a few pencils. The
nameplate on the desk worded: Dr. Harris Psychologist. A small wire
bin stood in the corner of the office and some files piled on the
desk.

Two large pot plants stood in the
corners and a few chalk drawings decorated the walls. Besides that,
the room’s so outdated that it’s depressing. There wasn’t colorful
and it resembled one of those clinical rooms in horror flicks. The
doctor always wore long white coats and a large mirror on the
forehead. The room wasn’t as clinical but closely resembled one of
those torture chambers. Mad patient’s taken there to get the devil
draw out of them. Martin should feel right at home.

Andrew shook his head and the cold
chill that wrapped around his spine coursing him to
shiver.

Dr. Harris was the kind of person who
looked pleasant and welcoming. He’s elderly but still strong. He
showed his age only in the gray hair with the bold patch on his
crown. Pleats that mapped his face deeply. He seemed like a thinker
in his youth and someone who often frowned. His expression and body
language was inviting and friendly. Yet he seemed very stern and
didn’t seem the person, people could walk over. He wasn’t short or
skinny but well-kept firm muscles for his age. He’s dressed in a
three-piece suit, something you don’t see often anymore. Neither he
nor the office had changed in twenty years.

Dr. Harris stood up from behind his
desk and walked around to face Andrew.

“
If you want me to
evaluate one of your prisoners it would take a while. I’d have to
keep him here for a few hours. There are several tests and therapy
that I’d have to perform to see it him is truly fit to stand
trial.”

“
I can imagine
that.”

“
I hope you have things to
do I can’t rush the work.”

“
I understand.”

“
Good. You may bring the
prisoner in.”

Andrew walked to the door and called
for Davis and Martin to enter. Davis sat Martin in one of the
chairs and returned to the waiting area.

“
Could you please call as
soon as you’re done?” Andrew asked.

“
Sure. With this I take it
the Deputy will be responsible for the prisoner?”

“
Yes but I don’t think
Martin would be any trouble.”

“
I’m sure he won’t. Thank
you, we’ll be fine from this point on.” The doctor said heading
back behind his desk.

Andrew left feeling kicked out of the
office as the door closes behind him. The doctor’s uninterested in
idol chats. Andrew had other things to do and couldn’t sit in the
hospital all day.

*~*~*

*IV*

Andrew returned to the office and
found Mayor Gibbs had already returned from his office to view the
footage recorder by Mr. Craft and his son’s. Mr. Craft had shown
the Mayor the first set of footage including the voice recordings
from the incident in which he had lost his sons. Now they took a
break and waited for Andrew to arrive and engaged in idol chat in
Andrew’s office. Yvonne entered the office to refresh their
coffee.

The large window behind the desk’s
blinds kept the sun out. Although it wasn’t hot and there were
signs of rain in the later parts of the evening, it was breathable.
The wind was energetic and swept through the clean streets with
nothing to sweep except for some leave freshly plucked.

Mayor Gibbs left the office to make a
few calls leaving Andrew and Mr. Craft to catch up.

“
I hope Janet didn’t keep
you too busy these last few days?”

“
Luckily not, she appeared
in the house twice and was tearing up the forest and lake a bit.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get too close to her.”

“
How are you holding up
though, I mean with what happened with your sons?”

“
Rather well under the
circumstances. I’m leaving first thing in the morning to go back to
the city for the funeral.”

“
I wish I could’ve been
there.” Andrew said sinking his head slightly.

“
Don’t worry, if you need
me after that I can always come back.”

“
I was hoping to wrap this
whole thing up tonight. But you’re welcome to record as much as you
want a parting gift from me.” Andrew looked up again.

“
Thanks, I was thinking
about something. I can call for the diving team to help us. If the
bodies are underwater they can recover it for you. Tom and I can
work in the rowboats. I mean, I think that would give me great
footage.”

“
What if she attacks you,
I was hoping to have a large group on the water, just in case. But
you can work with them of course.” Andrew suggested.

Mr. Craft’s face lit up. “I’ll call
the diving team as soon as we’re done here. If I call them soon
they could make it here by six o’clock. I need to get bigger
cameras and lighting, and sensor.” Mr. Craft’s jittery, more
excited than Andrew had ever seen him.

He reminded him of the day Mr. Craft
asked Tom to help. He was just as excited. Maybe some of Tom’s
simple ways and childlike personality had rubbed off on
him.

“
Any footage you got, can
I have copies.” Andrew asked.

“
Sure, I wouldn’t dream of
denying you that.” Mr. Craft agreed.

Mayor Gibbs entered the office and
took the seat behind the desk. The computer’s set up against the
far wall and a chair’s turned to face the computer. Mr. Craft sat
on the other side of the desk nearest to the computers to control
them. Andrew took the chair next to Mr. Craft. Mr. Craft told Mayor
Gibbs of the earlier footage and was now eagerly awaiting the new
footage from the last couple of days.

Recordings downloaded from the cameras
lined up in files on the screen. As with the previous viewing the
footage played on the main screen and a digital graphic bar jumped
up and down on a lower panel as the audio played.

The first segment showed Janet walking
through Helen’s house throwing things around and moaning.
Christopher was running around the upstairs of the house and didn’t
follow her down the stairs. Some places Janet vanished while only
thing moved and a mug flung from the dry rack against the
wall.

The second segment just showed distant
lights from over the lake and passed across the water nearing the
pier. After rocking a boat violently she walked along the pier and
onto the lawn before vanishing without damage. There was no image
or sound from Christopher.

In a third segment Janet appeared in
the house again, she walked from the main bedroom down the passage.
Christopher didn’t run circles around her as in the previous
segment. He walked slowing calling for someone and wept softly. He
wandered from room to room calling and crying, he was looking for
someone and was upset because he couldn’t find them. He searched
the upstairs and then ran down stairs, water still collecting on
the floor where he stepped. He ran into the dining room and around
the table. He stood for a moment then turned and ran into the
kitchen calling with every step he took.

No answer.

He tried the basement door and wept
loudly. Janet descended the stairs and joined her son in the
kitchen. She took him into her arms and issued a moaning whisper,
cuddling him and then disappeared.

“
Isn’t there anymore
audio, I mean what was that about?” Mayor Gibbs asked.

“
No sorry mayor that is
all I have.” Mr. Craft said.

“
We do believe Christopher
had attached himself to Olivia, maybe he was looking for her.”
Andrew concluded.

“
This is too sad. What
happened with Martin at hospital?” Mayor Gibbs asked.

“
Martin is still there.
The Doctor wants to do tests on him, Deputy Davis is guarding
him.”

“
When is Martin going to
show you the dump site?”

“
As soon as he’s declared
fit for trial.” Andrew said hopefully.

“
You are planning to drag
Martin out there to show you where he dumped the bodies?” Mayor
Gibbs asked sarcastically.

“
Yes, I also want him to
face what he’s done.” Andrew shook his head.

“
Good. Then I will see you
there.” Mayor Gibbs said and walked out of the office.

The phone on the desk rang.

“
Sheriff I’ve the hospital
on the line, they phoned three times already. Can I put them
through now?” Yvonne asked.

“
Sure.”

A moment of silence followed before
the call’s connected with Dr. Harris.

His friendly and cracking voice came
over the phone.

“
You can come and pick up
you prisoner. I’ll have a report ready in the morning.” Dr. Harris
said getting straight to the point.

“
I’ll be there
shortly.”

The Doctor ended the call.

“
I’m going to pick up
Martin from the hospital.” Andrew admitted. “I need to see some
people then I’ll meet you at the lake later.”

“
Sure.” Mr. Craft said and
started to shut down the computers.

*~*~*

*V*

Andrew left the office and walked into
the dull sunlight. Large cloud formations had moved in and small
drops fell. He looked down at his wristwatch for the first time
today and noticed it was already past one in the afternoon. The
wind blew hard and ripped through his light clothing sending a
chill down his spine. He hugged himself and headed back to his
office to collect his jacket. He brushed his fingers through his
hair as the wind ripped it from side to side.

He managed to collect his jacket from
him office without any interruptions and made it back outside where
rain continued to fall. Drops seemed larger and faster than the
minute ago that he had stood outside. He shivered and headed to the
Deputies vehicle unlocking and got into the vehicle very
quickly.

Sitting in the driver seat he suddenly
reminded that he had to collect his vehicle from Helen’s home. He
started the vehicle and headed towards the hospital with wipers
slowly wiping away the rain which was falling even faster now. This
storm would be hard and quick. Hopefully it would be quick and
stopped before dark.

Arriving at the hospital Andrew found
Davis and Martin sitting in the waiting room outside Doctor
Harris’s office. The doctor was unavailable but Andrew didn’t have
much to say anyway all he could do was waiting till morning to find
read the report.

Andrew returned to the office with
Martin and Davis.

Davis took Martin back to the holding
cells handling him a little harder than he did thought out the day.
He doesn’t make small talk with him. Neither did he answer any of
the questions Martin asked. He shoved him into the cell with one
hand and closed the door hard. He returned to Andrew’s office.
Clearly Davis had more than enough time to think about all the
evidence he saw and heard. Now took a toll on him. His respect for
the great man had faded to nothingness and he saw him as nothing
more than the criminal he was. According to the doctor Martin
wasn’t suffering from any mental disorder that he was aware of, and
he knew all of them.