The Department of Hate - A Love Story (20 page)

“She did come to see me last night.”
But Beth’s mother was dismissive

“Of course she did. But when did she leave? Where is she now?”
Jarrod tried to remember

“I’m not sure.”
Beth’s mother was sarcastic

“That would be right
.” Beth’s father glared at him.

“She’d better be
OK.”  He spoke to his wife “I’ll check the grounds again.” Then he strode out. Jarrod poured some coffee and sat down to drink it.  Beth’s mother watched him without saying anything more.

Several more hours passed and Beth still hadn’t turned up. Now there was real concern. Beth’s mother had called several of Beth’s friends but none of them had heard from her. Beth’s father had driven around the neighbourhood without any luck. Jarrod didn’t know what to do and just sat around looking and feeling useless. Finally they decided to call the police. Jarrod was surprised to see a police car pulling up outside only ten minutes later. But the family was very well known and well established – wealth had its privileges. There was a detective in plain clothes and two uniformed officers, a man and a woman. They had a look around the house and the guest house escorted by Beth’s father. The detective questioned Beth’s father and then her mother, both at some length. Then it was Jarrod’s turn. The detective took Jarrod into another room then he introduced himself – Detective Chief Inspector Boone. He was clearly hostile and suspicious. After they were both seated he spoke

“So you’re the boyfriend?”
Jarrod replied calmly

“Yes
.” Boone looked at him sternly

“How long have you known her?”
Jarrod replied

“About six months
.” Boone was sceptical

“Not long is it, and now you’re engaged?”
Jarrod replied quickly

“Long enough.”
Boone snapped back

“Don’t be a smart ass.” He paused. “So, did you fuck her last night?”
Jarrod replied simply

“Yes.”
Boone snapped at him again.

“Did you rough her up a bit, knock her around?”
Jarrod hesitated and then quickly replied

“No, of course not.”
But Inspector Boone had noticed and taken note of the hesitation. He continued relentlessly

“Did she stay with you all night?”
It only then occurred to Jarrod that he was actually a suspect. This was ridiculous but knew he had to be careful. This obnoxious little detective had an IQ barely exceeding that of Jarrod’s toe but he could still cause a world of trouble. He replied carefully

“No, she left early
.” Boone snapped

“When exactly?”
Jarrod answered

“I’m not sure.”
Boone looked at him unpleasantly. With a clear tone of accusation he informed Jarrod

“Her mother heard her leave her room. She never heard her come back. What do you say to that?”
Jarrod was becoming annoyed, which of course is exactly what Boone wanted.

“Well she could have been asleep.”
Boone was non committal

“Maybe. Where do you think Elizabeth is?”
Jarrod replied

“I don’t know, I have no idea.”
Boone didn’t like Jarrod. He knew he’d done something. He had no doubt of that. He snapped back

“All right that’s enough for now. Don’t go anywhere.”
Jarrod wasn’t intending to. He agreed readily

“Yes, OK”
Boone scowled at him and then left the room.

Several more hours passed by. The police left, promising the parents to keep closely in touch as they pursued their enquiries and commenced a search. Jarrod made some excuse and was able to go down to the guest house for a while – hoping just to get away from the parents. He didn’t know what to think. He wasn’t even sure how he felt about the situation – concern and worry certainly but nothing like the fear and anguish clearly evident in Beth’s parents. He’d sometimes been told he was cold-hearted and here was direct evidence as to the truth of that. He stayed in the guest house for over an hour and then reluctantly made his way back to the main house. 

As he came through the back door he saw Detective Chief Inspector Boone and the two uniformed officers arriving at the front door. Their faces were grave. Jarrod saw Boone speak briefly to the parents. Beth’s mother screamed out

“No, No, Oh No, No.”
throwing her hands up to cover her face. Boone and the two officers quickly advanced on Jarrod. Before he could say anything one of the officers pulled his arms behind his back and started securing them in handcuffs. Boone glared at him and then spoke slowly and carefully

“Jarrod Bennet you are under arrest for the murder of Elizabeth Collins.”
He continued speaking but Jarrod didn’t hear the rest of it.  Jarrod said nothing. They led him out of the house shielding him from Beth’s parents especially her father.  They placed him in the back seat of the police car and drove off.

                       ***************

Earlier that day, just before dawn, Beth had woken up beside Jarrod. She had held him for a while, pressing against him. She still tingled all over. He had been very demanding and quite aggressive. It still felt wonderful. She knew that she’d better get back to her room and avoid a scene with the hypocrites. Reluctantly she got up, pulled on her panties and negligee and then her dressing gown. She wrapped it around herself tightly – it was a bit chilly so early in the morning. With a sigh she blew Jarrod a kiss and then turned and headed towards the door. She was in a strange mood – light headed even a bit confused. She realised that she was fearful of something but had no idea what of.

She went through the garden, around the side of the house and approached the front door. Jarrod was standing there, smiling, fully dressed. He held out his hand and the said to her

“Good morning darling, let’s go for a walk.”
Beth was confused. He’d never called her darling before though she had often wished that he would. The whole thing was more than a little dream-like – vague and even slightly unpleasant and threatening.  She took his hand though and moved towards him. Hadn’t she just left him? In the guest house? She started to ask

“But?”
He put his other hand to her lips, pressing against them affectionately

“Sshhh. Let’s go for a walk.”
He gently led her down the path to the front gate. She followed meekly. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw someone watching – the gardener probably. But it didn’t matter. She was with Jarrod who loved her and adored her and it was a beautiful morning for a walk.

He took her down the street and across the road to the entrance to Falkner’s park. Beth was happy. Last night and now this morning - Jarrod was being more assertive more demonstrative. She liked that. She’d often been concerned at how half-hearted and ambiguous he sometimes seemed. Now he was taking charge. She felt wanted.  Contrary to all of her former ideals and ambitions she was looking forward to being just his wife, nothing more. Pleasing him, making him happy. They would have children together – two boys and a girl – Harry, Bertrand and Gretel. She was so looking forward to being their mother. She knew that she would be an excellent mother and love them dearly and they would love her.

He took her some way into the park down the main path, then across a lawn and stopped under a large oak tree. There was no one else around – they had the park to themselves. He turned to face her. Beth smiled. He wanted to make love to her again, here on the lawn – how deliciously wicked. She spoke first, saying out loud

“Yes darling, anything.”
She took off her dressing gown. Looking down as she did so, she saw that he was wearing large steel rimmed boots. She’d never seen them before. Again it was like something from a dream. Some element intrudes; something that doesn’t fit, something terrible. She was puzzled, she started to say

“What?”
But suddenly without warning he kicked her in the shins – hard and viciously, shattering bone. She dropped to the ground, screaming in pain.  She managed to look up. Jarrod was gone. In his place there was an ugly twisted evil little man – the gnome. Beth tried to scream out

“No, No, Help, Help
.” But he moved in on her quickly, continuing to kick her viciously with the steel rimmed boots he’d recently acquired just for this purpose. He grunted, emphasising each word

“You are not the right one
for him.”  She found this incomprehensible and continued to try to scream. He kicked her in the stomach a few times just for fun. He watched her start to choke and gasp for breathe.  Then he delivered four sharp brutal kicks to the head – and heard her skull crack. He waited a few more minutes to make sure that she was dead, then vanished, job done.

                       ***************

Jarrod had been left alone, locked in a small interrogation room, for several hours now. The room was completely bare, empty gray walls – with just a small metal table and two chairs, and a surveillance camera above the door. He’d sat in the chair for some time then got up and paced about. He still didn’t know what to think and still felt nothing. He couldn’t believe that Beth was dead or that they thought he killed her. They seemed very sure of themselves, especially Detective Chief Inspector Boone. He had no faith in the police or the courts and he knew that despite being innocent he could still easily end up in prison. The politics of convenience, general ineptness, institutional inertia, corruption and just brazen outright stupidity all weighed against him. Boone obviously had it in for him – his greedy little pig eyes glazed over with malice – he was clearly incapable of any kind of objectivity. Yet somehow, on a different level, it all seemed so trivial and so irrelevant - he knew he had nothing to worry about.

The door opened and Boone came back in. He saw Jarrod pacing about and barked out a command

“Sit Down
.” Jarrod complied. Boone had questioned him earlier, but formally, with others around – potential witnesses. This time Boone made a point of switching off the surveillance camera before taking a seat across from Jarrod. He glared at Jarrod for some time and then snarled

“I know you did it asshole.”
Jarrod replied calmly

“For the thousandth time, no I didn’t
.” Boone continued to stare at him

“Do you know how I know?”
Jarrod was listening carefully, he had no idea. Boone continued

“The gardener saw you leaving with Beth just after dawn heading for the park, and also we have the surveillance videos from around the park.”
Jarrod cut in

“That’s impossible.”
Boone ignored him and continued on

“But it’s not just that. I knew it was you from the start. It’s how you react. You’re too calm. A normal person, an innocent person, would be agitated and concerned – not to mention sad and distressed. You’re fiancée has just been killed and I don’t see on your face a shred of sadness. You’re just blank. Do you feel anything?” Jarrod knew that it was best for him to say nothing, so he remained silent. He’d asked for a lawyer. He was pretty sure it was illegal for Boone to be talking to him alone like this. Boone was exasperated by his calmness and his complete lack of response. He cried out

“See what I mean. Nothing! You’re a fucking psychopath. I know this girl. I’ve known her since she was a child.” He got to his feet, came around the table and stood over Jarrod, staring down at him. Jarrod finally responded. He sighed, bored by such cheap and obvious tricks. He said

“Wonderful, so I am to be convicted on the basis of what your tiny little mind thinks is and isn’t normal?”
  It wasn’t the best response possible. DCI Boone’s eyes went wide. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Without thinking he balled his hand up into a fist and punched Jarrod in the side of the head knocking him off the chair and onto the ground. He continued to stand over him

“Why not just confess asshole, save us all some trouble.”
Jarrod was stunned. He’d never been struck before. Not once, in his whole lifetime! It took things to a whole new level.  He stared back at Boone with an unnatural calmness. He started to get up but Boone hit him again knocking him back onto the ground. Jarrod knew better than to attempt to fight back. He wondered briefly why Boone didn’t seem to care about leaving marks and bruises. But they would explain them away easily enough. He stayed where he was. Boone glared down at him and then abruptly turned and stormed out of the room.

Once he got back to the main office he could see Detective Jones waving him over. He went to his desk. Detective Jones spoke carefully - he knew this was something DCI Boone did not want to hear.

“I’m sorry Sir, but we’re going to have to let him go. We don’t have any evidence.”
Boone roared out

“What?”
Jones waited for his boss’s rage to subside then continued