CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DRAMA

Ryan saw the flashing blue and red lights of the sheriff's cars as he drove his truck down Main Street. There was a large crowd of people gathering in the area of the occurance so he couldn't make out exactly which building was involved.

“Is this a regular occurance?” Rashid asked from beside the passenger door, next to Micki.

“Shouldn't we see what's going on?” Micki asked before Ryan had a chance to answer Rashid.

Ryan looked at his watch. “Phil said to meet him at seven oclock and it's nearly that now.”

“But what if it's something important?” Micki asked.

“It is imperitive that we study the Necronomicon.” Rashid said. “Anything else is of lower priority.”

“But what if it's something related to the murders?” Micki asked.

“How could it be?” Ryan asked. “We've already figured out that it's the mask that's possessing people, and it's safely tucked away at the sheriff's office. So how could anything going on right now be associated with it.”

“I don't know.” Micki said, looking concerned. “I've got a bad feeling about this.”

Phil was waiting in front of the sheriff's office when Ryan and the others drove up.

“It's about time.” Phil said, looking at his watch as Ryan got out of the truck. “I really doubt the sheriff would be willing to give you and your guests an extention if you were late.”

“Sorry about that. We had to do a bit of detouring to get here.” Ryan told him. “By the way, you goit any idea what's going on back there?”

“No, not really.” Phil said. “but you know how it's been with all the tourists around here.”

“I would've thought you'd have had to go right through the middle of all that on your way from the coroner's office.” Ryan said.

“It was really dead when I left there.” He told Ryan. “But it's been a while since I left.”

Just then Rashid came up to them.

“Oh, Phil.” Ryan said. “This is Rashid. He's the antique specialist I mentioned.”

“It is a pleasure.” Rashid said, giving Phil a slight bow. “It is most unfortunate that I had to interupt your conversation, gentlemen, but I believe it is most important that we proceed.”

“I agree with Rashid.” said Micki, who was standing just behind the Egyptian mystic.

“Well, then let's get this show on the road.” Phil said, pleasantly, as he lead them into the sheriff's office building.

Sheriff Lloyd Landis honked his horn and turned on the flashing lights on top of his patrol car as he approached the crowd of people who had gathered in the street in front of the Cunningham County Coroner's Office. He saw mixed in with the tourists and onlookers were a large contingent of reporters that had hung around town since his press conference the other day.

Silently he cursed. How the hell had they found out about this so fast? My god, he thought, they're like carrion waiting for a feast.

He honked again and the crowd parted to let him through. He swung his patrol around and parked right in front of the entrance to the building.

He saw that Deputy Cort was standing beside the entrance waiting for him. “Ok, Cort, give me the lowdown.” He said as he got out of his patrol car.

“I've called Buck and Roy and the new guy, Justin, and got all of them doing crowd control. I've also called in a couple of unites from the highway patrol and some help from Clear Spring as well.” Cort told him. “ And, I called the coroner's office in Essex and they're sending someone to, well, you know...”

“Understood.” Landis said, his stomach clenching at the thought of what happened to Bob. “And the crime scene?”

“I'm the only one who's been in there, besides who ever found the bodies.”

“Don't tell me our witness took a hike.” Landis said.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Cort confirmed. “But I don't blame them, it's really nasty in there. I had to run outside myself and puke when I saw it.”

Landis felt his stomach clench again. He knew if Cort couldn't keep his lunch then he was assuredly not going to be able to keep control. The thought of doing it in front of this crowd and all the media outside the building was not exactly a comforting thought. Yet he knew it was his responsibility as sheriff to look over the scene.

“Would you like me to lock down the crime scene until the coroner from Wessex arrives?” Cort asked, as if reading the sheriff's mind.

“No, I really should check the scene for myself.” Landis told him, though he appreciated the out Cort offered.

“Are you sure about that, sir?” Cort asked, surprised.

Landis gave Cort a stern look. “I'm positive. You stay here and keep those vultures back. You got that, Cort?”

“Crystal clear, Sheriff.” Cort said.

Landis knew Cort got the message and would try his utmost to avoid an embarrassing situation.

Putting on his best authoritative facade, Landis headed through the doorway into the entry hall.

Somebody had some fun. He thought as he looked at the overturned file cabinet and scattered papers that littered the desk.

Heading down the hall, he entered the examination room. The sight that met his eyes was appalling. The floor was splattered with blood and tossed guts. The walls were decorated in bloody letters that read “JASON LIVES” over and over again. This particular touch made a chill run up Landis' spine. It reminded him of the cave on Crystal Hill.

Of the eight bodies he could count scattered around the room, most of them on gurneys, only the two bodies on two of the main exam tables were uncovered.

“Oh my god, Bob, what kind of monster could do this to you?” Landis said, looking down at the body of his old friend. Not only had the killer split Bob open from chest to groin, and placed his internal organs on the table next to him, but they'd also castrated him and sutchered his gentitals to his forehead.

Landis barely held back the bile that threatened to come up in his throat. One thing he didn't want to do was contaminate the crime scene. No, of all the freaks he'd brought down over the years this was the one he most wanted. This one was personal.

Landis moved on to the next of the killer's hideous displays. He recognized the woman as Bob's Mexican receptionist. What the hell was her name? He asked himself. Luisa? Consuela ? Maria? He couldn't recall. All he knew was that this killing really looked personal.

The killer had gone out of his way to show how he killered this woman by leaving the black feathered boa firmly wrapped around her neck.Though the killer had cut the woman open like Bob, they'd shown their disrespect for her by throwing her internal organs all over the floor. Then the killer had pulled the woman's eyes out of their sockets and laid them on top of the sockets to make them look bugged out. Then they'd cut the sides of the woman's mouth wider and formed it into a sardonic grin. The killer finished her off by taking the woman's red lipstick and smeared it around her mouth like some sadistic clown makeup.

Upon seeing this grotesque parody Landis found he couldn't hold back any longer. Luckily he managed to catch sight of some large specimen bags sitting on a nearby counter. He quickly grabbed the bag and got it opened just in time for the upsurge of bile.

Phil, followed by Steven Freeman, Steven's cousin, and Rashid walked up to the desk located next to the door to the evidence room. Behind the desk was a fat, balding, deputy Phil knew as Ed Marlin.

“Hey Ed, I got an authorization here from the sheriff to let these people have a look at the stuff that was taken the Voorhees house a few years ago.” Phil told the deputy holding up his forged paperwork.

The heavy deputy looked up at him from his desk where he had a half cup of coffee and a half eatten glazed donut sitting in front of him. “Oh, could you come back in a bit. The sheriff's on a call and we're a bit under staffed at the moment.”

Phil was surprised by this. “Excuse me?”

“I said the sheriff's out on a call.” Deputy Marlin repeated.

“And that matters why?” Phil asked, confused, with a twinge of sarcasm.

“It's just that I'd feel more secure of I got the authorization straight from the sheriff.” Deputy Marlin said.

Well, that went well. The voice in Phil's head said. I would think of something fast if I were you.

“I don't give a flying...” Phil blurted out, but then he calm himself down. “Look Ed,” he put the paper in front of Deputy Marlin and pointed out the signature section, “the sheriff has already given his authorization.”

“I understand that, Phil. The thing is the sheriff and most of the staff are out of the office. I don't think he'd be too pleased if I leave the desk unattended at this time.”

“We were told to be here at this time to view this stuff.” Phil told him.

“I'm sorry. I really can't leave this desk unattended and I'm certainly not going to let you people go digging around in there all alone” Deputy Marlin said, taking a bite of his donut and following it with a sip of coffee.

“Sir, if it is a matter of trust we're dealing with,” Rashid said, “I can assure you if you had to leave us unattended at any time we would not touch anything in the room other than that which we've come here to study.” Rashid told him.

“Damnit, Ed, these people are on a limited schedule.” Phil said. “So, couldn't you give us a break, as a favor to me?”

“I don't know. This seems like a big favor.” Deputy Marlin said, wiping the crumbs off his lips with a paper towel.

“Well, how can I compensate you for your inconvenience?”

Give him whatever he asks for. The voice instructed him.

“How about you give me a little introduction to that sweet looking little lady who works at your office?”

“Guadalupe?” Phil said, trying to sound surprised. My god, does every scummy piece of shit in this town want a piece of that bitch's ass. He thought. “I'll see what I can do, but I think her dance card is full at the moment.”

“But you'll try?” Deputy Marlin asked.

“Oh sure.” Phil said, smiling. In his mind he was envisioning Guadalupe the way he'd left her back at the coroner's office. He felt the tingle in his groin again. “I'm sure she'll be really open to the idea.”

“Good.” Deputy Marlin said, smiling back at him.

Sheriff Landis came out of the coroner's office and headed over to Deputy Cort. “I'm heading back to the office.” The sheriff told Cort. “You'll be in charge here. Contact me when the coroner from Essex arrives.”

“And that, sir?” Cort asked indicating a plastic bag full of brownish liquid the sheriff was carrying with him.

Landis looked down at the bag. “That isn't evidence.” Landis informed him in a low tone. “And you didn't see it, Cort.”

“Perfectly clear, sir.” Cort said, with a knowing expression.

With that, Sheriff Landis headed back to his patrol car and got in. After starting it up he made a wide turn, trying to avoid bumping into the crowd that had gathered in front of the coroner's office. The media people closed in on the car and started banging on it and yelling questions through the window. Landis waved them off and continued to slowly try to maneuver his car out of the crowd. Finally, the crowd opened up and let the sheriff through, though some of the media people continued to pursue him.

Landis sped up his car and left the last of the media behind. All he wanted to do was get back to the secure haven of the sheriff's office, have a strong cup of coffee, take an aspirin for his headache, and just simply get away from the insanity outside.

“Ok, I'm trustin' you people to be on good behavior and just do what you came here to do.” Deputy Ed Marlin said, as he lead Phil, Steven Freeman, Freeman's cousin, and Rashid inside the evidence room.

“There's no need to worry, my friend.” Rashid assured him. “We will be most swift in our studies.”

This amused Phil. Oh, yes, and I assure you I'll be swift in what I have to do too. Swift and bloody. He thought.

I have no doubt about that, my dear boy. The voice in his head said. I await the pleasure of seeing the fruition of your plan.

Oh, I think you'll be quite amused and impressed. Phil thought back at the voice.

Phil was always amazed by the size of the evidence room. Most small town evidence rooms were nothing more than medium sized storage rooms with a few wall unites to hold evidence boxes. In comparison the Cunningham County evidence room was a monster. Because of all the evidence the sheriff's office had accumulated over the years due to Jason, when the sheriff's office was remodeled seven years ago the planners had expanded the evidence room to accommodate the accumulated evidence as well as making room for what they expected was much more to come. At this time the evidence room was well over a hundred feet long and featured twenty long shelf unites.

Deputy Marlin lead Phil and the other past two of the shelf unites, which were full of boxes. “Ok....ok....1995, Voorhees house.” He mumbled to himself as he glanced over a clip board he'd taken off the wall next to the entrance.

He finally stopped in front of another long shelf unite full of boxes. “Ok, the stuff you're looking for is here.” He said. “Remember you only got an hour. Good luck.”

Rashid look at the shelf unite questioningly. Then he looked over at Deputy Marlin. “Do you have a list of the contents of these boxes?”

“The contents are listed on the side of the boxes.” Marlin informed him.

“Well, then we'd better get started.” Steven Freeman said, grabbing ahold of a rolling stair unite and pulling it over the the shelf unite. Climbing up, he started handing down boxes to his cousin who would move them over to a table to the left of the shelf unites. Rashid went over to the table and started looking at the contents lists.

“Would it be possible for you to assist my associates?” Rashid asked after a few minutes later, when he noticed that both Phil and Deputy Marlin were just standing and watching.

“As Steven could tell you, I'm still getting over a bug and really shouldn't be toating anything around.” Phil told him.

“And what about you, Officer?” Rashid asked.

“My responsibility is to make sure you people don't do anything funny, not to help you carry boxes.”

“But it would vastly swiffen our pace if you would do us this minor service.” Rashid said.

“I'm sorry, sir. There is nothing in the sheriff's orders nor our agreement stating I'd help you.”

“That's fine.” Freeman said, as he handed yet another box to Micki. “I think we got it here.”

Rashid shook his head and went back to examining the contents lists.

I would suggest we get on with what we came here to do. The voice said.

“Which reminds me, Ed.” Phil said to the deputy. “Doctor Bob asked me to take another scraping from the exacto knife used in those murders a few days ago. You still got those boxes in the new case area?”

“Yeah, but I can't let you do that right now. The sheriff has ordered that no one touch that stuff without his ok.”

“Excuse me?” Phil said, surprised. “The sheriff can't do that. Doctor Bob has jurisdiction over such things.”

“Well, you'll just have to talk to the sheriff about that.” Deputy Marlin told him.

Well, this plan is working out well. The voice commented.

Phil could see that he was going to have trouble with this situation. He could feel his perfect plan coming down around his head.

I would suggest you think of something fast, fool. The voice ordered.

“Ah, here it is.” He heard Rashid say from the table.

At that moment Phil got an odd feeling, almost electric. He knew something was about to happen, something big.

Steven Freeman and Micki came over to the table and watched as Rashid dug through the box and finally pulled out the grotesquely bound volume.

“Maybe I won't have to.” Phil said, under his breath.

The Egyptian held the book in both hands and closed his eyes for a moment. All watching were surprised as Rashid's hands started to shake and a groan escaped his lips.

“What the hell is that about?” Deputy Marlin asked.

“You got me.” Freeman said.

“Are you all right, Rashid?” Micki asked, concerned.

Rashid opened his eyes and looked up at her. “I'm doing quite well, Micki. This book is most definitely authentic, which makes me wonder what is locked up in the archives at Miskatonic University.”

“How can you tell?” Micki asked.

“Come and find out for yourself.” Rashid said, holding out the book to her.

Micki took the book and immediately fell to the floor, her body spasming wildly.

“Oh dear gods, what have I done!” Rashid said, rushing around the table and bending down beside her.

“Take the book away from her!” Steven Freeman yelled at Rashid.

Rashid tried to pull the book away from her, but it appeared Micki had it in a death grip.

Watching this, Phil silently thanked the Ancient Ones for the distraction. With everyone's attention focased on Micki, his way was now open to collect his prize.

RETURN