CHAPTER TWO
BODY OF EVIDENCE
Sheriff Lloyd Landis drove up to the county coroner’s building. As he was getting out of his patrol car Doctor Bob and Phil came out and met him.
“This had better be good Bob.” The sheriff said, annoyed. “My wife isn’t very forgiving about me taking off in the middle of dinner.”
“I think this’ll be worth it. Come in and take a look for yourself.” Doctor Bob said.
“You know I don’t have much of a stomach for that.” Landis wasn’t kidding either. He’d always had a weak stomach when it came to viewing autopsies, which was surprising given his choice of career. Yet it had only been in the past three years, since he’d had to deal with the final blood bath of Jason Voorhees that the condition had become intolerable.
“I know, Lloyd, and I wouldn’t ask this of you if it was important for you to see this with your own eyes.”
The sheriff shook his head “Fine, let’s get this over with.”
A few minutes later, the sheriff was fight back his own nausea as Doctor Bob showed him a grisly sight laid out in a tray. It was the ragged remains of the skin of a human face, or Landis could only guess it was human. It was a torn up mess.
“What’s your point, Bob?” The sheriff asked, with a hint of annoyance. “Your assistant showed me that damned thing at the crime scene.”
“Lloyd, Phil had to practically rip the damned thing out of the mask.”
“Yeah, the guy was burned. Flesh tends to liquefy and stick.” The sheriff said.
“The thing is this flesh isn’t burned.” Doctor Bob told him, taking a pair tongs and flipping the mangled flesh around for the sheriff to see. “It was more like his face was bonded to the mask. But I had Phil check for some kind of bonding agent and he couldn’t find any traces on the inside of the mask or on the flesh itself.”
“And this is what you dragged me over here for?” Lloyd Landis asked, his pallor definitely a few shades lighter than when he’d entered the examining room.
“No, there’s more.” Doctor Bob said, gesturing toward the covered body on the nearby table.
The sheriff reluctantly followed the county coroner to the table. Sensitive to the sheriff’s growing discomfort, Doctor Bob slowly pulled the sheet off the body. The smell of cooked meat, which had been a constant irritant since they’d entered the room, now intensified.
“The moment we got back here I had Phil x-ray the body.” Doctor Bob said, picking up a folder from the metal table next to the body and pulled out the series of x-rays from inside. Taking it over to the light panel on the wall he clipped the x-ray to the wall and beckoned to the sheriff to come over.
Grateful to get away from the sight of the blackened visage on the table Sheriff Landis came over. Though Lloyd Landis had no medical experience he did know what the human skeletal system looked like and there was something definitely wrong about the one shown in the x-ray.
“From what I can tell there has been an unbelievable increase in bone mass.” Then he pointed at a smooth section of leg bone in the image. “This is the original unaltered bone.” Then he pointed to a rougher and whiter section a bit lower down. “This is all new bone. From what I can tell, it looks much denser than the original and I can only guess it grew at an unnatural rate, thus the rougher texture present.”
“So you got any idea why, or how long this could’ve taken?” The sheriff asked. “Hell, this guy went from five foot five to over six feet, someone must’ve noticed.”
“If my suspicion is right several people noticed the change, but most of them are dead.”
“What you getting at, Bob?”
Doctor Bob turned back toward the table the corpse was laying on. “First I think I’d better show you something else.”
Reluctantly, Sheriff Landis followed Doctor Bob over to the table. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take. Though he knew Bob would understand if he threw up, he really didn’t want to do it in front of his underling. Even though he really didn’t know Bob’s assistant very well, he knew enough about human nature from all his years on the job to spot a gossip.
That would be all he’d need for the people of Crystal Lake to find out their sheriff had a weak stomach.
When Doctor Bob got to the table he picked up a scalpel and made a small incision on the top of the corpse’s left hand. Black liquid started dribbling from the wound.
“What the hell is that?” Sheriff Landis asked, his nausea forgotten.
“Would you believe blood?”
“You’re crazy.” Landis said. He’d seen enough blood in his lifetime, more than enough since starting this job, and in all that time he’d never seen anything like this. No, that wasn’t true, he realized. He had seen that once before. Black gunk like that had oozed out of his deputy’s, Josh’s, throat when Diana’s daughter, Jessica, cut it when she realized he was possessed by Jason Voorhees and was about to go after her infant daughter, Stephanie.
“How do you explain this, Doc?” he asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine right now.” Doctor Bob admitted. “I checked this stuff under the microscope and I was able to identify human blood cells, but mixed in with those cells is a substance I simply can’t identify.”
“So what can you tell me, Doc?” Lloyd Landis asked, frustrated. At this point all he had was questions.
“Only that I’m pretty sure our friend here is the missing kid, Ted Bateman.”
“Excuse me?” Lloyd exclaimed. “How’d you come to that conclusion?”
“I had a suspicion about this from the start, so I checked Bateman’s blood type on the computer. Even though the blood from the body is seriously corrupted I was still able to type it as type A, which is Bateman’s blood type. Also, I was able to estimate our friend’s original height. Bateman was five foot four, a match to the original height of our friend here.”
“That’s still not enough evidence.” Landis reminded him.
“I realize that.” Doctor Bob said. “I’m gonna send Boston Medical everything I’ve collected. I’m sending the x-ray, a sample of the skin from inside the mask, some blood, as well as a dental casting I’ve made. If I’m right they’ll be able to confirm the identity.”
“Well, I hope your right.” The sheriff said. “At least that would be one thing solved. I’ve got a pile of bodies and no reasonable motive.”
Phil Raman listened to Doctor Bob and the sheriff talk from the corner of the room where he sat on a stool next to the sink and scrubbed the last remaining bits of flesh out of the hockey mask.
For some reason it seemed important to him that every trace it’s former wearer be expunged from it. This is Jason’s mask, he thought, and no pretender should soil it!
“How’s it going, Phil.” Doctor Bob asked from across the room.
Startled, Phil replied, “Ok…almost done.”
“Good.” Doctor Bob said as he and the sheriff started moving toward him. “The sheriff wants to take it with him and store it with the other evidence.”
No, we can’t do that! Phil wanted to scream. He needed to keep the mask for a little bit longer. He wanted to caress its hard shell for just a bit more. It felt good.
“Maybe we should keep it a bit longer.” He tried to sound casual about it, which was hard. “I really think I should give it a couple more tests.”
“There’s no need.” Doctor Bob told him. “Finding out why the face stuck to the mask isn’t important to the case.”
No! his mind screamed. He needed that mask, it was important to him. He wanted to feel its hardness on his face just once. To feel the embrace of its straps on the back of his head. To look through its eyeholes. To breathe through its air vents… “Doctor, I really think you’re making a terrible mistake.” He couldn’t help but let an indication of the irritation he felt creep into his voice.
“Phil, this isn’t like you.” Doctor Bob said, surprised. “I really think you should just calm down a bit…”
Phil was about to continue to argue but, to his surprise, a strange voice in his head told him otherwise.
No, it’s not time. The voice calmly informed him. Don’t worry, when the time comes the mask will be yours…
“I’m sorry, Doctor Bob,” He lied in a calmer voice. “I guess I’ve just been working too hard…and I guess the celebrity of the mask got the better of me.”
“You’re forgiven.” Doctor Bob said. “It happens to the best of us.”
Then, Doctor Bob told him to pack up the mask for the sheriff. Silently cursing as he worked, Phil slipped the mask back in its plastic bag. His mind was filled with rage at Doctor Bob and the sheriff. If he could have at that moment he would’ve grabbed the scalpel he’d been using to scrape out the mask and taken both of them out. But again the voice in his head held him back.
The time will come later for that. It told him. I promise you when the time comes their blood will flow…
Phil had to hold back the smile that threatened to come to his lips. The image of Doctor Bob and the sheriff hacked to pieces at his feet filled his mind. It was beautiful to him.
Soon, they would know his power. Soon, he wouldn’t be in Doctor Bob’s shadow. Soon, all of Crystal Lake would say his name in cautious whispers….Philip Raman.
Yes….the voice told him. You will have all you desire and much more. You will have the gratitude of Jason Voorhees himself….But when the time is right……
Phil absently nodded his head.
Then, without an indication of the dark thoughts racing through his head, Phil turned to Doctor Bob and casually handed him the mask, now nicely bundled in plastic.
“You ok, Phil?” Doctor Bob asked him, eyeing him critically. “You seem a bit out of sorts.”
“I told you I’m fine, Doc.” He said, with a reassuring smile. “You know me, good old reliable Phil.”
Then the thoughts of blood and death filled his mind again.
In time….the voice told him,…..in time….