Hazy View: Souls of the Vanished (17 page)

“
I didn’t really think of
it like that, but maybe I do.”

“
So let’s hear it. I
promise I won’t laugh.” Helen turned in her seat to faced
Andrew.

“
Let’s see. Martin
sometimes went to the bar after work. He didn’t drink that much,
just a couple of beers to relax after a long day. Nothing like he’s
drinking now. He sat drinking and meeting with the wrong kind of
people. Gossip starts to fly around and after a couple of these
days, a person starts thinking.”

“
That’s normally how
rumors start.”

“
Some people including
Martin believed that drunken people don’t have the mind-set to make
up a lie or to keep it up.”

“
So you think someone in
the bar said something stupid and Martin believed it.”

Buildings appeared on the horizon,
small houses and some cornfields passed by lazily. Rain started to
fall a little harder and wind ripped through the open window on the
driver’s side. Andrew closed the window, the wipers swept softly
across the windshield.

“
It’s more than
likely.”

“
What do you think was
it?”

“
Come to think about it,
there might be something I didn’t think of.” Andrew said recalling
a drunken man’s accusation.

“
What
happened?”

“
A drunken man said
something in the office before we left something.”

Helen couldn’t stand the silence
again. “Are you going to tell me?”

“
Sorry, just thinking. A
drunken man said that I’m not the sheriff.”

“
So, maybe he didn’t get
the memo.”

“
No, it wasn’t
that.”

“
What else would he could
he mean, he’s drunk.”

“
He was very upset and
drunk. He said that I was messing around with Janet and stole
Martin’s job.”

“
Did you?”

Andrew looked sharply at Helen in
surprise.

“
No, I’d never dream of
it.”

“
I just needed to
ask.”

“
Martin knew it would
never happen. We weren’t close in that way. We’re more like
family.”

“
So if you’re not messing
around and he knew that, then he wouldn’t believe it.”

“
Something must’ve
convinced him.”

“
Maybe it’s something
completely different.”

“
No, I don’t think so.”
Andrew insisted.

“
Could it have been that
Martin thought he knew something you didn’t?”

“
The drunkard made it
sound like he believed that Christopher’s my son.”

“
That sounds to me like a
motive.”

“
What a drunken
gossip?”

“
If Martin believed that
Janet cheated with you and that Christopher’s your son. That’s
enough to drive a man to insanity. Every time he’d look at either
one of them gossip would grow and he would start seeing things that
isn’t really there. It’d be like his trust was already gone. Like a
cancer infesting him until he snaps.”

Andrew slowed to the speed limit as he
entered town. He pulled into a parking lot at a
supermarket.

*~*~*

*VIII*

Martin woke up dripping from sweat.
His head echoed the sound of his screaming still ringing through
his ears. His mouth was dry and his throat felt raw. He looked down
at his hands, examining them from all angles. He covered his face
and breathed deeply. The smell of blood overwhelmed him. He tried
to get up, his legs felt like they were not there. He sat down too
fast and fell into the couch.

Martin wiped the sweat from his face
with the bottom end of his shirt. He could smell sweat, and he
could smell blood. He closed his eyes.

He stood up, steadied himself and
stumbled to the kitchen. He opened the fridge door. He took the
beers and a bottle of gin out and slammed the door, he was off
balance. He stumbled back to the couch he fell into it. He didn’t
open the beer. He placed the sealed bottle on the table after
sweeping the papers, books and clothing off to the side. He stared
at it but saw nothing. He saw only the child sleeping peacefully
then he wasn’t. Blood stained his hands the beers and bottle of
gin.

He stood up and stumbled away from the
small coffee table. He fell over something. He crushed to the
floor. His mind was blank and the images of his recent nightmare
rushed through again, it played over and over like a broken record.
More and more blood dripped from his hands.

He pulled himself to the nearest wall,
sat up with his back against it and sunk his face into his hands.
He wept softly at first.

The weeping echoed through the house.
His body trembled more and more. Martin screamed and curled into a
tighter ball.

He sobbed uncontrollably.

*~*~*

*IX*

“
Let’s just stop here and
think this through before we speak to the sheriff here.” Andrew
decided and turned off the engine, and opened the window slightly.
“I can’t believe that Martin would believe something like Janet
cheats just from conversations in a bar, he’s not that
gullible.”

“
Maybe he overheard or saw
something that he could’ve misinterpreted.”

“
No, there was nothing
like that between us. For some time before this whole thing started
Janet and I didn’t see each other that much. She mostly stayed at
home. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but maybe he
started to see things then. To tell you the truth I think I was too
busy and didn’t even notice anything’s wrong. She did phone
occasionally but didn’t mention anything. When we did see each
other it was just taking her home or picking her up and taking her
to the office. If something was wrong, she would’ve told
me.”

“
What if Martin was
threatening her forcing her to be quiet?”

Andrew fell silent in thought. “Even
if...”

“
Maybe he found
something.”

Andrew felt sad, fighting to hold back
the tears. “Whatever it was he made a dreadful mistake.”

“
So, now he’s was angry,
drunk and hurt. What did he do?”

“
Stay longer and drink
more than he should.” Andrew predicted.

“
These thoughts in his
mind and alcohol don’t mix.”

“
He got drunker, angrier
and thinking more that the rumors are true.”

“
He went where?
Home…?”

“
He had to go somewhere
eventually.” Andrew admitted softly.

“
Evidently..?”

“
He went home, to confront
Janet about her alleged affair, most likely.”

“
Probably the worst thing
he could’ve done in his state of mind but most likely.” Helen
agreed.

“
So now he was home and he
started confronting Janet.”

“
If she was innocent she
would defend herself.”

“
Yes and he got angrier.
One thing I’ve learned was that you can’t argue with someone who’s
drunk. For some reason they don’t listen to reason.” Andrew
informed.

“
So the fight
accelerated.”

“
Christopher woke up from
all the noise and looked for his mother.”

“
Naturally, maybe he got
in the way.”

“
Janet tried to comfort
him and ignored Martin. Maybe she tried to leave the house with him
to give Martin time to cool off. He tried to stop her and something
happened while he was in a rage fit.”

“
Maybe out of anger he hit
her or the child?”

“
I can’t imagine that but
evidently something happened. Something went terribly wrong. Before
he realized what happened it was over.”

“
What do you think he did
next?” Helen asked.

Andrew cleared his throat. “He had to
hide it, come up with the story that they left town.”

“
He dumped the bodies
where he knew no one will ever find them.” Helen predicted as
Andrew tried to avoid the thought.

“
Yes, in the worst area of
the lake.” He admitted in a soft trembling voice.

“
At the rock faces the
perfect place. No one ever goes there because it’s so
inaccessible.”

“
He covered his tracks
with Janet’s credit cards and blew off anything that happened at
the lake as nonsense, he started falling apart because Janet was
haunting him and the lake. He realized he couldn’t hide it and did
what anyone would’ve done.”

“
He ran away.”

“
Like a coward with his
tail between his legs.” Andrew added.

“
Well it sounds possible,
you don’t have any proof, do you?”

“
I don’t have enough to
proof it yet.”

“
If he argues that it’s a
crime of passion he might walk away. Maybe even a reduced
sentence.”

“
Possible, but I think we
need to proof he knew what he was doing. If it was a crime of
passion and he knew the law, why did he cover it up for so long?
Why didn’t he report the matter instead of throwing the bodies in
the lake? Even if he realized enough to do that than he had time to
think, a crime of passion wouldn’t stick.”

“
What about temporary
insanity? That would set him free.”

Andrew was cold and detached. “I’ll do
anything to prevent that from happening. He knew what he was doing
when he covered his tracks and that’s not insane, not even
temporary.”

The rain had stopped and people
appeared walking at a lazily pace. No one paid them any
attention.

Andrew placed a call from his cell
phone.

“
Maybe my deputy has
spoken to the drunken man and found out more about what he had
said.” He paused and waited for someone to answer the
phone.

“
Do you remember the
drunken man from the other day...? Did you get a statement from
him...? What’s the reason why you didn't...? So you just released
him? What happened...?

Deputy Davis, I’m not concerned about
that. I asked you specifically to get him to explain the
accusations he made toward me. I wanted to know what he was
accusing me of... Fine I’ll get to him later. I return in a couple
of days maybe sooner...” He ended the call and turned to Helen.
“I’m working with an idiot.”

“
Who the deputy, he seems
a little young.”

“
He just completed school
and wants to be a police officer.”

Andrew pulled out of the parking lot a
found the sheriff’s office two blocks down. He walked into the
office and scanned the area for the sheriff. He saw no one except
an officer behind the desk. He walked closer and waited for the
officer to finish his conversation with a woman sobbing.

“
Good day I need to speak
to your sheriff please.” He announced as Frank walked in behind
him.

“
Yes, I’m Sheriff Frank
Godwin, what can I do you for?”

Andrew turned sharply. “I’m Sheriff
Andrew Foster from Hazy View. This is a witness Helen James-Leigh.
Can we talk?”

“
Is it that
urgent?”

“
If it wasn’t I would’ve
sent you a memo or just placed a call. I’m afraid it’s very urgent
and serious.”

“
Let’s talk in my office.”
Frank invited and pointed to a small office in the
corner.

*~*~*

*X*

The rain stopped as sudden as it had
started. It didn’t hammer the roof of the house any more. The wind
calmed, the tree outside the window wasn’t scratching against the
walls anymore. The sun started to shine again. Martin wanted to
know nothing of that because he closed all the windows with heavy
curtains.

For the first time in days Martin had
showered and dressed into clean clothes. His body odor overwhelmed
him that he felt robbed of air. He felt different and reenergized
something he had deprived himself of. He feared the water more than
he feared the darkness. Finally he realized it was enough and took
the bull by the horns.

He was on the couch now, watching some
movie that didn’t make much sense to him. At least he had stopped
sobbing. He drowned himself in the bottle of gin which fell to
half. The beer cans were empty and scattered around the table and
couch. A bottle of pain killers were open and standing on the
coffee table next to the bottle of gin. There was no food around,
it was clear that he hadn’t eaten and was now feeling the full
effect of the alcohol and painkillers.

Martin’s eye was distant and dazed. He
couldn’t see, feel or think. When he’s like this, the darkness
won’t think of him as dead even if it had found a way into the
house. He looked dead. He couldn’t move, not even to change the
channel. He stayed in the same moment. He couldn’t even lift the
bottle of gin to his mouth that drooled from the corners. He could
close his eyes, and he did. He heard nothing, saw nothing, and
dreamed nothing. For the first time in four months he had
peace.