Chapter 18

Darrell waited patiently as the doctor examined Marielle. Gayle had decided to go back to the station to start the paperwork. She had left Darrell at the hospital so he could tape what the doctor said. While he was waiting for the examination to finish, Darrell reviewed all the facts he had on the case. He was deep in thought when the doctor came out to tell him what they had found.

“Detective Darker?” the young doctor asked. Darrell nodded. “We have the results from Ms. Sanchez’s examination.”

Darrell swallowed and looked at the doctor, then hit the record button on the recorder

“Go ahead Doctor. What are the results?”

“Well, along with being pregnant, Ms. Sanchez is dehydrated. We are giving her fluids to rehydrate her. She is in shock right now and that will disappear slowly.

In my opinion she will need treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. We have given her prenatal vitamins as she is somewhat vitamin deficient. I understand that the bill is to go to St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church?”

“Yes, that is correct. Can I go and talk to Ms. Sanchez?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” the doctor said as he shook his head.

“Perhaps tomorrow around noon. We want her to get some rest as well as a good night’s sleep. I know you have a job to do Detective but unfortunately you will have to wait until tomorrow.”

The doctor walked away and Darrell turned off the recorder, pulled out his keys and walked toward the hospital parking lot. Darrell shook his head unable to get rid of the lingering thoughts of who did all these horrible things to these women.

“She’s right. There has to be more than one of them.” Darrell mumbled under his breath as he was walking towards his car.

“That is it!” Darrell snapped his fingers and started almost running back in towards Marielle Sanchez’s room.

Darrell knocked gently on Marielle’s door, and then opened it.

“Excuse me?” Darrell walked in and whispered to her.

“Hola detective, qué puedo hacer por usted? Sorry, what are you needing?”

“I just have one question for you.” Marielle nodded her head urging Darrell to continue.

“Where you were held? Were there different sounds?”

Marielle nodded yes.

“Can you tell me what they were?”

Again Marielle nodded yes then said, “Water running, a furnace and footsteps. Different footsteps, lots of footsteps.”

“Anything else?” Darrell asked Marielle.

She shook her head side to side and then yawned a big yawn.

Darrell looked at her, smiled and said “Gracious, dormir bien.”

Darrell rubbed Marielle’s arm then left the room, letting the poor woman finally get some sleep.

Darrell’s mind was turning in circles. What if this perp was actually more than one perp but two or three or four? Darrell’s mind started doing what it normally did; running through ‘the list’.

‘The list’ as Darrell called it was a list he learned while in the academy. It was basically a take on the 5 W’s “Who? What? Where? When and Why?” Just a little more complex.

Who wanted to do this to these girls?

What was the purpose of letting some live, then mutilating and torturing the others?

Where was this being done?

When did the perp get to this level of insanity?

And why were they doing this?

Darrell was sure of the “Why”. Something connected to a strong religious belief. The scripture reading had promise. If only he knew what passage and from what book or even which religion the passage was based on.

Darrell was still working on the rest of the questions. He knew one thing for sure though after talking with Marielle. He was sure that the girls were being held in a house around or even in town. It had to be a house with no neighbors close by. Maybe a fairly upscale neighborhood or just outside of town where the houses were close enough to see but far enough away to deter a neighbor from just dropping by.

The problem with such little information is that the ‘who’ would be near impossible to figure out with such little information. Darrell often took a page from the master detective Sherlock Holmes. When in doubt do something that makes you feel good so you can concentrate on the task at hand. Sherlock used cocaine. Darrell’s feel good medicine was Jack Daniels.

Darrell parked his car at the local pub; walked in and ordered Jack Daniels and coke straight up. He sat and let the smooth brown liquid do its work. About half way through his third drink, his cell phone went off.

“Ya, Darker.” Darrell answered

“No, I’m not coming into the office tonight. I’m gonna get some rest and come in feeling fresh in the morning. OK see you then.”

Darrell hit the power button before folding the phone and placing it back in his pocket.

He needed to get the buzz back that he had going before his new partner had called. He order four more drinks and when he was sure he had a sufficient amount in his system he paid his bill and walked home. As Darrell walked home he let his mind wander. He remembered his very first wedding when he passed the church on the corner of his street. He remembered how sweet his first wife, Ann, had looked. So young and beautiful. How did that end up with a nasty bitter divorce and an even more hellish custody battle over their three daughters whom he lost? As he walked on, his mind wandered onto memories of his childhood, especially his dad and his pipe. The apple pipe tobacco was his favorite smell of all time. He took a deep breath and remembered the smell. As he walked up to the front door at his place he turned and looked back towards the sidewalk. Something wasn’t right. He felt it in his gut. He couldn’t see anything out of place but he sensed it. As he went to put the key in the lock he turned and saw what triggered the feeling. Schrödinger, his cat was outside. Schrödinger was an indoor cat, how did he get outside? Darrell turned to look at the lock and he saw that the door jamb had been pulled apart by what might have been a crowbar. He stepped in and then took out the cell phone in his pocket, turned it on and then dialed the number for dispatch. Once the On Call officers got to Darrell’s place they saw the very tall man sitting on his porch with his cat on his lap. Darrell gave the officers a list of what was missing and what he observed coming home. He told the officers he believed it was the group of local teens breaking and entering. He then took Schrödinger with him to the neighbor's house and knocked on the door. Mrs. Conrad answered the door, let Darrell and Schrödinger in. After a brief overview of the evening she made up the pull- out couch and put a dish of water out for the cat. Darrell kissed Mrs. Conrad on the cheek before she went upstairs to bed and said “Thanks! You are the best.”

“Oh I know that dear. Now get some sleep and I’ll wake you for breakfast. Good night Darrell, goodnight Schrödinger.” Mrs. Conrad went upstairs, turned into her room, and shut the door. Darrell climbed into the pull-out and tried to relax enough to get some sleep. Schrödinger jumped up, lay in the crook of Darrell’s knees and started to purr.

“Stupid kids” he mumbled under his breath just before he fell into a deep alcohol-soaked sleep.