is the most stupid thing I ever heard!”
“Well, it’s been quite a murder, you know. We need people out at night, and besides, I want to get to an interview before Theo does and fucks it up.”
I was standing just inside the kitchen, and Sue was pouring some Pepsi.
“I don’t like to hear you use that language.”
What do you say to that? She brushed by me, on her way to the living room.
“Fred threw up on the rug.”
“Oh, no. Poor Fred!” Fred, knowing he was the object of sympathy, but having absolutely no idea why, went toSue and put his head on her lap. She scratched him behind his ears.
“He probably did it on purpose.”
She looked into his eyes. “Oh, Fred, you wouldn’t do a thing like that, would you?”
“Yes, he would.” I turned toward the stairs. “Look, I’m going to try to get some sleep.”
“Do you want to get up for supper?”
“No, I have to go in at eight, so I’ll just grab something after I get up.”
“Well, I don’t think there’s going to be much. I’ll just fix a couple of eggs for myself.”
“Okay, get me up about seven, will you?”
“I might forget. Set the alarm.”
“Yeah.” I went back upstairs. She was upset, I was upset. As usual. I kept thinking that it wasn’t me she was mad at, just the situation. Unfortunately I was the target. I lay down again and finally slept. Woke at seven-fifteen. I had forgot to set the alarm, and Sue hadn’t remembered to wake me.
6
Tuesday, April 23
20:00 hours
Since I started at 20:00 hours, half my shift was on the 23rd and half was on the 24th. It was routine most of the night, which meant that I simply drove through six towns and stared at empty stores, dark residences, and sparsely populated taverns. We always had to do one round right away, to check on the status of the various potential burglary targets, such as convenience stores, implement dealers, etc. Then maybe a break at the office, and a second round. There are very few eating places in the county that are open after 22:00, and those that are happen to be taverns. Nothing wrong with taverns, except I hate to eat with somebody who’s slightly intoxicated trying to explain to me why his second cousin shouldn’t have gotten a ticket for speeding in another county. And especially now, with the sensational case we had, there would be a lot of questions. Always eat either in the car or at the office.
I hit the office at about 00:45, where I met Mike and Dan. We went to the kitchen and opened our sandwiches. Conference time.
It was accepted among the three of us that we weregoing to have to try to solve this case in spite of Theo’s efforts. Since we had been the first officers at the McGuire home, we sort of felt that we had a special interest.
I was the only one of the three of us who had been at the Herkaman residence, so I started off by filling them in on what I had seen. We agreed that the Herkaman house victims were probably involved in Satanism. We also agreed that it looked like Satanism had been a motive in the killings. Somehow. But they agreed with me that it seemed a little too obvious and heavy. Something was wrong, but we didn’t know what.
The department was putting on heavy pressure to identify the unknown woman at the Herkaman residence, and all the officers in the county had been contacted, given a physical description, and asked to nose it around. Nothing. Photographs of her face would be available by noon on the 24th, and they would be passed around, too.
Dan, of course, thought he had seen her somewhere. This is a fairly typical police officer’s response, particularly when you haven’t actually seen the victim. What it means is that you are trying to visualize the person, and are comparing him or her to several people you know, to complete your visual picture. In the process, you are subconsciously identifying several people, none of whom are the one in question. So you “think I’ve seen her, but I can’t remember
“Well, it’s been quite a murder, you know. We need people out at night, and besides, I want to get to an interview before Theo does and fucks it up.”
I was standing just inside the kitchen, and Sue was pouring some Pepsi.
“I don’t like to hear you use that language.”
What do you say to that? She brushed by me, on her way to the living room.
“Fred threw up on the rug.”
“Oh, no. Poor Fred!” Fred, knowing he was the object of sympathy, but having absolutely no idea why, went toSue and put his head on her lap. She scratched him behind his ears.
“He probably did it on purpose.”
She looked into his eyes. “Oh, Fred, you wouldn’t do a thing like that, would you?”
“Yes, he would.” I turned toward the stairs. “Look, I’m going to try to get some sleep.”
“Do you want to get up for supper?”
“No, I have to go in at eight, so I’ll just grab something after I get up.”
“Well, I don’t think there’s going to be much. I’ll just fix a couple of eggs for myself.”
“Okay, get me up about seven, will you?”
“I might forget. Set the alarm.”
“Yeah.” I went back upstairs. She was upset, I was upset. As usual. I kept thinking that it wasn’t me she was mad at, just the situation. Unfortunately I was the target. I lay down again and finally slept. Woke at seven-fifteen. I had forgot to set the alarm, and Sue hadn’t remembered to wake me.
6
Tuesday, April 23
20:00 hours
Since I started at 20:00 hours, half my shift was on the 23rd and half was on the 24th. It was routine most of the night, which meant that I simply drove through six towns and stared at empty stores, dark residences, and sparsely populated taverns. We always had to do one round right away, to check on the status of the various potential burglary targets, such as convenience stores, implement dealers, etc. Then maybe a break at the office, and a second round. There are very few eating places in the county that are open after 22:00, and those that are happen to be taverns. Nothing wrong with taverns, except I hate to eat with somebody who’s slightly intoxicated trying to explain to me why his second cousin shouldn’t have gotten a ticket for speeding in another county. And especially now, with the sensational case we had, there would be a lot of questions. Always eat either in the car or at the office.
I hit the office at about 00:45, where I met Mike and Dan. We went to the kitchen and opened our sandwiches. Conference time.
It was accepted among the three of us that we weregoing to have to try to solve this case in spite of Theo’s efforts. Since we had been the first officers at the McGuire home, we sort of felt that we had a special interest.
I was the only one of the three of us who had been at the Herkaman residence, so I started off by filling them in on what I had seen. We agreed that the Herkaman house victims were probably involved in Satanism. We also agreed that it looked like Satanism had been a motive in the killings. Somehow. But they agreed with me that it seemed a little too obvious and heavy. Something was wrong, but we didn’t know what.
The department was putting on heavy pressure to identify the unknown woman at the Herkaman residence, and all the officers in the county had been contacted, given a physical description, and asked to nose it around. Nothing. Photographs of her face would be available by noon on the 24th, and they would be passed around, too.
Dan, of course, thought he had seen her somewhere. This is a fairly typical police officer’s response, particularly when you haven’t actually seen the victim. What it means is that you are trying to visualize the person, and are comparing him or her to several people you know, to complete your visual picture. In the process, you are subconsciously identifying several people, none of whom are the one in question. So you “think I’ve seen her, but I can’t remember
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