In the Shadow of Angels (9 page)

Beth looked at him, puzzled. “Yes, Devin, I’m sure.” She shook her head. “I’ve just told you I tried to kill someone and your only question is if I’m sure about how she landed?”

Devin was remembering a moment from back in college. It was on the first day of his Critical Thinking class. When he walked in, there was a quote from Sherlock Holmes on the blackboard. ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’ That would remain the only thing written on the chalkboard for the remainder of the semester. The professor, Billings was his name, was much more hands on with his approach to teaching.

On the professor’s desk were the shattered remains of a porcelain vase and a hammer. After the students found their seats and settled down, he asked them each to write down what they thought happened to the vase. Every student in the class said that it was broken by the hammer. Some said that someone swung the hammer and broke it on purpose. Others said the hammer fell on the vase. Every answer, though, involved the hammer. Every one of them was wrong.

The professor then swept the pieces of the vase off the desk. He took another vase just like it, he had a half a dozen on a on a table near the blackboard, stepped up on the chair behind the desk and dropped the vase. It fell on the desk next to the hammer and broke into pieces.

He swept those pieces away and placed another vase on the desk. This time he took a CO
2
pellet pistol from the top drawer of his desk, walked to the front row of desks, turned and shot the vase. Again, it shattered into a brilliant pile of shards on the desk, next to the hammer.

The professor swept the pieces away once again and placed another vase. He pulled a firecracker from the same drawer of his desk, lit the fuse, dropped it in the vase and motioned for the class to cover their ears. There was a loud explosion a few seconds later. It was probably an M-80, as it made a hell of a bang. When the dust settled, there was a pile of porcelain next to the hammer, though this one made quite a larger mess than the previous examples.

The professor then asked the class one more time to write down what they thought happened to the vase. This time their answers varied, but most chose one of the methods they had just witnessed. Some said the mess of shards looked more accurate this way or the other, but they all had an opinion. Only a few of them still said the hammer had done it, and they did so thinking he was trying to trick them.

They were all still wrong.

The professor then wheeled a TV cart out of his closet. He plugged in the television and VCR and pressed the play button. The video showed the desk in front of them with a pristine vase on it and, of course, the hammer lying next to it. In the video, the professor walked up to the vase, placed it into a garbage bag, smashed it onto the ground, and then dumped the pieces onto the desk.

It was a grand show that none of them would forget.

The professor ended this demonstration with a rhetorical question. “If I hadn’t put the hammer on the desk, would any of you guess that it was smashed with a hammer?” To a sea of students shaking their heads no, the professor closed with “There is evidence and there is truth. Even if the evidence is overwhelming, it’s not always the truth. Never forget that. Evidence may be quick, convenient and compelling,” he paused, “but the truth rarely is.”

While Devin couldn’t be sure what the truth was, it was impossible that Jezebel could have been both lying flat on her back and leaning against the fence when Beth left her. Something else happened before he found her. He could scarcely believe there was time between her leaving his room and when he found her for the event with Beth to take place, but it had. It now seemed that something else also happened. However improbable, something else had to have happened.

He knew he couldn’t lie to Beth. If he were going to figure out what actually happened, he would have to be completely honest with her. As it stood, the evidence showed that Beth pushed her over the railing and he hauled her body away. Mostly because both of those things actually happened. If he could find out who or what actually killed her, they might still be able to get out of this.

“Beth,” He said, searching for a way to word this without sending her back into a fit of hysteria. “You definitely didn’t kill Jezebel...”

“Oh, thank…” Beth started, but Devin cut her off.

“
You
didn’t kill her,” he paused, “But
someone
did.”

Beth stared at him, her eyes the size of softballs.

Devin sighed deeply. “And her body is in the trunk of my Pontiac.”

Dr. Stephens followed Devin all the way back to Ashwood. He kept slowing down to keep from gaining on him. Devin was driving as if he had a body in his car. When Dr. Stephens made the left onto Turner Road, he did so just in time to see the police car pull in behind Devin. He had to drive past him. He really didn’t have much of a choice. If he had pulled off the road and tried to follow him after, assuming Devin wasn’t arrested on the spot, it would have been far too obvious.

He rolled by slowly, watching in his mirror. Once he was sure that he was far enough away that they weren’t paying any attention to him, but still close enough to see the cars, he pulled into a driveway, turned the car so the nose faced the road, backed up so he wasn’t quite so visible, shut off the lights and waited. His eyes remained firmly locked on the location of the interaction between the officer and Devin, but at this distance, he could scarcely see the cars at all, let alone the people. It was just a blur of red, blue and white lights.

Several minutes passed as he waited, but finally the red and blue lights went out and the old Pontiac pulled back onto the road. He ducked down in the seat of the car while he waited for the lights to pass him. He was just about to turn the lights back on and pull out to follow when he saw Devin turn down a driveway to the right. He had been to a number of the houses out here and knew there were no more than two houses sharing any of these driveways. Wherever Devin was going, probably to his house he guessed, it couldn’t be far. Dr. Stephens assumed that once there, Devin would be removing a body from the trunk of his car. So he also expected him to be on high alert for any unusual lights or noises - both of which a car would create - so he opted to leave his car behind.

He got out of the car and started walking toward the driveway, but stopped. He went back to the car, got in, started it up and pulled onto the shoulder. If someone happened by and questioned him, he would claim that the car died and he was seeking assistance. That would seem far less plausible if the car was backed into a driveway facing the road. Satisfied that he had covered his bases, Dr. Stephens started walking again toward the driveway.

Shortly after he started walking, just before he reached the driveway, Dr. Stephens saw a pair of headlights coming up the drive. The car was going considerably faster than the Pontiac was. He went to the edge of the shoulder and knelt down in the gravel just out of sight from the road. When the car had passed him, he scrambled back up onto the shoulder to see the tail. He couldn’t tell what make it was, but it definitely wasn’t the Pontiac. He also couldn’t be sure if this car was Devin’s. Whether it was or wasn’t, didn’t change his goal. The Pontiac was still down that driveway and he needed to find it.

Soon thereafter, he arrived at the driveway. He noted two mailboxes on the turnout. The one on the left said Williams and the one on the right said Bryant. So, there would be two houses. He started walking down the drive. When he reached a T in the road, he guessed it would be to the right, since the mailbox was. He continued walking that direction and quickly arrived at the house. There was a three-door garage a hundred yards in front of him, but there were so many lights on that it might as well have been daytime. If he approached the house and Devin was there, he would be spotted for sure. What to do?

What is a plausible reason for your psychiatrist to show up at your house at damn near midnight on a Saturday?
He wondered. Broken down car? That was way too convenient to be believed. To check on his well-being? Well why not just give him a call? To check on someone else’s well-being? Well that seemed much more reasonable. Still, why not give him a call? What about his wife? He didn’t know where she was either. What to do?

He took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

*****

“Why is she in the trunk of your car?!” Beth screamed.

Her cell phone rang, startling them both. She took it from her pocket and they both looked at the name on the screen: Dr. Stephens. It seemed awfully late for him to be calling.

She was just about to hit the decline button when Devin stopped her.

“Answer it Beth,” he said. “Answer it like none of this happened.”

Beth took a couple of deep breaths before hitting the answer button.

“Hello?”

“Oh, hello, Bethany,” Dr. Stephens said, “I’m sorry for calling at such a late hour, but it is rather important.”

“What is it?”

“Are you at home, Bethany?”

“Am I at home?” Beth repeated - both confused by why this would matter to him and to make sure Devin knew what he asked her.

Devin was also taken aback by the question, but he quickly remembered the car that followed him back from The Place, the car that passed him when the officer had pulled him over. That car was Dr. Stephens’. He also saw a silver BMW on the side of the road when he turned onto Turner Road to come to the quarry. He was in such a rush at the time that he hadn’t even thought about Dr. Stephens following him back from The Place and didn’t think to check the plate on the way by. Had he followed him all the way to the house? Had he seen him switch cars and leave again? Was he actually at the house right now?

“Why?” Beth questioned, not getting a response from Devin.

Dr. Stephens sighed deeply into the phone, “It’s rather a delicate matter, I’m afraid.” He said. “Jezebel Anders is one of my patients. She phoned me earlier tonight. She sounded suicidal.” He paused and took a deep breath, “I was out looking for her and I saw her leave The Place with Devin.”

If he were expecting this to crush her, he would now be very disappointed.

“What does that have to do with whether or not I’m home?” She asked, unable to mask the anger in her voice.

“I’m sorry to have upset you, Bethany.” He said calmly, “It’s just that I don’t think Devin would have taken Jezebel to your house if you were there.” He paused again, “She is in a weakened mental state and I’m afraid my concern for her well-being currently precludes my ability to remain tactful.”

Yes, Dr. Ulysses Stephens was a deplorable little weasel.

Beth looked to Devin, who was frantically shaking his head no. “No. Dr. Stephens, I’m not at home.”

“Thank you, Bethany.” He replied. “Perhaps I’ll drop by and make sure they aren’t there. Neither of them are answering their phones.”

Beth replied without thinking. “You could just ask him. He’s right here.”

This was probably the only thing she could have said that could have caught him by surprise. And it did so in spades.

Devin grabbed the phone from Beth.

“Jezebel isn’t with me, if that’s your question.” Devin said, “In fact, I haven’t seen her for days.” He lied.

“Okay…” Dr. Stephens replied, searching for words. “I must have been mistaken. Do apologize to Bethany for me.”

He hung up the phone before Devin had a chance to respond.

Devin turned to Beth. “Why did you tell him you weren’t home?!”

“You were shaking your head no. I thought that’s what you wanted me to do!”

“I meant don’t tell him that you’re not home…” he said, realizing that he couldn’t fault her for thinking that. “He followed me back from The Place. He only passed me when I got pulled over.”

In that moment, Beth now realized what Devin realized while she was still on the phone: Dr. Stephens knew. And now he also knew that neither of them were at home.

“But if he knows, why didn’t he just call the police?” Beth asked the question that they were both thinking.

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” Devin said, under his breath.

“What?” Beth asked.

“He killed Jezebel.” Devin said, shaking his head in confusion. “I don’t know how or why, but he must have.”

“But…” Beth started, but was interrupted by the ringing of a phone, Devin’s this time.

Devin looked at the caller ID. It was showing an 800 number that he recognized from many false alarms over the years. He answered it quickly.

“Hello?”

“This is Tim with HomeGuard security. We’re getting an alarm from your kitchen entrance. The door was opened and the disarm code was entered improperly. Do you require assistance?”

Devin didn’t even need to think about it. The last thing he needed right now was a bunch of police snooping through his house.

“That was me. I was trying to disarm it while carrying a big package in from the trunk of my car.”

“Why didn’t you set the package down?”

“You know, that’s a damn good question. Where were you five minutes ago?”

Tim laughed. “Okay, if you’ll just give us your disarm code, we’ll get that shut right off for you.”

“9,7,4,6,9” Devin rattled back.

“Thank you, Mr. Bryant.” A brief pause. “There, that should do it.”

Tim finished with his scripted closing speech, which ended with “have a HomeGuard night!” Which Devin thought was probably the lamest slogan in the history of lame slogans.

*****

After Tim disconnected the call, something occurred to him. He wondered why he hadn’t heard the sound of the alarm in the background. Could Mr. Bryant have been under duress? He would check with his supervisor and see if maybe they should send someone out anyway.

*****

Devin looked to Beth. “He’s in the house.” He said. But she already knew it too.

But why?
He thought to himself.
Why was he trying so desperately to get to her body?
He was well past the point where he could believe that Dr. Stephens had simply seen Beth push Jezebel over the railing; past the point where he could believe that he had simply seen him put the body in his car. Even if he saw both of those things happen, it still didn’t make sense. The only thing that made sense was that there was something on Jezebel’s body that would incriminate the doctor. He didn’t know what it could be. She was wearing such a skimpy little dress and she hadn’t been carrying a purse, but it was obviously something important enough that he already killed someone for it. Important enough that he was searching for the body even after someone else took it away, seemingly exonerating him. Devin had no doubt in his mind that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill for it again.

“Bethany,” Devin started, addressing her as Bethany for perhaps the fifth time in his life, but the second tonight. “You need to stay here. I’m going to the house.”

“What am I supposed to do here?!” Beth shouted, more afraid of being alone than whatever might happen if she went to the house with Devin.

“I don’t know, Beth. But he’s already killed one person tonight…”

“Just call the police, Devin!” Beth screamed through a new wave of tears. “They can figure out what happened. I don’t want to lose you!”

“If we call the police, we’ll both be going to prison for a very long time.” Devin paused. “Whatever he is looking for, I have to find it before he does. It’s our only chance.”

“But what if he attacks you? You can’t go alone!”

“Oh, I’m not going alone.” Devin said. “But you need to wait here. If you don’t hear from me in an hour, then you call the police and send them to the house. You tell them that you saw Dr. Stephens kill Jezebel at The Place. You tell them that Dr. Stephens held a gun on me and made me put her body in my car. We’ll sort it out when they get there.”

“But Devin…” Beth started to protest.

“One hour.” Devin said firmly, “promise me that you will wait for one hour.”

Beth hung her head in tears. “One hour. I promise.”

Devin looked at the clock on his cell phone: 11:43pm. “1am, you can call, okay?”

Bethany started to protest, “But you said an hour!”

“I know, but I need to stop somewhere else first.”

Devin leaned in to Beth, “We’ll get through this, Beth. I promise.” He kissed her gently. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she responded in tears, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time she saw him.

Devin quickly got back into his car and drove away.