Inanimate (14 page)

“
How did you
know I would want that this
morning?” MacNamee asked with his eyes closed.

“
Because it’s Thursday”
Greta
retorted.

“
Am I really that
predictable?”
he asked, his voice groaning while waking.

“
No, you’re n
ot predictable.” Greta reassured
and then continued. “Now come on, it’s your usual time to get up.
I’ve made you your usual breakfast and pressed your usual shirt.
Your usual pants are hanging on the door and I’ve already checked
the traffic reports. Your usual route to work is clear.”

“
I don’t remember you
usually
being this
hilarious.” MacNamee responded dryly, still lying in
bed.

“
Lies! Come on now, get up and
I’ll turn on your usual news program.”

“
This
is my excited face” quipped MacNamee
unflinching.

Greta turned on the news which happened to
be blaring out a special bulletin. Sheriff Oates was on the
television. As Greta read the caption she tried to stir her
husband.

“
Um…Greg?”

“
Greg’s
sleeping
.”

“
You might want to take a look at
this
.”

Greta’s tone
was serious now, causing
MacNamee to pay attention. Sitting up in bed he looked at the
television and his eyes widened in shock.

“
Shit!
Greta sweetie, pass me the phone. I
need to call Crass!”

Doctor Crass’s cellphone
rung. The old doctor
answered it while staring at a television in the staff break
room.

“
Ben, go to the break room and
turn on the news! Channel 37!”

“
I know. I’m watching it now.”
The old doctor shook his head. “What a mess!”

MacNamee
hurriedly got ready as he talked on
the phone.

“
Should we draw straws for who
gets to tell him?”

“
No, I already have a plan in
mind. How soon can you be here?”

“
I’m just getting ready now. I’ll
be leaving in five;
I’ll be in your office in thirty.”

“
Make it twenty-five.” Crass said
calmly as he hung up the phone.

Watching the news in the dingy staff break
room Crass stood apart from a few nurses who informed him of the
event.

“
What a mess!”

MacNamee hurried up the west corridor to
Crass’s office. The air was tense as word had spread amongst the
staff of what had happened. MacNamee did not shower today and it
showed. His normally wavy hair jutted out on the side he had slept
on but he didn’t care. He had too much on his mind to make room for
vanity. Without knocking he opened the door, something he had never
done before but again, today he had too much on his mind to bother
about such trivial things. Crass sat, calmly tidying up papers on
his desk when the young doctor came up and sat down on the chair
opposite.

“
No coffee today?” Crass
asked with a little
smile in the corner of his mouth.

The fact that he
could make light of
the situation put MacNamee at ease a little. Suddenly all the
anxiety that had been building up since he saw the news report
began to fade and he started to calm down. A natural smile broke
out of MacNamee as he appreciated his mentor’s style of reassuring
him.

“
Now what?”
he asked sighing.

“
Hold on”
Crass said, still sorting the papers
on his desk “I’m expecting a phone call.”

“
Shouldn’t we be dealing
with this?”

“
You don’t think I
am?”

MacNamee could not understand Crass’s
behavior; he was not normally this elusive. After a long moment the
phone rung and MacNamee looked even more confused.

“
Hello,
Dr. Crass speaking” stated the old
man with a smirk, as if he already knew who was on the other
end.

“
Good morning
Doctor this is Sergeant Jacobs
returning your call.”

“
Hello
Sergeant, thank you for being
prompt.”

Crass
took a breath

“
And how
are you this morning?”

Jacobs paused
“I guess you saw the
news then?”

“
I did, yes”

“
Well, what do you
think?”

“
Well, I think
it’
s going to
be rough for the boy to hear his dad is dead. I also think it’s
going to be rough for whoever has to tell him.”

“
Do
n’t you think it’s a bit of a coincidence
that Andy Williams left town only yesterday on now he’s turned up
dead?”

Crass smiled “Sergeant Jacobs, I do not
believe in coincidence.”

“
Neither do I doc, neither do
I.”

“
Good. Then can I assume you are
looking at the good Sheriff’s reports yourself then?”

Jacobs
snickered.

“
I
have them in my hands now; a Deputy Lynch
faxed them over to me ten minutes ago.”

“
Well done sergeant. Now, I have
to say I think it would be best if you came over and told the boy.
You interviewed him already so he knows you and I think it would be
more real to him if he was given the news by a police
officer.”

“
I’d have to agree, though I’m
certainly not looking forward to it. This kind of thing is never
easy.”

“
I’m sure it’s not sergeant, but
unfortunately we all have unpleasant duties in our respective lines
of work.”

“
You don’t have to tell me that
Doc. I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

“
Very good sergeant, I’ll see you
shortly.”

Crass
put down the phone and yielded his
gaze to the uninformed young Doctor before him.

“
What was all that
about?”

“
I’d like to know how Andy
Williams died.”

“
Well a
ccording to the Sheriff he was hit by
a car.”

“
Well…” smiled Crass “…That’s
what we’re going to find out.”

CHAPTER 17

“
The damage to the body is
consistent with a car accident. According to this report the driver
was unknown.”

Jacobs
spoke as he sat opposite Crass at his
desk.

MacNamee
leaned on the chair behind him while
Crass leafed through the death report.

“
He
had a hell of a blood-alcohol content in
him” stated Crass while meticulously studying his copy of the
report.

“
Which
is why the story fits” replied
Jacobs. “According to that, Andy Williams consumed large amounts of
alcohol in a bar named Earl’s in Staunton. He started to get
belligerent so the bartender asked him to leave. When Andy refused,
he was forcibly removed by a patron and started yelling and cursing
outside. After a while he tired himself out and decided to walk
back to his motel. A witness from the bar, um...”

“
Tony Oates”
confirmed Crass, reading the
text.

“
Yes, Tony Oates. He said he saw
Andy jaywalking across the road to his motel and that was when he
was struck down and killed by an unknown vehicle.”

“
Hold on a second”
said MacNamee
seeking clarification. “Isn’t the Sheriff named Oates? He is,
right? I saw it on the news report.”

“
Very good
Doctor” said Jacobs, “Tony Oates
is the Sheriff’s nephew.”

“
That’s a little odd
isn’t it?” asked
MacNamee

“
The whole thing
is a little odd Doc.
It’s too clean. The driver would have to be going some speed to do
this kind of damage to Andy Williams’s body. And yet, in a small
quiet town not too late at night, on its main road, according to
this report no-one saw it. Now that suggests to me either the
driver sped up to hit Andy-which is murder, not an accidental hit
and run, or the report is false. Either way it doesn’t look
good.”

“
The coroner’s report states he
ultimately died of a brain hemorrhage but it doesn’t list any other
major injuries. What kind of car only strikes someone on the
head?”

Jacobs simply shrugged.

“
It certainly is
suspicious.
”
Crass said as he finished reading.

“
What now?”
ask
ed
Jacobs.

A long moment passed before MacNamee
spoke.

“
Shall we go tell
Connor?”

Connor’s big top circus hadn’t opened in
days. He had not been in the mood to play since he committed his
crime. His toys were with him solely for companionship now and he
was happy for that. The now familiar sound of the key in the lock
didn’t faze the lad, who was sitting holding Basket when Jacobs and
MacNamee appeared at the open doorway. Jacobs scanned the room for
a moment before entering. All Connor’s dolls were facing the
doorway, lined up as if they were watching the men. Fighting an
urge to make a comment about how creepy all this was he stepped
into the room behind MacNamee.

“
Hey Connor
.” said MacNamee.

“
Hello Greg
.”

MacNamee’s gut told
him this was not
going to go well but he tried to stay as optimistic as he could
considering the news they would be delivering.

“
Connor this
is Sergeant Jacobs, he wants to
talk to you.” MacNamee said gently

“
I’ve talked to him before.
W
hen Beth
died.” Connor said quickly.

“
That’s right Connor you have.”
Jacobs stepped in “I was the policeman who talked to you and your
father after the incident at your house. I’m glad you remember
me.”

“
I remember your smell. You wear
cologne like my dad does. But you wear too much.”

Jacobs would laugh if the
situation were more appropriate
, or if he thought Connor was joking.

“
Well, you
have an excellent
memory.”

“
What do you want to talk to
me about?”

“
It’s about your
father.”

“
They’ve
already told me he isn’t coming to
visit.”

“
I’m afraid something else
has happened
Connor.”

Connor
lowered Basket and turned round to
face Jacobs.

“
Something else?” Connor asked,
giving a rare emotive response.

“
Yes son.”

Jacobs
had given many people bad news before
and Connor would be no exception to his candor.

“
Your father died last night son.
I’m so sorry.”

Connor blinked a few times while staring
at Jacobs.

“
What happened to
him
?”

“
He was hit by a car in a small
town called Staunton not far from the city.”

Jacobs
believed the boy should know only the
cause of death listed on the report, not of their
suspicions.

“
What was he doing there?”
Connor
enquired equally candidly.

Sighing, Jacobs
responded.

“
I’m not sure son.
B
ut I talked
to your dad a lot that night at the station and I know that he
cared about you very much.”

As
Connor absorbed this information he looked
down at the floor; MacNamee was surprised at the lack of emotional
response. He surmised it probably had something to do with the
Valium, still in his system from the night before.

“
Ok. Thanks for letting me
know.”

Connor’s face
drained of color as
he thanked Jacobs, blinking periodically as if taking snapshots of
the day’s events.

“
You’re
welcome
. I’m
sorry I don’t have better news.”

Jacobs paused a moment in case Connor
wanted to ask anything else. When he was satisfied the boy was
finished with his questions he got up.

“
We’ll
back in a little while to check on
you Connor ok?”

Connor
didn’t respond to MacNamee, instead
he returned his attentions to Basket, staring into the Clown’s
lifeless eyes quietly as his brain processed the information just
given to him. As Jacobs and the doctors quietly left, Connor sat
alone in his room again. The walls around him were a neutral color,
nicknamed “Institution mango” by the staff due to their drab
appearance. As the realization set in that he was now an orphan he
started to become very aware of his surroundings. This was now his
room and he started noticing mundane details he hadn’t earlier: The
rounded bedframes, the soft walls; the chequered pattern on the
high window allowing only a little natural light to enter. He had
come to the realization that this was his home now and he was going
to have to make do with it. The door closed with a thud and Crass
snapped the lock into place.