The Chronicles of Beast and Man (5 page)

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              Hank's interview did very little to put peoples' minds at ease. It did do one thing though -
after the interview no one ever called the killer the Moonlight Murderer again. From that day on the 'murderer' would be referred to as The Killer Wolf. This nickname was not created by John or Hank exactly. It was created by the people because of the theory that the murders were being committed by a blood thirsty animal. Hank did not like the new nickname, but there was very little he could do about it.

              After a great deal of talking and planning, a man-hunt was assembled and used on the next full moon night. No one in the search party saw or heard anything at all, and no one was killed that night either. Obviously everyone assumed that the man-hunt had been a success. The Killer Wolf had not attempted to kill again, or had never planned to in the first place.

              Mysteriously, two days later Hank Murray suddenly announced that he would be retiring, and that Rodney Truex would be replacing him. Hank never gave a reason for his retirement; many assumed that the murder had simply gotten the better of him. Deputy Dolgen told Rod that at one point he had noticed an unusual change in Hank’s mood. Rod also thought this was probably just from dealing with the recent event. When Rod became Sheriff most people understood and thought that he was the best choice for the job. But at twenty eight years old he was the youngest Sheriff Medusa had ever had. A few people did not think that Rod was quite ready for the job. Luckily for him, he was able to prove most of them wrong.

              After Rod took the role of Sheriff there was never another murder. The so-called Killer Wolf was considered a joke, something people spoke and laughed about. John Austin was considered a bit responsible for this. If he had not printed the story, the whole thing wouldn’t have exploded the way it did. Some people felt that Rod deserved credit, but in truth Rod hadn't done anything that Hank hadn’t already done. Rod had always been well respected and considered a leader almost since birth. His father was a big partner in the community and at one time he had been a policeman and a business man as well. In school Rod always seemed to go above and beyond everyone else’s expectations. At times he might have had academic issues with science or math. But everyone expected him to excel, possibly because he was a Truex and his father’s son. In high school Rod was captain of the football team, and during
his senior year he took the team all the way to the state championship. The team didn't win that year, but it was very exciting for everyone in town.

              After high school Rod attended college at Western Illinois University, where he got his degree in law enforcement. Rod spent most of his college years drinking beer and taking trips south to go fishing. Despite this, Rod was still able to complete college without tacking on any additional years of enrollment.

              Once he was through with college, Rod almost immediately became a deputy in the Medusa police department. This was a move that surprised no one at all. Rod loved his community and the people in the community appreciated him.

             
I
t only took Rod ten minutes to drive from the scene of the crime to the Parker residence. In the next few moments, as he was driving, looking out toward Gabrielle parker’s home, every ounce of courage that Rod possessed was gone. He wished that he could just change his course and go back to the police station. Five years ago, when the Hester boy had been killed, Rod had been lucky enough to not have this responsibility. The duty was bestowed upon someone else then.

              Rod finally got out of his vehicle and began to walk up the sidewalk. Rod didn’t even get to the front porch before Evelyn Parker exited the house.

              “What is it Rod?” Evelyn asked

              Rod glanced up at her and then hung his head ever so slightly.

              “She is dead isn’t she?” Evelyn asked as she began to sob.

              Rod nodded and said yes. That was the only word that he could force out.

              “What happened?” Evelyn asked as she paced back and forth.

              Rod then explained to Evelyn everything that he could. He told her that he would work extremely hard to find out exactly what happened.

              Evelyn wiped her tears, and told Rod that she knew that he would do his best. She had no doubts.

              “That Owen Kelly had something to do with this, didn’t he?” Evelyn asked.

              Rod recognized the name Owen Kelly, but did not know that he was dating Gabrielle, so he did not know the connection between the two of them.

              Rod simply told Evelyn that he was going to use every resource he had until he figured out what happened.

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              After Rod’s most unfortunate meeting with Evelyn Parker, Rod knew it was time to start investigating.

But, where to start?

              Rod had no real evidence, other than the body of course, which was now on its way to Peoria for an autopsy. He had no murder weapon, he had no witnesses; he really had nothing. It reminded him of the murder that took place five years earlier, so much so that it was beginning to drive him crazy. The way Gabrielle’s body looked, and the way it had been left, like nothing more than worthless scraps from a savage, primal feast. It was certainly a vile scene.

              Rod sat in his office thinking about young Gabrielle. Then he remembered the boy Evelyn had mentioned, Owen Kelly. He seemed like a good place to start.

              He began searching through several different files looking for any sort of details about this Owen Kelly character. Fortunately Deputy Dolgen walked into the police station at that very moment. Rod did not hesitate to ask him if he knew anything about Owen Kelly.

              Thomas ran his left hand through his bushy black hair as he explained to Rod who Owen Kelly was. “He is a bit of an odd ball, chief. I think he is around eighteen, graduated this year. He lives down in the Penn Apartment complex on the east side of town.”

              There was then a brief pause as Rod stood up from
his desk
and began shuffling through papers to put them in the correct spots.

              “What is it chief?” Thomas asked.

              “Oh, I just have to find him and ask him a few questions.”

              “This got anything to do with the Parker girl?”

              Oh god, she is now nothing more than just the Parker girl. She is just another name for a file in an investigation
, Rod thought to himself.

              “Yeah, it does.”

              “Are you sure you don’t want me to go down and handle it?” Thomas asked.

              Thomas Dolgen always knew when it was a good time for him to step in and be an example. In other words,
he enjoyed police work that got his name in the newspaper.

              “No, I think I can handle this one on my own.” Rod replied.

              Thomas nodded in agreement and Rod was almost out the door when he suddenly turned around.

              “Hey Thomas, what did you mean when you said this kid was an odd ball?” Rod asked.

              “He is just an odd duck. I don’t know how to exactly put a finger on it.” Thomas replied.

              With that said,
Rod was out the door and on his way to the Penn Apartment complex.

-

              It had been two or three years since Rod was last at the Penn Apartments. The last time he was there, it was for a drug bust. He and his deputies took down a local punk named Ronnie Van Witzen. He had been dealing cocaine and pot out of his apartment for about four years, and had gained a reputation for being a tough guy. When Rod pulled him out of that apartment Ronnie Van Witzen, (Mr. Badass) was almost in tears.

              Rod smiled as he reminisced.

              Before getting out of his truck Rod noticed a couple of shady individuals watching him closely. They moved across the narrow parking lot, studying every move that he made. Then once they realized that he had noticed them, they turned and began to walk away.
Oh well, I can’t arrest someone for not liking the presence
of authority
. Rod thought to himself, still unsure of their intentions.

              After exiting his vehicle, Rod went to the door to the apartment complex. It appeared that if Rod pulled even the slightest bit too hard on the handle the entire thing might come right off of the hinges.

              As Rod carefully climbed up the dirty withered stairs, he had a strange feeling emerge in the back of his mind. It was the feeling that he had been through all this before.

              Yes, he had investigated crimes at the Penn apartment complex in the past, but never before had Rod been there to investigate a murder. Still something inside of him was trying to make him aware of danger. This was something he could not understand, and would have to ignore.

              When he came to the top of the narrow stairs, he started down the long hallway looking for apartment twenty-seven.

              On the way over Rod had placed a call to the Medusa Water Department and asked them if they would give him the apartment number of a one Owen Kelly residing in the Penn Apartment complex. It only took them two or three minutes to find the number for him. This might not have been very professional of the staff at the water department, but to them it wasn’t like they were giving out social security numbers or anything like that. Plus, the information was going to the Sheriff, not a drug dealer.

              As he continued his search for apartment twenty-seven, he heard loud noises coming from the other apartments. He heard a televangelist praising the all mighty, coming from a television set. Someone else had their rap music playing way too loud;
and a couple was
having an argument over who washed the dishes last. Rod didn’t think the argument was leading to domestic violence at all, and ignored them. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of one of them stepping out in a rage to see him standing there.
I bet that would surprise them a little bit.

              Rod did not like this neighborhood, partly because of the condition of the building, and the illegal activities he assumed went on here.

              “Maybe I need to have a few of the boys comb through this area more often.” He thought out loud.

              Apartment twenty-seven, he had finally found it. He balled up his fist and pounded on the door.

              There would be no response.

              Rod repeated his previous actions...there was no answer.

              “Medusa police. Open up.” Rod shouted out but still there was no response. Either Owen was inside the apartment hiding, or he really was not there. he glanced around the hallway, all of a sudden she felt wary. With a fast motion of his arm he placed his left hand against the wall to suspend himself up. He was becoming light headed, he gazed down the hallway again, for a moment he thought he saw a figure further down the hall. He closed his eyes in an attempt to gain his composure, he looked back and the figure was gone. Now all that was there was the same dingy looking apartment complex that had always been there. Rod had no choice but to give up and head back to the police station. He would just have to come back later, and try again. If on his second attempt to find Owen Kelly here did not work, he would have to send one of the overnight Officers here to track him down.

              He went back through the hallway, down the withering narrow stairs, and out the door. Just as he was about to get into his truck his phone began to ring. Rod hoped that maybe it was one of his deputies calling to tell him that they had located Owen Kelly. The name that lit up Rod’s cell phone was none other than John Austin. It had seemed that the news of Gabrielle Parker’s death had gotten to the Medusa news machine.

              “Rod, here.” His tone was crisp.

              “Hey Rodney. I’ve got a pot of coffee and some fresh doughnuts down here for you if you want to come have a chat with me.” John said with certain sarcasm in his voice.

              “Doughnuts? Boy you sure do know how to treat your local police!” He said with fake excitement. “Yeah, I’ll be down in fifteen minutes.”

              Rod got off the phone and called Deputy Dolgen.

              “Thomas, do you want to track down Owen Kelly after all? I have to go down and talk to John at the papers.”

              Thomas accepted the task, and Rod explained that he had already tried Owen’s apartment, but he might want to try again this afternoon. Thomas told Rod he might have a few other places to look, and thanked him for the information.