Terror At Midnight

Terror At Midnight

         Jay’s cell phone rang with its irritating ring.  As much as he hated it, he used that ringer because it was the only thing that could wake him from a deep sleep.  Like hundreds of times before he rolled over and clicked answer, as his dream of floating above a murder scene slowly receded.

         “Jay here, speak.”

         “Lieutenant Strong, Sergeant Donaldson.  We have another victim, corner of Main and Grove.”

         Jay immediately snapped fully awake, his dream completely forgotten.  “Can you give me a few quick details?”

         “Yes sir.  The victim is male, mid to late thirties, dressed neatly, maybe upper middle class.  He’s face down in the street, right under a street light, throat slit just like the other two.  No other signs of wounds on him.  He never knew what hit him most likely.”

         “Christ, we could have a serious problem here; I’ll be there as soon as I can.  Don’t disturb the scene until I’m there, I want to look it over carefully.”

         “I’ll take care of it personally Lieutenant.  See you soon.”

         Jay washed the sleep from his eyes and dressed quickly.  No matter what time it was, he always took time to clean up and look presentable.  He had learned that in his brief Navy career; old habits were hard to shake.  He jumped into his car and quickly drove to the murder scene.

         Jay had a moment of Déjà-Vu when he arrived at the scene, but he shook it off knowing he had not been there before.  He was greeted by Sergeant Donaldson on his arrival.  “All’s secure here Lieutenant; no one has touched a thing.”

         “Thanks Sergeant, show me what you have so far.”

         “Well, like I said, the victim is male, mid to late thirties.  He was not robbed, his wallet is in his back pocket, his laptop is about three feet away, and his cell phone is on his belt. “

         As they spoke, a taxi cruised to a stop about a block away, lights on as if waiting for a fare.  Two officers approached it cautiously, one on each side.  “What can we do for you sir?” asked one of the officers.

         “My dispatcher sent me here to pick up a fare.  What’s going on?”

         “Just a minor disturbance sir, nothing more.  Could you pull over about a block away?  We need to  keep this area clear.”

         As the cab pulled off to the side, the officer keyed his radio microphone.  “Lieutenant Strong, Officer Donaldson.  A cab just pulled up looking for a fare, maybe he’s here for our guy.  Should I get his information?”

         “Let’s hold off on that, I’d like to keep this as quiet as we can.  But watch him; don’t let him get close enough to see things here.”

         Officer Donaldson turned around to speak to the cabbie, but the car was nowhere to be seen.

         The officers proceeded with their investigation, looking for clues of the killer’s identity.  As was the case in the previous two killings, there was little to go on.  The killer had left nothing behind to betray who he was, nor was there any evidence as to the motive for what seemed to be a random slaying.  In the middle of their search for clues, a media van pulled to a stop near the scene.  The crew got out and started to efficiently set up their camera’s, the reporter preparing to interview the officers at the scene.

         Seeing the media van Strong sighed, knowing things would get a little more complicated if they weren’t careful.  “Officer Donaldson, make sure the media doesn’t talk to anyone but me.  If anyone is asked questions, tell them that a statement will be forthcoming once we have more facts.  Nothing more is to be said, is that clear?”

         Donaldson spent the next hour fending off questions from the media, ensuring all questions went through him.  For his part, Jay examined the body and the surrounding area carefully before getting on the radio.  “Dispatch, Lt. Strong here, I’m going to need the CSI unit at the corner of Main and Grove.  The summary you already know, but just to recap, male victim, no signs of a struggle, it has all the markings of the previous two victims. “  Jay waited a moment before continuing.  “We’ll need someone here to deal with the media too; Channel Nine is here wanting an interview.  I will answer basic questions, but anything else needs to be answered by a specialist.”

         “Ten-Four Lieutenant, CSI has been notified.  The Chief says to tell the press we’ll make an announcement in the morning.”

         “Thanks Dispatch, I’ll take care of it.”

         His job completed, Jay turned the scene over to the CSI team when they arrived, then answered a few brief questions from the press.  He kept his answers short and to the point, saying only that someone had been killed and they were investigating it.

         It wasn’t until he was relaxing at home later that morning that his dream came back to him.  He pondered the significance of it, and wondered how he could have dreamed of a murder scene just like the one he had just investigated.  He remembered that in his dream, he seemed to be floating above a murder scene, watching as the police checked for clues to the murder.  He brushed it off as a coincidence and gave it no further thought.

         Two weeks later, Jay’s  phone rang it’s irritating ring right at the stroke of midnight.  He reached for the phone to answer, and snapped wide awake, when he heard, “Lieutenant Strong, Thompson.  We have our fourth body here in the middle of Longview Park.”  Once again the dream of floating above a murder scene faded quickly as he came fully awake.

         Arriving at the scene, Jay found a young woman of about twenty-nine lying face down under a light next to a bench in the park.  Her purse was lying nearby, her wallet half way out as if it had been jogged loose as she fell.  “Anything significant here Sergeant?”  Jay asked.

         “Well sir, she has not been robbed, her wallet is in her purse there.  Her cell phone is off to the side as if she was using it, or getting ready to make a call when she was attacked.  There’s no sign of a struggle, and no sign of sexual assault, she is obviously fully clothed.  We’re checking her cell phone records now to see when she last used her phone.”

         “Good job Sergeant, anything else?”

         “No sir, this looks just like the other three.”

         Since the last killing, Jay had worked hard with the CSI team and the Chief to establish a team to investigate murders like this.  Sergeant Donaldson was the lead officer for initial investigations, Jay was the lead detective, and CSI was to be involved in every case.  Everyone knew they had a problem with a serial killer on their hands, but they had nothing to go on.  For now things were under control, the press didn’t know about the suspected serial killer.  That all changed the following day.

         “Is A Serial Killer Stalking The City?”  The paper headlines seemed to scream.  News channels were clamoring for information from the department, and the public relations department was doing all it could to minimize the amount of information given to the public.

         At dinner with his girlfriend that night, Jay remembered the second dream.  He lost himself in the moment as he remembered that once again he was floating above a murder scene.  This dream was a little different this time; he appeared to be there right as the police arrived.  He remembered watching them as they cordoned off the area, and went about checking the security of the scene.  He couldn’t see any faces, but their body movements reminded him of someone he knew.  “Jay?  Jay, are you listening to me?”

         “What?  Oh I’m sorry Sam, I was just thinking for a moment and got lost in myself.  What did you say?”

         “I was asking you about our plans for later this week.  Don’t forget we have a dinner date, then the variety show at the Lamont Theater.”  Jay’s involvement in the serial killer case occupied his mind more than he wanted it to, and he had in fact completely forgotten about their upcoming date.  It took a bit of effort for him to remember where they were going for dinner, and who was headlining the show at the Variety Theater.

         “I haven’t forgotten, though it had slipped my mind with all that’s going on.  Don’t forget your camera, you know you’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t get any pictures of Jeremy Bonds .  This is our second time seeing him, last time we didn’t have the camera, and you kicked yourself for weeks afterward.”

         “My camera is ready to go.  Fully charged, the memory card has been formatted, so I have room for all the pictures I want to take.  I can’t wait to see him; his show is always over the top.  Maybe he’ll have the same assistant this time, the one you drooled over.”

         Jay smiled as she said this.  Jeremy Bonds was one of their favorite performers; both a magician, as well as a ventriloquist.  Though they had seen him only once, they both loved his act.  Jay had a crush on his assistant, but Sam knew she was his first love, and took great pleasure in teasing him about her.

         Two nights later Jay’s phone rang at 1am, waking him slowly.  What he heard though caused him to wake with a jolt.  “Lieutenant, he’s struck again, but there are two bodies this time.”  His dream of floating above a murder scene faded like the dew in the morning as he sat up.

         “Two?  Same scenario?”

         “Yes sir, a man and a woman, within 3 feet of each other.  Whoever did this caught them both unawares somehow.  And he was quick.  It doesn’t look like either one of them moved much at all.  You’d think that one would have run at least a short distance.  Both necks slit as clean as the others, almost as if he slit them both at the same time.”

         The on-scene investigation went as smooth as it could, but not quietly.  The press was now monitoring the police channels, and knew of the killings when the first call was made.  It took a concerted effort on the team’s part to have the questions fielded by the right people.  Jay had a hard time concentrating on the task at hand; his recent dream had not faded completely like the others had done.  In his most recent dream, he was floating above a murder scene, two bodies on the ground in pools of blood.  He remembered briefly seeing a black shape moving out of visual range in the early part of the dream.  He knew he couldn’t go on much longer like this, and considered seeing the department psychologist once things calmed down.

         Once the scene was cleaned and everyone left, Jay went home to get some much needed rest.  His date with Sam was that night, and he needed to rest before they went out.  It seemed that as soon as his head hit the pillow he was asleep.  His dreams were of a murder scene.  A lone man was in a parking lot; apparently walking from a building to a car.  He saw a figure clothed in all black approach the man quickly, his arm moving in a smooth motion.  The man reached up to his throat as he fell to the ground, a pool of blood already forming under him.  The figure seemed to stand over the man for a few moments before drifting out of sight behind a nearby tree.

         Jay woke in a sweat , the dream fresh in his mind.  It seemed that he was getting closer and closer to seeing the killer in the dream, and once again wondered about the significance of it all.  As he showered and shaved in preparation for the evening, he eventually forgot all about the dream.  His dinner with Sam was one of the best they’d had together in quite some time.  They arrived at the Lamont Theater well in advance of the showing.  They sat and talked for a bit as the theater slowly filled with people.  Jeremy Bonds had just walked on stage when Samantha cursed softly.

         “What’s wrong honey?”

         “I took my camera out in the car to check it out, and must have left it there.  It’s not in my purse where I usually keep it.”

         ‘I’ll run get it, I know you love the start of his routine.”

         Jay got up and left the theater, walking from the building to the car.  Just as he reached the car, he felt a sharp pain in his neck.  Lifting his hand to his Adam’s Apple, he was surprised to feel blood spewing forth.  He fell to the ground and lay there, his life essence pooling beneath him.  As he lay there, he heard a raspy voice say, “I had to do this, had to eliminate you.  Somehow, you and I are connected;  you are getting too close to discovering my identity and why this is occurring.  I can’t have that.  Goodbye.”

         Jay’s cell phone rang with its irritating ring.  As much as he hated it, he used that ringer because it was the only thing that could wake him from a deep sleep.

Jim Dorrell
9/16/12