"Seen At the Local Museum."

“Seen At the Local Museum.”

     “Didn’t David go to the museum yesterday?” Mitch asked as he entered the living room where his wife was vacuuming. He had to shout to be heard.

     “He did. I signed the permission slip myself. Why?” Helen turned off her vacuum before she spoke.

     “Something happened there today. Did he tell you anything about it?” Mitch flashed the daily paper in front of him.

     “Just the usual. He loved the dinosaurs. But hated the paintings. Except for the naked ones. What thirteen-year-old boy doesn’t like those kind of paintings.” Helen flopped down in the chair next to Mitch. “What’s going on?”

     Mitch handed the paper to Helen. “It’s the picture and story on the front page. A man got killed there. The police assigned to it are looking for anyone who might have seen who did it.”

     Helen mumbled as she read the story. She kept glancing at the picture surrounded by it. It showed a picture of a man lying on the floor with blood seeping out of his body. In the background some dinosaurs could be seen. Some kids were looking at them instead of the dead man. There were some people, including other kids, standing around it though.

     “Is David home from school yet?” Mitch asked after he noticed Helen had finished reading that story. Helen let the paper slip out of her hand. It hit the floor and the pages scattered. She had a sad look on her face.

     “Jennifer is home. She’s upstairs getting ready for her playdate and sleepover. I don’t think David is home though. Unless he came in while I was doing my vacuuming. But I don’t think so. At least I haven’t heard any loud music coming from his room.”

     “I don’t think Jenny should go anywhere right now. It’s too dangerous out there until we know if David saw anything. If David did see who killed that man at the museum they will do, or take, whatever it takes to silence him too.”

     After a few seconds Mitch continued. “She’s ten. So I know she’s going to be mad at me. But I don’t care. She is in almost as much danger as David is.”

     Just then David came into the house. He looked like he’d been Dumpster Diving. His clothing was ripped or shredded with dirt and mud everywhere. David also had a big red spot on his chest. It was getting bigger by the second. He stumbled and fell against the wall. Then he slid down it to land in a heap on the floor.

     Mitch and Helen got up and ran to David. They helped him into the couch in the living room. Helen immediately started putting pressure on his blood stain. Mitch took off his uniform jacket and placed it over the red stain near his heart. “You did see who killed that man at the museum? Didn’t you?”

     It was hard to hear what David said. His words were jumbled, slurred or even missing. He did a lot of mumbling and whisper too in his weakened state. David had to repeat what he said three times before he could be understood completely. It wasn’t exactly the same each time either.

     “I saw them several times at school. Right after school I went to your police station. Only you weren’t there. On the way out I saw them on the big board with all the pictures. The killers were Patricia Benson and Walter Yonderson. Three of us saw it. All three of us are dead now.”

     David Anton and his two friends weren’t the only ones in the local morgue that week. A few days after they were there Patricia and Walter ended up there too.