CHAPTER 30: CLUES
(Narrator’s perspective)
Glenworth parking lot is empty for the exception of two vehicles. One is an old Ford truck, belonging to the University’s head janitor, and the other is Detective Lancaster’s black patrol vehicle. The janitor opens the school door and lets in Detective Lancaster and his partner, Detective Jones.
“Thanks for getting back to us in such a short notice,” Frank thanks the old janitor.
“It’s fine. It’s nothing much to do on a Saturday anyways. But the mess is over here.”
Together, the three of them make a left around the corner and down a long hallway. Small pieces of glass crunch underneath their boots as they stroll through the vacant hallway. Frank eyes scan the area. The walls are covered in scratch marks and the decorative school posters are ripped to shreds. They follow a trail of sprinkled glass that leads to a classroom with no door.
“I left it like this,” the janitor informs them. “I wanted to show you first. It happened on Thursday evening.”
They all enter the class. They find glass on the floor, an indentation on the wall, the classroom door resting on top of chairs, and the teacher’s desk broken into two. Frank sees black fur on the floor. He walks over and kneels down, grabbing a handful, and studies it.
“What you got there?” Jones asks.
“Animal hair,” Frank replies.
“If there’s anything else I can do to help, just ask,” the old janitor says.
“Is there a surveillance system in the school?” Frank asks.
“Yes,” the old janitor replies.
“Has it been reviewed?” Frank interrogates.
“Not yet. We were going to wait for the Head of Security to come in on Tuesday before we review it. Do you want it?”
“If you can pull those tapes, that'll be great. Thanks,” Frank replies.
“Okay, I’ll get right to it,” the janitor says before exiting the classroom.
Frank sprinkles the fur onto the floor, brushes his hands clean, and stands. Jones walks over to him.
“What do you think about this?” Jones asks.
“There’s definitely something strange going on here. We’re getting close Jones, I know it. And that footage may be the break we need.”
Uh oh
On the way back to the station, Frank is oddly quiet and Jones picks up on his distant behavior. He’s been this way since that day he received that phone call at the lake. Nothing has been the same since then. Jones, being the good friend that he is, granted Frank’s wish and left the conversation alone. But that moment is still burning a hole in his mind and he knows that if he doesn’t ask now, he probably won’t ever get another chance to. Therefore, he takes advantage of this opportune moment.
“Are you ever going to tell me about it?” Jones asks in the passenger’s seat.
“About what?” Frank replies.
“That phone call.”
Although the question may appear vague, Frank automatically knows what he’s referring to. Instead of answering, Frank just sighs.
“What did he say to you?” Jones asks.
Frank ignores the question.
“Okay. I won’t bring it up anymore,” Jones says.
Frank stares at the road for a couple of seconds before gaining the strength to answer his question.
“He knew who I was. Not only that, he knew about my younger brother. He’s been keeping tabs on me somehow.”
“Brother?”
“When I was younger, around 14, my sister and I was babysitting him. We were in the house and he wanted to play outside. So, Julie and I were like fine, go ahead. We went outside 5 minutes later and he was gone. We never saw him alive again. The whole town went looking for him but nothing turned up. Two years later, someone was walking their dog on a trail and found his body.”
Frank stops to take a well needed breather to calm his emotions.
“My mom didn’t take it well. She became isolated and made us stay in the house all fucking day long. We became prisoners to her grief. That’s when I swore to become a cop. I wanted to find my brother’s killer. I went to the academy, made my way to Detective and solved the case. It was my old neighbor. We trusted that son of a bitch. And then he died from natural causes right before he was convicted. My brother was only five at the time. This bastard lived a long healthy life. Now, you know why I do what I do. I refuse to let anyone suffer like me.”
“Jesus,” Jones replies with a weak voice and shocked eyes. “You guys seemed like…”
“The perfect family?” Frank finishes his sentence. “We were far from that. We just talked about the good things and left the bad things out.”
“Wow. I’m sorry to…”
“Don’t,” Frank cuts him off. “I deserved an apology from him, not you.”
Jones takes a break to empty his lungs.
“How did your sister take it?”
“In many ways…worse,” Frank admits. “She hated my mom for a long time for keeping her trapped in the house. She ran off with some young politician and got pregnant, only to shield her daughter from the world. She became the person she hated.”
Jones sees the tears swelling in Franks eyes and decide to remain quiet the rest of the way. He also feels regret for ever asking him that question…