Richard Hale - Frozen Past

The crowd stood quietly in the cold night air in utter disbelief that this could be happening in their quiet suburban lives. Jaxon knew they believed they had chosen a place to live and raise their families free from the activities and discretions of the less desirable among the human race. He knew they were questioning their skewed perceptions and asking themselves ‘ What now? We were supposed to be immune to this kind of thing. ’ Immunity was a fragile thing. If you let a bad germ in, it could corrupt the whole system. Jaxon had seen it many times before.

“There are no footprints this time,” Sally said. “At least none we can see. We’ve contaminated this part of the scene and that’s probably where he was brought in and dumped.”

He nodded and turned away, scanning the crowd. “You’re out there. I can feel it,” he whispered.

“What did you say, boss?” Sally asked.

He shook his head. “This is going to get bad. You know what this could be, right?”

She hesitated and he could tell she wasn’t sure. He knew she was a good cop and a hell of an investigator, but she had little experience with this kind of thing.

“It’s definitely not an accident,” she said lamely.

“The FBI is probably going to pay attention now. We may have someone who is going to keep doing this.”

“Serial?”

He nodded.

“Shit.”

“Yes-shit,” he said. “This will get complicated.”

“Are we even sure it’s the same guy?”

“What’s your gut feeling on it?” he asked, the teacher now.

“It’s the same guy.”

He nodded. “Alright, let’s get the Crime Scene techs here and go over this place with a fine tooth comb. I want some uniforms working the crowd right now to see if anybody saw anything. The first kid gets his autopsy now. We need to know what killed him and who the hell he is.”

“On it,” she said, and walked away to start everything rolling.

“And find out if anybody is missing another kid!” he yelled.

It had been two days since they had pulled Paul Bannon from the pool and Luke was still in shock. Not only had William Smith, or whatever his real name was, killed one of his friends, he had put him out in plain sight. The guy wasn’t even trying to hide it. At least he hadn’t tried to communicate with either him or Ellie yet, but Luke knew something would be coming. He could feel it.

Paul’s Mother had reported him missing the morning they had found him. She told the police he hadn’t come home the night before and she had stayed up all night worrying. This story and more were making it around campus faster than the speed of light and Luke had heard more than his fair share of it. He had watched them pull Paul from the pool, just like the first kid, and felt a pain deep inside he never knew existed. He couldn’t help thinking he had somehow contributed to his friend’s death.

Ellie apparently felt the same way and was distant and depressed at lunch. He couldn’t seem to get through to her and he knew she was blaming herself. They had filled Jimmy and John in on everything and the two were feeling some of the burden also. He could see the stress in John’s face. Paul had been a jerk sometimes but he didn’t deserve to die and they all felt somehow responsible.

“What if we had gone to the police?” Ellie asked all of them. “Maybe we could have saved Paul.”

Nobody had an answer. They all felt as she did and the burden of guessing what could have been laid heavy on all of them.

At the bus stop, Patrick seemed edgy and Alan hadn’t even shown up at school. Paul had been his best friend. Many of the parents picked their kids up at the bus stop or even went as far as to provide their own transportation to and from school. Fear was weighing heavy on the community. Luke’s little group had assured their parents they would stick together so they were some of the only ones walking from the stop. They dropped Ellie off at her house and then strode the short distance to their houses. Luke wasn’t worried. He knew the killer wouldn’t touch them in the open. He seemed to be someone who liked remaining hidden, yet put the results of his actions out there to taunt everyone.

As he reached for the front door, his cell phone beeped and he stopped, pulling it from his pocket. You’re off the hook…for now! Luke could hear the voice in his mind as he read the text message. He shivered in the afternoon cold.

He dialed Ellie’s number and she answered on the second ring. “You just left. Are you ok?”

“He just sent me a text message,” Luke said.

“I didn’t get one.” Just then her phone beeped and Luke could hear it through the speaker. “Wait! I just got a text. Hold on…”

Luke prayed her message was the same and that the jerk hadn’t decided to mess with her more.

“It says, You’re off the hook…for now! ”

“That’s what mine said too.” Luke let out the breath he was holding and leaned up against the door.

“Do you think we should believe him?” she asked.

“I don’t see why. I’m planning on keeping my eyes and ears open. You should too.”

“Ok.”

Luke could hear the disappointment in her voice and he wondered if maybe he should have told her to relax. Everything will be ok now. She was so tense he could feel it through the connection.

“Hey, at least we should be ok for a while,” he said, changing his mind. “He’s probably had his fill of things and will leave us alone for now. Maybe for good. We did what he told us to. We haven’t told anyone.”

“I hope so. I can’t take much more.”

“I know. Call me if you need to talk. Do you want to come over later? I could come and get you.”

“Ok! That would be good. You always make me feel better.”

He could feel her smiling and he smiled too. “Alright. I’ll call in a bit and come get you.”

“See ya’.”

“Bye,” and he hung up and went inside. He only hoped William Smith would keep his promise.

Jaxon had just gotten off the phone with the Medical Examiner and was doodling on his napkin as he thought through what he’d just learned. They still had no name for the first kid in the pool and the autopsy had shown very little. He had died of asphyxiation caused by the inhalation of a chemical. Diethyl Ether. The ME thought a rag had been held over the victim’s mouth and nose until he passed out and then the killer continued to hold the chemically soaked rag on his face until the kid died. Mild bruising had been found on the face around the mouth and nose consistent with this theory.

Paul Bannon had died the same way. Asphyxiation. Same chemical traces in his bloodstream. Same bruising of the face. What was bothering Jaxon more than anything was the peculiar state of the first kid’s body. The ME had told him some of the boy’s internal organs were frozen.

“Are your refrigerators set too cold?” Jaxon had asked.

“I checked. They’re fine. The rest of him was not frozen but he had some patches on his skin that resembled freezer burn. I think this boy has been frozen solid and recently thawed.”

“How long?”

“I haven’t been able to determine that yet. I’m checking with a colleague in North Dakota. He has some experience with this kind of thing. I should know something within a day or two.”

Freezer burn? What the hell? Jaxon thought. This kid may have been missing longer then they originally thought. He’d have to start looking back months and see if anything came up. In the mean time, it was probably worth it to take a trip back out to the neighborhood and see if any of these kids had anything to tell him.

Luke had just picked up Ellie from her house and they were heading back to his place through the frozen streets when a car pulled up next to them and rolled down its window.