Richard Hale - Frozen Past

He pointed to an area just below the right ribcage. It looked roughened and white compared to the surrounding skin. “Here and here, also,” he said pointing to an area just above his groin. “I sampled a section of skin from here and performed a few tests my colleague up in North Dakota told me to try and I came up with some very interesting findings.”

He turned and walked over to a counter behind them and moved in front of a microscope set up there. “Come take a look.”

Jaxon and Sally moved to the microscope and Jaxon bent over and peered into the instrument. “What am I looking at, Doc?” He seemed to do better when he didn’t have to look at the boy’s body.

“Do you see the jagged edges around the cell wall structure? It looks ruptured in various places correct?”

“Yeah, I see that.”

“This indicates the cells have been frozen at a very cold temperature and for a very long time.”

The Doc paused letting that sink in. Jaxon stood up and let Sally look.

“How long is a very long time, Doc?”

“More than ten years, maybe even twenty. I can’t tell exactly. I can just give you a vague range.”

“Damn. Somebody kept this kid in deep freeze for more than ten years?”

Dr. Barstow nodded slowly. “That’s what it looks like.”

“Is it possible to get a more accurate date?” Sally asked.

“At this point I don’t know of any way. I’m looking into it.”

“How about Carbon 14 dating? Can we use that on him?”

“Not unless he’s been dead for more than two hundred years,” the Doc said. “It’s not accurate enough on substances that are within two hundred or so years old. There are other testing methods and I’m looking into them.”

“But you estimate between ten and twenty years,” Jaxon said.

“That’s my estimate, yes.”

“That’s quite a big time frame to search, but at least we know we’re not looking for something recent,” Jaxon said.

“No wonder nobody is looking for him or reported him missing,” Sally said. “He’s been dead twenty years.”

“Doc, Billy Halson in Forensics has found something interesting on a decapitated dog we got a call on a number of weeks back. Apparently the dog has traces of Diethyl Ether in its bloodstream, just like John Doe here and Paul Bannon. We think it’s the same guy. But in a twenty year span? It’s hard to get around that.”

“With the exceptions of the frozen organs and freezer burn, the two boys have very similar traits. I would have bet my life that it was the same guy, but this huge space in time really puts serious doubts into my mind. It’s not impossible, but it is somewhat unlikely.”

“Has any other evidence turned up? What about residues or fingerprints on the bodies?” Jaxon asked.

“The pool water washed most of that kind of thing away. Did you guys drain the pool and filter the water?”

“No, not yet. We haven’t been able to get in touch with the sports complex manager to get permission to drain it. He’s in Miami at the moment. That’s definitely on the agenda.”

“Well, John Doe will stay here for a while longer anyway,” Dr. Barstow said, “but I’m going to release Paul Bannon to his parents so they can bury him. Any problems with that?”

“Do they plan on cremating him or burying him?” Sally asked.

“Burial, at least that was the desire expressed to me. If it’s important to you, you should contact them.”

“No, if you feel you’ve retrieved all the evidence he has to offer that’s good enough for us,” Jaxon said. “Thanks Doc. Let us know if you find anything more definitive on a date for John Doe.”

“I will.”

“Let’s go, Sally. We’ve got some digging to do.”

Jaxon left Bay C quickly, glad to leave the coldness and the memories behind. He hated coming here, but he knew it was something unavoidable in his line of work. He couldn’t count the number of times he had visited the facility. All he knew is he expected it to get easier. It didn’t.

‘Boris’ was still reading his magazine as they pushed through the double doors and he looked up and smiled as they left. “Have a nice day,” he said, flapping a hand at them that jangled.

“Yeah. You too,” Jaxon said, but thought, too late for that .

Five Months Later

Luke dove into the pool and started his practice laps. The swim team was halfway through its season and Luke, John, Jimmy, and Ellie were all in the pool stroking away while the coach pushed them harder. The team consisted of about thirty five kids from the neighborhood and had done fairly well winning six of the eight meets already concluded. There were seven more to go.

Ellie was the star, placing first in all her heats, and rumors were spreading she was to be selected for the state team in her event, the women’s one hundred meter butterfly. Luke wasn’t nearly as competitive, finishing second in two of his heats and third in all the others. He still had fun and wouldn’t miss it for the world. If Ellie got to go to state, he would be without her for a week. Even though he was proud she was so good, he didn’t want her to leave. Maybe he’d get to go anyway and cheer her on.

Jimmy crossed the lane divider and bumped into Luke. He stopped and then pushed Luke down deeper into the pool. Luke came up sputtering, his rhythm broken. Jimmy grinned at him looking goofy in his swim goggles and Luke jumped at him trying to dunk him. The two laughed and wrestled until John came up and pushed them both under. John then cut straight across the pool through all the lanes as Luke and Jimmy swam after him. All the other swimmers doing laps had to move out of the way or stop as the boys disrupted the pool.

“Harrison! Besner! Will you three cut it out!” Will Francis, their swim coach, yelled. “You’re messing up the whole team!”

Ellie swam into Luke and came up looking frustrated until she saw it was him. “Hey cutie! What the heck are you doing?” she said, her nose clip making her sound all stuffy.

“Waiting for you to pay attention to me.”

“What? You don’t get enough of me the rest of the day?” She smiled at him, breathing a little hard from the exertion.

“I could never get enough of you,” he said seriously, but then splashed her in the face.

“Hey!”

He dove away and swam hard for the far end but she caught him mid-pool and they came up in each other’s arms laughing. She tickled him as the other swimmers passed around them.

He squirmed, laughing out loud and reached to tickle her back but she slipped from his grasp and swam away. He caught her and said, “Oh, you’re not getting away that easily.”

“Dammit Harrison! Now you’re messing with my star. Will you let her swim please?” Coach Francis stood there with his hands on his hips and the whistle dangling from his lips. “Twenty more laps for you today, Luke. Now get moving.”

“You got me in trouble,” Luke said to Ellie, but grinned. “Now you owe me.”

She pushed him away and laughed. “We’ll see, you Goofy Goober.” She dove under the water and resumed her training. He followed after her.

After practice, they were walking home when John said, “Hey! Let’s go check out the creek. It rained a bunch last night and I bet it’s full.”

Instead of going through Luke’s fence at the back of the tennis courts, they turned right and followed a path into the woods. The trail gave access to the pool and tennis courts for the neighborhood which existed on the other side of the creek. They passed a couple and their two children loaded down with towels and floats, all headed for the pool. The little kids kept running ahead of the parents and the dad would yell at them to ‘Wait up!’ Ellie reached out and grabbed the little girl, tickling her as she squirmed in her arms. She squealed with delight.