Ted Kosmatka - Prophet of Bones

“We’d like to get a complete statement from you,” the officer said. “For the record.”

“I’ll tell you everything,” Paul answered. It’s what prophets did.

They ushered Lilli to one squad car, Paul to another.

Lilli started to pull back, but Paul told her, “Just go with them. It’s okay. Just tell them what you know.”

She nodded and let herself be steered away gently by the arm.

Paul’s officer opened the back door of his squad car, and Paul ducked his head and sat. He pulled the report out and set it on the car seat next to him. The papers were crinkled but still legible. A dozen pages that might or might not matter. The car idled while the officer talked to the newspaper boss for a moment, and then the two shook hands and the officer headed for the car.

Paul watched the newspaper boss head back inside his building to write the next day’s headline. He wondered what it would look like. He wondered if there would be future headlines, in other cities, as the scope of what had happened was finally revealed.

The officer climbed into the car and shut the door. The back of his head was slick with sweat. “It’s gonna be a hot one today,” Paul said.

“Yeah,” the cop said. “Feels like.”

The cop started the car and eased past the throng of onlookers crowding the sidewalks. They stood staring from both sides of the wide city street, watching the police lights. Paul took off his eye patch and looked out the window at the curious faces, with both his good eye and the ghost eye, and then he closed his eyes in silent prayer as the cop car pulled down the road, leaving the faces behind.

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