held on to the cage and was hanging halfway in and out of the car as he sped down the road. He swerved from side to side, trying to shake her, but she wouldn’t let go. He cut down an alley without slowing down. There was a utility pole on the right side of the alley. He pulled to his right and scraped the right side of the car against the pole at full speed.
She still didn’t let go, at least not right away. She had stopped screaming and flailing; instead, she fell face down into the passenger seat. He stopped the car and looked closely at her. It was only her torso that was in the seat. There was blood splattered along the door and her entrails were dangling out the window. He climbed out of the car and threw up in the grass. As he heaved his lunch onto the ground, another squad car pulled up and stopped in front of Ted’s car. It was Hernandez. The Assistant Chief stepped out of the car, put on his cowboy hat and stuck his chest out like he always did, walking over to Ted, who was still on his hands and knees.
“Well, aren’t you looking fit for duty today? Up drinking all night?” He said.
“Look in my car,” Ted replied.
“At what?”
“Just look.”
“I’m the one who does the order givin’ Patrolman, but I’ll humor you this once.” Hernandez stepped to Ted’s door and looked inside. He opened the door, apparently to get a closer look. After a few seconds, he dropped on the ground next to Ted and began throwing up.
Chapter 5
D ietrich sat in Bernard’s office as he waited. After several minutes, Bernard stepped inside, with a woman and a little boy. Dietrich stood to greet them.
“Sharon and Simon, this is Father Harlan, the man I told you about. Father Harlan, this is Sharon and Simon Masters.” Bernard said.
“Thank you, good to meet you.” Dietrich said. “But I’m not a priest anymore. You can call me Dietrich, or Professor if you must.”
“Thank you. It’s fine. I heard all about what you did at that other hospital. I can’t even imagine.” Sharon said.
“Oh, that wasn’t all me. But thank you.” Dietrich knelt down and looked at Simon. “And how are you there big guy?” He said.
“I’m fine, sir.” Simon said.
“You don’t need to call me sir. Call me Dietrich. I’m here to be your friend.”
“Ok.” The boy wasn’t smiling, but wasn’t frowning either. He seemed to just sort of be there. That troubled Dietrich, as kids that age should be expressing some type of emotion.
“Why don’t you all have a seat and we can get started,” Bernard said.
Sharon and Simon sat on each of the large easy chairs in the office. Dietrich sat just across from Simon.
“Now Sharon, I went ahead and filled Dietrich in on what happened a few weeks ago. When did they let Simon out of the group home?”
“Just a few days ago. They said as long as we keep him in treatment he can stay out as they’re not prepared for someone so young.”
“Ms. Masters,” Dietrich said. “I’m very sorry about your little girl. I can’t imagine how that must have been.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“Now, Simon, I know you’ve talked to Dr. Wayne. So I apologize if you have to repeat anything. But I need you to tell me everything that happened that day. Including things you may have thought about, heard or anything else. Can you do that for me?”
“I think so,” the boy said.
“Ok, go ahead.”
“Well, I don’t remember a lot. Mommy went downstairs to do some laundry. I was playing with my Legos. After mommy went downstairs, I heard Isabelle crying.”
“Was she crying loudly?” Dietrich asked.
“No. Just sort of sniffling crying. Mommy was in the basement, and I was gonna go and get her. But then that guy started telling me not to.”
“What guy?” Dietrich said as he looked at Bernard.
“I don’t know exactly. I couldn’t see him, but I heard him. He said Isabelle was evil, and that she would hurt mommy.”
“How could she do that?” Dietrich asked.
“I