A Little Help From a Friend

Detective Jim Rice left the station early for the first time in weeks. He had been working endless hours lately, and his worried wife was concerned that he was showing signs of burning out. For a small town that averages one murder case every three years, Jim had been particularly busy over the past few months. First was the case of a man shot over a dispute in a parking lot, and recently the body of a young woman had been found in a farmers’ field.

Jim arrived home, relieved that his wife Carol had convinced him to take a night off but not eagerly looking forward to dinner with his sister and her new boyfriend. He and Jenny were very close, having that special connection that only twins share; always seeming to know what the other was thinking and still able to finish each other's sentences. It was why her brother loved her so much and why he couldn't understand what she saw in Aaron. Jim had no solid reason for his intense dislike for Aaron, but something about the guy was “off.” His wife Carol laughed it off, saying that Jim needed to” tune out the detective," suggesting that his work made him so suspicious.

When Jenny and Aaron arrived, Carol greeted them at the door while her husband finished getting dressed. Seeing Aaron in his expensive suit and Gucci shoes, carrying a large bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine that probably cost as much as Jim made in a month, only solidified his opinion. This guy was an arrogant prick, and Jim didn’t like him at all. Who dresses like that for a simple dinner with his girlfriend’s brother? There was definitely something about that man he couldn’t take to, but what? For now, all he could was hope his sister would soon come to realize it as well.

Jenny knew her brother didn't like Aaron. Even though nothing specific was said, she could tell. What she didn't know was that Jim had done a police and internet search on him. He found nothing except a few parking tickets and a story about his wife's death in a boating accident 11 years ago. When Jim found himself reading the story multiple times and checking the web for any hint that Aaron actually killed his wife, the detective laughed that maybe Carol was right. He needed to turn off his radar and relax.

Jim decided to make the best of it and joined his wife and their visitors for a glass of wine in the living room. After some brief, meaningless chit-chat, they moved to the dining room to enjoy dinner. They had barely gotten started when a call came in from the station. Jim excused himself momentarily then informed his wife and guests that he had to leave. They found another body.

****

As detective Rice was driving to the crime scene, thinking of the possibility that they had a serial killer in town, he was briefly distracted by the sight of a barn owl gliding silently above the pasture. Jim had a special affinity for them ever since the day when, as children, he and Jenny found an injured one near the drainpipe at the forested edge of their grandfather's farm. They wrapped the owl in Jenny's raincoat and carried it to their father, working in the field nearby. When the local veterinarian, who wasn't qualified or equipped to treat wildlife, contacted the Raptor Rehabilitation Centre, she was told they could not pick up the owl until the next day.

Jim and Jenny begged their father to take the drive to deliver the raptor personally. It was a two-hour trip, but Mr. Rice's twins could be very convincing. They took turns holding the sedated owl, which they nick-named Buddy and insisted that their father call the centre every day to check on how it was doing. They even convinced their Dad to bring them back a few times for a visit. When the bird healed, their father returned with them one last time to the rehab centre to witness the release back into the wild. "Bye-bye, Buddy," the twins exclaimed in unison in that bittersweet moment. They were grateful to have been part of the owl's rescue and recovery but would miss going to see him at the sanctuary. When "Buddy" reached the tree line, he perched on a branch, took a look back and let out a loud screech before flying off into the horizon. The twins were convinced that was his way of thanking them, and their Dad agreed.

James Rice Sr. was a very popular and well respected man, always active in the community and a staunch advocate for animals. His father and brothers loved to hunt, but he never had the stomach for it. Even though Jim and Jenny’s father was not a vegetarian, if given a choice between killing an animal himself and starvation, he would choose starvation. James Sr. also had no desire to work the farm, which caused division in their family. Despite him being the oldest sibling, the farm was not left to James after his parent’s death, given instead to his younger brother.

It seems their father’s love and concern for animal welfare had been passed on to his children, along with his keen sense of right and wrong and desire for justice. Jim was a detective, Jenny, a law clerk who advocated for the underprivileged and wrongly accused.

Detective Rice's welcome distraction was short-lived, as there was nothing majestic about the sight before him at the discovery scene. The body of a young girl, not more than 17 and still in her school uniform, was found. This did not make sense as a serial killing, Jim thought. The first victim was a sex worker; this one was just a child. Could it be that the murders were not related? His initial fear was confirmed however when Jim lifted her shirt and saw "whore" carved into her chest. They were dealing with a psychotic serial killer. It was time to call in the feds.

After spending the evening relaying all his evidence to the F.B.I., Jim finally left the station for home. It was well past midnight, so Jenny and her boyfriend would be long gone. For that, he was grateful. After the evening he had, Jim was in no mood for anyone. He gave his wife a brief recount of what happened and headed off to get some sleep, knowing it was pointless. Sleep wouldn’t come for him until this monster was caught. He was not officially in charge of the investigation anymore but would work with the FBI in any capacity required to bring the killer to justice.

*************

As he did every night, Detective Rice spent his evening driving around the outskirts of town near the farmlands and forest. His wife was again showing concern that he was doing too much but couldn't convince him to stop. This was his town, nobody knew it better, and as long as the danger existed, there would be no rest. Jim didn’t believe the murders would suddenly end, that the killer would just give up. It had been three weeks since the last body was found, and they had no suspects.

As he drove through a wooded area on a rarely used unassumed road, his eyes focused on a flickering light in the distance. Jim parked his car and hid in the trees, following a path he knew well. When the flickering light, a flashlight, shone again about 100 yards ahead, he crept through the trees to the clearing, and there it was; a hooded man with a pick and shovel digging a hole, presumably for a grave. When Jim yelled, "Put your hands up," the man turned and swung the tool at the detective. He fired a shot in self-defence, hitting his attacker in the shoulder, dropping him to his knees. Detective Rice kicked the shovel away and pinned the suspect face down to the ground. When the perpetrator was securely cuffed, he pulled him to his feet and began to read his rights. Jim didn’t even need to turn the monster around. It was obvious who it was right away – Aaron, his sister’s boyfriend.

"You're under arrest, you son of a bitch" Jim barked at his suspect. In the back of Aaron's truck was a large nylon sack, large enough to hold a body. The detective cut open the bag, and to his horror, found another victim. Aaron's smug smile and laughter were incredulous to Detective Rice. This guy was caught red-handed, so what could possibly be funny? When Jim took out his phone to call his FBI contact, Aaron mumbled something. "What did you say?" the detective yelled. The words were so chilling; they sent a shiver through Jim’s spine and caused his heart to race. “I said if you ever want to see your sister again, you’ll forget what you saw here tonight.”

When they arrived at the hospital, along with his injured shoulder, the suspect suffered a black eye and a busted lip. Jim had heard what the callous prick said, but there was no way Detective Rice was letting this monster walk. Even though the disturbing words from the mouth of the sociopathic lunatic caused him some hesitation, Jim’s morality would not allow it. He handed Aaron over to the FBI, knowing his first concern now, his only concern, would be to find Jenny. After calling her cell several times and getting no response, Jim asked Carol to go to Jenny’s home to check if she was there. She wasn’t, but her phone was. They also contacted Jenny's work colleagues and friends, but no one had heard from her since the previous day. Strangely, she called in sick that morning by text, which was something she’d never done before.

*******

Jim spent every waking minute of every day looking for his sister, managing to sleep for only a couple of hours at a time. The lunches Carol prepared and insisted he take with him sat mostly untouched. There was no room in Jim's stomach for food; it was already knotted with an overwhelming fear of the worst case scenario, of never finding Jenny. The feds informed him that the suspect was no help so far. The smug son of a bitch was still convinced that somehow he would get away with it. What nobody knew was that Aaron had gotten away with murder before and was convinced he could again. His enormous ego refused to accept that it wouldn’t happen this time, so his insistence on negotiation continued - Jenny's life for his freedom.

Jim was not allowed contact with the suspect due to the family relationship of the abductee and the assault charge that Aaron had sworn against him. The one time he did sneak in, Aaron was as pompous as ever, insisting Jim would never find her, assaulting him with insults and useless information, confident the so-called detective would never figure it out. He laughed with every comment. "You'll never find her. You're worthless, like your father”. “You couldn't decipher a clue if it smacked you in the face, "Better hope it doesn't rain," "she doesn't have much time left."

******

It had been four days since Jenny’s disappearance, and the town was giving up hope. Not Jim, though. He would never stop looking, continuing to scour every inch of the town and the surrounding vicinity for any clue of his sister’s location.

Driving along the outskirts near his grandparents’ old abandoned property, Jim heard the familiar screech of a barn owl and felt tears flowing from his eyes again. Not usually a man to show much emotion, Jim cried more in those four days than any other time in his life. Nothing he'd previously been through had this much effect on him, not even the death of his parents. Losing his twin would be like losing a piece of himself, an excruciating dagger that would surely tear his heart out.

His grandparent’s lot had sat empty for years, having been forfeited by the previous owners in their bankruptcy. Jim’s uncle took over and worked the farm for a while after his grandfather’s death but eventually sold it when it became financially unfeasible. The untouched, overgrown fields had become a haven for rodents and various other critters, and thus, a favourite feeding ground for the local raptors.

As he watched the owl scoop up its prey and fly toward the trees at the edge of the property, Jim thought again of Aaron’s smug musings. What did they mean? How is it obvious, and what does it have to do with their father? He’d already figured that she must be outside somewhere from Aaron’s comment about hoping it doesn’t rain.

Jim made a hard turn on the steering wheel and stomped on the gas, racing near full speed across the field. The goddamn drainpipe! It suddenly became obvious. Jenny must have told Aaron the story of the rescued owl and their father's reaction to the injured animal. Jim was sure he had figured it out.

Arriving at the location, Jim found the pipe was blocked by large rocks and furiously began to clear them using only his hands and the tire iron from his truck. Shining a flashlight in the pipe, he saw a large nylon bag with something inside. Jim's heart was racing, and his hands were shaking while working on cutting the ropes that secured the bag to the pipe and pulled it out. Slicing the sack open, he found Jenny, barely conscious but alive.

Detective Rice called the station to notify them of their location. While he waited for the ambulance, he held his shivering sister, offering her small sips of water from the bottle he retrieved from his truck and looked up to the sky to say a prayer of thanks.

When he lowered his gaze, Jim was stunned by the sight of a barn owl sitting on the pipe just a few feet away. Looking upon its heart-shaped face and into its jet black eyes, he couldn't fight the feeling that somehow, this magnificent creature had led him here. Although it couldn’t possibly be the same one, all these years later, Jim believed, deep in his soul, that this raptor was returning the favour of the owl he and Jenny rescued decades ago. Jim nudged his sister to turn and take a look. "Thanks, Buddy," she whispered. "Yeah, thanks, Buddy," Jim repeated. They were all his buddies now.