In the box

If walls could talk. I would have explained to her how to open that lock. Anna could never open the door of her storage bin. I could tell she hated coming out here. She had brought two plastic leaf bags to fill with trash. There was no place to move in the bin so she started at the door, and slowly moved deeper into the room. The first bag she filled with old clothes. she decided to unload some of the boxes into the 2nd bag. The first box was quickly emptied. She kept a few purses, but most were thrown into the trash bag. She then pulled forward a second box. She prayed that the contents would not be books. On top was some unfamiliar fabric which she quickly removed. She started to reach into the box and then she froze. It looked like there was a skull in the box. Anna did not want to look, but she knew she did not own a fake skull. Nobody else had a key. What if it was real, how could she support the truth, that she had not placed it there? Frozen like ice, she called 911.

The person on the other end of the phone told her to touch nothing. Anna felt her breathing grow heavy and fast. Would everything in the crowded bin become evidence? Would she need an alibi?

She wanted to hug the two policemen who arrived, but she realized they might be her biggest enemy. The skull was a human skull of an adult man. Anna felt numb. They loaded the contents of the bin into a police patty wagon. Everything was going to be scientifically examined. They checked Anna's id and phone number but didn't really ask her too many questions.

The police froze her bin rental. After that, they told her she could leave. All her stuff and the skull were taken to the police headquarters.

Andrew the lead officer stayed to analyze the now-empty bin. He examined the walls, ceiling, door, and floor. All of a sudden he heard a voice. "The man didn't enter through me" Andrew looked around the people-less space "It was night when he entered. I saw his shadow and heard a thumb when he dropped the box. He had bigger feet than that young girl. And she was honestly shocked when she saw the skull." Andrew looked madly about the bin. The voice seemed to be coming from the wall. I noticed his shock and understood his predicament. He could not realistically put this in his police report. He turned to the wall and asked "Do you know what date this happened." I responded, " It was after the holiday, that people unloaded their fake decorated trees. It was about two years after she moved her stuff in here. Andrew knew the storage bin had cameras, and there was no way in other than the front and back gates. He prayed they had good records. She opened the bin in 2016. He trusted me, his source and so looked into all the night films of the bin property. He was shocked when on December 30 at 8 pm, a big man in a small Mazda drove into the storage unit. Andrew felt his heart skip, he called the staff and asked what code had been put in. It took a few days, he got the information he asked for. On that day the owner had been Ted Horseman. He had opened the unit a day before Christmas. It was a little weird. He canceled his rental on December 31.

Anna was informed of nothing. She read in the local newspaper that a human skull had been found in a storage bin. It belonged to Sara Horseman. Anna was relieved when she heard that. She had never met a Sara Horseman.

Mrs. Horseman had disappeared on Christmas 5 years ago. Anna couldn't help wondering if the rest of the body was in her bin as well. Her stomach churned at the thought. She had Andrew's phone number but she felt ill every time she contemplated making the phone call.

Anna told none of her friends about the skull. She tried to return to her normal life. No news is good news, she figured. No one from the police called her. She seemed to not be needed for this case.

Andrew thought about updating Anna, but how could he explain that his secret informant was a voice in the wall? A fact that led him to build a very strong case based on facts and science.

Anna had become glued to the local evening news. Finally, about 4 months later, she could finally breathe again. Mrs. Horseman's killer had been found.

Andrew, when Mr. Horseman confessed, did everything not to break into tears. A confession, this would be a quick easy case.

Mr. Horseman was not claiming that he was guilty. He was claiming that he was hearing voices. He said that the walls were talking to him. In fact, he said that I had opened the door to Anna's bin. And that a male voice had told him where to leave the box. The wall had known that he was coming. He had been manipulated by outside forces.

Andrew did not want to lie in court. If he said he had heard the wall talk as well, he would lose his career. He was sweating when he climbed the witness box. Most of the questions were routine, and nobody asked him if he thought the walls could talk. He explained why they had not suspected Anna even though the skull had been in her bin. He felt his arm shake a little. He had never asked Anna if she knew the victim. He hadn't even investigated her. He was using hindsight to strengthen his case.

Anna was shocked when she read in the news that Andrew had collapsed in court in the case of Mr. Horseman. He had fainted while testifying. There was no mention of whether or not Mr. Horseman was going to jail. They thought that maybe Andrew had had a seizure. Weeks later she heard on the news that Mr. Horseman had been convicted to a mental institution. They did not reveal the facts of the case. There also was no news about Andrew.

Anna called Andrew, the next day but got a voicemail. When she called the police main operator at the station, she was told that Sergent Smith was on medical leave for an undetailed period of time.