Haunted in the Night

Chapter Four.

“Who’s file would u like to look at first?” Chief Bob asked as they walked over to the police station.

“The first victim" Claire answered and Bob nodded as he held the door open for her and she smiled politely before walking in.

“That would be Mary Scather" Bob replied as they walked into the reception/main office area, there were only a few small desks with very old computers and a busted coffee machine shoved in the back corner.

“Hi you must be Claire it’s nice to meet you, well it’s not nice after everything that has happened to you and you having to come back to a place where you must have terrible memories but it’s nice to actually meet you in person, I’m really sorry, I’m going to be quiet now" a young man blurted out nervously as he awkwardly went to reach out his hand for Claire to shake before pulling it back considering if it was still a good idea after what he had just said.

“This is Peter Lewis my second commanding officer, you’ll have to forgive him, he stutters and talks without thinking a bit when he gets nervous” Bob explained and Claire nodded before looking back at Peter.

He looked to be in his late twenties, he couldn’t be older than 30, he was tall and thin but you could see where he had been working out to slowly build up his body, he had black hair with side swept bangs, blue eyes and strong cheek bones.

“I’ll show you the files in the interrogation room, it’s more quiet in there for you to think clearly" Bob said as he began walking towards the left of the building down a hallway.

“It was nice to meet you" Claire said kindly to officer Peter before she followed Bob, Peter smiling shyly at her.

“Sorry about him, he means well, he just gets terribly nervous and talks without thinking, I’m slowly helping him with it" Bob explained to her.

“Why did he want to become a police officer if he gets nervous around people?” Claire asked curiously as they reached the end of the small hallway where the interrogation room is.

“His father was an abusive drunk, used to beat him and his mother, one night Peter stood up to him, this huge man against this small 8 year old boy, he was beaten to near death by the time we got the call from the concerned neighbour’s and had arrived, now his father’s in prison for life and he wanted to help make sure that no one else goes through that, he can be a great officer once he builds up his courage" Bob explained as they entered the dark room, Bob turning on the light.

“And his mother? What happened to her?” Claire couldn’t help but ask, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“She works as a nurse at the small clinic we have here, it was hard for her, but Peter helped her get by" Bob said as he left for a moment before coming back with a box labelled ‘Missing and he placed it on the table in front of her.

“Here is Mary Scather's file" he said as he opened the box and took it out for her and she smiled lightly at him.

“Thanks" was all she could say as she looked in the box to see the files with her parents names on them.

“I’ll leave you to it, the copies of the letters that everyone received are also in there" he told her before he left, closing the door behind him and Claire let out a sigh of breath she hadn’t even known she had been holding as she plopped down on the chair and looked at the case files.

Mary Scather was first.

Case File 1.

Victim- Mary Scather.

Scene of the Crime- Victims Bedroom.

What appears to have happened? Kidnapping.

Age- 37.

Gender- Female.

Occupation- Seamstress.

Physical Description- Brown Hair, Shoulder Length, Blue Eyes.

Family- None, Mother- Deceased, Father- Unknown.

Background- Born and raised in Meadows Ville, has received letters written in blood from a stalker, no witnesses or suspects.

Letters have been tested, come back positive as animal blood, deer, no fingerprints.

Has received 3 letters, the night of the 3rd letter she disappeared, no traces, no evidence, no suspects.

Case left unsolved.

Claire sighed as she finished reading Mary’s file, Bob had been telling the truth when he said they had no evidence, it frustrated her and she could only imagine how Bob had felt back when he started working the case having nothing to go to on but dead end leads.

The next file was her father’s and she gulped nervously before she took a deep breath and opened it.

Case File 2.

Victim- Thomas Handerson.

Scene of the Crime- Victims Bedroom.

What appears to have happened? Kidnapping.

Age- 36

Gender- Male.

Occupation- Owns and runs a hardware store.

Physical Description- Tall, Athletic, Short Brown Hair, Brown Eyes, Big Thick Eyebrows.

Family- Henry Handerson (Father), Gail Handerson (Mother), Alice Handerson (Wife), Claire Handerson (Daughter).

Background- Born and raised in Meadows Ville, has received a stalking threatening letter written in blood, no witnesses or suspects .

Letter has been tested, come back positive for animal blood, deer, no fingerprints.

Has only received 1 letter, that night he and his wife disappeared, no traces, no evidence, no suspects.

Daughter Claire however was in the house when her parents went missing, although she didn’t see or hear anything, do not know why she was not kidnapped along with her parents.

Claire wasn’t breathing, she had been holding her breath the entire time that she had been reading and her lungs relaxed as they refilled with air as she leaned back in her chair trying to get her shoulders to loosen from being so tense.

Even just reading about it was hard, and she now dreaded even more reading her mother’s, she had been so close with her parents and all this was doing was rubbing salts in the wounds of what had happened that dreadful night but she knew she had to read on.

Case File 3.

Victim- Alice Handerson (Thornton).

Scene of the Crime- Victims Bedroom.

What appears to have happened- Kidnapping.

Age- 34

Gender- Female.

Occupation- Owns and runs a hardware store.

Physical Description- Long Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes, Pale Complexion, Small Button Nose.

Family- John Thornton (Father), Mary Thornton (Mother).

Background- Born and raised in London England, met Thomas Handerson via internet, international subject for high school, when Alice was 19 she travelled to Meadows Ville to meet Thomas Handerson and they married soon there after.

Received a stalking threatening letter written in blood, no witnesses or suspects.

Letter has been tested, came back positive for animal blood, no fingerprints.

Has only received 1 letter, that night she and her husband disappeared, no traces, no evidence, no suspects.

Daughter Claire however was in the house when her parents went missing, although she didn’t see or hear anything, do not know why she was not kidnapped along with her parents.

It read pretty much the same as her father’s, except it mentioned her family name and her parents, Claire’s other grandparents, the ones from England that she had never met or had any contact with, they hadn’t even attended the funeral that Grandfather Henry and Grandmother Gail had organised for, all Claire knew was what her grandparents had told her, which was that when her mother had come out here to marry Thomas they had disowned her and hadn’t contacted her since, not even a card at Christmas time, Claire had never bothered to contact them.

“Hey how you doing in here?” Bob asked after he had gently knocked on the door before poking his head in.

“I’ve only read 3 files" she explained to him frustrated that she had nothing for him yet, no clue, she was particularly frustrated in the fact that she was studying to become a criminal profiler but yet she couldn’t profile a single thing on this killer yet.

“Well it’s nearly lunch time, you ready to shout that coffee and sandwich?” he asked and she smiled slightly and nodded, at least she could profile one person, Bob was warm, caring, he took on every responsibility with a brave face, even if he was terrified, he is stubborn but considerate, a man who felt like the world was on his shoulders but still had the bravery to get out of bed everyday and Claire was glad that he was here for her.

“Sure thing, can I borrow the rest of the case files and bring them back tomorrow?” she asked nervously, knowing it normally wasn’t allowed.

“Sure those are copies, just make sure we get them back, I know how much this means to you" he replied before walking off and she quickly scooped up the remaining case files she still had to read and rushed after him.

“I understand now just how hard this case is for you, from what I’ve read so far, you really don’t have much of anything" Claire sighed sadly as she sat next to him in his car as they drove towards the cafe where they had breakfast this morning.

“Well just wait until you read the rest of the case files, then you’ll find even more nothing, just like I did when I was at the crime scenes" he sighed, obviously feeling just as frustrated as she was and she realised he knew this was going to happen, that she’d find nothing, that’s why he came along after only a short while to ask her out to lunch, to get her out of that room, out of the case files that held nothing useful, because he knew she would need to get away from it, to clear her head.

Once there they instantly sat down in the same booth as before and Coral came skipping over in glee, obviously hoping for more tips.

“Hey Claire, Chief Bob, what can I get for you?” she asked, her positive energy practically pouring out of her and Claire felt overwhelmed so she quickly stuck her head in the menu to choose.

“I’ll take a coffee with a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich please Coral" Bob replied and she nodded as she scribbled it roughly down on he little pad before looking curiously at Claire.

“I’ll have a coffee as well, and also a bacon and cheese sandwich please" Claire said as she handed Coral the menu who smiled at them before skipping off and Claire sighed, happy that she didn’t stay to chat, that girls bubbly and happy energy was just too much for Claire to handle right now.

“Don’t let your guard down, she normally waits until she brings the sandwiches to talk" Bob interrupted her thoughts and she looked at him surprised.

“Maybe you should have been a profiler" Claire joked and he smiled before looking at her seriously.

“You look exhausted, even more than you did this morning, did you want to go lie down back at the cabin?” he asked her concerned.

“No I won’t be able to sleep, I’ll be alright once I get some coffee" she replied, she hadn’t lied, she just hadn’t told him the whole reasoning as to why she couldn’t sleep, the fear, the fear of what she knows might be out there watching her, waiting for her, the fear of not knowing either what it was, or when it would strike, and if it did what would happen to her.

All these questions running through her mind, tormenting her, haunting her, just as it goes haunting in the night.

This story will continue in Chapter Four- Part Two.