Chapter 23


    Fleetwood Mac''s , ''You making loving fun'', yed on low volume in the deck as Linus pulled his brand


    new, dirty orange Chevrolet Chevette into the parking lot of his four floor apartmentplex.


    The keys were taken out of the ignition. The eight track was ced on the passenger''s seat and a load


    of papers and folders were gathered into his aching arms.


    Like a battle weary soldier, the detective slumped out of his car and carried on to the front door, holding


    tightly to the contents that were securely tucked underneath his right arm as to not allow the wind to


    take them away.He hated to fiddle with his keys in such cold conditions, but it was the only way to enter


    the building since the night guard had left for the evening. Linus feverishly cycled through his ring of


    keys until he spotted the gold key that he was searching for.


    Before he could even slide the key into the lock, the door abruptly swung open, revealing behind it an


    elderly white woman and her ck Labrador retriever.


    "Edna?" Linus lost his breath. "Edna, it''s ten past one in the morning, honey. What are you still doing


    up?"


    Coming down from being so rmed, Edna replied, "Oh well, I was just waiting for Stanley toe


    home, that''s all. I figured you were him."


    dly stepping in from out of the cold, Linus looked upon the sweet, frail thing before saying, "Edna,


    Stanley is twenty-four years old. He''s not a little boy anymore."


    "I know," Edna bashfully smiled, "but you never know how folks can be these days." Edna then stood


    back and examined Linus as if she were studying a work of art. "I saw you on TV yesterday morning. I


    heard you found that kidnapper fe. Good for you." She grinned while proudly pinching Linus'' left


    cheek.


    Linus only blushed before reaching down to pet Edna''s dog. "Something got to him before I could. But


    at least he''s gone."


    "That''s right, good riddance to bad rubbish, I always say." Edna said, giving Linus a spunky punch in


    the arm. "Go get ''em!"


    As Linus raised back up, unbeknownst to him, strands of fur fell from out of his pocket and onto the


    linoleum floor. Both he and Edna continued to converse as the dog sniffed the fur.


    Suddenly, like a loud bang, the dog began to bark and snarl at the strange fur that it was sniffing. Linus


    and Edna gawked down at the animal, wondering just what had it so spooked all of the sudden. From


    one end of the hallway to the other, not a single soul could be seen or heard, and yet, the dog, which


    was usually the gentlest beast in theplex, became incredibly angered at a few shards of fur.


    "Oh my, Edna bemoaned, trying to keep the dog from breaking its chain, "I wonder what''s gotten into


    Earl all of the sudden!"


    "I think you''d better get both you and him back to your apartment before he wakes the entire building!"


    Linus had to say out loud, taking three steps back just to avoid the agitated animal.


    "I think so, too." Edna relented. "Goodnight, Linus."


    Linus watched as the woman and her vicious dog carried on to the elevator and out of sight. He then


    looked down at the floor and noticed the fur lying about. Linus reached down to pick it up and study the


    fments carefully.


    He never bothered to stay behind that evening at the station to find out the results from the analysis


    that Brice took, and quite frankly, he was in no mood to investigate any further. He, much like the dog,


    sniffed at the fur before slipping it back into his coat pocket and carrying on down the quiet hallway to


    his apartment.


    Linus unlocked the door, turned on the light switch that was on the wall and stepped inside. Warm,


    quiet and alone at longst. To his right sat a bureau with pictures of his wife and two young daughters.


    Without taking another look at the files and folders that he had brought home with him, Linus dropped


    them all onto the dresser, along with the other fur samples, before taking off his coat.


    The man felt like two hundred and twenty-one pounds of stale meat. Every joint in his body screamed


    out in agony for their master to take a long, hard stretch. But before even doing so, Linus went straight


    for the bathroom where he lifted the toilet seat, unzipped his pants and let out an exhaustingly endless


    stream of urine into themode.


    Once he was through, he flushed, cut on the light and washed his hands. In the midst of washing, he


    looked up into the mirror. The exhausted man that was staring back at him caused Linus to shudder in


    subtle disbelief. Wrinkles that were not present the morning before arose in striking, living color. He


    actually had to remind himself just how old he was just to make sure that he was looking at the right


    person.


    Linus cut off the light and carried on into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door, loosened his tie


    and rooted around for anything to eat. The instant he came across a Swanson''s TV dinner located


    beside a can of Genesee beer he right away grabbed both items.


    He turned on the stove behind him before looking down at the cardboard box that contained beef and


    vegetable inside.


    Just then, every muscle in his body decided to tense up. He wasn''t even hungry. Sluggishly, he turned


    off the stove before carrying both himself and his can of beer into the small living room.


    Late nights were customary for the man; it was all part of the job. In the past five months alone Linus


    couldn''t recall one time getting home from work before ten p.m. Being that he had to report back to theThis is the property of N?-velDrama.Org.


    station in about five and a half hours again only caused his stomach to bubble with dreaded


    anticipation.


    He wasn''t sleepy; rest was thest thing on his mind. Every image of the long day before kept his eyes


    jolted wide open. The sinking feeling that he got every time he dared recollect upon the body bags in


    the basement only made him want to freebase coffee for the rest of the evening. There should have


    been the long awaited calm after then storm moment. The unwinding relief, but the enthusiasm was


    nowhere to be found.


    Linus dropped himself down in his recliner, picked up the remote control that was sitting on the coffee


    table beside him and cut on the set ahead. One station after another was flipped through. From Benny


    Hill''s outrageous and lewd womanizing, to Ralph Kramden''s ever constant threats of violence to his


    long suffering wife. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre just happened to be ying on thete show. The


    scene where the killer cracked a young man over the head with a hammer and watched as his legs


    shook and twisted was enough to make Linus turn off the television inplete disgust. It was all he


    could digest.


    He wanted to toss the remote clear to the other side of the room, but instead of being angry, he chose


    apletely different approach, one that he figured would settle his frayed nerves.


    Linus reached up under his chair and pulled out the March issue of yboy with Susan Kiger on the


    front cover dressed in a red and ck wet suit.


    Her nearly exposed chest and long, wet, blonde hair only made Linus rip open the book with the gusto


    of a child opening a birthday present.The very moment he viewed the first set of breasts inside the


    magazine he quickly unzipped his pants, took out his part and started to slowly massage it up and


    down. The harder he pulled at his own member, the stiffer it grew, until it was a rock hard tip in the air.


    The longer he gazed into the young woman''s brown eyes, the more his left hand that he was holding


    the book in began to tremble. Her precious eyes and face staring back at him in a sultry, sensual stare


    caused his stomach to turn. Her legs spread wide open for the world to see made Linus drop the book,


    turn and vomit all over the carpet beneath him.


    When he was through convulsing, the man rose back up and wiped his mouth with his own shirt sleeve.


    He closed his eyes and gently stuffed his gradually shrinking penis back into his pants.


    The warm silence inside his apartment began to cave in on Linus, making him feel as if he were losing


    his breath. The staggering image of a young woman stuffed in a bag like dirtyundry punched at him


    like a boxer in the twelfth round.


    Linus sat back in his seat, ced his frazzled hands on his two knees and stared up at the ceiling


    above as though there were something there to see.


    Behind him on the dresser sat the pieces of fur, gently moving from side to side as if a stiff breeze were


    blowing in the apartment. A wisp of thin, fine smoke began to billow from the fur. At first, it was a cid,


    smoldering sensation, like incense, that is until the smoke grew thicker and the sound of sparks


    whistled into the air.


    Linus spun around not only to hear the popping racket but to also smell the raw odor of what resembled


    burning flesh. At the drop of a hat, the man jumped up from out of his seat and ran over to put the lone


    me out.


    He knocked the burning fur off the dresser and began to stomp out the me, but no matter what, the


    fire would only grow even more intense.


    Before it could be more of a hazard, Linus scooped up the zing hair, raced directly to the


    kitchen and drowned it under the cold water in the sink.


    "Shit!" He irately yelled, washing his hands under the scolding cold water faucet. Once the smoke had


    cleared, he cut off the valve and watched as the remains of the burnt fur whisked away down into the


    drain. Nothing was left but smoldering ash, which too was slowly dissolving.


    At that point in the night, there wasn''t much more that could possibly take ce. In one day, Detective


    Linus Bruin had witnessed evil on a supreme level, and to think that it had followed him all the way


    home only made the very thought of sleeping all the more contemptible.


    With his hands buried in his pockets, Linus dragged back into the solemn confines of the living room


    and sat back down in his chair. He wanted to ponder on just why the fur had burst into mes in the


    first ce, or just how in the world Mercer had managed to escape his captor without incident, but it


    was all mere afterthought as one-thirty rapidly approached on the clock that sat on the coffee table.


    The lonely,bat burdenedw officer hung his heavy head to the floor and listened to the beating of


    his heart that seemed to drum a bit slower with every passing minute.