Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 5

Title: Gate of Shadows
Chapter: Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 5
Author: Jon Harrison & Alanna Cormier
Copyright: 2012

If you missed part 4, read it here!
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Logan sat staring at the collection of reports, photos, and other evidence he brought home from the precinct strewn across his coffee table. He had gone over everything, every detail. He questioned anything that stood out or didn’t seem to fit but they always ended up leading nowhere. He scrutinized every crime scene photo, the autopsy report, forensics reports and the statements that had been collected. Then there was the box. At first glance it looked like it was just a plain black stained box, but there were no marks where the wood was cut, no staples, nails or sign of glue where the pieces would be joined together. The top was a lid that could not be removed, but it smoothly slid in whichever direction it was pushed.  However, there was no visible mechanism that would keep it from falling off the edge.  It just hung there and upon closer inspection it appeared as if the lid was hovering millimeters from the surface. That’s impossible, thought Logan. The inside had only a small recess in the middle of the block of wood where Logan safely assumed the totem had been.  He had never seen anything like it. 

Logan sat back and rubbed his eyes. He ran through the statements again in his head. Only three people had really talked to Jim Seaver. Early in the morning Jim had talked over the phone with an employee at his office and then in the evening with his wife. At around 1 a.m. Jim had talked with the nightshift bartender of Lipensky’s, who was the last person to see or talk to Jim alive.

It was the bartender that had mentioned the totem, and here Logan had what he believed was the box it came in, but where was the totem? The forensics team didn’t find any totem at the scene, and he doubted the group of drunken college girls that found the body would have taken it. They were so drunk that while being questioned one of them had vomited on the deputy, and the other two just cried and sobbed, occasionally asking, “Why did he look like that? What was wrong with his face?”

With a sigh of frustration, Logan picked up the empty beer bottle and walked over to the fridge to grab another. He had already resigned himself to not finding the missing totem, and was beginning to think that even if he had it would offer no help or clues. If the totem was as strange as the box that held it, he would have yet another item that would only bring about more unanswered questions.

Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 4

Title: Gate of Shadows
Chapter: Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 4
Author: Jon Harrison & Alanna Cormier
Copyright: 2012

If you missed part 3, read it here!
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Maybe, it was the horrible fluorescent lighting, sterile environment, the eerily quiet hallways, or was there more than that? It’s one thing to see a dead body at a crime scene. Crime scenes are full of raw emotion that tell a story, but knowing there’s a collection of cadavers waiting to be cut open for unfeeling research and autopsies made Logan uncomfortable and antsy. He tried to avoid coming here, but the lack of details in this case plagued him, so he found himself anxiously pacing outside the autopsy room waiting for the coroner’s report. It can’t be a heart attack, he said to himself, they never look like that...maybe a slow poison or some obscure hard to detect toxin. Then he felt a wet slap against his neck. “What the..?” He turned to his partner. “Did you just throw a fuckin’ pickle at me? Seriously?”

“Yeah. Your pacing is obnoxious. Knock it off.”

“How can you be eating right now? It’s a little morbid don’t you think?”

“What? It’s my favorite burger. It’s not like they’re gonna mind.” Jackson gestured to the dead bodies behind the window.

“Whatever. Could you at least chew more quietly? You can start by closing your mouth, didn’t your mother teach you any damn manners?”

“Sure, could you give me my pickle back? It’s still sitting on your collar.”

Logan was handing the pickle back to his partner, when he noticed the coroner standing in front of them. “Logan?” she said surprised, “I would have faxed you the report like usual. I know you don’t like it here.”

Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 3

Title: Gate of Shadows
Chapter: Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 3            
Author: Jon Harrison & Alanna Cormier
Copyright: 2012

If you missed part 2, read it here!
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Murder is a crime that is typically identifiable, whether committed via knife or gun, poison, strangling or blunt force trauma, etc. but the body laying before Detective Logan O’Donnell bore no such obvious causes, the only indication that something was different was the look of utter terror frozen on the victim’s face.  Logan stood over the body transfixed by that look.  In his ten years of being a homicide detective, he had never seen anything like it.  Sure, he’d seen his fair share of bloody crimes scenes.  Once he and his partner had investigated a string of disappearances.  After months of chasing leads they still had nothing and they had all but given up when his partner had noticed a discrepancy in the case file.  After a bit of backtracking, they found themselves in a warehouse exchanging bullets with their prime suspect.  They eventually killed him, but it was what they found afterwards that was so disturbing.  The bodies of the people that had disappeared were all there, only they had all been dismembered and placed in jars and coolers around the warehouse.  It took them three weeks to piece them together and identify all of the victims.  So, as far as crime scenes went this was mild, but the grotesquely frozen look of terror on the body’s face gave him an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Logan’s intuition told him that there was something different about this, like something was off balance.

Logan looked up and was comforted by the organized chaos around him.  He could hear the throngs of onlookers and reporters at the police line trying desperately to get the first picture of the body.  It always intrigued him, how that simple yellow line separated the normal from the macabre.  Most people act like they want to cross.  They bitch and moan about their right to see what’s passed the line, but they don’t really want to see.  For those of us on the other side, the macabre is our normal and we can never forget the horrors we encounter.  Logan stared at the hungry reporters crowding against the yellow line, “Vultures,” he said aloud.
“Yeah, the one thing I hate more than murderers are reporters.  Just ignore them, so what do we have?  Do you think it’s murder?” asked Detective Jackson Cowell, Logan’s partner for the past five years.  They had gone through the academy together and have had each other’s back in many life threatening situations.  Some of which seemed highly improbable that they’d survive, but somehow they always did.  “There’s no real indication of murder,” Logan responded, “no discernable wounds or marks.  I suppose it could be some sort of poison or asphyxiation, but that face tell me this wasn’t natural.”

“What do you mean? Like what?,” responded Jackson.

“I don’t know.  I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

“Trust your gut,” Jackson said encouragingly, “ If it doesn’t feel right, then it probably isn’t.  You’ll figure it out.”

“Maybe. We’ll see what the coroner has to say.”

Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 2

Title: Gate of Shadows
Chapter: Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 2            
Author: Jon Harrison & Alanna Cormier
Copyright: 2012

If you missed part 1, read it here!
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It was one o'clock in the morning and Jim found himself wandering the now quiet streets.  The totem was in his coat pocket.  Although it was only a few ounces it weighed him down.  He could feel it hitting his thigh with every step; constantly reminding him of its presence and what was about to happen.  Jim thought of his last conversation with his wife.

"Hi hun," Sara had picked up after the first ring.

"Hey babe.  I'm glad you called.  I wanted to tell you that I'm ordering Mongolian Beef and pot stickers tonight...your favorite!" knowing he wouldn’t be coming home, Jim was unsure how to respond.  "Jim? Are you there?"

"Yeah, sorry.  That sounds great, but I have to work late tonight."

"Really?  I thought you were going to be home early."

Jim hated lying to his wife.  It was the worst part of the oath he had taken, but the less he said the better chance her life would be spared so he took a deep breath and said, "I just got this new project assigned to me and a preliminary scope of work needs to be presented to my boss first thing in the morning."

"Oh that stinks!  I'll tell you what, I'll place the order anyway and put it in the fridge.  You can have it when you get home."

"Thank you," he replied, "I'd appreciate that."

"No problem.  See you soon.  Love you."

"I Love you too."

Jim wished he could see her again and say more, but there was no chance of that.  Music and loud noise distracted him from his thoughts and he found himself in front of a bar.  "Oh...why the hell not."  Jim hadn't had a drink in months.  It was part of a new diet he was trying.  He thought it would be an easy way to cut out some extra calories.

Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 1

Title: Gate of Shadows
Chapter: Say Goodbye to Normal - Part 1            
Author: Jon Harrison & Alanna Cormier
Copyright: 2012

When Jim woke up this morning, it was the start of a normal day.  He got dressed in his favorite grey pinstripe suit, flat black tie, highly polished shoes, black trench coat, and kissed his wife goodbye.  Everything had gone so well. There was hardly any traffic so he actually had time to stop for a cup of coffee before getting to work and still had time to spare before heading into his morning meeting.  In fact, Jim couldn't remember the last time a morning went so smoothly and believed he'd be home early.  After lunch, he found a small square package on his desk.  It was wrapped in brown paper and tied up with black twine, but what was really unusual about it was the lack of any markings whatsoever.  Jim picked up the phone and dialed shipping.

"Hey Bob, it's Jim.  Did you leave a package for me on my desk?"

"No man. Nothing's come in today," replied Bob.

"Seriously?" Jim said incredulously.

"Yeah.  Somethin' wrong?"

"Ummm...I don't think so,"Jim hung up the phone and looked at the box in front of him.  "Where did you come from?"  He carefully shook it hoping that the sound would give him a clue as to the contents, but alas he resigned himself to opening it.   Jim carefully untied the black twine and unfolded the neatly wrapped brown paper and revealed a plain black stained wooden box.  With one hand, he gently slid back the top.   Before him lay an unfinished cherry wood totem no more than three inches long by one inch wide sitting in a perfectly shaped recess in the center of an otherwise seamless surface.  The side facing him had three Japanese symbols burned into it and when Jim picked it up and turned it over he saw three parallel slashes neatly carved into the wood at an angle.  He threw the totem down as if he had picked up a red hot poker and fell back into his chair speechless.  Staring at the totem, Jim knew he wouldn't be going home early, or at all. 
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Click here to read part 2