Act V (13 page)

Paddix began his prepared speech. “The
coroner’s office, along with police services, has determined that
Claude Danning was killed by stabbing with some sort or sword-like
instrument. There was also evidence of a large amount of a deadly
drug in his system. We are treating this as a murder of course. We
have yet to determine any motive and are following up on all leads.
Questions?”

A tall reporter Brice recognized from
the local cable news spoke up. “Can you tell us what kind of drug
was used?”

“
Sorry, not at this time.”
Paddix answered.

One of the guys from
The Piedmont News
asked,
“What about the sword? Can you tell us anything about
it?”

Brice thought the guy looked like he
was dying to hear blood and gore stories. If so, he’d be
disappointed.

Addison answered very quickly. “The
only thing we know is that it was at least eighteen inches long and
the blade was diamond shaped.”

Sandra Fitchwell jumped in before they
could close out the questions. “Detective Gearhart, I have a
two-part question for you. Is it true that the department has been
using an informant on this case that happens to be a psychic? And
is this psychic a local dir…”

“
Ms. Fitchwell!” Brice
interrupted before she could go any further. “The department is not
in the practice of using psychics to solve cases and we certainly
wouldn’t give out
any
personal information regarding
any
one involved in
any
of our cases. If you have further
questions, please submit them by email to the department. Thank
you.”

*****

“
Rodrick, please tell me you
got Gearhart’s reaction on tape.” Sandra was so excited she was
wiggling in place.

“
Every bit of
it.”

“
Roddy, I owe you a steak
dinner! Let’s get this thing cut and on by noon.”

*****

Brice dialed Glynn’s home number. The
machine picked up. “It’s me, leave a message.”

“
Glynnis, listen, oh man,
just don’t let anybody in the house, okay. I’m going to try to
reach you on your cell.”

He called her cell number. Two rings,
three, four… “The subscriber you called is unavailable at the
moment…”

He left the same message and hung up.
Then he turned to Addison. “Addy…”

“
Yeah, I know…” Addison cut
him off. “I’ll go with you.”

*****

Glynnis watched as Lisa Alexander
examined her hands “Out! Out damned spot!” She was the perfect Lady
Macbeth. Calm and seductive one moment, fierce and commanding the
next. She did a convincing job of going insane too.

They were almost ready to take the
rehearsals outside to the park. It was going well. She had that
edgy feeling she always got just before the whole thing came
together. It would be an unforgettable Macbeth, but she wasn’t
ready to say that out loud just yet. “Ten minutes guys, we still
have a lot of work to do before lunch.” The cast and crew broke up
into threes and fours, some going out for a smoke, others hitting
the bathrooms.

Aaron ambled up to her. “Everything’s
set to go, Glynn. Darnell’s working on lighting, what there is of
it in the outdoor theatre, and Ray’s got sound cues. I’ll pull it
all together in a few days. When do you want to do the Tech
rehearsal?”

“
You are the best, Aaron. I
have it tentatively scheduled for next Friday and we seem to be
right on schedule so let’s stay with it.”

He gave her a peck on the cheek. “Got
to go, sweet thing. My brother’s gotten himself into a mess of
trouble and I gotta calm my folks down before they kill him. Shoot,
I might just kill him myself.”

She knew this wasn’t the first time
Aaron had gone to bat for his younger brother. She didn’t want to
pry so she just shrugged, “See you tomorrow then.”

As Aaron was walking out, Brice and his
partner walked in. “Brice?” They didn’t look happy. “Is everything
okay?”

Paddix answered. “It’s fine. But we
should talk. Can you get away right now?”

*****

“
Okay, fine. I postponed
rehearsal until one o’clock for this. What is it?” Both men looked
to Glynnis like little boys trying to confess to breaking a window
with a baseball. “Will you just tell me already!”

They were seated at a booth in the
Traveler’s Diner on Main. It was too early for lunch so they had
coffee instead. Brice reached across the table to gently touch her
hand. “Glynn, somehow there’s been a leak in the department and
that reporter, Sandra…” She didn’t hear anything else. White light
flashed in her face followed by darkness and an unbelievably strong
sense of danger. Then it was over, just that fast. “Glynn, did you
hear me?”

She didn’t have to; she already knew
what he was going to say. And soon, the killer would know about
her. Glynnis slumped in her chair and the diner disappeared around
her.

*****

“
Glynnis!” Brice’s voice
reached her from a long way off.

Something cold and wet was soaking her
hair and forehead. She swatted it away. “Leave me alone,” she
muttered. “I’m okay. At least I will be when you stop throwing
water on me.”

Detective Paddix pulled back the hand
that held the wet napkin. “Flies in the sugar bowl! I guess there’s
a reason you went into drama for a living.”

Brice, who was still clutching her hand
and fanning her with a menu, gave his partner a glare. “Cut it
out!” she almost shouted. He backed off but his face held a mix
between hurt puppy and concerned nurse. She softened her tone.
“Really, Brice. It’s okay. Sit down.”

He sat, but in a chair he pulled up
next to her, not beside Addison Paddix in the booth bench opposite.
“What happened?”

Glynnis was almost afraid to
touch him, but she took his hand anyway. “This is hard to explain.
Usually when I have what you’d call a
vision
, it’s in the form of a dream,
like I explained the other day. But every once in a while,
something will trigger one while I’m awake. I have no idea how it
happens but there seems to be a connection to physical contact.
When you touched me just now, I had this flash of a vision.” He
tried to interrupt her to ask what she’d seen, but she stopped him.
“Let me tell this my way or I’ll never get it out. When I’m asleep,
and I have the dreams, sometimes I wake up in a state of
claustrophobia. I have to go out and get fresh air before I can
rest again. Sometimes I don’t wake up at all until the alarm goes
off in the morning, but for some reason, maybe because I’m already
asleep, it doesn’t cause any real energy drain.”

“
But this one
did.”

“
Yes, it’s different when
I’m awake. One thing is that I have that sudden exaustion and I
sometimes black out, but not always. Other times, I just need to
rest. The other thing is that with the dreams, it happens three
times. When I’m awake, it doesn’t.”

Paddix looked dubious but concerned.
“You okay now?”

“
Yes, thanks.” She was
strangely touched by his distress. Until now, she’d had the
distinct feeling he didn’t care much for her. She had to go on and
tell them what she’d seen, but she couldn’t tell them the whole
thing, only the part they needed to hear. The rest she would have
to keep to herself. She looked each of the men in the eye for a
moment, then, “I know that somebody let out the fact that I came to
you about my dream. I know that reporter that saw us together last
night is going to broadcast it. I also know that it won’t be long
before my name gets out and the killer sees me as a threat. We may
be in danger, all three of us. That’s what I saw just now; the
three of us in some kind of struggle.”
That
and one other thing I just can’t…won’t say.

Chapter 9

Sandra Fitchwell’s face filled the
screen. She had a windblown look that was perfect for her stance
outside the police station, especially since there wasn’t a bit of
wind blowing. “At a press conference today, Police Detective
Addison Paddix had this to say about the Claude Danning Murder
investigation.” They cut to a clip of Addison giving his prepared
speech, then back to Sandra. “Rumors have been circulating about an
unusual informant in this case and we at News 4 wanted to clear
that issue up for you, our viewers. When asked about the rumors of
a psychic informant, this is what Detective Brice Gearhart said in
reply.”

This time the clip showed Brice, angry
and red-faced. “The department is not in the practice of using
psychics to solve cases.”

The screen showed Sandra’s amused face
once again. “Thankfully,” she said with a smile, “Detective
Gearhart was able to clarify the department’s stance on this issue.
Back to you, Jonathan.”

“
Thank you, Sandra.”
Jonathan happily continued showing his bleached smile to great
advantage. “There was a break-in at the city Historical Museum last
night. Authorities don’t know how the thieves managed to get in
without tripping the alarm system. They are now compiling a list of
stolen items and…”

Brice muted the set and threw the
remote onto the couch where he sat beside Glynnis with Carl
snuggled up between the two of them. “I don’t know why I thought it
would be any easier the second time around. It’s the same clip they
showed at noon.”

“
I don’t understand,”
Glynnis turned to him. “She’s obviously taking the position that
you’re not consulting a psychic. Why is it such a big
deal?”

“
Because her intent was to
raise the issue in order to get ratings. Now she has a sound bite
and I look like an ass.”

“
And everybody in the
viewing area is going to tune in now until this thing is over with
to see what else Sandra Fitchwell can uncover,” she finished for
him.

“
Right. The worst part is
that now this kook that did the killing is onto you.”

“
I already told you that
he’ll find out about me sooner or later.”

“
Yeah, and this is probably
where it starts. I plan to make sure he’s caught before he finds
out who our psychic is.”

“
Hey, you came here to learn
about Hamlet. Want to watch the movie?”

Brice nodded.

“
Good,” She handed him a
remote. “Load it up and I’ll make the popcorn.”

She came back in a few minutes later
with a bowl and two glasses of Coke.

“
Why’d you get the Kenneth
Branagh version?” Brice asked as she sank into the couch. “Is this
the definitive Hamlet?”

She gave him a wry grin. “Well, not
exactly. The final scene is sort of over the top. The director even
includes a falling chadallier, but the truth is, I just love to
watch Kenneth Branagh sword fight.”

She explained each scene as they
watched and then paused the action as the last scene began. “Okay,
this is the one that resembles the Danning killing. Watch.” One
round led to another until Hamlet threw the sword through his
uncle’s middle and poured the wine down his throat. When the
credits rolled, she asked. “Can you see why I immediately thought
of this after my dreams?”

“
Yeah, I can,” he told her.
“It’s like the guy chose his victim based on the uncle’s sins in
Hamlet and then just followed the script. Thanks, Glynn. I don’t
know how much this will help but it gives me something to think
about.” He checked his watch. It was nine p.m.. He didn’t want to
go home but was having trouble coming up with excuses to stay. “Are
you going to be okay if I leave?”

“
Sure, I mean there’s no
reason to think that the killer knows about me right now, and I’m a
big girl. I know how to lock the door. Besides,” she looked at the
mildly snoring Carl, “I’ve got Carl to protect me.”

Brice grinned as Carl, hearing his
name, looked up long enough to thump his tail on the couch, and
then crashed again. “I’m sure he’ll be a great help.”

Glynnis saw his unease and reached to
touch Brice’s shoulder. “Maybe you could just stay for a cup of
coffee.”

“
Maybe I could.”

*****

Glynnis woke with a start, a sinking
feeling in her chest, fear crawling up her back bone. Something was
wrong. Was someone here? No. Carl would have barked and he was
sound asleep. She lay back down and tried to calm down enough to go
back to sleep. It had been such a pleasant evening even with all
the awful business about the press conference and Sandra Fitchwell.
Brice had stayed until eleven and kept talking about leaving but it
took him a long time to get out the door. Finally he’d taken her
hand. “I know I’m acting like a fourteen-year-old with a crush
here,” he’d said, “but it’s a little risky, me letting myself treat
you like a friend, or even more than that when you could be called
as a witness.”

“
Is that likely?”

“
Not really; you didn’t have
first-hand knowledge of the murder or any real connection,” he’d
told her. “But you did file a report on something that became a
major crime. It’s an ethics thing. I have to be
cautious.”