Prompt: "Anniversary"

Word Count: 2497 words

Trigger warning at the bottom!

Beep beep.

My wristwatch announces the passing of another hour. I don’t know which one, though. How long have I been sitting here?

7 pm. It’s still early. I’ve only been here for about an hour and a half…

I try to remember what I was thinking about but nothing comes to mind, although I can already suspect what it was. 

…I should move before people start looking at me funny. I say that, but there’s only two other cars in the parking lot. Again, I can already suspect why that is…

It only takes a couple of steps from my car to the diner for me to be greeted by the tasty smell of burgers and the smile of–

—Detective Price! Why were you sitting in your car for so long? You looked like a total creep!

Laurie. Yup.

The other customers are looking at me like I’m a three-headed alien. 

Great.

—Thanks for the introduction, Laurie. One of these days, you’re definitely going to get me arrested for suspected stalking

—You’re welcome! Come sit down to eat before someone arrests you, then

Kids these days don’t have any sense of respect, don’t they?

I grab a seat, looking as if I haven’t been doing the same thing for the last twelve years, and I grab the menu as if I’m not going to order the same thing I’ve ordered everyday. 

Well, almost everyday. Today is always the difference.

—Same as always, I presume?

—Almost, Laurie: I won’t be having pancakes today.

She looks at me like I’m a four-headed alien, now…

—Why not?

—It doesn’t seem appropriate

—Appropriate? Why?

—Uhm… Laurie, do you know what day is?

—Yeah, May 24th

—...do you know what happened on May 24th?

—...uhm…

…

—Have you watched the news lately or–

—OH MY GOD, THAT WAS TODAY? I have to call my dad! 

And she runs away.

Do parents not talk to their kids anymore? Jesus…

I hear her shout from the back.

—I’ll tell your order to the cook, detective, don’t worry!

Glad that’s covered. Although now I’m wondering if I’m even hungry at all, pancakes or not. Is it appropriate to even be sitting here? It’s just–

It’s been ten years. Ten damned years.

Ten years since Tabitha Gould went missing while walking from her work to her house. Almost ten years since I had to watch her body being dragged from the East Rock river. And for almost ten years, I’ve had to deal with a new body appearing every anniversary, bringing more questions and no answers, while I run around in circles with a cold case in my hands.

No wonder there’s barely anyone outside today, they’re supposed to feel safe with a police force who hasn’t been able to catch a serial killer in ten fucking years–

—Here’s your order, detective Price

—Oh, thanks, Laurie

—You’re welcome

A burger with fries and a cup of coffee. Simple, yet unbeatable. It looks delicious enough for my hunger to arise.

—Did you call your parents?

—Yeah, they’ll come pick me up after my shift. Don’t worry, detective

—That’s good to hear

If she ended up being the next victim, I think I would just quit.

…

Laurie hasn’t moved.

—All okay?

—Oh! Yeah, I was just thinking about something, sorry. Enjoy your food!

—Thanks

She lingers for a moment and leaves. Maybe my presence reminds her too much of the murders? Though, working here is kind of difficult to not think about them, it’s the uncle’s diner after all–

—A special treat from the house detective. This one’s on me

Another large cup of coffee. It may not seem like much —or may seem a little extra, seeing as I still haven’t touched my first cup— but for this kind of day, it’s a really sweet gesture.

—Psssst, I put a little bit of mister Gould’s secret stash in it. I doubt he’ll notice. I hope it helps a little!

Gosh, this is one of the few moments in which I’m glad she has no shame.

—Hahaha, thank you, Laurie, I really appreciate it

—No worries! Call me if you need anything else

She leaves. I smell the “special” coffee: Whatever it is, it’s strong. Perfect for the occasion, I guess. It’s certainly going to help me survive whatever shitshow tomorrow will bring… Speaking of which, I should start re-reading the files…

***

“All of the victims volunteered at the North Riverside Church, with Tabitha Gould being the only victim who was just a regular attendee…Father Sullivan gave us information on all of them except Tabitha, as he claimed to not remember her.

He’s been in the suspects lists since April, 1998, when Officer Hardy found a newspaper clip for a church barbecue where Gould’s family helped out with the cooking and you can clearly see Father Sullivan hugging small Tabitha…”

There were rumors about him.

He acted clueless.

I still get shit for labeling a priest a murder suspect…

God, what am I doing? Every damn year and every damn day, I do the same thing over and over again with this case: I read the autopsies, the names of the victims, I go over the timeline and then go out to grill the suspects until they give me something new. All things that always lead to nowhere.

I look at my empty plate and I start feeling angry: Is that why I never move forward with this case? Because I’m too stubborn to do something different?

…

No more: Let’s start with something small.

—Laurie! Could you bring me a chocolate milkshake?

She looks at me both puzzled and like I insulted her entire family.

—...sure…Coming right up…

A while back, Hardy suggested we look at old cases that are similar to this one to see if we can find new suspects. When she first said that, I didn’t give it much thought. Still, she gave me a hefty folder with all sorts of documents that I have no idea how long they had been rotting away at my desk before I threw them in my duffel bag one day, thinking that I would “definitely”  read them soon.

As I start rummaging around it, Laurie arrives with my milkshake.

—...here’s your order, detective

—Thank you, Laurie. It looks really good

—Sure…

She walks away while still looking at me. When I finally find the folder and put it on the table, I start drinking my shake. It is really good, damn. I finish it before I reach the third case file and I already feel like even a dumb, small change like this could be a breakthrough for the case.

Hmmh. Who would’ve thought.

—Laurie, could you bring me the check?

—Coming right up!

I’ll run back to the station. Officer Hardy is probably still there, brooding about the case. We could cover more ground if we go over this together.

—Looks like you really liked that milkshake, huh?

—Yeah, it was delicious, Laurie, thank you! Take care, okay? Don’t get out until you see your dad’s car outside

—Sure. Goodbye, detective, take care too

I feel refreshed, unbeatable. I haven’t felt like this in so long. Man, I can’t believe it. Maybe this time, we’re gonna–

Growl.

I don’t manage to even reach my car before I feel it.

A realization. And the worst type of regret.

Burgers and fries and two cups of coffee and alcohol and a milkshake.

I run back in before I humiliate myself. Laurie and mister Gould are in the back and they don’t notice me coming back in, luckily. I wouldn’t want them hearing me like this.

The bathrooms are empty. I thank God for that and run inside one of the stalls, throwing my stuff to the ground. I feel like I barely have enough time to pull my pants before I sit and…

My intestines leave my body while I sweat like a pig.

God, this is what I get for being so optimistic about–

Oh, no.

I reach for the dispenser and it’s empty. Jesus, have mercy– Do I even have toilet paper in my bag?

Please, please, please, tell me there’s some–

Nothing.

Great.

‘Kay.

Don’t panic. Someone will come in eventually, I’ll just ask them for some and this whole thing will be over. 

***

…right?

***

—HELLO? IS SOMEONE OUT THERE?

Don’t tell me all the clients left already. Do Laurie and Kevin really can’t hear me?

God, what did I do that pissed you off so much for me to deserve this?

…

Was it taking this long to do something different about the case?

Sigh. Maybe I do deserve this…

…okay. What happened with that new-found attitude, Adam? This is already a shitty situation, why not do the most about it? I’m perfectly capable of reading, even under these circumstances…

Let’s give it a shot.

***

Beep beep.

9 pm. I’ve been reading for at least 40 minutes.

Not bad?

…my ass is really starting to ache, though…

***

…should I just bite the bullet and go grab some toilet paper? It can’t be that bad– But what if some of this falls on the floor or goes through my legs– Oh, God, don’t think about that.

Scratch that.

***

…how many phone numbers do I have? I can’t– Hell, I’ll just dial it up…

…three… zero… four…God, fuck these damn buttons. Why do they have to make them so small?

Ring…Ring…Ri–

—Hi, Sergeant Price, how are you? Is everything okay?

—Hello, Hardy. Uhm, not really, but I’ll tell you later…I called mainly because I was reading through that folder you gave me a while back–

—Finally!

—And I was wondering: Why did you put so many cases related to cannibalism? Do you really think our killer does that? Like– Which part in all of this led you to think that?

—Oh. Uhm… Well, I don’t wanna sound morbid, but– Uhm– Almost all of the bodies have the equivalent to steak cuts, y’know…

—Are– Are you serious?

—I am! I mean, you’ve basically memorized the autopsies, right? Except for Tabitha, they’re all missing part of their thighs, sides, flesh near their–

—Okay, okay, I don’t need the whole round down, I get it. Do you think– 

—I feel there’s a lot of differences between Tabby and the rest, actually…

—...yeah, I’ve noticed that before…

Her body was mangled because of the river currents, not because of human interference. She’s the only one who wasn’t close to Father Sullivan. She’s the only one who disappeared after walking home from work, not from the church and, most importantly, she’s the only one with a different cause of death: Strangulation rather than carbon monoxide poisoning.

—...have you ever thought that maybe we’re dealing with a copycat killer?

The worst sentence I could hear in my life. In ten years, I haven’t been able to catch two killers.

—...yes, I’ve…thought about that too…

—It’s that why you don’t sound too good?

—Uhm…No, it’s because of something else, actually…

—What?

—Well, uhm…are you still at the station?

—Yeah…

—Do you happen to have Kevin Gould’s number anywhere?

—No…Why?

—...do you think you could come to the “Gould Old Days” diner, then?

—...you wanna eat burgers?

—No…I need you to bring me something

—What?

—...toilet paper…

A burst of laughter 

—Adam, you could’ve used the paper from the documents!

—I– I know! But– …what if I get a paper cut?

More laughter.

—You’d rather get a prolapse than do that? You’re unbelievable! Hahaha!

—I’m already in an awful situation, here, Diane, I don’t need to also deal with–

In my distress, I dropped all the documents to the ground.

—Shit!

—Indeed!

The cases, the paper clippings, the maps and–

—Shut up!

…wait, what map is this? How old is this? The road to the church is supposed to be a straight path, why is there a connection to the parallel road? And–

—Oh, God

—Sorry, sarge, I didn’t mean to–

—Diane, one of the maps has a small trail from highway 19 to the East Rock river. Do you know why it’s no longer on the map?

—What? Uhm, yeah, wait up… Uh… Okay, here: It was closed off due to constant overflows that made it hazardous for drivers to pass through…why?

The church barbecue.

—...instead of steak…do you think those cuts could’ve been for ground beef?

Kevin Gould was in charge of cooking.

—-...yeah…I think so…why?

—…the diner is at the start of the trail

—...oh…Oh, fuck…Father Sullivan eats there every anniversary…and his order is always delivered by Gould, not the waitress: He must’ve–

—HEEELP!!

A gut-wrenching scream.

—Sarge? What was that?!

—Diane, I need you to come here right NOW

I hung up and put my pants on. My dignity or smell don’t matter right now. I quickly look at the time: 10:18 pm. Laurie’s shift ended at ten. She must’ve been waiting for her parents. Please, God, I’ll grovel in shit all you want, but don’t punish me with another victim.

It’s dark.

I can hear a car running in the parking lot but I can’t see whose it is.

I can’t see them clearly, but there’s two figures in the back of the kitchen.

I draw my weapon.

—POLICE, PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN!

—DETECTIVE PRICE, DON’T STAND THERE, HELP ME

—GOULD, RELEASE HER

—WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, COME HERE AND GET HIM DOWN

What?

I get closer and notice. Laurie is latched onto him. He’s stiff and too tall for his height. And he’s got a noose around his neck.

I grab Laurie and tell her to call 911. 

I take a knife, get on the same chair he used and start cutting. Gravity does most of the job, and he falls soon enough.

I check his vitals but I already know it’s too late.

…why now?

…there’s a piece of paper sticking out from his pocket…

“Today is the tenth anniversary of my niece’s death.

Ten years of her going on without justice, and of her killer living without punishment.

After she went missing, I was the one who found her: Hanging from a tree, with a note inside her pockets.

That vile man, Sullivan, had done so much to her, and instead of helping her, the congregation shunned her.

They might as well have hanged her themselves.

I still don’t know how it happened, but I made a decision that day.

I kept the note and left her body in the river.

That man messed with my family. So I messed with his herd.

He came here to give his condolences.

His lambs started disappearing.

He said we were suffering in similar ways.

I comforted him with a meal.

I’ve given him enough. It’s time for the lambs to stop being afraid. And for him to pay.

After all I’ve done, I have no right to ask for anything but, please, tell him that this whole time, he was eating his little lambs.”

TW: Implied CSA, suicide, murder, cannibalism.