Written by David de Sola
DAY 2
"I know nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it's everybody's sin
You got to lose to know how to win" –Aerosmith; Dream On
Gabriel awoke from his sleep. Grace was nowhere to be seen. He searched the apartment, and on the door, he found a note. It read:
"Dear Gabriel; So nice to see you again. I have a class this morning but I'll be back later on in the day. I left some newspaper clippings and articles on the coffee table by the couch where you slept. That's everything that is publicly known about the Impalements (as it is called in the local paper). See you later. -Grace"
Gabriel went to the coffee table and picked up the stack of papers and clippings. The oldest one was dated exactly two weeks ago. He skimmed the articles.
"FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR BRUTALLY MURDERED IN HIS OFFICE....Linguistics professor James Hessler, a respected member of the Yale faculty was found brutally murdered in his office this morning by one of his students. Although reports are sketchy, it is said that Professor Hessler was found impaled through the chest."
"POLICE HAVE NO CLUES FOR SUSPECT PROFILE...Yale and Connecticut State Police have no leads in profiling the suspect or suspects who murdered Yale Professor James Hessler two days ago. No fingerprints have been found. The FBI are also currently working on the case. They could not be reached for comment but an inside source told us that they are no closer to solving the brutal murder..."
"ANOTHER VICTIM MURDERED SIMILAR TO PROFESSOR HESSLER...A visiting Medieval history professor from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina was found dead in a parking lot outside his hotel. A source said that he was impaled through the chest like the late Professor James Hessler of Yale. Professor Vernon Bishop, aged 57, was set to be a guest lecturer at Yale's graduate school for the fall semester before returning to Duke for his dissertation..."
"POLICE CONFIRM DEATH RUMORS...A publicist for Yale Police announced today at a press conference that both Professors James Hessler and Vernon Bishop were killed by 'a long sharp stake approximately six feet high which penetrated through his pectoral cavity and caused heart and lung failure, as well as major blood loss'. The publicist also announced that it was very likely that the two murders were committed by the same suspect or suspects, but he was not labeling it a serial killer or 'a new Manson family'. He also said they were looking for a possible relation or connection between Hessler and Bishop..."
"THIRD VICTIM FOUND DEAD IN HIS HOME...A Yale Graduate school teaching assistant was found dead in his apartment. Michael Gorinson, aged 28, was found in his kitchen impaled through his chest. Gorinson was a biochemistry graduate student who served as an undergraduate teaching assistant in his spare time. Police are now suspecting the work of a serial killer..."
"IMPALEMENTS CONTINUE...A Yale undergraduate senior was found dead in a private reading room of the Sterling Memorial Library of Yale University. Diana Bryant, a 22-year old art history major, was researching for her senior thesis in the room when she was murdered. The librarian, who asked for anonymity, said that she did not see anybody go in or out of that room after Ms. Bryant. She found Bryant's body when it was time to close the library at 3 a.m..." Gabriel noticed that this victim was killed two nights ago very close to Grace's apartment. He decided to go investigate this one first.
"Damn, this is some crazy shit." Gabriel said to himself as he noted the names of the victims and the crime scenes. Gabriel opened his bag and pulled out his recorder, talisman, camera and notepad as he stepped out the door of Grace's apartment.
Gabriel walked to the library. He gaped at the rows of books. He continued walking until the room that had been covered with a black sheet and police tape. As he prepared to enter, a police officer showed up, forbidding Gabriel access to the crime scene. Gabriel complied and left.
Gabriel reached into his pocket and turned on his recorder. He walked to the police officer.
"Excuse me officer?'
"Yes?"
"What can you tell me about what took place here?"
"I don't need no damn reporters snoopin' around here!"
"I'm not a reporter. I'm a PI investigating the case for a client."
"I'm still not allowed to divulge any information about the case. Now get out of here before I arrest your punk ass for tampering with the crime scene!"
Gabriel quickly left and was more determined than ever to see that crime scene. He continued walking and asked the first visible police officer on the quad about who was in charge of the investigation. The officer answered that Lieutenant Jake Thornton was the man in charge and was currently meeting with the dean of students. Gabriel walked to the main administration building. He asked the first person he saw in the building "Where can I find Lieutenant Jake Thornton?"
"Down the hall and three doors to the left. I don't know if his meeting with the dean is over yet."
Gabriel listened in on the conversation going on through the barely opened door. After a while, he decided to record some of it.
"May I see the employment record of Dr. Wrenfeld? Thank you…" a man said. "I need to ask a few questions. Does he have a good reputation, get along with colleagues? Is he the kind of person that always works hard at the office?…"
Gabriel had heard enough, and knocked on the door. The plaque on the door read "KAREN JENNINGS, DEAN OF STUDENTS". The voice inside told him to come in.
"What do you want?" the man asked.
"Hello. My name is Gabriel Knight."
"Hello, Mr. Knight. I’m Karen Jennings, Dean of Students." She said, standing up to shake his hand. She was a middle-aged woman, short, thin, her black hair beginning to turn gray in some places. She seemed very serious and straightforward, based on her tone of voice.
"Hi, I’m Lieutenant Jake Thornton, Connecticut State Police." Thornton, said, standing up and shaking Gabriel’s hand. Like every other veteran cop Gabriel knew, he was overweight, balding, had a spare tire sticking out of his stomach well beyond the waistline, implying his affinity for sugar and caffeine. "What can I do for you?"
"I’m here investigating the murders for a client of mine, and I wanted to ask…"
"This is none of your business Mr. Knight, and I suggest you step out that door right this minute before I have you arrested! I don’t need some lowlife PI throwing off my investigation!" Thornton responded.
"Gabriel Knight? I know you! You're the author of that book! What was it...the Voodoo Murders?" Jennings realized.
"That's correct ma'am."
"I don't need some damned loose cannon author invading my jurisdiction! I want him out of this office right this instant!!" Thornton yelled.
"Lieutenant Thornton, I can help you with this investigation. I helped NOPD solve the Voodoo Murders a few years back and I recently worked with Munich PD on a wolf killing case..."
"You can damn well be Sherlock Holmes for all I care! I don't give a rat's ass what lowlife cases you've solved or where! This is a serious case, and you don't have the stomach to deal with this kind of stuff! I'm having a hard enough time dealing with this as it is!"
"Lieutenant Thornton...if I may interrupt? Mr. Knight's experience could be an invaluable asset to your case. I am familiar of his investigations in both New Orleans and Munich and I can attest to his credentials." Dean Jennings responded.
"Look, if you want this idiot working on the investigation, FINE! He's YOUR problem! If he taints evidence or does anything that could blow our chances for trying a suspect, it's HIS ass and YOURS that go down! NOT MINE!! We'll finish this meeting another time in private." Thornton answered as he stood up and stormed out of the office.
"Sorry about that." Gabriel said.
"Don't be Mr. Knight. I know you are a capable man at this sort of thing. I read about you in the papers after both cases. One of the associate deans was at the first performance of the Lost Wagner Opera in the Wittelsbacher Theater. Answer me one question. Is it true there was some sort of odd occurence at the show?"
"Not...that odd." Gabriel responded, shuddering at the memories of his werewolf transformation. "We figured we would do something special for the first performance of the opera by putting in a real wolf through a trap door in the floor to switch places with the actor."
"I see...that must have been quite a show. Do one thing for me Mr. Knight. Will you sign my copy of your book?" Jennings asked as she reached into her bookshelf and pulled out a paperback copy of The Voodoo Murders.
"Certainly, Ms. Jennings." Gabriel responded as he signed the interior of the book with a dedication to the dean.
"Thank you. What about a new book? It says in the author biography section that you were working on a new book . That was three years ago? Is there a new book?"
"Yes, there is. I just finished it two days ago in Germany. I sent the manuscript by diskette to my publishing agency where my editor will go over it for the fourth and final time and the book should be on the presses in the next few days and on the shelves in less than two weeks. It's called The Mutilation Killings and that is all I will tell you." Gabriel explained.
"Great. I'll be the first to buy it. What did you want from me?"
"I wanted to know about the investigation. Off the record."
"All right, what do you want to know?"
"What's the deal with the university? What are you doing for security measures?"
"I was discussing with the lieutenant the possibility of closing down the university indefinitely until this whole thing was over. Right now, we've tripled security staff. There's an officer on every floor of every campus building 24 hours a day. We have suspended all festivities and are going to implement a 9 p.m. curfew on the ENTIRE student body."
"I see...what about a connection between the victims?"
"We haven't found anything yet. The state and local police are looking into that. Questioning students, faculty, and so on. "
"How about a suspect profile?"
"None whatsoever. Nothing to work with in any crime scene."
"Hmmm....what can you tell me about the murders? Any evidence?"
"I really don't know that much about it. You should ask Lieutenant Thornton, but he isn't willing to talk to you. He's the one in charge of the whole investigation. As for evidence, all I know that has been found is in the second murder, a card for the University Hospital's hematology department, with the office hours and the phone numbers. No names."
"Where is the hospital? I'd like to check the hematology department for any leads."
"The hematology department is currently being used as a temporary police laboratory. It will be opened to the student body again in three days' time."
"Can you grant me access to the university database? I want to check schedules, times, things like that."
"I'm not sure I could do that. Here's what I'll do. I'll leave my computer running while I go talk to my secretary about rescheduling an appointment with Lieutenant Thornton. I will be gone for about 10 minutes, after which I will return to my office." she said as she stood up and walked out the door.
Gabriel quickly ran to the computer on the desk and logged in information. He searched on the Professors' database for the TA and the two professor's schedules. He found them and got a printout. He looked on the student database for the undergraduate student's schedule and printed that out, too. Gabriel went to the Class search engine. The user listed the classes and the computer printed a list of all the students who had those classes. Gabriel typed in all the combinations of classes that didn't interfere with each other in hope of getting a clue. On the seventh try, he hit a jackpot. Three students besides the victims had that exact schedule. Gabriel printed the list of the students and got their addresses off the Online Directory. Gabriel quickly logged out of the system as he heard footsteps approaching the office. He got away from the desk and pretended to look at the books on the shelves.
"I have to leave Mr. Knight. I'm going to close the office now." the dean said
Gabriel got up, thanked the dean and left. He went back to Grace's apartment where she was in the kitchen cooking dinner.
"I see you've been out. Did you find anything?"
"Yeah. I have a list of 3 people who had a class with each of the victims. I also found out that the guy in charge of the investigation is a Lieutenant Jake Thornton, a read hard-ass who does not like me very much."
"How did you get that list?"
"Let's just say I have a friend in a very VERY high place at the university." Gabriel explained.
"So what's our next step?"
"I have to find these three people tomorrow. Do any of these names and addresses mean anything to you?" Gabriel asked as he handed Grace the printout.
"Hmmmm...The first name, Valerie Sayagh. I’ve heard the name, but I don't know her personally. It says she lives at the Sigma Pheta Pi sorority which is about four blocks away from here. The second name, Edmond Finkelstein I don't know at all. It says he lives by the Old Campus, near Phelps' Gate. That's pretty far from here. The last name, Mallory Herzog I don't know either. She lives by Beinecke Plaza, which is close to the Beinecke Rare Book Library, which you should check out as long as you're here."
"Thanks Grace. I got to call Mosely so he can get up here. Then I'll go get some shuteye." Gabriel said as he dialed the familiar number in New Orleans.
"Detective Mosely's office." A voice said.
"Mostly, it's Gabriel! How are you?"
"Knight! You obnoxious punk, where are you calling from, Germany?"
"No. I'm at Grace's apartment over by Yale University. There's some pretty odd stuff going on here and I need your help in the investigation. I need contacts into the Yale University police and the Connecticut State Police. Can you be here tomorrow?" Gabriel asked.
"I don't know if I can still get access to the scenes. I AM retired from the force. I'm just a two-bit PI. And I have little old YOU to thank for that…But what the hell, I'll try to get there tomorrow." Mosely answered as he hung up the phone. Mosely called back in five minutes saying he had reservations for tomorrow and he would arrive in the afternoon.
Gabriel headed back to the couch, flopped on his side, and passed out.
Gabriel saw the same darkened man he was confronting in the previous dream. This time, he could only see hi hand. It looked artificial, robotic, metallic. It wasn't artificial. It was a gauntlet. Big, old, and it crushed Gabriel's hand again and impaled him through a stake summoned from the ground itself. Gabriel screamed and woke up again.
If you have any comments, you can email David de Sola at ddesola@emerald.tufts.edu.
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