The Beast of 1977 (Book 1)

Chapter 34

There was a small, off to the side office that was located on the fourth floor of police headquarters.

With his left arm wrapped in a sling, Detective Linus Bruin despondently sulked in his chair behind a clean and orderly desk. The clothes that he was wearing just happened to be the same torn and bloody garments he wore from the night before. Not one detail on his entire body had been rearranged; from his unkempt hair, all the way down to his blood stained Thom Mcan's His drooping face was a blank canvas from cheek to cheek.

No sort of emotion whatsoever bothered to appear. Inside of him dwelt a teetering calm, like a cease fire in the midst of a hellacious battle.

All night long the man had endured question after probing question, cameras flashing in his face and officers frantically rushing him to one end of the police station to the other as if he were a time bomb inside of a box.

His hands rested motionless in his lap while his face stayed poised on the desk in front of him. There was an itch on the bridge of his nose that the man didn't have the strength or will to scratch at.

A knock at the door disturbed the silence in the small office. From behind the door appeared Officer Donaldson who came in with a steaming cup of coffee. The woman quietly placed the cup down onto the desk before handing Linus a sympathetic smile.

"Thank you, officer." Inspector O'Dea delicately stated before blowing lightly on the rim of the hot mug. "That will be all for now."

The average looking man that was sitting across from Linus with his thin lips pressed tightly together was around the same age as the detective. He wanted to appear smart in his oversized, blue stripped tie and white shirt.

The man's pepper-tinted hair was trimmed to perfection, with not one hint of an out of place sliver. His dubious looking white face supported a thick, grey mustache that was groomed to where a person could only see his bottom lip move up and down whenever he spoke.

O'Dea meticulously sipped on the edge of the cup before looking up at Linus and saying, "You must forgive me. I did not have the opportunity to savor my wife's delectable cooking this morning. The woman makes the best homemade sausage this side of the Ohio River. Jimmy Dean be dammed."

Linus sat and watched as the inspector placed his elbows on the table and folded his hands before glancing around the room and asking, "Are you cold?"

Linus only slightly shook his head from side to side. For him, and at that point, words were as hard to grasp as air in his hands.

"It's funny how thin the walls are in this building. Shows you just how old the place really is." O'Dea affectionately sighed. "My grandfather was an officer here back around the turn of the century. According to him, this place was falling apart back then, too."

Linus looked on as O'Dea turned his attention to the window to his immediate left. Both men could hear the protestors outside on the ground chant loud and clear.

"Boisterous, aren't they?" O'Dea looked back at Linus. "Jesus, you look like you haven't slept in days, Detective," the man pointed. "Are you feeling alright? Well, that's a pretty stupid question." He flippantly grinned. "Look, I know you think I'm here to nail you to the wall, but that's not the case. I just want to know what took place last night."

All of the sudden, colors began appearing right before Linus' eyes as he sat there in his chair. It was a psychological disorder that seemed to occur at the perfect moment and in the perfect place.

"Now, you've been silent about the entire ordeal for the past few hours, Detective. Don't you think it's time to open up? I mean, you're gonna have to do a helluva lot better than domestic abuse with that mob out there, my friend." The inspector empathetically explained.

Linus batted his eyelashes in a rapid sequence before looking up at the man. He waited for O'Dea to ask even more questions.

O'Dea looked down and studied the papers that were lying in front of him. "How's your family?" He inquired with a straight face that never bothered to look Linus in the eye.

Linus sat for a moment or two before replying in a dry tone, "They're fine."

"How's Elizabeth?"

Linus contemptuously eyeballed the inspector before sternly

very good." He adamantly reiterated. "Detective, in your statement, you mentioned that you went

breath before muttering, "I

hunch," O'Dea

some loose ends that I had to

town to the other yesterday. From Ms. Glover's home, to his shrink, to his father's church and eventually back to Ms. Glover's residence. What I want to know is,

"I visited

was

Taken off guard, Linus caught his breath and

"Why were

"I wanted to

nothing else. But that still doesn't explain this so called hunch. What I'm curious about is why you didn't bring Mercer in two nights ago when you and

"He...he wasn't feeling well." Linus

"So, not only are you a nice detective, but you're also the decision maker as

and stared daggers at the inspector. The man was far from surprised at what was taking place before him; he expected every bit of O'Dea's smug

the hospital, to which afterwards, you decided to make your

Linus took his eyes away from the inspector and directed them down at the desk. Right then,

"Dammit, man!" O'Dea snapped, pounding his fists onto the table. "This is no

"I never

weaponless, colored man with a twelve gage

unfazed by the inspector's tirade, Linus remained still and composed as though nothing were happening at

your way into the house?" O'Dea anxiously inquired. "These are just some of the

O'Dea shot up from out of his seat and began to pace the room from front to back with his hands lodged

"Okay, maybe it was a domestic affair. It's no secret that those people can't keep a relationship together longer than a one night stand. But the guy didn't have a single weapon on him, and somehow, Ms. Glover's finger was

Lynnette's wrecked and bloody body

this man away in a bathroom of all places. Jesus, I know you're fifty-three years old, Bruin, but do you mean to sit

Linus every other second, O'Dea would stop to stare down into Linus' white hair as though he were admonishing

over the years. I mean, we won't be exchanging Christmas cards anytime in the near future, but I've got both the D.A. and the Mayor breathing down

while facing the caged window. It was all the

like a pig, then it's the fuzz.' The inspector sniggered, sounding tickled by the phrase. "They even managed to spell oinks wrong. Is any of this melting

Linus clinched his entire body while listening to the man endlessly drill on and on. It was all melting inwards, just not

Christ, here I am trying to save not only this department's ass, but yours as well, and you just sit there." O'Dea then turned to the door and pointed, "Look out there, Linus. All those kids just waiting for one of us old farts to fall off of our perch. Hell, I've got a Mexican, or Chicano, or whatever they call themselves these days, drooling for my job. We're old men, Linus, too

up and opened his mouth. At first, no words came out, but after

around in amazement and listened attentively at what

"What I did...last night was, was all

there. What the hell makes you think I want to see an officer like yourself go down? Linus, you broke into a house and shot and killed an unarmed man. Something like this doesn't just up and go away overnight. Hell, it'll be on the CBS Evening News before you know it. This is all Cronkite needs to add yet another award to his already cluttered trophy chest. Unarmed black man shot dead in the buff, for no apparent reason other than he was beating his fiancée. Oh what a tragedy," O'Dea zealously satirized

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