The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 53

Chapter 53

       Sean left the holding area and went over to have a talk with Cindy. When he saw her again, his pulse raced a little. He really did have a thing for her it seemed. He thought again about what she had said with regards to the way Higgins had abused her, both physically and mentally.

       His blood began to boil once more and he felt like going down to the cell and laying another beating on him. How could anyone treat someone as sweet as Cindy the way that he had? Sean shook his head and tried to calm his breathing.

       Cindy looked up and gave him a smile. “Is everything alright Sean? I heard a noise from the holding area and Sergeant Patterson raced down there to see what was up.”

       "It was nothing. Higgins slipped and fell, that’s all.” Sean lied but the way that Cindy was looking at him, he felt that she knew that that was not really the truth. It seems that he wasn’t able to carry a lie with her for too long. “Actually, I went to have a talk with him about the case and I couldn’t think of anything but what you said with regards to the way he’s treated you.

       "I lost my cool and slapped him around a little, that’s all.” To Sean, that is all that he did to Higgins, but in reality, he hurt him pretty badly. The O’Reilly justice again. No one hurt any one he cared for and got away with it, period. If Patterson hadn’t arrived when he did, Sean might have killed the suspect.

       "Miss Stevens, er Cindy, I was wondering if you would like to grab a cup of coffee or something when you are off. It appears that I am going to be in town for a few days to get Higgins processed before I head back to Cleveland to deal with Caulder. He is under lock and key at the moment at the hospital, and when he is fit to travel, I will be leaving with him."

       "I would like that Sean. I get off at 7 tonight if that would be good with you."

       "I'll pick you up at 7 and we'll go catch a bite then. You pick the restaurant."

       After leaving the sheriff's office, he went across the street to the Shady Rest Inn to check in with Sergeant Miller and catch up on some rest before meeting up with Cindy later that night. When he entered the lobby, the aroma coming from the kitchen hit him like a ton of bricks. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. The smell of fresh baked apple pie combined with roasted chicken was almost too much to take in all at once. 

       He had flash backs of when he lived at home with his parents. It seemed that his mother was always in the kitchen cooking and the house always smelled incredible. He approached the front desk but before he got there, he heard Sergeant Miller calling to him. He turned and saw Andrew seated in a small bar just off the lobby with a couple of beer in front of him. One thing about Miller, you could always count on him in battle or to get the beers going after a tough day.

       Sean sat down, lifted his glass and downed half the glass in one swallow. "Ah, that's good. Just what the doctored ordered." He put the beer down and sat there with a silly grin on his face.

       After a few moments, Miller spoke. "Well, boss, you look like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary or something like that. It must have gone good at the jail when you saw Higgins behind bars."

        "Yeah, it went pretty good. I talked to Cindy first and found out that he had abused her over the years, falsely accusing her of theft and other things as well. I went to the holding cell and had a man to man chat with him. If Sergeant Patterson hadn't come in when he did, I think I may have killed that son of a bitch. Felt good to put a beating on that prick"

       "I'm sensing there's more to your story that you're not telling me."

       "Well, there is one more thing. I asked Cindy out for supper tonight and she agreed. I'm picking her up at 7:00."

       "Congrats boss. Good for you. Cheers." They clinked glasses and chugged the rest of their beers. 

       It seemed that things were starting to look up. However, events were about to take an unexpected turn, and not for the better.

       

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 52

Chapter 52

       Sean entered the sheriff’s office and he noticed Cindy Stevens almost immediately. She was busy with some paper work and so for a moment, she didn’t notice that he was standing there staring at her. When she finally looked up and saw him, a smile came across her face. “Sean welcome back. How is your investigation going into the Higgins case? You look tired.”

      "Cindy, it’s good to see you again. We found our suspect Caulder and got a blood sample from him. His DNA matches that of Higgins. We’ll be able to start procedures for charging him with the rape of Maggie Caulder and the murder of her husband, Tom.”

       "That’s good news. I’ve never liked him ever since I’ve worked for him. Working with Sgt. Patterson has been much better. He treats me and everyone around him with respect. He never runs people down like Higgins does.”

       "Why didn’t you leave if it was so bad here?” O’Reilly asked. He was becoming infatuated with the girl once again.

        "I was always afraid that Higgins would spread rumors around about me so that I wouldn’t be able to get a job any where else. One time, I went into his office to deliver some papers that he had me working on. He was out and I placed them on his desk. At that moment, he entered and went straight over to the safe and mentioned that it was open, but that he had not left it that way.

       "He accused me of taking some valuables from the safe. I protested that I hadn’t, but he was livid. He insisted that I must have because they were missing. He ordered me to return them at once, but because I hadn’t taken them, I couldn’t. He approached me, and hit me with the back of his hand.

       "I ran out of the office and began crying. I didn’t know what to do. He scared me so much that day. It was a side of him I hadn’t seen before. About fifteen minutes later, he came out with something in his hands. It was the very item that he had accused me of stealing. I was dumb founded. He told me that he had made a mistake and that he had removed it from his safe the day before and had put it in his desk drawer.

       "He didn’t apologize or any thing. All he said was that if I told anyone that he had hit me, he would press charges for theft and have me thrown in jail for something that I had not done.”

       Sean could feel his blood pressure starting to rise. “You mean to tell me that he hit you and then threatened to have you put in jail for something you didn’t do if you told anyone about it.”

       "Yes Sean, that’s exactly what I am saying. He struck me on other occasions for no reason. He is one crazy, clever son of a bitch who is not to be trusted.” Cindy warned.

       Sean was livid. He tried to contain his anger. “Will you testify against him at his trial as to the way he treated you?”

       "I’m afraid of him Sean.”

       "You don’t have to worry about him any longer Cindy, I can assure you of that. We’ll put him away for a long time. We’ll add assault and uttering threats towards you. He won’t be able to get to you.” Sean stated.

        "Alright Sean, I’ll tell the courts how he treated me.”

       "Don’t worry, Cindy, I won’t let him do anything to you, I promise.”

       "Thank you, Sean, that makes me feel better already.”

       At that moment, Sergeant Patterson came out from his office and walked over to the chief inspector and shook his hand. "Welcome back inspector. How is your investigation going against Kevin, er I mean Sheriff Higgins?”

       Sean relayed the same information that he had told Cindy. He didn’t mention what Miss Stevens had told him. It wasn’t necessary to divulge that to him. And with a little luck, she wouldn’t have to testify at the trial either. He didn’t want her opening up old emotional wounds that Higgins had caused her, if at all possible.

       Patterson admitted Sean to the holding cells where Higgins was being held. He left the room and left Higgins and O’Reilly alone. When Higgins saw the look on Sean’s face, he became somewhat apprehensive. He kept a wary eye on him.

       Sean by this time was seething with anger and contempt for this piece of shit that was there before him. It was bad enough that he had come after Miller and himself, but when he had been abusive towards Cindy, whom he was becoming quite enamored with, he had crossed a line that Sean would not tolerate.

He approached Higgins cell menacingly. The sheriff , who had been leaning nonchalantly against the bars when the inspector came in, backed away from the bars but not fast enough. Sean was as quick as a cobra ready to strike and he grabbed Higgins by the collar and yanked him forward. He crashed into the bars with such force that a welt immediately appeared above his eye which split open and gushed forth a stream of blood.

       The gore hit O’Reilly in the face causing him to strike again. He pulled the sheriff forward into the bars once again with enough force that it knocked him out. His body went limp and he crumpled in a heap upon the concrete floor, blood still pouring from the wound.

       With all the commotion, Patterson came rushing in, saw Higgins prone on the floor with Sean glaring at him from the outside of the cell. "What the hell?’ Patterson yelled.

       Sean stared at the body for another second and then spoke. “He tried to grab me through the bars and I had to defend myself. He’s one crazy mother fucker for sure.” Patterson said nothing but went and got the keys to get to Higgins to stem the flow of blood before he bled to death.

       Sean spoke again. “He’s completely nuts. I just wanted to have a chat with him and he tried to get at me through the bars.”

       Patterson managed to get the bleeding stopped and then bandaged up his prisoner. He turned towards the chief inspector and spoke. “Whatever you say sir. He is one crazy son of a bitch for sure. It’s unfortunate that he got hurt but shit happens. He’ll be more careful next time I’m sure.”

       Sean said nothing for a moment and then spoke again. “Sergeant Patterson, you will make a good sheriff. I’ll go have a couple of words with Miss Stevens for a few moments before I go.” He left and went up to see Cindy again.

       Sergeant Patterson leaned down and spoke to Higgins who was just coming to. “Listen you little prick. You got what you deserve. I should have let him continue beating on you, but I want you to go to prison in one piece. Cindy told me how you’ve been treating her. She doesn’t need an asshole like you giving her grief of any kind. I hope you rot in hell, you bag of shit.”

       He got up, and just before he left, he kicked Higgins hard in the rib cage. “I also overheard you plotting against Chief Inspector O’Reilly and his sergeant Miller. I’ll testify against you, you little turd. You’re going to become someone’s bitch in the big house; I can assure you of that.”

       He got up and slammed the cage shut, locking it tight. He whistled as he left the room. It seems that Patterson’s testimony against Higgins would ensure that he was locked away for a long time to come. Sean would be pleased with that. He would also like the way Patterson treated Higgins. The sergeant’s methods were very similar to Sean’s and Miller’s when it came to dealing with criminals.

       Higgins groaned as he rolled on his side and threw up. The pain was agonizing when he did. Patterson most likely broke a couple of ribs. He moaned again, swore under this breath. “Shit,” he muttered. “I’m fucked!” Then he passed out. He lay there, breathing heavily and panting like a dog.

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 51

Chapter 51

       As soon as Chief Inspector O’Reilly and Miller left the hospital, they went straight to the mayor’s office. His secretary buzzed them in and they went into his office. "Welcome back Chief Inspector and Sergeant Miller. How has your investigation been going and have you found out what you need to press charges against Sheriff Higgins?”

       "We’ve got Caulder in protective custody at the local hospital.” Sean reported. “He’s in a coma right now from various injuries and traumas that he sustained. At least the doctors say he’s in a coma but I’m not so sure. He could be faking it. He’s as cunning as a fox, this one. He’s not to be trusted.

       "Anyway, we got DNA from him and it matches Higgins’ DNA. We can start to prosecute him for the murder of Maggie Caulder’s husband Tom, and the rape of her.” O’Reilly stated emphatically.

       "That’s good to hear but disturbing at the same time. If he is in fact guilty, it will be good to get him locked up. However, he has been an asset to this community. I had sort of hoped that the DNA didn’t match but after you told me about him sending those men after you and your sergeant, I wasn’t so sure.” The mayor spoke and then fell silent.

       It was Miller who spoke next. “Mr. Mayor, you can be sure that if Sean has a hunch about something, then it most likely is true. More times than not, he has gone on his instincts, and they have proven to be correct.”

       "Yes I am sure you are correct sergeant. It’s just that I treated him like a son. It kind of deflates you a little when you put so much trust in someone and then you find out that they have fooled you and every one around you.”

       Sean spoke up. “Don’t worry sir. If he is guilty, and I feel he is, then he will get what’s been coming to him for a long time. You can be sure about that.”

       "Yes I am sure you are correct. What can I do to help in your case against him?” The mayor asked and you could tell that he was truly interested in putting Higgins away. He seemed to be the type of man that would go to any length to punish those who did him wrong.

       "What I need from you Mr. Mayor is a list of anyone who might have known what Higgins was up to so many years ago. We need people to say what he was really like, that in fact he was and probably still is a murderer and rapist.” Sean spoke and you could tell that he was thinking about the attack that happened to Miller and himself a little while ago. "Miller and I will also testify to the fact that the goons sent after us were in fact hired by Higgins.”

       The mayor added. “I will testify to the jury what Maggie said to me. It is as clear to me as it was the day that she told me about Higgins raping her and shooting her husband without even warning him to stop. With what you have told me and with my and other citizens’ testimonies, I am sure that you will get the conviction you are looking for.”

       "I hope you are right. I want to get a solid case against him. I think I’ll go over to the jail and have a little chat with him.” O’Reilly stated and Miller again saw a glint in Sean’s eye that he hadn’t seen in a long time.

       "Do you want me to come along boss?” Miller asked but he already knew the answer.

       "No, I just want to have a few words with the slime ball before we ship him off to prison. Once we get Higgins taken care of, we can have Caulder sent to Cleveland to start processing him on the murder charges."

       "Okay boss, give him my regards. I’ll get us a couple of rooms at the inn across the street”. Miller replied. Now he was sure he knew what was on Sean’s mind. He wanted to see Higgins for sure, but he most likely wanted to speak with the secretary Cindy Stevens in private. It was a long time since Sean had taken a fancy to any girl and Miller was happy for him. He hoped the chief inspector would get to know her the way he knew that Sean wanted to. Sean said his goodbyes to the mayor and Miller and then left to go over to the jail. Miller could have sworn that he heard O’Reilly whistling as he left. Yes, Miller knew that Cindy was on his boss’s mind.

       The Sergeant shook hands with the mayor and then he went over to the inn to arrange accommodations for himself and his boss. It would be nice if Miss Stevens was as happy to see Sean again as his boss was going to be to see her. Miller knew that Sean had been thinking about her quite a bit lately even though he never discussed it.

       He had worked with Sean for more years than he cared to think about, and he could basically read his boss like a book. He knew that O’Reilly had fallen quite hard for the secretary. A little female company was what Sean needed. He put all his time into solving cases, and he had not much time for the fairer sex. Miller knew that Cindy would be good for his boss. And who knows. Maybe things would develop into something more than a casual acquaintance. Only time would tell.

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 50

Chapter 50

       The helicopter landed on the roof of the hospital in Middletown with a medical staff waiting. The pilot had radioed to them while in flight that they were en route and to expect them within a half hour or so.

Caulder was transferred to a stretcher and wheeled inside and taken to one of the examination rooms that had been made available to them. They cut his soiled clothes away from his wounded body and began cleaning him up. Upon close examination, a few broken bones were found in his rib cage and a septic infection had set in from an apparent rat bite to his right ankle.

       There were other bites as well. One was on his stomach and another was on his left cheek. These two were not as bad as the one on his ankle, but infection was in them as well. It was a good thing that they weren’t as severe as the first one, because the doctors weren’t sure if Jake’s foot could be saved. Gangrene had started to set in and they would be hard pressed to be able to save the foot. The smell emanating from it made the doctors want to gag. When they touched it, a green yellowish pus came out of it.

       They rushed Jake to an operating room to get an IV into him and work on him as quickly as possible to stop further infection and try to save his very swollen, blackened ankle from having to cut it off. Several areas of Jake were covered with scratches from a rat as well. There were multiple slash wounds from what appeared to be a knife and part of his lower lip seemed to be barely hanging on by a thread of skin.

He was dehydrated as well and a glucose solution plus antibiotic were being injected into his veins. They cleaned his wounds again and put countless stitches in place.

       All they could do now was to wait to see if the infections were caught in time. It was no wonder that this man had suffered mental trauma. He must have gone through hell from the look of his body. Many war victims didn’t look as bad as poor Jake did. All in all Jake was in the operating room for about 7 hours. They did a thorough check to make sure that nothing was missed and then transferred him to recovery. Sean thanked the doctors for their efforts and posted a couple of heavy set police officers outside his door to make sure that if Jake did happen to wake up, he wouldn’t get any ideas about wandering off.

       He developed a fever of 104 and the doctors thought he might die but then it subsided to a livable 102. They upped his dose of antibiotics, and after a while, his fever broke altogether. Sean was becoming impatient, wanting to question Jake about the murders that he was investigating. He thought that Jake was faking his mental break down so that he could post pone his interrogation as long as possible.

       The fact of the matter was that Jake had indeed suffered severe traumas and his break down was real. He had slipped into a coma since coming to the hospital which irked Sean even more. He paced agitatedly, becoming more and more annoyed at the continual delays to his investigation.

        He could however get a blood sample and check the DNA against Higgins. With a little luck, the two would be a match and at least he could start to prosecute Higgins for the crimes of raping Mrs. Caulder and killing her husband in cold blood so many years ago.

       Several vials of blood were withdrawn from Jake’s arm and a few were sent to the lab for testing. The doctors said that it would be some time before the results were ready because they were back logged in the lab.

When O’Reilly heard this, he lost what little control he had. He called the technician every name under the sun, and people in the next office came running to see what all the commotion was about. He brow beat the poor tech so bad that he almost started crying and he did in fact wet himself.

       Sean was not very subtle, to say the least, but he always seemed to get what he wanted. Every other job the lab was doing was put on hold and a rush was put on the Higgins/Caulder tests. The results from the DNA tests returned and they were in fact a positive match. Kevin Higgins was Jake Caulder’s biological father. There was no mistaking the results.

       "I’ve got you now, you son of a bitch.” Sean cursed as he spoke to no one in particular. But Sergeant Miller knew who he was referring to. It was Higgins. He also felt glad that the sheriff was going to go to trial and with a little luck, would be put away for crimes committed many years ago. With the help from the mayor and several others who were familiar with the way Higgins was towards Maggie Caulder, it was fairly certain that Sheriff Higgins would be locked up for a long time. Chances are he wouldn’t survive in prison for too long because many inmates wanted a piece of the little shit head as well for getting them locked up behind bars. He would be lucky to last a month where he was going. He smiled to himself and was interrupted when Sean bellowed.

       "Come on Sergeant. Let’s get back to Higgins and start the process of getting the little turd put away. I’ve got to talk to the mayor at once and have him get me a list of witnesses to use against him. Paybacks are a bitch as they say. When that asshole sent those goons after us, he pretty well sealed his fate. It was only a matter of time.”

       "Yes sir. I’ll be glad to get that little prick locked up as well. I’m sure that a few good ole boys in the local prison want to make him their bitch.”

       "One can only hope Sergeant, one can only hope.” And with that, a smile came across Sean’s face that only Miller could see. He wondered if it was the idea that Higgins was going to be punished or the fact that his boss was going to be able to see the secretary Cindy Stevens again. Miller thought that it was a little of both but probably the latter because Sean seemed quite taken with the girl.

       O’Reilly turned to the officer in charge of guarding Jake. “I want you to let me know if he wakes up.” he said, pointing to Caulder as he did.

       "Yes sir, I will do that. You can rest assured that if he wakes up, he won’t be going anywhere.” Officer Hawkins stated. “We’ll call you if his condition changes at all.”

       "Thanks Hawkins. Don’t let his condition fool you. He’s a cunning little son of a bitch and not to be trusted. He’s like a mad dog. He’ll treat you as his best friend one moment and then the next, he’ll turn on you and rip your throat out. Don’t let up your guard for a second.” O’Reilly warned the officer.

       "Yes sir, I’ll be careful.”

       "Make sure you are.” O’Reilly ordered. He turned to Hawkins’ partner and basically said the same thing to him that he had just told Hawkins.

       "Yes sir,” a very young looking policeman said. “We’ll be extra careful with this one, mark my words.”

       "Don’t fuck this up, either of you.” O’Reilly ordered. He glared at the two officers for a moment until they both seemed to wilt before his eyes. His stare was said to be able to make the most powerful of men quiver with fear.

       One thing was for certain. You didn’t mess with Sean when he was in one of his moods. As stated earlier, more than one thug learned the hard way the truth behind this statement. Higgins’ four lackeys that were sent after Sean and Miller found this out. They were now little more than worm food, rotting at the side of the road somewhere.

       Sean was not averse to teaching police officers the occasional lesson if they crossed him. More than one had ended up with a black eye or a broken rib or two if they argued with him. And if Sean didn’t, Miller was always there to administer the O’Reilly/ Miller justice. Their superiors knew of their maverick ways, but nothing was ever said to them.

       A blind eye was turned toward their antics on more than one occasion. Their bosses didn’t like how they behaved at times, but the two had the best arrest record in the department. Countless criminals had been taken off the streets because of these two, and that record looked good on paper. And so, because of this, they ran rough shod over criminals and colleagues alike. They were feared but also respected by their co-workers.

       O’Reilly, followed by Miller, left after a moment or two more and proceeded down the hall. No sooner had they left than Ryan Cooke, the young officer, turned to Hawkins and said in a somewhat loud and irritated voice. “What a piece of work that is.” referring to Sean. “What an asshole. Does he think we aren’t capable of doing our job without him giving us shit? Big arrogant prick!”

       "Shut up, for Christ’s sake. He’ll hear you and we’ll both be in trouble.”

       "I don’t give a shit if he hears me or not. I’ve been on the force for years and I know how to look after a prisoner, especially one who is comatose.”

       No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the two of them heard foot steps coming towards them from out in the hall. Sean strode into the room and before the two officers had time to react, he struck Cooke across the face with the back of his hand, hard enough to split his lip and cause blood to spray onto the near wall. The force of the blow knocked Ryan back a step or two.

       Sean grabbed the young officer by the collar and yanked him towards himself. Hawkins was about to intervene, but Miller held his arm to restrain him. “Better leave it alone, son. You don’t want to get involved with this.”

       Hawkins protested, “He can’t treat another officer like that.”

       Miller insisted. “Leave it alone son You don’t want a piece of Sean, especially at a time like this. Just let it be.”

       Hawkins was about to say something else, but thought better of it. He just stood there and watched. He knew there was nothing he could do to help his partner, even if he had wanted to.

       Sean was still holding Ryan’s collar and he had pulled him so that his face was within inches of his own. “Got something on your mind, you piece of crap? If you say one more word, I’ll knock your teeth down your throat. That shit head over there is on the ten most wanted list. I don’t give a fuck if you like how I talk to you or not. If he escapes custody, it’ll be your badge on the line. Do you understand me, or do I have to knock some sense into you?” Sean’s face was starting to turn a dark shade of red, almost purple and Miller thought that he was going to strike the boy again.

       Ryan had enough sense to not antagonize Sean further and said nothing. Sean shook him by the collar once more and then released him. The flushness in his face slowly subsided and he stood there for what seemed like an eternity before speaking again.

       Sean looked at the officer’s name tag. “No more of your shit Cooke. That prick is probably faking being comatose in order to try something when your guard is down. Don’t be fooled by outward appearances. Too many people have trusted him and now they are dead by his hand, including, I think his mother and foster mother who were killed several years ago. He’s one sick puppy who snaps when least expected. He’s also suspect in recent heinous crimes against two or more people. Like I said, if you fuck this up, you’ll lose your badge, pension and everything you’ve worked so hard to get.”

       Cooke was visibly shaken by his man handling from Sean and when he spoke, his voice had a slight quiver to it. “I apologize for my mouthing off sir. I’ve had a long day and my wife’s at home sick. I’m concerned about her. Don’t worry sir, I, er, we’ll make sure he doesn’t try anything if he wakes. We’ll notify you right away of any changes.”

       "Make sure you do. You won’t like it if you piss me off again.” The chief inspector said menacingly.

       "Yes sir. We’ll be extra vigilant in our duties.”

       "Miller, let’s go. We’ve wasted far too much time here already.”

       "Yes sir, right behind you boss.” With that they left the room once again.

       When they were gone, Hawkins said to his still visibly shaken partner. “I tried to warn you, but you just had to go and mouth off didn’t you.” Hawkins felt a little sorry for his partner who sometimes spoke before he thought, but over all he was a good cop.

       "Yeah, I should learn to listen to you more often Hawk. I thought I was going to mess myself when he turned up at the door, let me tell you.”

       O’Reilly and Miller were still out in the hallway unbeknownst to the two young officers inside guarding their prisoner. A smile came over Sean’s face and he started to chuckle softly to himself. "Gotta keep them on their toes and always guessing. Makes better officers of them in the long run.” Sean said to Miller.

       "That you do, that you do, Sean. If nothing else, you are my hero and I will follow by your example. Anyone bothers me, I’ll shake them til their head hurts and then I’ll beat them until they respect me.” Sergeant Miller said trying to keep a straight face but then he broke out laughing.

       "Shut up you buffoon.” But then, Sean also started laughing as they continued on down the hall to get procedures against the slime ball Higgins under way.

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 49

Chapter 49

       Word got back to Sean and the others that a male had been found about five miles from where they were located. From the description that they got, it couldn’t be who they were looking for. But they had to go investigate. They spoke with Harrison for a moment and told him that they would keep him apprised of any new developments and he stated that he would as well.

       When they got to the cabin, a local ranger came out to greet them. “How yo’all doin’. I’m Ranger Bob and I’m the one that phoned yo’all about what I discovered.”

       Sean and Miller looked at each other for a moment and tried not to crack a grin. The man talking to them sounded a lot like a certain army private from an old television show from the fifties or sixties. "Hello Bob. I’m Chief Inspector O’Reilly and this is my assistant Sergeant Miller. What have you found?”

       "Well Inspector, come with me. It’s easier if I just show you rather than try to explain.” At that, he turned and led them toward the cabin. When they approached, they thought that they heard a small child talking. When they went through the door, the smell was the first thing that they noticed. It hit them like a ton of bricks.

        "Oh man” Miller spoke. “It smells like a fucking out house in here.” Miller pulled his handkerchief and put it over his nose and mouth. The smell of dead bodies never affected him the way that stale shit did. It was  strange how things can affect different individuals. The heat in the room was stifling which made the smell that much worse.

       O’Reilly looked about and noticed a person laying in the corner, covered with a blanket and seemingly talking to himself or an unseen visitor that only he could see. He approached and for a moment was taken aback by what he saw. There, laying under a wool blanket was Jake Caulder, babbling to no one in particular, but sounding a lot like a small child. His face looked like a map with roads going every which way from wounds that he had received from God only knew.

       "What the hell? Was he like this when you found him?” Sean turned and asked the ranger.

       "He was laying on the floor curled up in a tight ball. His wounds were as you see them. I just covered him with a blanket and called it in. The strangest thing when I got here other than he sounding like a small child was that there was a wolf stuck in the door with extensive trauma about the head. It looked like that fella there beat him with the leg of the table and stabbed it in its eye as well. I can’t figger how someone that is like a child could do that kind of injury to a wolf as large as that.” At that he pointed outside just past the door to where the biggest, gas bloated wolf lay that Sean had ever see.

       "Holy shit” Sean stated. “That is one big son of a bitch of a wolf, for sure. I didn’t even notice it when we pulled up. My mind was on the case at hand and not on anything else. How did you manage to get inside if the wolf was blocking the door?”

       "I managed to pry the boards off the window and climbed through. They were on so tight that it took everything I had to get them off. That poor bugger there was trapped inside this cabin with no way to get out. He wouldn’t have been able to remove them.” He pointed to Jake just to let Sean know whom he meant. “Then, I managed to shove the wolf out from inside and get the door open to air the place out. Smelled like an outhouse in here.”

       "You did a good job here Bob. I’ll be sure to let your supervisor know. You’ve found the person that we’ve been searching for. He’s on the ten most wanted list of dangerous criminals.”

       "Golly, Inspector, how could anyone in his state be a threat to anyone? Look at him. He couldn’t hurt a fly.”

       "I don’t know what has happened to him to bring him to this condition, but I can assure you that he is a very dangerous man and is believed to have committed several recent murders as well as others dating back almost fifteen years ago.”

       "Well you could have fooled me.” Bob said shaking his head and giving it a scratch at the same time.

The look on his face was almost comical and if the situation wasn’t so dire, Sean probably would have broken out laughing. But the point of the matter was, here was Jake Caulder, lying at his feet, and now he could get him incarcerated and taken off the street so that he couldn’t be a threat to any one again.

       At that moment Jake turned and spoke. “Momma, Jakie loves you. I feel safe with you. Good night momma.” And with that, Jake fell back asleep.

       Miller spoke to Sean. “What the fuck do you make of all this sir? What’s with the baby talk?”

       "Beats me, son. We’ll get him back to civilization as quick as we can and let doctors have a look at him. He is either a very good actor or he has suffered some trauma that he doesn’t seem to be able to cope with.

       "It must have been quite the ordeal back at the Taylor homestead from the look of his face. He may have gotten some of those cuts from branches in the woods, but a lot look like knife cuts and even animal bites. We’ll get him air lifted to hospital and get treatment started right away. Two guards will be posted at his door round the clock.

       "Don’t forget that we’ll need a sample of his blood for DNA testing. I haven’t forgotten about that slime ball sheriff Higgins. I want there to be a match so that we can start to prosecute him for the rape of Maggie Caulder and the murder of her husband. In one way or another, he’s going to pay for setting those four goons after us.” Sean remembered the attack that Higgins orchestrated and spat on the floor.

        "Yeah, I almost forgot about that shit head as well.” Miller concurred. “We’ll get on that straight away boss.”

        Sean turned and thanked Bob once again. Then he and Miller went outside where O’Reilly called for air lift to transport their suspect out of there and start the process of determining if he was the one responsible for all the crimes that Sean thought he was guilty of. He hung up the phone and then punched in Inspector Harrison’s number from the card that he had given Sean.

       "Inspector, O’Reilly here. Just wanted to let you know that we have our man in custody. You can shut down the man hunt. Thank all those that helped that they have my utmost gratitude.”

       The line crackled for a moment and then Harrison spoke. “That’s great  Chief Inspector. Glad to have been of service. If you’re in these parts again, drop by and we’ll go for a beer or something.”

       "Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” He hung up and turned to Bob once more. “Again, our thanks to your efforts in this. It is most appreciated.”

“Aw shucks” Bob said. “It was nothin.” He stood there with a sheepish look on his face almost like a lost puppy.

        It was too much for Sean and Miller to take. They both started to laugh until their sides ached. Bob stood there for a moment, gave his head another scratch and then he too started laughing. Sean thought to himself that Bob was just a good ol' boy with a heart of gold but one hell of an officer and he would be glad to have him on his team if he ever decided to quit his present job. Just then, they heard the sound of an approaching chopper. Sean and Miller again shook hands with Bob and then went to meet the incoming air craft.

       "Sergeant, you drive the car to the hospital and meet me there. I’ll go with the chopper and stay with Caulder until we get the guard set up. I don’t want this little prick having a chance at escaping. I think he’s putting on an act but I can’t be sure.”

       "Okay boss” Miller said “I’ll see you there.”

       "Good, see you soon.” With that Sean got into the chopper after Jake had been loaded aboard and strapped in. After a moment, the helicopter took off, leaving Miller in its dust storm from the beating of the props. He got in the car and he too raised a cloud of dust as he sped away.

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 48

Chapter 48

         The net was established and for the first day nothing much happened. On the second day, a forest ranger happened upon the hunting lodge with Jake inside. Ranger Bob drove up to the cabin in his 4 by 4 and could hardly believe what he was seeing. A wolf was laying part way into the cabin with its head apparently stuck in the door. He approached cautiously and called out to see if any one was about. At first he heard nothing but then he thought he heard what sounded like a child’s voice coming from inside.

        The wolf was definitely dead and the smell emanating from it was almost unbearable. Flies buzzed about his ears as he tried moving the corpse from the doorway so that he could get inside to investigate what was making the noise from within.

        He called out again, but all that he heard was the muffled gibberish that a baby would make. He tried pushing on the door to force it open, but something on the inside was stopping it from moving. He attempted to pull the wolf away from the door once more, but its head seemed to be wedged solidly in the opening and it didn’t budge at all. The body was bloated from gases having formed after the animal had died, causing the carcass to form a solid block stopping entry inside.

       Bob looked around, and after a moment, noticed the boarded up window. He thought that if he could pry the wood off, he could crawl through and determine what or who might be seemingly trapped within.

He went back to his vehicle and got a pry bar from the tool box. Working in this forested area required each ranger to be fully equipped with a well stocked kit, because you never knew what may arise and if a hiker or someone else ran into trouble, it was the ranger’s responsibility to help out until aid arrived, which could be several hours because the forest around here was so thick that not many vehicles came by.

        He took the lever over and started to pry on the wood. It held fast at first, and he didn’t think that he was going to have any success in removing the pieces, but after a few moments, a loud creaking sound could be heard and the first board came away and clattered to the ground. After that, the going got a little easier. Whoever had put these boards on wanted to make sure that they stayed in place in case a storm came up. By the time he had removed them all, he was soaked in sweat and his shoulder muscles screamed in agony.

        Within a few moments, the pain subsided and he peered through the open window. It was like night time inside and at first nothing could be seen. As his eyes became accustomed to the light, he could see something in the corner and the same strange noise was coming from there.

        He took his flash light from his belt and shone it in that direction. At first, it didn’t register what he was looking at, whether it was human or animal. In a few moments he realized that what he was looking at was indeed a man, or at least he thought it was a man. The person was curled up in a ball, and appeared to be talking to himself or to someone that only he could see. The fact of the matter was that he didn’t seem to be saying anything comprehensible. In a moment or two, Bob realized that he sounded like a small child who was talking to perhaps his mother who seemed to be comforting him.

       "Momma, Jakie feels happy. I love you momma.” Jake spoke to the unseen person. “Jakie is tired momma. I want to sleep.” At this Jake closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

​       A chill went up Bob’s spine. How could someone with such a low level of intelligence be out here all by himself? He sounded like a child of no more than two or three. At further examination, he saw that there were multiple lacerations all over the poor person’s body, and he was covered in blood and Bob was sure, excrement as well.

        Bob leaned away and broke the window to gain entry into the cabin. After cleaning the remaining glass from the frame he crawled inside. Even though Bob was about fifteen feet away from Jake, he could smell him from across the room. He did in fact smell like he had fouled himself and his body odor almost made the ranger sick.

       Bob didn’t think that this could possibly be the villain that everyone was so desperate to catch, but he had to call it in. This was more than he could handle himself. He went back to his vehicle, made the call and then went back into the room to see if he could offer any help to this poor soul trapped inside.

​

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 47

Chapter 47

       O’Reilly and Sergeant Miller arrived at the Taylor shack a little past three in the afternoon. As soon as their plane had touched down, they thanked the pilot once again and raced to their car. It seemed like an eternity to get to their destination, but in fact it was little more than an hour. As they got near, a police officer stopped them and approached the car. As soon as O’Reilly showed him identification, the officer let them pass.

       There were police cars all over the place and the local media was there as well, but they were being held behind police barricades. O’Reilly pulled the car to the side of the road and he and Miller got out.

The sun was beating down, causing heat waves to rise in the distance. There was a stink to the air that made O’Reilly’s nose twitch.

       "That’s the smell of death in the air, Sergeant.”

       "Yes sir, it surely is.”

       Sean braced himself, and then entered the building. The stench from in there was much stronger, and the buzzing of flies seemed to be like a motor humming a constant irritating noise in the room. Cooper had been right in his saying that it was like a war zone. Besides the three dead Taylors, it seemed that body parts were strewn everywhere that the eye could see. At closer examination, the remnants appeared to have bite marks in a good number of them. O’Reilly wondered what animal may have caused these but he suspected that when examined, it would become clear that they were in fact caused by human, or what was supposed to be human.

       Sean thought he had seen it all in the years on the force, but just when he thought that, something would happen to change his mind. How the hell in this day and age could anyone find pleasure in consuming another person. He shook his head. The world was surely a fucked up place.

       They continued roaming about the “war zone” until they spotted the man who appeared to be in charge. He was bent over one of the bodies and was talking to, Sean assumed, the forensic expert. O’Reilly went over and introduced himself.

       "I’m Chief Inspector O’Reilly and this is my assistant Sergeant Miller.”

       The man stood up and shook Sean’s hand. "I’m Detective Harrison, Inspector. This is our local coroner, Doctor Sumner. Welcome to Kentucky. We were notified of your coming and were told to cooperate as best we could.”

       "That would be appreciated. We think that whoever caused the deaths of the Taylors is a suspect in an on going investigation. What can you tell me about their deaths?”

       "It appears that the first was bitten by what looks like a rat to the jugular vein and bled out. The old man and the other appear to have been attacked and bludgeoned with what is most likely the tire iron on the floor over there. Their faces, or what is left of them, are nothing more than bloody pulps. Whoever did this has a lot of rage inside of him. He really beat the shit out of these two literally. The old one is lying in his own excrement. His bowels must have let loose before he died. It just adds to the horrific stench already present from all the dead body parts.”

       "Yeah, this is one for the books, that’s for sure. Our suspect’s M.O. fits these crimes pretty well. He has killed, we think, several people, starting with his mother several years ago, in much the same way that these victims died. These three seem to be vile creatures and he may have done the world a favor by killing them, but the point of the matter is, he’s at large and we have got to find him before more innocents meet the same fate.”

       "I agree. Anything that we can do to help let me know.”

       "The first thing I would like you to do is set up a police net in a ten mile radius. It doesn’t look like these men have been dead for a great deal of time, and with a little luck, we may catch him nearby.”

       The doctor stood and after a moment spoke.” Inspector, you might be on the right track. The murders appear to have happened no more than a few hours ago. If whoever did this is on foot, he couldn’t have gotten too far.”

       "Thank you, doctor.” Harrison spoke. “Chief Inspector, we’ll get the net set up with every available officer from my office and all surrounding vicinities. We’ll help you catch him, you can be sure of that. We’ll set it up and start making it smaller and smaller until we snare him like a wild animal in a trap.

       "We didn’t see any tire tracks around so it appears that he probably is on foot. The woods around here are so thick that he won’t be able to have traveled too far. There’s nothing around here but the occasional hunter’s cabin and a ranger station or two. We’ll get officers out to all of them to check those out as well. Any thing else that I can do, just let me know.”

       "Thanks, I appreciate it. I feel our luck is about to change and we’ll get a break. Let’s hope so. What about all these body parts around? What do you make of it?”

       "It is bizarre, I agree. We had reports a few years back about an occasional disappearance of people and we talked to the Taylors back then, to see if they knew anything about it. They said that they had seen nothing and everything seemed in order out here. We even searched their place a time or two when more people went missing. Again, nothing was found. We did find an old still or two and wrote them up about it, but other than that, everything seemed in order.

       "Over time, they must have started getting careless, because no body parts had been found, obviously. If they had, the three would have been locked up. It appears that they just didn’t care whether they left remains around or not. I don’t know.

       "They were one fucked up family, that’s for sure. Cannibalism seems to be unbelievable, I agree, but it sure looks like they were involved in that or some ritualistic slaughter. We’ll get all the remains back to the morgue where the doctor can examine them further and maybe we’ll be able to identify some of them. There are quite a few scattered about.”

       Just then, a uniformed officer came in and spoke to Harrison. “Sir we just found body parts in amongst the potato patch out back. It seems that these were the same potatoes that they were making their moonshine from.” A disgusted look was on the officer’s face.

       "Thank you officer.”

       At that, the officer went outside, and from inside, he could be heard throwing up. The smell of fresh vomit added to the already unbearable stench surrounding them. He came back inside and said. “Sorry sir, I tried to control myself but it’s just too much for me.”

       "It’s okay son, we all feel the same way. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

       "Thank you, sir. I’m alright now.”

       He left and went to check the property further. “Poor kid. He’s only been with the force for a few months and then he ends up in the middle of shit like this. I hope he doesn’t quit over it. He’ll make a good officer.” Detective Harrison reflected and then fell silent.

       "He’ll probably have nightmares for sure, like a lot of us had when we were starting out, but like most junior officers, he’ll be able to harden himself to the sickness and just get on with the job as best as he can.” O’Reilly added.

       "I hope you’re right. It’d be a shame to lose him.”

       Just then, another officer came in and asked that they come out to the shed. He said that it looked like a torture chamber out there. They followed him out back and opened the door to the shed. A stale smell of urine and shit hit them as they entered. Blood covered most of the floor and was splattered along the walls.

       "What the fuck.” Harrison swore. “It looks like this is where they butchered their unfortunate victims.”

       "Yeah it does.” O’Reilly agreed. “Caulder, our suspect, must have come across the Taylors when his car broke down and they probably locked him in here. They didn’t realize what type of animal Caulder was, and he must have managed to get loose and killed the two of them. They would have been distracted when the one got bitten by what looks like a rat. It was the chance that Jake needed. He took it and struck out with a vengeance.”

       "You say that he killed his other victims in a similar fashion?” Harrison asked.

       "That’s what it looks like.” O’Reilly stated. He proceeded to relate Jake’s sordid past and all his recent murders that they suspected him of.

       "Man, he seems like some kind of unstable son of a bitch. Let’s get that net set up and hope that we catch this mother fucker before he causes more grief for any one else.”

       "I agree with you 100%.” O’Reilly stated and Sergeant Miller nodded his agreement as well. With that, Harrison went to phone to get things going to help O’Reilly and Miller catch their man.

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 46

Chapter 46

​       Jake lay slumped in the corner tossing and turning fitfully. Grotesque images invaded his dreams, causing him to whimper in fear and revulsion. It seems that he was destined to have these specters haunt him relentlessly, driving him into madness from which there would be no return.

​       His mother, Mrs. Caulder, looked at Jake with a hole in her head and brain matter seeping through. It appeared at first that she was about to hug her little Jakie, and he relaxed as she approached. She raised her hands in a friendly gesture, nearing her loving son, but at the last moment, her fingers changed into daggers which she used to rake across his face.

​       He screamed, but no one could hear. He was locked in his nightmare with no where to run. All of a sudden, it wasn’t his loving mother but old man Taylor who struck again and again with the six inch blades that protruded where his fingers should be.

​       Strange gut wrenching noises were coming from Jake as he was slashed continually. To Jake, this was real as anything he had ever experienced. Just as quick as it had appeared, Taylor’s image disappeared. Then more visions, some familiar, some unknown came at him from all directions at the same time it seemed. All had one thing in common. They all had destroyed faces, or more correctly, partial faces, and all were intent on making his life a living hell if only in his dreams.

​       Next, Jacobs, his former and now dead boss, appeared with a tire iron in his hand. He seemed to be beckoning for Jake to come closer. Caulder tried backing away, not liking the demented look upon the vision’s face, but he was unable to move. It felt like his feet were firmly planted in a bucket of cement. The harder he tried to move, the more the cement held him firmly in place.

​       Jacobs let out a shriek like a banshee, and lunged across the room, swinging the iron as he came. The last thing he saw was the weapon inches before his face. The old man struck repeatedly and then disappeared from sight.

​       Jake woke with a start, his head aching terribly. He tried to focus his eyes, tying to remember where he was. At first everything was a blur, and then it came to him. He was in the old shack, with the wolf dead at the door. How the fuck could his head be aching so if he had just been having another of his nightmares.

​He reached up and touched the side of his head and winced with pain. When he pulled his hand away, fresh blood covered his fingers, dripping to the floor.

​       "What the hell? How can this be? It was only a dream for Christ’s sake.”  

​       The truth of the matter was, Jake had thrashed about so violently in his tormented state that he had smashed his head against the wall, opening up a two to three inch gash. But in Jake’s mind, it must have been Jacobs who actually had visited him and beaten him.

​       Jake looked about to see if his tormentor was still in the room, but he was alone. However, he thought that he must be here somewhere, lurking in the shadows, waiting to attack him again if he fell asleep. He couldn’t differentiate reality from fantasy anymore it seemed. Every noise sent fear through him, thinking another of his apparitions had come to life and had arrived to extract revenge upon poor Jake, who in his own mind had never hurt any one and he did not deserve to be treated so vilely.

​       Another noise came from the doorway. He turned with a start and he thought he saw the wolf  struggling to get free from the door which had imprisoned him. Grabbing the leg of the table once more, Jake rushed at the door and again began pummeling the wolf but there was no need for this. The wolf was truly dead with flies buzzing about and maggots crawling inside its open wounds. To Jake though, the creature was just feigning death, and was waiting for the opportunity when Jake fell asleep to pounce and rip his throat out.

​       Satisfying himself that the wolf was in fact dead this time, Jake dropped his weapon to the floor. It clattered as it hit; this made Jake jump as well. Every little noise, no matter how insignificant it would have been to a rationally thinking person was to Jake a warning that another ghost was preparing to do him bodily harm.

       He started spinning about, trying to catch a glimpse of an attacker that might be sneaking up on him at this very moment. He spun faster and faster until he became dizzy and disorientated. He reeled across the room, and crashed into the broken table and sprawled to the floor. He started to let out a scream, and continued screaming and screaming, the pitch becoming higher and higher all the time.

      The noise was so loud and eerie, that nearby birds took flight, fearful that something was going to attack and devour them. Jake continued doing this for what seemed like an eternity before stopping, laying there and panting like a wounded animal.

       His breathing started to slow, and the most pitiable sound was emanating from him. It sounded not unlike the noise a tiny creature would make if its leg had been caught in some hunter’s trap. He kept this up for a bit and then became quiet. He curled up into the fetal position and started sucking his thumb. Thoughts, now pleasant, came to him, thoughts of better times when life was simple. His mother, her face whole, appeared and came to him and held him tight.

       He relaxed, comforted at last by his mother. He had retreated into himself, to the time when he was little more than an infant. Jake’s madness had become full blown. The mind can only withstand so much abuse, and then it will set up a protective barrier in which to be able to cope. This was the case with Jake. Without help, he would probably never return from his infantile state. But, if you could ask him, he would probably tell you that life didn’t get any better than right now. His mother would protect him and that’s all that really mattered.

       He made a soft cooing sound, much like a contented infant, and fell into a seemingly quiet, peaceful sleep, the first good sleep he had had in what seemed like a very long time.

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 45

Chapter 45

​       The Pekin sheriff was waiting for them as their plane taxied on the runway. O’Reilly looked out the window and breathed deeply. They had called ahead to apprise the local officials of their investigation and they seemed more than willing to cooperate. At least, on the phone they seemed alright with the situation.

​       "Sergeant, let’s hope that this officer is a little more congenial than Higgins was. I don’t want to have to go through that kind of shit again. If he turns out to be another asshole, I think I’ll just shoot the bastard right off the bat and be done with it.”

​        "Yes sir, inspector. Just pull out your magnum 44 and put one right between his eyes. Teach him and all the locals to respect you.” Miller said as a smile came across his face.

​       "Yup, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll put the gun to his head and blow his brains all over your nice clean suit.” O’Reilly said menacingly and then both he and the Sergeant broke out laughing. “I couldn’t do that. Your suit is already dirty. No sense in shooting a hole in him if its just going to add to the mess your suit is already in. Who would notice? Can’t put the fear of god into anyone if someone’s brains are displayed on a dirty suit. Gotta be clean for the proper effect.”

       At this, they both started laughing until their sides started to hurt. “At least, inspector, we can still maintain our senses of humor at times like this.” Miller stated as he started to contain himself.

       "Yes sergeant, we still have our humor to get us through.” Just then, the door opened and the pilot came back and told them that they had arrived fifteen minutes ahead of schedule.

       "Thank you, captain. The trip was quite relaxing. Just what the doctor ordered, so to speak. It gave us time to collect our thoughts and think about what we are going to do next.”

       "My pleasure, sir. I can stay for a few hours before I have to fly back. If you are done here before then, you can hitch a ride if you want.” The three of them shook hands and then Miller and O’Reilly disembarked and headed for their escort. As they neared the police car, they were approached by the sheriff and his deputy.

       "Good afternoon gentlemen. I’m Sheriff Turner of the Pekin Police department and this is my deputy, Bill Bradley.”

       O’Reilly shook hands with the two men and Miller did the same. After they introduced themselves, they got into the car and drove from the airport in Peoria to the Pekin police station. As they got out, O’Reilly looked up and down the street. It seemed just like every other small town that he had known. No one ever caused problems except the local kids on a Saturday night, but for the most part, it appeared quite pleasant.

       They entered Turner’s office and sat down around a large desk that looked like it was made from teak or another exotic wood. Sean couldn’t tell, but it was highly polished with just a hint of lemon. The office was paneled with a rich looking wood, which gave it a warm inviting feel to it.

       The chairs that they were sitting on were made from a rust colored leather. Sean looked around appreciatively, but also wondered how a small town sheriff could afford such luxuries on his salary. Maybe this Turner wasn’t as clean as he liked to portray himself.

       The sheriff noticed O’Reilly admiring his office and seemed to be reading his thoughts. “Inspector, I see you have good taste. This is my sanctuary. I can come in here and unwind when things get too hectic. I couldn’t afford something as extravagant as this on my salary as you must be aware.

       "There was a mansion owned by a recluse a few years back. I had helped him with a few problems over time and to show his appreciation, he stated in his will that his study should be dismantled and the paneling put up in my office. The desk and chairs were an added bonus.

       "It almost seems too much for a small town sheriff such as myself, but the gentleman knew that I enjoyed sitting in his study, and so he made it possible for me to enjoy it long after his death.” A contented look came over his face as he fell silent for a moment.

        O’Reilly felt ashamed at suspecting Turner being dirty but said nothing. He sat there for a moment and was just about to talk about the pressing matter at hand when there was a knock at the door.

       "Enter” Turner spoke. The door opened noiselessly and an elderly woman came in with a tray of coffee and tea. She set it down and turned to leave.

       "Thank you Mrs. Duncan. Efficient as always. That will be all.”

       "Yes sir. If you need anything else, just call.”

       "I will. Thanks again.” At that Mrs. Duncan turned and slowly walked out and shut the door behind her.

       "Mrs. Duncan. She’s such a kind old soul. I don’t have the heart to let her go. She’s been around for ever as far as I can remember. She gets coffee and does some cleaning around here. I think she feels like I’m the son she never had.” Turner reflected and then sat silent once again.

       After a bit O’Reilly spoke. “Sheriff, we called you because one of your former residents is suspect in an ongoing investigation. He was only a child at the time when he lived here, but we need to talk to his adoptive mother to see if she might know where we could find him.”

      "What’s his name?"

       "His name is Caulder, Jake Caulder and he was adopted by a Mrs. Keller. We need to speak to her to find out if she has heard from him lately. He is the prime suspect in recent murders and we have got to get to him as quickly as possible as you can well imagine. He would have resided here about ten to twelve years ago.”

       The sheriff looked shocked. “Inspector, you won’t be able to talk with Mrs. Keller. About thirteen years ago, she was found murdered with her head caved in. When the authorities got there, they found Jake sitting there covered in her blood. The case is still unsolved. It was assumed that a vagrant killed her and then left. We figured that Jake found the body after she had been killed.

       "Mrs. Keller’s cat was also found dead in the same room. We didn’t even know that Jake was adopted.”

       O’Reilly and Miller exchanged glances and then Sean continued. “Sheriff, this is very disturbing news, very disturbing indeed. About fifteen years ago Jake was found with his dead mother, Mrs. Caulder. It was also assumed that a drifter had killed her and that Jake found her after the fact. Sounds like too much of a coincidence to me and I don’t believe in coincidences.

       "At the time of the murder, dead cats were turning up in the neighborhood. Even Mrs. Keller’s cat had been killed. And now you tell us that another of her cats was killed violently and Jake was near it when it was found. When the two of them moved, the killing of animals stopped. It has to have been Jake doing the crimes, and I would bet my last dollar on it that he is the one responsible for the recent murders as well.”

       "It certainly sounds like he is the one you are looking for. What has happened recently to make him a suspect and bring him to your attention?”

       "A few days ago he was fired from his job and then hours later his boss, who fired him, was found murdered with his head severely beaten. A couple of days later a trucker who ate at a diner that Jake was at was found in a similar condition. God only knows how much more destruction and mayhem he has caused.”

       Sheriff Turner sat there for a moment and then stood. Sean and Miller stood as well. “Inspector, I think I have given you all the information that I know. If anything else turns up, I’ll call you right away.”

       "That would be great if you could. You’ve been a lot of help. Here’s my card if you can think of anything else that might help in the case.” He handed the sheriff his card.

       "I’ll have my deputy drive you back to the air port.”

       "Thanks, that would be appreciated.”

       He walked them to the door. “Let me know how the investigation is progressing when you get a chance. It would be good to tie up loose ends on the Keller case.”

       "I will and thanks again. Thank Mrs. Duncan for her hospitality. She’s a real sweet heart.”

       "She’ll be glad to hear that. She tries to make people feel at home. Have a safe trip inspector. Talk to you soon.”

       They stepped out into the afternoon glare and the sheriff shut the door behind them. "Looks like that’s all the proof we need boss." Miller reflected.

       "The evidence seems to be pretty solid. Let’s get going and when we get air borne we’ll give Officer Cooper a call to see if anything constructive has come from the APB that we had him put out.”

       "Sounds good.” They got into the car and the deputy sped as fast as he could to get them on their way.

When they were on the plane, Sean called out to the pilot. “Captain Smith, if you can shave fifteen minutes off of our trip time here on the way back, there’ll be a bottle of scotch in it for you.”

       "No problem inspector. We’ve got a tail wind all the way back. I don’t need the scotch, thanks. Just glad to help you get your job done.”

       "We’ll see.” Sean said. He put his feet up, and started to relax almost at once. Again, his thoughts drifted to Cindy Stevens. He would definitely have to take her out when this was all settled. A smile came over his face and he drifted asleep, grabbing what peace he could before the chase began again.

       Sean had only been asleep for a few moments when Miller awoke him. He had placed a call to Cooper to check on the APB. “Boss, I just got off the phone with Coop. He said that Caulder’s car was found abandoned on a country road an hour north of Lexington, Kentucky near Williamstown, off the I75. About a mile up the road, there is an old shack owned by a moon shiner named Taylor and his two sons. The local cops went to see if they had seen our suspect or knew of his where abouts. Coop said that it looks like a war zone.

       "He didn’t go into too much detail but he said that it looks like our boy Caulder was there not too long ago. All three of the Taylors are dead, two of them with bashed in skulls and the third dead from what looks like some kind of bite to the throat. There’s more but he said we better get over there as quick as possible.”

       O’Reilly sat up. It looked like the trail which a few minutes ago appeared to be getting cold, had started to heat up again. All thoughts of Cindy had faded from his mind as he started thinking about what awaited them when they got to the Taylor homestead.