The next morning at 6am, the insistent ringing of his phone awakened Xander. His eyes sleepily blinked open, and he reached one arm out to grab it. He blindly fumbled for it before his finger touched cold plastic, and he picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" he mumbled with a voice still gravelly from sleep.
A stern voice snarled back, "Alright, who the hell is this? Is this some kind of prank?"
Xander sat up, and replied, "Is this Robert Winters?"
"Yes, it is. Who the hell is this?"
"Uh, sir, you don't know me, but I was doing some research into the Herschel case."
"The what? What are you? A cop?"
"Uh, no, this is Alexander Harris, sir. I was just wondering what you could tell me about it."
"What? I don't know what you're talking about." The voice vehemently replied.
Xander leaned forward and insisted, "Sir, you are Robert Winters? Who used to know a Catherine Byrne Herschel?"
The voice then said, "No, wait a second… My grandfather had mentioned something about a Catherine once." Xander felt a sinking feeling at the past tense used in the sentence.
"Mentioned? I'm guessing he's dead?" Xander asked even as he thought, *Damn, what now?*
"Yes, died back in 1979. Why? What is this all about?"
"Uh, never mind. Sorry to have disturbed you, sir." He quickly put the receiver down in the cradle again, and sat there thinking. Dead, so can't get information there. Not unless you resurrect them , like Buffy. And that was one time thing, and he really didn't want to go through all that again. Especially the psycho body-jumping creature feature that came after them. Plus, the urn was broken anyway, so no, nothing there. So what did that leave? It's not like you can call up heaven or hell on the telephone… wait a second…. A thought then occurred to him. Yeah, that just might work, but how?
"Hello?" he mumbled with a voice still gravelly from sleep.
A stern voice snarled back, "Alright, who the hell is this? Is this some kind of prank?"
Xander sat up, and replied, "Is this Robert Winters?"
"Yes, it is. Who the hell is this?"
"Uh, sir, you don't know me, but I was doing some research into the Herschel case."
"The what? What are you? A cop?"
"Uh, no, this is Alexander Harris, sir. I was just wondering what you could tell me about it."
"What? I don't know what you're talking about." The voice vehemently replied.
Xander leaned forward and insisted, "Sir, you are Robert Winters? Who used to know a Catherine Byrne Herschel?"
The voice then said, "No, wait a second… My grandfather had mentioned something about a Catherine once." Xander felt a sinking feeling at the past tense used in the sentence.
"Mentioned? I'm guessing he's dead?" Xander asked even as he thought, *Damn, what now?*
"Yes, died back in 1979. Why? What is this all about?"
"Uh, never mind. Sorry to have disturbed you, sir." He quickly put the receiver down in the cradle again, and sat there thinking. Dead, so can't get information there. Not unless you resurrect them , like Buffy. And that was one time thing, and he really didn't want to go through all that again. Especially the psycho body-jumping creature feature that came after them. Plus, the urn was broken anyway, so no, nothing there. So what did that leave? It's not like you can call up heaven or hell on the telephone… wait a second…. A thought then occurred to him. Yeah, that just might work, but how?