See part 1 for disclaimer…
Part 9
"I know what you're thinking, but it's really not what it seems," Kruger told them, when faced by the evidence, "Colonel Drake helped me. If it weren't for him, I'd probably be dead by now…I was on a path of self-destruction."
"You weren't angry at him?" Mac asked him.
"Maybe at the time, but once I'd had chance to get my head right, no," Kruger maintained.
"How do you mean 'get your head right'?" Harm asked.
"I've been in cognitive-behavioural therapy for years, now," the young man admitted without shame, "It's helped me put my problems in the past and carry on with my life. But I keep that article in my locker to remind me of how far I've come, since then."
Later on, after the interview, Mac asked Harm, "You believe him?"
Harm just shrugged.
"Maybe he is telling the truth; people can turn themselves around," Mac commented, she knew a lot about that herself, "But then again, maybe he's just a good actor."
Harm nodded, considering both possibilities, "It does seem rather random to kill the child of the person you bear a grudge against. But then again, he may feel as if Drake stole his teenage years. Perhaps he wanted Drake to see how it felt."
"But Drake was so sick he could barely comprehend what had happened," Mac pointed out.
"Kruger might not have known about the Colonel's precarious health status," Harm pointed out, "Or, we could be looking at the wrong person."
"Is anybody else on our list?" Mac asked.
"How about the carer?" Harm suggested.
"He was probably going to get money, anyway, when the colonel died," Mac replied, "What could he possibly have to gain by killing Cassie Drake?"
Harm mulled it over, then concluded, "I know, most people have described her as being like a daughter to him. That makes no sense either."
That left them with only the two suspects and a monumental case of frustration.
OOOO
Mac had very bizarre dreams, that night. Perhaps it was the stress, perhaps the coffee that she had before going to bed. Whatever it was, Mac knew that she definitely wouldn't be repeating it the next night.
In her dream, she was following closely behind Cassandra Drake, across the fields of the airbase, behind the shooting range. Strangely, Cassandra was wearing a pair of brown leather gloves. As they got further across the field, the wind picked up and blew Cassandra's hair around, the blondstreaks catching the sunlight. Asher hairwhipped about her face, the girl turned to look at Mac, poignantly.
Suddenly, Jeremy Baker appeared from behind her, taking each of her hands and pulling the leather gloves off, kissing each of her hands in turn and dropping the gloves to the ground. Then the two teenagers were gone and all that was left was a pair the leather gloves, lying in the grass. Mac woke up in a sweat.
"Whew!" she thought, "No more coffee before bed for me, in future."
OOOO
The next day passed without smoothly, until lunchtime. They returned to the Drake household, hoping to ask Timothy some more questions. Unfortunately, he was extremely busy with tending to Colonel Drake, who was now gravely ill.
So, they would have to save their questions for another day. The questions related to some of Cassie's friends and schoolmates, whom they were no longer allowed to question. But if Timothy could give some more information on them, they might be able to uncover something concrete. So, they left, only to receive a call from Cassandra's principal to inform them that Jeremy Baker had not turned up for school that morning. A call had been placed to his parents, who insisted that Jeremy had set off, meaning to go to school, but had somehow not made it there. It seemed to make no sense, as Jeremy had football practice after school. He missed that too, something previously unheard of.
OOOO
The day after that was Cassandra Drake's funeral service, so their investigation was suspended for the day. They wanted to pay their respects at the funeral and most people involved with the case would probably also be there. They didn't manage to make it into the church, because it was so packed with mourners, so they stood outside the church, along the sidewalk, with many of the kids from Cassie's school and paid their respects as the coffin in the hearse passed by. The atmosphere was very emotionally charged, so Harm and Mac decided to give the case a break for the rest of the day. Once the service inside the church was over, Cassie's principal came out with a large envelope and explained that, in light of what most people thought that Cassie would want, there would be few flowers at the graveside. Instead, he explained, it was asked that any donations be made towards MS Research, instead. Harm and Mac thought that it was a thoughtful sentiment. After that, everyone in the church filed out, the coffin was carried out by pall-bearers and loaded back into the hearse. As it pulled away at a slow speed, a long line formed behind it, to accompany it to the nearby cemetery. Harm and Mac knew that it was unlikely that they would make it to the graveside service either. Later that evening, as many people still made their way to the recently filled-in graveside and left flowers, Harm and Mac did the same. It seemed appropriate under the tragic circumstances.
OOOO
Mac dreamed again that night. This time, she was in the Drake household, in the master bedroom. Cassandra was seated at her father's bedside and was holding his hand. With her free hand, she lovingly stroked the hair back from the prematurely aged face. Then, she halted and turned to look straight at Mac. A tear rolled down one cheek as, again, a strong wind began to blow. Mac never questioned the fact that a strong breeze was blowing inside the house, it seemed to make perfect sense in this dream. Cassandra was mouthing something loudly, but over the breeze, Mac could not hear it. The wind was whipping Cassandra's words away from her before they were barely out of Cassandra's mouth.
OOOO
The next day, they were called and informed that Colonel James Drake had passed away during the night.
"It was expected," Admiral Basingstoke told them, "We didn't expect that he'd survive long without his daughter. He was in a fragile enough condition to begin with. Cassie's death just accelerated things. But because the death occurred in the home, a post-mortem and autopsy will be performed by this evening. I'll make sure you get the results once they come through."
They both thanked the admiral for his help, before placing a call to General Cresswell. After informing him of what little progress they had made over the next few days, they informed him of Colonel Drake's death. They could tell that he was not happy about the state the case was in, but the man did not actually come out and say it.
Afterwards, Mac told Harm about the dreams she had had the previous two nights and how much they were now disturbing her.
"So, when you had your more recent one, it seemed to involve the Colonel and Cassie was trying to tell you something?" he asked, his voice neutral.
"Yes," Mac nodded.
"And in the first one, she disappeared along with Jeremy Baker?"
Mac nodded again.
"Do you think he's dead, like Cassie's father?"
"I don't know…"
She hadn't thought of that.
"Do you think your dreams were predicting death?"
Mac didn't really want to hear this right now, maybe she had already considering the possibility unconsciously, and she was especially disturbed by hearing it said aloud. To hear it from Harm's mouth just plainscared her.
"I don't know," she replied softly, shaking her head, as if the banish the thought.
OOOO
Sure enough, they got a call the next morning to tell them that Jeremy Baker had been found dead in the nearby woods, by his own hand. He had been dead since the day he had disappeared.
"This just keeps getting worse and worse," Mac softly shook her head.
At least, she thought to herself, she had not had any dreams the night before. That was a positive sign.
"The sheriff said that Jeremy left a note," Harm filled Mac in, "But not claiming responsibility for Cassandra's murder. It simply said that he couldn't live without her, that he couldn't face her funeral. He asked that we find the person who did this to her."
"So does that rule him out?" Mac asked.
"Technically, no," Harm pondered, "The sheriff still thinks it's possible. Apparently Timothy has told him that Jeremy was apparently expressing a lot of unhealthy interest in Cassandra, which he believes she didn't return. Maybe Jeremy snapped and killed her when she confronted him…"
"But if he were the killer, why not confess?" Mac insisted, "Why still hide it? He knew he was going to die and that it was unlikely that anyone was going to find him in time. He hanged himself in the middle of the woods."
Harm nodded in consideration, adding, "But this means that we're going to have to think about all of this again…"
OOOO
Later that night, they were still no closer, so they went out and got dinner, before returning to the case.
Harm had had a thought while they had been out of their quarters.
"I think we need to find that will," he told Mac, "I can't help but think that it is a loose end that we need to tie off."
"Okay," Mac nodded, "So, we go and do that, first thing tomorrow morning."
OOOO
Despite the night of respite from her unnerving dreams, Mac again dreamt of the house on Brookfield Drive. The front door was open and as Mac was making her way up the drive, Cassandra appeared at the door. Approaching the front steps, Mac looked upwards, towards the girl, seeking permission to enter. In answer, Cassie held her hand out to her. Without a word, Mac climbed the stairs, took the proffered hand and followed her as Cassandra led her inside. They walked through the front lobby, up the grand staircase and past all of the family photographs. Mac noticed that now there were a lot more of Colonel Drake. The only person who was missing from this scene was Timothy, who was nowhere to be seen, either in the pictures on the wall or in the rest of the lobby. Mac's unconscious registered this as peculiar, as he had been living as almost a member of the family, since before the late Mrs. Drake's death, nearly fourteen years before. When they reached the top of the stairs, Cassie ledher to the left and down the hallway where Mac's attention had been pulled, on their first visit here.
"Was it you who I saw that day?" Mac asked Cassandra.
Cassandra didn't say anything, but nodded, with a smile.
"You wanted me to see something?" Mac asked again.
Cassandra smiled and nodded again.
"Okay," Mac consented, "Take me and show me. I promise, I'm listening now."
Cassandra took them down the hall, to the second to last door, on the right-hand side. As she entered through the door, Mac realised that Cassandra was no longer with her. She looked back towards the hall, but Cassandra was not there, either.
"Cassie?" Mac asked and turned back to look in front of her. Cassie was standing at a large bureau pulling open the drawers.
Without questioning how she had managed to get there before her, Mac crossed the large study to join Cassie where she was standing. Cassandra shut all of the drawers again, but one, the second from the top and looked back to Mac, urgently.
"What is it?" Mac asked and peered into the drawer.
Cassandra just looked at her, expectantly. Mac caught sight of a pair of leather gloves inside the drawer, then realised that there was something underneath them. She lifted the gloves out and placed them on top of the bureau then reached in and lifted out a single sheet of paper, which was rolled up and tied with a piece of purple ribbon. Mac had some idea what it was.
"Is this what we're looking for?" she asked the girl peering intently over her shoulder.
Cassandra nodded.
"And this will lead us to the person who took your life?"
Cassandra nodded, but seemed to consider something else. She again took Mac's hand and pulled her away from the bureau. Mac quickly put the roll of paper back in the drawer where she had found it, then followed along behind Cassandra. They went into the room across the hall.
As soon as they entered, Mac knew that it was Cassandra's room. It was a mix of styles, partially that of a maturing young woman, but still retaining elements of her childhood. There was an old cross-stitch sampler, framed on the wall. Mac realised that it must have been completed by Cassandra's mother, probably soon after her child's birth.
"Cassandra Lorraine Drake," it announced, "Born 2:07pm, Saturday 15th May, 1989. Weighing 6lbs 12oz."
Various items around the room suggested that her mother had still held an important influence over her daughter's life, right up to the young girl's death; more cross-stitched samplers, old photographs of the two of them together, some old-fashioned ornaments, bedraggled, old teddy bears and a small, pristine-condition pocket bible; its white cover fancy and embroidered. Obviously, Mrs. Drake had been very skilled at arts and crafts.
"Did your mother leave this to you?" Mac asked Cassandra, softly, as she traced the lace that trimmed the edges of the cover. When she didn't get any answer, she looked up and searched the room. She found Cassandra over by the bookcase, along the opposite wall.
As Mac crossed over and joined Cassandra, she saw the girl walk her fingers over the top of the lined-up books, one at a time.
'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,' she unconsciously counted in her mind.
"What is it?" Mac asked Cassandra, "What are you trying to show me?"
Cassandra looked back at her, then moved aside so that Mac could move in and take a better look at what she had been looking at. Mac saw nothing that jumped out at her, just a book with a light-blue cover and spine, with no title or author marked along the spine. Mac counted across from the left hand side again; 'One, two, three, four, five six, seven…Yep, that's the book…'
Mac got the fright of her life when she turned back and looked over her shoulder, but found that Cassandra was againno longer there.
"Cassandra?" Mac questioned, aloud, her voice sounding strange in the empty room.
She looked around her, at the rest of the room, but Cassandra was nowhere in sight. She walked out through bedroom door and into the hallway once more, looking left first, then right. She caught sight of Cassandra standing at the door to her Father's room, peering through the doorway that was open, just slightly. Mac slowly walked down the hallway to join Cassandra, then opened her mouth to utter something. Cassandra quickly turned and put her finger to her mouth and silenced her.
Afterwards, Mac would not be able to remember what she had been about to ask her.
Cassandra indicated inside the room with her head and turned her head back to continue her observation. Mac rose up and peered over the top of Cassandra's head to look inside the room and see what Cassandra was looking at. The image had only just hit her eyes, before Mac was wakened from her sleep by her alarm clock and she gave a loud gasp of surprise.
But Mac could not for the life of her recall just what she had seen…What on earth did they do now?
OOOO