12.

~ "When I was little," Norma said happily. "I was in love with all the 'Little House on the Prairie' books."

She had lit several candles in their kitchen and was trying to cook dinner despite the gloominess.

"I used to think the pioneers were so romantic." she added. "Anne of Green Gables to. All those books where the girls lived before electricity and wore pretty dresses and hats."

She raised an amused eyebrow to see if her husband was listening.

"Before I knew better, I guess. It's no fun living without appliances." she reasoned.

Alex sensed she was saying all of this for his benefit. Maybe trying to make him smile. The kitchen was already smelling wonderfully. A special recipe of rosemary chicken that she said was 'nothing at all' to make.

Norma had insisted she make something for them as well as something for Marsh to eat down at the motel. Once she'd made her mind up, she couldn't be stopped.

"Yeah." Alex nodded and helped her by keeping her company while she cooked with very little effort. Her movements were well practiced and graceful. Her timing, effortless and it seemed like no work at all to cook.

In truth, he wasn't paying attention to anything she was saying. His mind occupied by other concerns. Replaying old events from a new angle he'd never thought about before.

He'd always assumed it was Norman. Always thought it was Norman because that's where the evidence lead. Norman just looked and acted guilty. Like he was nervous all the time.

'Women… women just were not serial killers.' Alex reminded himself. Sure it happened. But it was such a rarity that it was shocking and something to be studied for decades. Female serial killers were dysfunctional. From tragic backgrounds who were abused, emotionally, sexually and physically. They couldn't cope in society and…

'No, Norma can cope in society.' Alex reminded himself. 'She's a business owner. She has friends… she's…'

He had to think of who Norma's friends were aside from himself. Her isolation with Norman seemed to leave her little time for outside relationships. She'd come from a harsh home life, sure. That unpleasantness with her brother she was so ashamed of that lead to Dylan. But Norma had over come it. You would never guess she'd been so abused. She was so charming and pleasant.

Then again, so were most serial killers. Most serial killers got away with it for so long because they were so charming. So likable.

'Why was her robe in that suitcase?' he asked himself. 'Was Audrey Decody a guest at the motel? A guest who crossed Norma? Had hurt Norman in someway and Norma reacted like any protective mother would?'

Suddenly, like gears in a clock, things started clicking into place and Alex felt his stomach lurch.

Blair Watson. Norma had discovered her son was being seduced by his teacher. Blair was sexually abusing her son and she cut her throat out for it. No wonder Norman had passed the lie detector test. He really hadn't killed his teacher. Alex had been wrong all along. He'd always assumed it was Norman and never even looked at his mother.

He glanced at his wife and she smiled hopefully at him. She looked so bright and beautiful in the glow of candle light. The weak light of a dying winter afternoon coming through the windows making everything so pale and gray.

Norma had spitefully 'confessed' that she'd hit her late husband in the head with a blender and killed him. Alex had thought she'd just been protecting Norman. Protecting him as she always protected him, but what if she'd been telling the truth? What if Norma had killed her husband? What if she really had hit him over the head with a blender and Norman's mental illness was a convenient alibi?

Why did he never see this before?

This woman, this Audrey Decody, what if Norma had felt threatened by her? What if Norma caught her and Norman together down at the motel and killed her for it? Ordered Norman to help her get rid of the evidence.

"Alex?"

Alex looked over and saw his wife looking at him worriedly.

'Women aren't serial killers.' he reminded himself. 'My wife is not a murderer. She wouldn't hurt a fly.'

"Is something wrong?" she asked. "You've been so quite."

"No, nothing." he said quickly. "I… I just like watching you cook."

She smiled but was searching his face for the truth he was trying to hide.

'Is Norman in PineView right now because of things you did?' Alex thought.

~ Marsh was happy to get his Christmas dinner delivered to him by Alex, and even happier when the power snapped back on.

"Finally! Civilization is back!" he exclaimed.

Alex was relived to see the motel lights blaze a happy neon blue again and went into the office to turn on the 'no vacancy' sign. He didn't want to go trudging to the motel in all this snow even if they had guests.

He doubted Norma would mind.

It occurred to him, in the privacy of the office, away from the house and Norma, to make a phone call she wouldn't find out about. One to PineView to speak to Norman's doctor. Ask, just ask, if Norman had said anything about burying a suitcase.

Maybe it was innocent. It was just as innocent as Norman being odd. Burying a suitcase along with his mother's robe in some strange game that made no sense to an outsider. Still, the torn out strand of hair.

~ Alex was surprised when he was connected right away to Dr Edwards office.

"Sorry to bother you on Christmas." Romero apologized quickly. "I… just…"

"No need to be sorry." Edwards said in a soothing voice. "I'm on call. What can I help you with, Sheriff Romero?"

"Well, it's just… I know you've noticed how his mother worries." Alex fumbled and wondered where his interrogation skills went. How do you tactfully ask if your step son has told a doctor that your wife killed people?

"She does indeed. Good mothers are champion worriers." Doctor Edwards said with a touch of humor.

Alex felt that Edwards understood his dilemma. It must be easy for people to talk to someone like Edwards.

"Well, I just want to know, for my own peace of mind…" Alex started to say. "Has he talked about a former teacher named Blair Watson? Specifically about her death? It was something that really upset him after it happened. I was wondering if he'd mentioned it at all."

"Sheriff, I'm sure you know this is doctor/patient privilege." Edwards told him.

"Doctor, I need to know if I have to reopen an old murder investigation." Alex said tersely. "Did Norman Bates say anything… anything at all about Blair Watson. About who killed her?"

Alex waited. He expected the doctor to tell him all about doctor/patient privilege again but was surprised when Edwards sighed and spoke more freely.

"Not long after Norman came to us, he had an episode. Claimed his mother was insane... and was killing people. The name Blair Watson, was one of the people she supposedly killed." Edwards said. "But, I checked into it, and all these names were deaths that were resolved."

"Resolved?" Alex challenged harshly.
"Yes." Edwards told him. "Blair Watson's killer is doing twenty years in prison. Bradly Martian committed suicide."

"Bradly Martian?" Alex asked. It was a name he wasn't expecting to hear.

"Yes." Edwards said. "Norman claimed she faked her suicide and she came back. That his mother killed her to prevent him from running away with her."

Alex remembered Bradly Martian's suicide. The kind of melodramatic teen suicide that's so beautifully tragic and yet, no one remembers or cares about it in a years time.

"The other one, Audrey Decody, was missing but Norman recanted his statement about his mother being a murderer." Edwards told him.

"Audrey…"

"Decody. Yes." Edwards said. "I'm afraid it's still a long process for Norman. I'm glad his mother has decided to give him more time here."

"I'd like to see Norman." Alex said suddenly. "Talk to him."

"We don't really allow visitors-"

"I'm family and I'm law enforcement." Alex told him coldly. "Like I said. I'm investigating a possible murder."

~ Norma felt something was wrong. The air had changed between her and Alex. He wasn't her husband anymore but Sheriff Romero. It was strange how he could go back to that person. How he could change from being the person she loved and needed so much. To someone she couldn't trust. Someone she was a little afraid of.

Sheriff Romero looked angry and intense when he came back from the motel. His face somber as though he'd received troubling news. It was an expression she hadn't seen on him in a long time. Certainly not since they'd been married.

"The power's back." she said brightly. She tried to smile but felt it fall away when she saw him. His face was like stone.

"What?" she asked. "What is it?"

"Who's Audrey Decody?" he asked without preamble. His eyes cutting deeply into her and she knew that he already knew exactly who Audrey Decody was and probably what happened to her.

"She… she checked into the motel a few weeks ago. She said shes' Emma's mother." Norma said feeling slightly sick at the idea she had to carefully tell the truth.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Alex asked.
"Right after I brought Norman back from PineView." she said.

"So, a month ago. What happened?"

"She wanted me to give a letter to Emma. I said no."

"What happened then?"

"Nothing. I told her not to come up to the house anymore." Norma said feeling a panic wash over her. It was like glass ripping her veins apart. She hated the way Alex was looking at her now. Hated that he was standing so far away from her. He didn't want to touch her. Didn't reach for her. Like she was something dangerous and infected.

"The two of you argued?"

"Yes… but that was the last time I saw her." Norma said quickly. "She checked out."

"You saw her check out?"

"No, she took her things and just left. She wasn't in her room the next day."

"What kind of car was she driving?"

"She didn't have a car."

"Who picked her up?"

"I don't know."

"Norman take her anywhere?"

"Norman doesn't drive, Alex. You know that." Norma told him.

"He took Annika Johnson into the village."

"Stop." she warned. "Why are you asking about Audrey Decody?"

"She's listed as a missing person." Alex told her frankly. "The last place she was seen… was here. At this motel. By you."

~ It was like when she explained Shelby's horrible dealings at the motel two years ago. The truth spilling out of Norma so woefully and without apology that Romero knew it had to be true. She spoke about Audrey as though she were still alive to. Never the past tense. Norma still believing or hoping, instead of knowing that Audrey Decody was dead.

"She signed the guest book. Under the name Ellis I think." she explained quickly. The couple sitting in the living room much like they had the night Shelby had been shot. Norma seeming to hold nothing back, but still wanting to protect her son, even now.

"She mentioned Emma and at first, said she'd met her in the village. Then she told me she's Emma's mother. When I brought Norman back from county, she came right up to the house, asking me to give Emma this letter she'd written to her." Norma shuttered slightly and looked uneasy. "I told her I didn't want to get involved and she was upset and wanted to talk to Norman. I didn't want her… getting Norman worked up. After everything that had happened to him."

"And?" Alex prompted when his wife fell silent.
"That was the last time I saw her." she told him. "I stayed with Norman till he was asleep, I went to see you, we talked about… insurance and I came home."

"Miss Decody was gone?" Alex asked.

"Yes." Norma nodded.

"Where was Norman?"

"In the kitchen. He wasn't responding to me."

"What did you do?"

"I put him to bed. He woke up the next morning. It had rained all night, he wasn't feeling well. He slept most of the day." she said sadly.
"Anything odd about the house?" Alex asked.

"Not… that I noticed right away." she said carefully. "Norman had broken the door. He'd taken the animals he works on out of the big freezer in the basement."

"He took them out of the freezer in the basement?"

"Well, I didn't!" Norma hissed. "I hate messing with those things!"

Her face looked disgusted.

"What else?"

She looked exhausted by his questions.

"I don't know anything else. Her room was empty. No luggage, no purse. I didn't see anyone come to get her. Maybe she called a cab." she said weakly.

"We're looking into that." Alex told her. "Anything else, Norma? Anything at all, you have to tell me."

Norma looked like she was in pain and he knew she was holding something back.

"What?" he demanded but kept his voice calm.

"It probably just fell off when she was coming up to the house." she said softly.

"What fell off?"

"Her earring. Was in the parking lot. I… it was in was in the gravel-"

"Where is it now?" Romero demanded.

"Dylan has it. I'd left it in a coat pocket. I… I told Dylan that Emma's mother stayed here and left. That I didn't see her check out. That… that she was probably fine…" Norma said soberly.

"You told Dylan this?" Romero accused. "You told Dylan and not me?"

"Dylan isn't a cop, Sheriff." she said coldly.

~ Alex could see why Norma didn't like to come down to the basement. It was cold and dry. A perfect fruit cellar and useful for preserving things like potatoes and other vegetables back in the days before refrigerators. Now, it held no other purpose other than to be a teenage boy's secret hideaway.

Norman's work space was efficient, although morbid. Romero could see how any DA could build a murder case against him based on this taxidermy hobby alone. Peeling off the skins of animals was grotesque.

Norman seemed to be drawn more to birds just now, and his talent was obvious. Still, it was a frightening hobby and if Norma was smart, she would get rid of every trace of it.

The freezer in question was large. An old second hand purchase by the look of the dents and slight rust. The kind of freezer used by commercial restaurants. A place to keep the overflow of food stock. Something to be used and abused and not thought about.

It was hard to say if there was anything wrong or off about it. It was second hand and Norma told him her son kept dead things inside it already. Any evidence would be tainted.

He doubted Norma had any involvement with Audrey's disappearance. Her story hadn't changed. She was honest and direct when he questioned her, but that didn't preclude Norman's part. Norman Bates always had a hand in things if the victim stayed at the Bates Motel.

Also, just because Norma wasn't directly involved, didn't mean she wasn't protecting her son. Alex still couldn't explain how her robe got into Audrey's suitcase and Norma hadn't mentioned it at all. It was like her entire knowledge of Audrey ended that day on the porch.

Romero opened the freezer and saw the horrific sight of dead rabbits, raccoons, a baby fawn, and even a goat neatly stacked inside. All the air sucked out of the plastic bags Norman kept them in and the eyes of the goat staring blankly at him. Its' tongue sticking out sickeningly.

Romero had seen dead human remains before. He'd gone hunting for deer plenty of times, but this just seemed so unnatural to him. A teenage boy shouldn't have a hobby like this. A teenage boy should be in a garage somewhere learning to take apart an engine. Norman's hobby, given his enforced social isolation, might gear him to computers or video games maybe.

Not this. There was no way his mother could ever casually explain away this garish hobby. A hobby like this was how murderers were made.

Romero looked inside the freezer for traces of hair and couldn't find any. Couldn't find any blood that couldn't readily be explained as animal blood. He'd have to get swabs from crime scene and he'd have to explain why he needed them.

He was about to shut the freezer door when he saw them. The pair of neat little hand prints on the lid of the freezer. Too small to be Norman's or a man's for the matter. They belonged to a woman.

Romero repositioned his body to get a better look at the hand prints now that the temperature was changing. If he wasn't carful, the rapid changes in temperature would cause the hand prints to fade and be lost forever.

They were small, side by side and on the inside of the freezer door. As if someone were pushing to get out.

'She was inside.' he realized. 'Norman had put her inside this thing and she was still alive. She suffocated and he froze her body.'