Playtime's Over
Chapter 5: Return of the Barclay Case
Downtown Guilford, Connecticut Police Station 2:10 a.m.
The phone rang loudly, cutting into the silence that was there before. Julie Goldstone glanced up from the paperwork she was doing, sighing irritably. No one else wanted the night shift so she and her partner Dan decided to do it. Now she was really regretting it.
"Dan, can you get that?" she called back to him.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled as he set his fresh cup of coffee down and picked up the phone. "Hello, Guilford Police Station. Whoa, calm down ma'am, what's this?"
Julie glanced up from the papers and looked back at Dan, whose expression had gone rigid.
"Okay, ma'am, we'll be right there. Keep him in your sight at all times until we get there."
He hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket.
"Dan?" Julie asked, worried.
"A Mrs. Malkum called from the Foxrun Children's Orphanage a few miles away saying that a boy named Andy Barclay came running back declaring that the family he had been living with had been murdered."
Julie gasped, awe-struck. "Wait, Andy Barclay?"
Dan gave her a look a nodded. "Yep. I didn't realize the kid was in our state. I've heard about this case; it's been going on for some time. Looks like it has landed itself on our doorstep. You can stay here if you have a lot of paperwork to do."
"No way!" Julie exclaimed, grabbing her coat. "I'm coming with you."
The two of them rushed out of the room and toward their police car. In seconds they were inside and with their sirens blaring, racing toward the orphanage.
"This is Dan Johnson calling for back-up. There has been a call about a murder in this vicinity with an eye witness named Andy Barclay, over," Dan said, into his walky-talky.
"Copy that Johnson…back-up approved, over."
"Eye witness states that the Jaques' home on 213 Meadowbrook court was where the murder happened, over."
"213 Meadowbrook court, got it…Be there in ten minutes, over."
Julie took in a deep breath, glancing at her partner. "Do you think the kid was involved?"
"Dunno. That's the rumor from what I hear, except they haven't had enough evidence to lock him up in any juvenile detention center. Who knows, we may actually be the ones to crack this case."
Julie tilted her head, staring at him with raised eyebrows but didn't respond. It took only ten minutes with Dan's driving to reach the destination. The first stop was the address the woman told him over the phone; the Jaques' home. They jumped out of the car and raced toward the front door. Glancing at each other, with guns out and ready, Dan kicked the door down.
"Police! Is anyone here?" Dan shouted, rushing into the room.
"UG! That smell!" Julie exclaimed, holding a hand over her nose.
"Smells like blood," Dan said, clenching his hand on his gun. "Let's move; back-up should be here any minute."
Julie stepped into the room shining her flashlight over everything. Dan was ahead of her and he walked into the next room.
"Uh, Julie…," he called.
Julie hurried and stepped into the room behind him. "Oh God!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth as her eyes saw the heap of bodies in front of her.
A woman with almost no head, a young boy and a man were lying down with blood everywhere. Dan put a handkerchief over his nose and stepped in further, making sure to avoid any blood puddles. He searched around the room examining it.
"Looks like one of the weapons is still impaled in the body," Julie observed, shining her flashlight on the man. "We can test for fingerprints."
"We can, but I doubt the murderer would have left the weapon if he hadn't used gloves. Unless the kid did it," Dan added, walking around the kitchen but avoiding the pile of bodies.
Julie shook her head, staring at the bodies with a disgusted look on her face. "I can't believe a young boy of eleven could kill so heartlessly."
"I believe he's thirteen and you never know these days," Dan said, peering around the counter in the center of the kitchen. "Great, looks like another body."
Julie's head turned in his direction and she walked over to where he was standing. Glancing down she saw the woman lying on the floor in a heap and shook her head.
"Unbelievable. Four murders in one night and the only suspect to go on is a thirteen year old boy."
Dan sighed heavily. "Yep. This is certainly going down as one of the most bizarre cases ever."
"And disgusting," Julie added, shaking her head as she glanced over at the other bodies. "This is just horrendous."
Sirens sounded in the distance and the two of them turned to one another. Carefully, they made their way out of the kitchen and outside where they saw cop cars pulling up one by one. Four of them pulled up and they saw their buddies Shawn and Dave get out of the car first.
"Hey, sorry we're late! Have you checked the house?" Shawn asked.
Dan and Julie nodded. "Yep, four bodies found brutally attacked."
"Shit, seriously?" Dave asked. "We scarcely get serious crimes, let alone murder!"
"Someone call an ambulance!" Julie called over to the other cops getting out of their cars.
"I'll do it," Shawn said stepping aside.
The other officers went inside the house and came back in several minutes cursing with shock and disbelief.
"Did you see that in there!" Adam shouted. "It's like a blood bath!"
"It is a blood bath!" Amy exclaimed, putting her gun back in its holster.
"Didn't you say over the walky-talky that an eye witness was a boy named Andy Barclay?" Dave asked.
"So?" Amy asked.
"SO? Haven't you heard the story that's been all over the news in various states, mainly just where the kid came from?" Dave asked incredulously.
"I think I have," Adam said, nodding. "Is that the one with the kid with the killer doll or something?"
"Yep, that's the one," Dave said.
"Shit man! That case is in our state?" Adam exclaimed.
"A boy did this?" Amy asked doubtfully.
"Yeah, apparently this case has been going on since the boy was about six. He claimed his Good Guy doll went around killing people, but obviously since he was at every crime scene—" Dave began.
"Hey, we don't know anything yet," Dan intervened. "The case was never solved and Andy was never locked away because there wasn't enough evidence against him. Who knows, he could be covering for somebody. What we have to do now is call the chief and ask him what to do."
"I'll do that," Julie said, stepping aside for a minute.
"Ambulance should be here soon," Shawn added.
"Good, until then we should put some caution tape all around," Dan said.
The others nodded and they all went to their cars to get some, waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Julie walked over to Dan about five minutes later.
"Okay, chief says to sit tight he'll be down here in a minute. He's contacted the detective agency to send one down here as well. He also said that he wants us to go talk to Andy and get his testimony," Julie said, glancing at Dan.
"Shit! You guys are on the case, then?" Adam asked, wide-eyed.
"Apparently so," Julie said. "I think we should wait until early in the morning to question him. The kid's probably asleep."
"That's fine. We've got some work here anyway," Dan nodded.
Julie nodded and followed him to go help the rest of them out. All of them couldn't stop talking about the bodies in the house and wondering what really happened. Julie was so anxious she could hardly wait to go interrogate Andy to see if he seemed like the killer rumors said he was, or if he was just an innocent boy caught in a bloody nightmare.
XXXXXX
Foxrun Children's Orphanage 7:08 a.m.
The bed wasn't comfortable no matter what position he was in. He hadn't gotten to sleep at all and it was already morning. There was no way he was going to get to sleep, not after what had just happened. He wanted to forget that it happened, but he couldn't get the images of Ceceila and Cody out of his head. It haunted him and he wished it would just go away. Andy shut his eyes as tears stung and threatened to come down. A knock at his door caused him to jump and he turned around.
"Andy?" Mrs. Malkum's shaky voice came from the other side. "Are you awake? Someone's here to see you."
"Come in," Andy said quietly.
The door opened and Mrs. Malkum stepped inside first followed by two people in police uniforms. Andy's stomach turned uncomfortably but he didn't let his gaze fall. A woman and a man approached him as Mrs. Malkum nodded to them and shut the door.
"Hello Andy, my name's Julie Goldstone," she said, holding out her hand.
Andy reached out shakily and shook it nodding.
"I'm Dan," the guy said, nodding. "Listen, Andy, we're going to have to ask you some questions about what you saw last night."
Andy nodded wordlessly.
"Can you tell us everything that happened that night?" Julie asked.
Andy hesitated, not wanting to relive the moment again, but he knew he had to. Taking a deep, shaky breath, he started from the very beginning when he woke up. He told them about Cody, about Jim and Ceceila leaving, about the lights going out suddenly, about Cody waking him up really late saying he heard a sound, about them finding Marie dead. Andy told them about how he was trying to protect Cody.
"Protect him from…your Good Guy doll?" Dan asked, intervening.
"Yes," Andy said quietly. "I know you don't believe me, but it's true! I would never have hurt them! They were the best foster family I ever lived with! And I tried to protect him, I did! I even blocked Chucky's attack!" Andy exclaimed, rolling up his sleeve to show the wound on his arm.
Julie immediately looked concerned and approached him, examining his arm. "You didn't tell Mrs. Malkum about this?"
Andy shook his head, wincing. "No, I didn't even think about it. I was really upset and…I…," Andy swallowed thickly.
"It doesn't look infected, but it's pretty deep," Julie said, standing back up.
Dan had his arms crossed with an uncertain expression on his face. "Did this Chucky guy hurt you anywhere else? I mean, if he's after you, wouldn't he have tried to kill you first?"
"He doesn't want me dead," Andy insisted urgently. "He wants me alive…to use me. And he did hurt me before that. He tried to get me the day before too."
"Where did he hurt you?" Julie asked.
Andy stood up carefully and lifted up his shirt, turning around to show his back. Julie gasped at the large gash across his back and she glanced over at Dan, while Andy's back was turned, and nodded toward him. He nodded back.
"Alright, Andy. We're going to take you down to the station to finish asking you questions, okay? You'll be safe there."
Andy didn't even bother to argue. He didn't want to be at the orphanage anyway. Chucky would most likely look there first.
"And we'll get your wounds cleaned up too," Julie added. "Come on."
Andy took her hand and allowed her to lead him out of the room. He was a little wary that the cops didn't believe him, but at this point he had no choice but to go along and pray Chucky couldn't find him.
XXXXXX
Two days later…Hartford, Connecticut Detective Agency 8:10 a.m.
Marlek Winters was searching through papers trying to find the number. He was certain it was around there somewhere. He had been up all night on the case he was currently working on when he got a call from his friend Bob who worked at the Guilford Police Station. There had been four murders in just one night with a suspect named Andy Barclay. At first the name hadn't rang a bell, and he nearly laughed aloud when Bob told him the kid was thirteen, but then he searched through old magazine articles to find that he had read something years ago about that case. He had thrown it away as some sort of joke, but it was apparently a real case. He had called his chief just to make sure and was awed that the case had actually started when the boy was six. To him, it didn't matter how troubled a child was he couldn't ever imagine a six year old killer.
Bob had also told him a couple officers had already gotten the case. He was a bit disappointed because now that he remembered the case he really wanted it. A kid thinking his Good Guy doll was alive and killing people was just too good to pass up. He was itching to find out the truth behind it, especially since there were at least ten murders in that case, probably more. He wanted to call the Guilford Police Station and ask to speak to the officers to see if they could somehow get him on the case. Even though he was currently working on a credit card fraud case, he really wanted this one.
A knock at the door caused him to glance up. Before he could say anything it opened and a beautiful, dark-skinned woman walked inside. She smiled widely and Marlek nodded his greeting.
"Hello Shalice. What's a reporter like you doing here?"
"Oh nothing, just caught wind of some murders involving the kid who thought his Good Guy doll was possessed."
"How exactly? Wait, don't tell me, it's some reporter secret, right?" he asked sarcastically.
Shalice shook her head in amusement. "Nope, no secret. I was passing by the police station down in Guilford, just because I was there doing an article on the last case about the missing girl, and it turns out there's an even more interesting case over there. I think I'm the very first reporter to find that out. I could make a ton of money off of it."
"I'm sure you could," Marlek drawled. "Look, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment."
"Oh, really? Where?" Shalice asked, blocking the doorway as she crossed her arms.
"None of your business," he retorted, trying to get past her.
Shalice just smiled up at him. "You aren't by any chance going to Guilford are you?"
Marlek's eyes narrowed and Shalice's smile grew even wider. "I knew it! You're just as interested in this case as I am! So you can't say anything about me being nosey, especially when you're not assigned to the case and yet you're planning to go down and investigate."
"I'm not going to the kid, Shalice!" he snapped. "I'm going to the morgue."
Before Shalice could open her mouth, he stepped right past her and walked down the hall without even a glance back. He got into his car and drove away, heading to the Guilford morgue. It took a little while to get there—about an hour—but once he was there all he had to do was flash his badge and walk inside. The morgue was attached to the one hospital in that area in the very back, which is precisely where he went. Just as he opened the door one of autopsy doctors was walking out.
"Oh gosh, you startled me! May I help you?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.
"Yes please," Marlek said, flashing his badge again. "I heard that the Jaques' bodies were sent here and I was wondering if you had anything to report."
He blinked. "I didn't realize they'd be sending an investigator so soon."
"I happened to be in the area."
"Very well, follow me. I was just about to leave on break, but I could update you on what we've found so far."
Marlek followed him into the room where several bodies were covered by sheets and lying on the tables. The stench was terrible, but he was a bit used to morgues to let it get to him. The doctor led him over to where he jotted his report down.
"We've examined the bodies of Ceceila Jaques and her adopted son Cody Jaques. Ceceila died instantly; apparently her head was almost completely severed off and Cody died from internal bleeding. It seems that he was stabbed multiple times; the first time, as you can see here in this photo, just scratched his lungs but didn't kill him. The second stab went straight through his heart here," he pointed.
Marlek's eyes narrowed, seemingly disgusted. "So, have any fingerprints been found on the weapons?"
"None, actually," he said, adjusting his glasses again. "We're doing a test again just to be certain."
"But Andy Barclay's fingerprints weren't on it, right?"
"No. It's possible whoever did this wore gloves, which is why we can't find any fingerprints, but we'll never know. However, there was something interesting that came up in the report."
"What's that?" Marlek asked curiously.
The man hesitated, leaning heavily on his left foot. "On one of the weapons, the same weapon used to kill the kid and Mrs. Jaques, since their blood was found on it, another trace of blood was also found: Andy Barclay's."
Marlek's eyes widened. "The kid's blood was on the murder weapon?"
"Yes and the police report that has been filed shows that he did have multiple wounds on his body. Now whether that means he was attacked by the murderer or not is obviously a mystery right now."
"Where's the kid now?"
"He's staying at the police station under the supervision of some cops. I believe Dan and Julie are the cops on the case that I met. They're keeping him there and they've sucked him dry with questions."
Marlek nodded. "What about a lie detector test? Have they given him one?"
The doctor blinked. "I don't believe so."
"What about the husband: Jim Jaques?"
"His body was only briefly examined. We haven't gotten into detail with his, but we're certain he died of the impaled object in his torso."
"It wasn't the same weapon?"
"No, the object used was a rod of some sort. However, we're not sure if he died of that or if he was still alive when his stomach was cut open. Either way, they're all dead, even the maid that worked for them. I think she died just after her throat was slit."
Marlek nodded grimly. "Thank you."
The doctor nodded and then proceeded to walk out of the room. "Just shut the door behind you it should be locked already."
Marlek nodded and quickly opened his mouth. "Just out of curiosity, was there a doll at the crime scene by any chance?"
The doctor stopped halfway through the door and thought. "No, I don't believe so. Why?"
"It's not important, never mind," Marlek said as the doctor left the room.
His eyes turned back to the tables. The maid's body didn't appear to be in there, but it was clear she was just as savagely murdered as the Jaques family.
"Who did this?" Marlek whispered aloud.
He turned to leave when a soft clatter caused him to wheel around. The pen from the desk was now on the floor. Marlek's eyebrows furrowed; his gut was giving him a bad feeling, but why? Maybe he should go to the police station and see if he could talk to Andy. A movement out of the corner of his head caused him to whip out his gun and point it in the direction of the bodies. His eyes widened in horror as he saw something moving under one of the sheets. It was the smaller figure, which had to be the boy Cody. There was movement, but that wasn't right…he was dead. The doctor had examined his body and clearly said he had died from internal bleeding.
Very cautiously, Marlek stepped forward with his gun still raised. He approached the table, staring at the body as if daring it to move again. The sheet rustled just slightly because of the subtle movement beneath it. Marlek's eyes kept steady as his breathing became more erratic. It had looked like the hand had moved. Reaching out a hand just to prove the body was dead Marlek grabbed the sheet and pulled it. He didn't even have time to blink as something lunged for him. A sharp object was thrust right through his left eye. Marlek barely had time to choke out a gurgled gasp before he fell down to the floor, his gun clattering nearby.
XXXXX
Guilford Hospital 5:30 p.m.
Shalice pulled into the parking lot, wondering why Marlek was ignoring her calls on his cell phone. Sure they had broken up a while back, but they had remained friends. And although Marlek disapproved of her methods of getting information for her articles, he still respected her. Now she was angry that he was ignoring her. Luckily she wanted to go to Guilford anyway to see if she could get an interview with Andy Barclay, but she had to stop at the hospital first. She had waited for hours for Marlek to call her back and finally she decided she'd have to go to him.
She went around to the front and walked in through the door. She walked to the front desk, smiling.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for a Detective Moore. He was supposed to stop in today at the morgue."
The woman behind the desk looked surprised and uneasy. "Um, well a detective did stop in today…"
"Did he leave?" Shalice asked, feeling annoyed.
"I'm afraid not, miss," the woman said nervously. "A detective was found dead in the morgue earlier."
Shalice's smile faded into a horrified expression. "W-what?" she choked out. "Was it Detective Moore?"
"I'm not sure ma'am. If you're a relative you can contact the police."
Shalice shook her head, taking in a deep breath. "Alright, thank you," she said bluntly before turning on her heel and walking through the door.
When she got outside she stood taking in deep breaths. "It couldn't be him, it's just a coincidence, he's fine…"
Shalice's eyes widened immensely. "If he was looking into the Barclay case and Andy's safe in the orphanage, then who killed him? Is it another murderer or perhaps the real murderer of the Jaques?"
She had no choice now; she had to go to the orphanage and talk to Andy right away! Andy was the only one who would know the truth and as long as he hadn't left or run away maybe that was evidence that Andy wasn't the killer, as long as the recent murder matched up to the other ones. Quickly, she slipped into her car and backed out fast, turning the wheel around as she hurried to get away. She only hoped she would be allowed to talk to him because for the time being he was the only lead.
TO BE CONTINUED…