Fighting for a Fantasy

'You can tell me, Claire. Did that psychopath hurt you?'

She answered amidst uncontrolled sobs, 'I think he threatened me…I honestly don't remember. I think he said something about the night being full of woes or something.' She began crying a little louder.

Luckily the bench sleeper was still knocked out and the left bench was yet to be occupied. Sineas' heart melted in anguish. Her cries were cries of one in pain, yes, but there was something about the way she cried. It was so low and innocent. It was like watching a harmless kitten drown and there was nothing you could do to stop it. Powerless and shaken by the deep, cold waters that threatened to swallow you both if you dared to jump in. All you could do was stand and watch, waiting for the next person to step in and do something. Sineas decided that he was going to be that person. He was not going to allow her to sit there and wallow in her pain while he idly watched. She had been there for him when he needed her and even when he didn't, she still showed up. His hand hovered just above her back. He gave her a few pats. He said, 'Its okay, Claire, its okay. At least you're alive…'

She immediately pulled him in and embraced him very tightly. It was as if she intended to squeeze the life out of him. 'Thank you, Sin,' she said to him before she released him. Her tears had vanished inside his t-shirt but her eyes were betraying a grieving red. 'You're the only one I've told so far,' she confessed.

'Your parents?' he asked now recovering from the bear hug.

She shook her head. 'My parents are too overprotective, remember? I think it's best to just forget about it. Just to keep it between us.' She smiled and rubbed off a rogue tear aiming to create an opening down her cheek.

'What about Charles? Don't you think he ought to know?'

'Know what? That I, his prime suspect almost got killed by the real murderer in the middle of the night? A killer I failed to recognize? A killer I'm bringing up conveniently because my head's at the top of the guillotine list?'

He leaned back into the bench and breathed deeply then looked straight ahead. 'Good point.'

She smiled.

'What?' He had noticed it from the corner of his eye.

'It's nothing…nothing. It's just that I really appreciate you. I really do.'

He could feel himself becoming uncomfortable.

She went on, 'The thing is, I feel really good about myself when I'm around you. I feel like myself. I think you'd make a good psychiatrist one day.' Her smile suddenly eased into neutral. 'Speaking of which; Inspector Charles said something about another case he was working on. A case about a missing psychiatrist. Is your doctor alright?'

Sineas frowned in uncertainty. 'I think so, I mean… I guess I'll give him a call later and find out how he's doing.'

She smiled.

Sineas was now really getting nervous. Clarissa was changing her mood much quicker than a crooked politician changes his mind. 'What is it?' he asked.

'Like I said, Sin; I just don't want this day to end. Reality is a nightmare.'

'And yet that's where we live.'

She moved in closer.

He also felt his upper body leaning in.

The bench sleeper groaned and turned to his left. He was still out-cold.

Both Sineas and Clarissa had paused halfway. 'Do you want to continue our walk?' he suggested.

Clarissa's eyes opened wider, she drew back as well. 'Y…Yeah, sure.'

He got to his feet and reached for her hand. He helped her up and soon, hand-in-hand, they were making their way along their narrow road again.

Back at the Malrich police station, Inspector Charles and his deputy were hard at work, delving through the patient files they had retrieved from Doctor Jacob's office. They had interviewed his widow earlier in the morning and learned that he had kept his personal life private, and in tears, she had confessed to the two officers that their marriage had been gradually disintegrating and she had filed for divorce two weeks before his disappearance. However, Mrs. Jacob had also pointed out that she was doubtful anyone would have wanted to hurt her husband. She never knew or had never met any of his friends but he was not the type of man to start trouble.

Inspector Charles had agreed with his deputy that connecting together the finding of Doctor Jacob's smashed up car and the latest news of the broken marriage from the widow would have led them to pursue the suicide route but the fact that the pieces of his body had been found floating down Merchant's Creek, they dismissed the hypothesis right away. The two police officers had even gone to Bernard Sumbrey, the lumberjack that found the pieces of the doctor's body, and even though he handled an axe seventy-two percent of everyday, his alibi was airtight. It was obvious, the inspector had reminded James, that the murders had been committed by the same person.

As they sat in the office, they ploughed through the patient files stacked on top of the desk. They dug through file after file. After three whole hours of skimming, perusing and at times- scrutinizing, Inspector Charles finally breathed a very weary sigh.

'I swear, James. I swear on my life that if I ever get my hands on this sick, twisted, good-for-nothing lowlife, I'll kill him myself!' He sighed again. 'Any luck on your end?'

James looked extremely focused. He nodded slowly now opening his fifteenth file. 'What about Janice Cambrie?' he asked the inspector.

'Condition?'

The deputy quickly browsed through the file. ' "Marriage quandary. Communication problems within her marriage".'

'Prescription?'

' "Listen more".'

'Anyone else?' the inspector asked.

James grabbed another file and began browsing through it too. 'Daniel Jevez.'