A Conversation

“What the fuck is going on, sergeant?”

“I don’t know. It was never this bad. Hey, wait a minute, I thought you were working on the missing children cases?”

“Yeah, yeah, I was--I am. There are missing children, it’s a big deal, I get it. I’m working on it, but I had to see this one for myself. By the way, where’s that help you promised me?

“...”

“Sergeant?”

“I tried...”

“And?”

“Well, I called but I can’t get a hold of anybody.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, the phones aren’t working.”

“The phones have been working fine. I haven’t--”

“Have you tried calling outside of town?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Just...don’t worry about it right now, okay? Have you made any progress on your cases?”

“But...? A little. I found out... Fuck. I gotta tell you, sergeant, I’m damn tired. I spent the entire night talking with my wife.”

“Your wife? When did you remarry?”

“I never have. Too busy.”

“But she’s been...”

“Yup. That’s right.”

“What’d you talk about?”

“The past. Our son. We reminisced, what can I say?”

“Reynolds, you’re telling me--”

“Except there was something not right about her. She looked like my wife, but...I don’t know. She wanted to show me something. I didn’t go with her, was too scared, but she said she’d come back tonight.”

“This is a crazy conversation, you know that?”

“Yeah. I know.”

“I guess when you’ve seen what we have, you get a little numb to things after a while.”

“I guess. Hey, sergeant? Just tell me. What am I about to see?”

“It’s like something out of a Quentin Tarantino movie.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have a look for yourself.”

“What the! The blood...”