Elly’s was empty for the most part. It was Sunday and most of the folks were still at Mass. Business usually picked up quite a bit once the services let out for the day.

Chief and Mike took a seat by the window facing Main Street. Shortly after they were seated, Burt, the nighttime bartender and daytime manager was at their table with menus.

Chief looked up. “Just the usual for me, Burt. Bring Mike whatever he wants and put it on my tab.”

Mike looked up from his menu. “I wish you’d stop thinking feeding me is your responsibility, boss.”

“Don’t worry, I'm going to work it out of you. I suggest you get plenty to eat now, I doubt there will be much time for more than a quick bite later.”

“I guess that means you have a plan?”

“Not the best plan, but the only thing I can come up with.”

“Deputy?” Burt asked, ready to pen Mike’s order.

Mike removed his eyes from Chief and regarded the man addressing him.

“All right Burt. Bring me three eggs over easy, three strips of fat back, toast, orange juice, and some biscuits and gravy. Oh, and some coffee, please.”

“You think that will be enough?” Chief asked after Burt left.

“I still don’t know what you have planned.”

“I should fill you in on yesterday, first,” Chief said quietly. But Chief fell silent after opening up the conversation. He removed his eyes from his deputy and gazed out the window to his house across the street. It was built in the colonial style. Large white pillars held up the porch roof. The house itself was also painted white, and even though little money was left for such frivolity as yearly painting, the paint still looked bright and fresh. Three dormer windows projected out along the roofline above the porch. Kelly’s window was at the far end, closest to the stairs; Maggy’s was in the middle, and the guest bedroom lay at the opposite end. Dark green shutters flanked each window. Kelly’s drapes were drawn and Chief hoped she was still sleeping. There was a long hard road ahead of her, and the child needed all the rest she could handle.

When it looked like Chief was not going to continue, Mike interjected. “About yesterday?”

Chief reached over and retrieved the folder from where he had set it down and handed it to his deputy. “These are the transcripts kept of the sessions Doctor Freedman had with Fred. Please read them when you get the chance. I’d like the opinion of someone not so personally involved.”

“Personally involved? You mean like you?”

Chief nodded.

Mike could see agony return to Chief’s eyes. “You look like hell. You stayed up all night reading this?”

Again Chief nodded. “Let’s just say it was reading I found difficult to put down. As difficult to put down as it was to continue reading.”

“Because of the personal involvement?”

“You’re good,” Chief said looking straight into the deputy’s eyes. Mike didn’t flinch.

“So, am I going to have to read this whole thing before you tell me what went on over there?”

“No,” Chief whispered. “I’m working on the condensed version right now.”

Mike opened the envelope and scanned the first sheet. When he looked up Chief was staring at him. “I’d like to hear that condensed version, Chief.”

Before Chief had a chance to begin, Burt was at their table with a large round serving tray. Chief waited as the man unloaded their food, filled their coffee cups and departed.

“The big discovery, Mike, is that Fred was basically split into two. Fred, the man I knew, and the tiger as Kelly so accurately calls him. The tiger grew out of a child’s desperation to free himself of the abuse of his parents. It started as a small fantasy that grew in Fred’s subconscious.  According to the doctor, Fred didn’t even know the tiger existed because he buried the memory of it so deeply. Over the years, as Fred’s drinking became worse, he lost his hold on reality and the tiger became the dominant personality, claiming a life of its own. Killing whenever Fred rested. According to Dr. Freedman there isn’t any of Fred’s personality left now. The tiger basically killed it off. What we are dealing with now is Fred’s alter ego. He won’t respond like a man. He is unpredictable. He is totally over the edge now, Mike. I can’t emphasize enough how dangerous he is.”

“And you had to go all the way to Melrose to find that out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Kelly already knew that. During Huey’s tirade about what his father was going to do, Kelly simply, and without a flicker of emotion boss, told the kid his father was dead and that the tiger killed him.”

Chief looked away. Through the window he saw his house and Kelly’s window. The drapes were still drawn. “I wonder what else she knows?” he asked so quietly that Mike barely heard him.

“Anyway,” Chief shook the previous thoughts away. “There’s more.”

When again Chief fell silent, Mike hung in the silence without interrupting. He waited for Chief to find his words. Mike sensed Chief’s pain and that this case must indeed be even more personal than just his daughter’s involvement.

Chief continued, “It all goes back quite a ways, Mike. When it all started… Kelly’s connection in this mess…to understand what’s happening now, you’d have to know what happened then.”

“When?”

“Back when we were kids. Back when Fred, or rather this tiger, killed Fred’s parents.”

“The tiger did them in?”

“Yes, according to Freedman. The tiger first stalked and killed small animals. Developing its blood-lust,” Chief fell silent, rubbing his temples. “Fred knew nothing about it. He only had a shadow- a glimmer of the beast that stalked at night. But that part of himself was cut off from himself. Then after much abuse, the tiger turned to a human kill- its abusers. Fred’s parents. Fred didn’t know anything about that either, according to the doctor. The kill satisfied the tiger–because the abuse was out of Fred’s life. Over. Not needed, the tiger shrank from Fred’s life. For the time being,” Chief whispered and fell silent once again.

“What happened to bring it back?”

“I’m getting to that,” Chief said quietly. “I’m trying....”

Mike watched Chief’s face. The pain had not left it.

Chief looked at Mike. “A long time ago a girl moved to town. We (Fred and I) both fell in love with her. Her name was Katherine Warren–”

“Your wife.”

“Yes. But back then she was... a girl we both loved. I loved her in what I guess would be considered the normal way. But then I knew the meaning of the word, and how to express it. Fred didn’t. He knew only abuse and neglect. To him love was domination. His father expressed it by beating him. He payed his father back every time he killed a drunk– men like his father. His mother expressed it by sexual domination: sex with no warmth or love normally expressed in the act.” Chief paused. He regarded his deputy. “Bear with me Mike. This isn’t easy.”

Mike nodded and waited for Chief to continue.

“Fred was a little more outspoken than I, at the time. He was first to ask Kate out. They dated for about three months. Seeing them together just about kicked my guts in.”

“I know what you mean,” whispered Mike.

Chief smiled genuinely for the first time since Mike saw him that morning. “Yeah, I bet you do,” he said. Then the sadness returned to his eyes. “Anyway, one evening I had finally gathered enough nerve to ask her out. It was foggy...the more I think about it the more I'm sure, that was the night it happened.”

“What happened?”

“According to the doctor it was the night Fred lost himself.” Mike stared at him and Chief explained. “Kate was using Fred to make me jealous. I must admit it worked, but it wasn't necessary. I guess she mistook my awkwardness as disinterest. Whatever the reason, she told Fred she wasn’t in love with him, because was in love with me. He couldn’t deal with the rejection. He became angry, confused. It was all the tiger needed to control him. Through the rage emerged the tiger, and the tiger takes what it wants, Mike. It proceeded to take her. Dominate her the same way Fred’s mother dominated him. I’m not sure how far it got before Fred realized what he was doing. The doctor assured me the rape was merely an attempt and that Fred stopped before the act was performed. Through the battle between Fred and the tiger, Kate was able to escape.” Chief broke off from the tale long enough to look at his deputy. Mike had grown ashen. He could no longer look Chief in the eyes. He stared at the food on his plate, as yet untouched.

“Better eat up,” Chief said. “I told you we have a long day.”

“I suddenly lost my appetite, boss.”

“I lost mine yesterday, but I’m still eating. Go ahead and eat up, son.”

Mike forced a forkful of eggs down his throat then looked at his boss. “She never told you?”

Chief set his fork down. He looked again across the street. He put his head in his hands and rubbed the two days worth of stubble. “No.”

“I’m such an ass-hole, Mike,” Chief said after a while. “Why didn’t I know? My god, I should have. The signs were there. I just... I just didn’t look. I’ll tell you one thing though, Martha’s going to get the third degree when I see her.”

“She knew?”

“I followed Kate home that night in the fog. It has to have been that night. Martha answered the door. I could hear Kate on the steps crying. My god Mike, Martha thought I had done it. She slammed the door on my hand.”

Chief sipped his coffee. Then again looked out the window. “So many mistakes, Mike. Now Kelly’s paying for them.”

“How? I still don’t get the connection.”

“The transcripts state that quite clearly. Bear in mind they are written from the tiger’s point of view… the sick son-of-a-bitch,” Chief muttered as he impaled a sausage link on his fork. He stared at it for a long moment then set the fork down. He looked intently at Mike.

“He thinks Kate lives on inside of Kelly. Both Kelly and her mother were able to reach Fred–Kate during the attempted rape and Kelly during Preacher’s murder. Both were able to give Fred the strength to fight– causing the tiger to lose control. Control being the main goal of this alter ego. It all boils down to control, Mike. Kelly threatens that control. But Fred’s gone now. What’s to stop the tiger next time?”

Mike stared at Chief for a long moment then answered, “We are.” He lifted his own fork and took a few bites of his food before returning his fork to rest on the side of his plate. He sipped his orange juice, and then setting the glass down, he said, “Better eat up, Bossman. Big day remember?" 

Again Chief smiled. He took a few bites of his own.

Mike watched him. “There’s still one thing I don’t understand, Chief. If Fred’s gone, why is the tiger still threatened? Why not just let it go?”

Chief set his fork down. “Power.”

“Power?”

“He believes Kelly possesses some kind of power. The tiger wants this power–thinks he needs it to survive. He intends to get it.”

“How?”

“He thinks he gained power through possessing the souls of his kills at the depot. He feeds on his kills, Mike. Not physically but emotionally. Psychologically. Until the Crawford girl he didn’t know he could feed on women; now he does. Mary Lou Crawford triggered a response towards his– I mean Fred’s mother. He dominated her, and fed off the kill. He took her power. Fred’s mother was blond, blue-eyed. Kelly’s mother was also. So is Kelly. Christ, Mike, I took a photo of Kate her mother had given me a long time ago, taken when Kate had been Kelly’s age now. I placed it side by side with a picture of my daughter... I couldn’t tell them apart. He thinks Kate lives on inside of Kelly. Tell you the truth Mike, I’m not so sure he’s wrong. Kelly’s mannerisms, they’re Kate’s. How could she have learned them? At the exact moment Kate took her last breath, Kelly took her first.”

“Sorry, boss. I still don’t see it. What ‘power’ are we talking about here?”

“The power to escape death. To become invincible. If Kate lives on inside of Kelly, then she possessed that power.”

“The power to transcend?”

Chief looked at him. “What?”

“Huh?”

“Where did you hear that?”

Mike shrugged.

“That was how the tiger put it exactly, Mike. I didn’t understand fully. Do you?”

Mike shook his head. “Transcend. Move from one reality to the next? I don’t know, Chief. You said this power was to circumvent death, as Kelly’s mother had done. That’s nothing more than a crossing, right?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re saying, he is really after Kelly’s mother’s power.”

“No he had mentioned both.”

“How does he know Kelly has this power?”

“He believes he’s seen it in her. To him, everybody possesses a certain amount of power. That was his reasoning behind the killing of the depot men. He drew their power to himself–”

“They’re souls?”

“I guess. However, he claims Kelly’s power is unusually strong. I don’t know why. It’s his delusion we’re dealing with here. Not mine. At any rate, the tiger wants my daughter. To dominate–” 

“Hold up. You don’t mean...” Mike began as he put the pieces in their proper perspective. “Oh my god,” he whispered. “But she’s just a kid.”

“To him she is a spirit, actually two spirits with incredible power. Power he wants; thinks he needs for survival. Power to transcend and inflict the ultimate punishment, as he put it in the transcripts,” he caught Mike’s confused expression. “Don’t ask me, Mike. I don’t know what that meant either. Dr. Freedman never got that out of him. It was a slip up that the tiger quickly covered up. The point we’re dealing with here is that nothing is going to stand in his way of getting that power. Once he dominates, rapes, my daughter and kills her, he’ll be killing two birds with one stone. He’ll even get the one that got away.”

The two men fell silent. Customers were filing in for a post-sermon brunch. Elly, who had entered the pub minutes earlier, attempted to visit with her fiancé. Burt pulled her short. She looked into his eyes, his pupils were hard as stone as he shook his head at her.

“What’s wrong?”

He pointed at the table where the men sat. “Just look at their faces.”

She looked with a little more interest. Then she nodded. “If he asks for me, tell him I’m in the back.”

She was in her office for only a few minutes when the phone rang. She lifted the receiver to her ear. “Elly’s.”

“Miss Elly? Is Chief there?”

“Yes he is, Maggy. But he’s talking to Mike.”

“He told me to call when Kelly woke. Well, she’s awake now.”

“I’ll go get him,” Elly said quietly. She set the receiver on the top of her oak desk and retreated out of the office. She glanced briefly at Burt as she passed him on her way to Chief’s table.

Chief looked up as she approached. The expression on his face made her stop in her tracks. She caught her breath, and then advanced on the table. Her eyes darted to Mike before she returned to Chief. 

“Maggy’s on the line for you,” she said quietly. “You can take it in my office.”

He offered a difficult smile to her as he rose. She noticed his quick glance out the window before he turned towards the office. He paused just long enough to touch her shoulder to reassure her and then he was gone.

“Maggy?”

“She’s awake, Chief.”

“I’ll be right over.”

“Don’t hurry. She’s dressing now, and I’m getting her some breakfast. I don’t go in to work until eleven-thirty.”

“Where’s Joe?”

“He’s also upstairs.”

“Good. I’ll just be a few more minutes, honey. Then I’ll be right home.”

Chief hung up the phone and left the office, closing the door as he went. He met up with Mike at the booth. “Where’s Elly?”

“Said she had some work to do in the store room,” Mike answered. “But I think she just wants to give that look on your face a wide berth.”

Chief nodded. “I don’t blame her.”

“No, you blame yourself. It’s that 20-20 hindsight again. You keep telling me to put it to rest, Chief. I guess now it’s time I return the advice.”

“Finish your breakfast Mike. And shut up.”

The men finished eating in silence. Before leaving, Chief told Mike he’d meet up with him across the street, but he first had to take care of some business. Mike knew Chief’s business would take him into the storeroom.

Elly stood next to the back shelving. She was busy instructing Burt where to set a large crate and hadn’t noticed Chief entering through the storeroom door.

Burt set the crate down where indicated and turned to face the Chief of Police who was now leaning against the other end of the shelving. 

“Burt,” Chief said nodding.

Elly turned at the sound of his voice. She tried to smile for him, but it was an effort.

“Excuse us, Burt,” she said. Burt nodded and wandered out after first nodding to Chief.

“Elly,” Chief began. “I want to apologize for earlier. I didn’t expect you–”

“It’s all right, Bob.” Elly said putting up a hand. “You were talking about Fred, weren’t you?”

Chief nodded.

“You don’t have to explain,” Elly continued. “The look in your eyes just frightened me a little. That’s all.”

Chief smiled. He looked down towards the floor, then up with just his eyes. There was a boyish quality about the expression that calmed Elly. She returned his smile. 

“Come here,” Chief said, holding out his arms to her. She moved to him and his arms folded around her. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’d never mean to frighten you,” he whispered into her ear. “And I would like to explain… just not now. I don’t think I could go through it again, right now.”

“I understand,” Elly whispered, still haunted by his earlier expression.

They held onto each other a few moments longer before Chief was ready to let go. When he did he looked into her eyes. 

“I love you,” he told her. Then he tenderly kissed her lips with all the love that was in his heart. When they pulled apart he smiled for her. This time the smile was less forced.

“It’s going to be all right,” she told him.

“I know,” he answered. Then he kissed her again before leaving the storeroom.

© Copyright 2025 C J Driftwood. All rights reserved.