It was four fifty seven – the sun would be up soon and he wondered if trying to get a few more winks was worth it. He lay haunted and troubled, turning, adjusting, covering, uncovering, uncomfortable.
He’d seen someone leave the complex
the night of the murder and yet chose not to report it. The problem wasn’t so
much what he saw but who. He could not identify anything but a dark shape and a
cast shadow walking briefly from behind a light stanchion to the parking garage
door. He could have missed it with a blink and convinced himself it was only a
shadow, nothing more. But ‘nothing more’ doesn’t cast a shadow does it? And
there on the edge of the light pool was a shape, but it took a moment of
adjustment as he looked up from his laptop screen and his eyes focused. What
time had it been? A glance to the menu bar – 3:23 AM. That had to be important
to someone. But then they probably had a handle on that from science. He was
trying to dismiss it, fooling himself again, and knew it. He finally gathered
the courage, Googled the number and punched it in, his cellphone on speaker.
Davis Police Depart, her weary voice resigned but polite, probably
approaching the end of a long shift.
I saw something at the Stanton
Apartments.
She perked immediately, Are we
discussing last night’s incident, sir?
We are.
May I get your name and number
in case I lose you? I will attempt to reach the officer in charge currently in
the field.
Mark Landreth…
With an “S”?
‘ t – h…L A N D R E T H.
Landreth. 221 – 8767
Local? 502?
Yes.
You live in the unit sir?
Across the court. Next building
over –The Hallmark, on Lark.
Let’s see if we can get you
through. Hold on…
And with that the line went dead.
Dawn was breaking.
Landreth was now in a quandary.
Does he wait patiently for the phone to ring or does he go in and make a
statement before heading to his job? If he was to go downtown, the number 8 bus
would soon enough make it’s pass, and Now would be the time to take action. He
paced, then decided to wait. They had his contact information, he had done his
part. Should he call into work? Would he be late? This was peak holiday season
and the bookstore was experiencing a swell of business due to the new tablets.
His failure to show could be a dangerous, job ending decision. Should he call Marie?
Yes!
Marie? Mark. I am awaiting a call from the police and… I’m
okay…I was witness to some activity that may be related to a murder….yes THAT
one…next building over. I know….you sure? So sorry, I…thank you, yes. I will
pick up Saturday if that helps…Good..You’re very welcome. Thank you. I will.
His stomach in knots from
the mounting anxiety, and try as he did to ignore it, could do so no longer. He
ran with urgency to the bathroom, dropped his trousers and drawers, and as his
ass touched the cold rimmed seat of relief, came the knock on the door.
Nooooo! He moaned, past the point of no return,
and as the knocking became more insistent so did his needs, until finally his
bowels did their job, but by this time someone was shouting, “Mr
Landreth. Police! Sir, you need to open up and talk to us.”
WAIT! WAIT! Give me a second will you? I…I will be right
there!”
I must insist that you open the door!
And I must insist that you respect my need to eliminate!
Wha…? Two
minutes. Two minutes, sir. Then I ask the manager to open up. You ARE Mark
Landreth are you not?
I am and I am incapacitated at the moment. Can we do
without the dialogue sir?
Two minutes, sir, or we come in and yank your ass of that
crapper.
At the two minute mark, Mark was hiking up his pants and
answering the door simultaneously. The detective was taken aback by the obvious
odiferous verification of the act as described by the witness, and officers were most
hesitant to enter. “Sorry sir. We…Detective Warton. DPD.”
“I am a witness detective, not a suspect.”
“I believe that, but we must take everything into
consideration. It is not unusual for suspects to involve themselves as innocent
bystanders…”
“This has been very stressful and I usually get that in
the gut…”
“Understand.
”I called to tell you what I saw. Should I regret that
decision?”
“Not if it is the truth.
My point exactly. I should be allowed to speak my truth,
as I saw it. And let’s not exaggerate what I may have seen…it’s…partial…”
“How do you partially see, sir?
I was distracted while working, I saw a shadow and a
shape, go from…come here detective…you see that door? That is the parking
garage for this unit, and that light is on the walkway that runs the length of
the entire unit and leads to that door. In that pool of light I saw a shadow pass,
and a shape right along the edge, like he was trying to stay on the dark…”
He?
Trousers and heavy shoes- the lower torso…looked like a he
from what I could see, and that was pretty much in silhouette. Heavy footed,
striding with purpose, not panic –
could have been a woman, but aggressive…definitely controlled…not running – 1
–2 - there, then gone, the door opened and shut and he…they…were gone. Swish.
Did you notice the time?
By my laptop:
3:23
Huh. Okay. That’s it?
The time is the surest thing I can verify, but the person,
not so much…there are cameras around the garage…
We are reviewing ALL evidence sir. This does help us nail
down the time, if it’s related. Could you see their hands?
Hands? No. Why? You thinking a weapon? Nothing like that.
Things may have been taken from the unit. Wondering if he
had a burden…a box?… a duffel? Perhaps heavy…
He didn’t walk like it. It was quick and fluid, no
struggle with the door, so I’d assume his hands were free.
Could you show me?
Show you what? I just did, you can see from here…
No, could we go down and reenact what you might have seen?
Could you do that?
As Mark opened the door he
was surprised by a uniformed officer standing guard in the hallway, hand ready on
his revolver, Warton waved him off, but Landreth was uneasy with the attention
and the ratcheted tension of the moment.
Lead the way, Mr Landreth.
And so he did. Once they
reached the spot, Warton looked back up to the Mark’s window, verifying the
line of sight. Mark repeated the act, satisfied that by the third attempt that
he had established the act as precisely as he could recall it. That’s
what I saw. Right there. Just like that.
I see. Fluid, unrestricted.
Purposeful.
Did you hear a vehicle start up? See anyone drive off?
Neither? Didn’t hear, and can’t really see anything from
this side of the building.
Warton reviewed the sight
line and nodded, then handed him his card and said the usual
if-you-think-of-anything business, and they parted. The uniformed officer
lingered and eyed Landreth for a beat, making him uneasy. Did you have a
question, Officer?
Did you know the victim, sir?
No. Why would I?
Without answering, the
officer tipped his cap, turned and followed Warton into the garage.
Mark let a sigh of relief,
his burden lighter now that he'd met his civic duty, he worked his neck to relief the
tension, glancing up at the sky. Should be a nice day, big white clouds, blue
sky…why were people staring down from their apartments? He saw four, two
withdrew altogether upon being spotted, one woman stepped back into the shadows
but lingered, but that one guy just stood and stared unflinching. Mark had
never considered that he would be so publicly viewed. He was now a witness out
in the open. They saw him with the police. And, what was it they suspected? His colon contracts.
