chapter 61

word count: 1342

it didn’t take long for the media to get a hold of the autopsy report  confirming that the body of the little boy that had been recovered from a shopping cart, in the neighboring town of weston, was none other than that of one of new albany’s own, little simon learnagle..  

before detectives bower and bettencourt had even arrived at the learnagle household to inform simon’s distraught mother, jada, that a positive identification had been made,, and impart upon her all the gory details surrounding her baby’s grievous demise,,  the front yard of the learnagel home had become an encampment of blood thirsty reporters.. 

the entire street had become a full blown media circus,, lined on both sides by satellite linkup trucks from both local and national news agencies.. reporters and film crews not only gathered in the front yard of the learnagel home,, but poured out into the street,, smoking cigarettes , drinking coffee, generally fraternizing amongst themselves as if they were gathered together at a social event,, instead of lecherously assembled in the front yard of an already overwrought family,, yet to be dealt one of life’s most devastating blows.

some overzealous reporters called out to the family,, demanding a statement be made in response to the discovery of simon’s tortured body..  others knocked unceasingly on the tightly closed door,, as call after unanswered call was placed to the learnagel family’s phone causing it to ring relentlessly.. 

effectively prisoners in their own home,, the learnagel family hid behind locked doors and tightly drawn drapes and waited.. it was evident,, by the overwhelming media presence,, that there had been new information released surrounding simon’s disappearance,, but there was not one among them that was willing to turn on the radio or the tv and have the injurious taunts of the raging reporters confirmed.. 

instead they cloistered themselves upstairs in jada’s room behind a closed, locked door,, and did their best to block out the media assault that was being waged against them.. they huddled together on the bed, finding comfort in their close proximity to each other.. although physical displays of affection were an uncommon occurrence in the learnagel household,, they clung to each other instinctively as few words passed between them,, and many a  silent tear was shed..

“jesus fuckin’ christ!!” gil bellowed, as he maneuvered the car thru the raucous array of reporters,, crew members and illegally double parked satellite trucks,, in attempt to get as close as possible to the learnagel home.. “don’t these people have any scruples?”

“bunch of fucking animals!” hank replied as gil pulled up aside a channel 10 mobile unit,, and brought the car to an abrupt halt.. 

hank yanked a bull horn off the back seat floorboard,, as he and gil exited the car.. badges in hand they descended upon the throng of reporters blocking their way to the front door..  

“can i get a statement?” yelled out the maddened crowd of reporters, as they formed a mob around hank and gil,, cameras at the ready,, microphones in hand.

“back it up people!!” hank yelled into the bull horn.. “this is private property.. back it up to the sidewalk!!”

a cloud of dissidence rose above the wrangled crowd..

“the people have a right to know!!”

“all we want is a statement!!” the disgruntled reporters demanded in unison.

 “the new albany police department will be issuing an official statement later on today.. “ hank roared into the bull horn. “now back up before we arrest the lot of you!!”

as the menagerie of media correspondents,, many of them audibly protesting the direct order,, backed reluctantly away from the house and packed themselves like sardines on the sidewalk and tree lawn,, gil and hank warily approached the front door.. 

“mrs. learnagel!! new albany police department here!! we need to speak to you!!” hank cried out,, making use of the bull horn.. 

“she is probably scared to death to open this door," said gil,, stating the obvious.. 

“do ya blame her?” hank responded rhetorically.. neither of them was at ease with the grim news they had yet to deliver.. 

“mrs. learnagel.. hank bower here!! napd.. please open the door!!”

with that the door opened just a crack,, chain lock still  in place… it was stanley,, the eldest of the learnagel clan.. once he verified that they were in fact police officers,, and not some raving lunatic reporter,, he slowly, silently opened the door,, which gil and hank quickly walked through,, and closed securely behind them.. 

“son, we need to speak to your mother.” gil informed the young learnagel.

“she’s up stairs.” said stanley sullenly.. “follow me."

***

not long after detectives bower and bettencourt had left weston mercy hospital,, to inform the learnagel family of their loved ones confirmed demise,  detective dillon decker from the weston police department showed up to collect fingerprints from the victim of sadie ‘the crazy lady’s’ brutal attack.. as of yet no one had filed a missing persons report that might shed any light on the identity of the victim,, so he had come to be known only as john doe 3..

the attending physician at mercy had called to inform the weston police department, that it was in the patients best interest to induce coma,, as the pain,, both physical and emotional,, would be unbearable should the poor guy wake up of his own accord.. he had implored the department to obtain the identity of his patient,, as any previous medical records that might be available, could his identity be established, would serve invaluable in his treatment.. 

with no evidence to lead them to believe otherwise,, the weston police department had come to assume, that the as of yet unidentified victim,, was just that..  the innocent victim, of a delusional woman who truly believed the bloated, rotting corpse she had found floating in the big bear river was that of her own long dead son..  and then viciously took out her maniacal frustrations on the first person who had the grave misfortune of crossing her path.. 

as detective decker entered the room,, he was visibly taken aback by the devastation he saw before him.. he was greeted by numerous machines,, whooshing, blinking,, and beeping,,  visibly doing for the victim that which he was no longer able to do for himself.. 

as he stepped closer to the bed,, he couldn’t help but notice that the facial features had been completely obliterated in the beating.. the remaining raw flesh was encased in a mask of mesh made of pressed human skin,, (in order to encourage healing)  but its presence only served to produce a deathlike ghoulish appearance, that detective decker surmised he would not be able to wipe completely from his memory any time soon.. 

he went about his business,, slowly and with apprehension.. the logical part of him knew  that the victim was in a drug induced coma,, but the irrational part of him couldn’t help but envision this monstrosity waking up abruptly and grabbing him by the throat.. 

‘how the hell do ya ever come back from something like this??” he couldn’t help but wonder as he rolled finger after lifeless finger on the ink pad,, and then onto a standard finger print card.. 

when he had satisfactorily collected all ten prints,, he stood over the body for a moment,, blowing on the ink to make sure it was dry before he dropped it in the zip lock baggie that would preserve the chain of evidence.. he signed and dated the baggie,, and slipped it into the pocket of his over coat.. 

“poor bastard.” he said aloud as he made his way out of the blinking, beeping hospital room and into the florescent lighted hospital corridor.. 

as he exited the hospital,, he put a call in to dispatch to let them know he would be temporarily detained.. these fingerprints had to be delivered to the precinct pronto,, as from the look of things,, this poor guy could very well lose his life,, before his identity had even been established..