LUCID

LUCID Part 8

Standing directly next to Kenzie, the little bites and scratches on my arms and legs from my furry attackers immediately clued me into the nature of the assault.

Tossing several cats off of me, I probed around in the dark and found Kenzie's hand as she aggressively knocked the cats off of her. Helping Kenzie stand, we both made our way toward the front door as the hissing cats continued to scratch at our legs, attempted to trip us and ineffectually jumped on our backs.

Unlocking and opening the front door by feel, Kenzie and I ran outside, followed by dozens and dozens of cats who ran away in different directions.

Thinking we'd undoubtedly woken Randy with Kenzie's scream, we both ran down the street toward our parked car. As we approached, a man leaning against the car's hood addressed us before I could challenge him. "Cats get you?"

"Who're you?" I demanded, prepared to draw my partner from the small of my back.

The state police detective promptly displayed his badge and credentials. "Police. Homicide. Now who're you?"

"Kenzie Mason." Kenzie immediately identified herself. "And this is my friend, Nash. You see, officer, we accidentally went into the wrong house and..."

"Save your story for the judge." The cop interrupted Kenzie. "Because I'm not buying it. You two broke and entered. I saw the whole damn thing. I've been here all night watching the Carter place."

Realizing the police detective hadn't called for any other patrols and made no move to arrest either Kenzie or me, I figured I should tell him the truth. "That guy in the house is stalking this woman. I'm her friend. We went in there looking for any clues as to why or how to stop him."

"Did you kill him?" The cop asked bluntly.

"No." Kenzie answered.

"Too bad." The detective replied. "Stalker, huh? I'll buy that. I've been watching this creep for months. Menace to society, this one. I'm sure stalking is the least of his crimes."

"You think he murdered Harley Warren?" Kenzie blurted out.

Are you serious? I thought.

"Who are you?" The detective asked me, ignoring Kenzie's question. "You on the job? You have that look about you."

"No." I replied.

"All right, I'll cut you two a break." The detective continued. "You two got scratched up for your troubles and there's no love lost between Mister Carter in there and the citizens of the Great State of Massachusetts. Here's what's happening now. I'm going to follow you home, Miss Mason, and your friend is going to ride with me."

"I'd rather not..." I began, only to be interrupted by the detective.

"Or we can all go down to the station."

* * * * * * *

Sitting inside the detective's unmarked car, the detective handed me a file folder as we followed Kenzie home.

"I can't get this Carter creep on my own." The detective explained as I opened the folder. "And you didn't see any of this from me. I want to get you up to speed. Like I said, official or not, you look like you're on the job to me."

As I began reading the file, the detective turned on the overhead light in the car.

I found the first page in the file entitled DETECTIVE ANALYSIS OF CARTER, RANDOLPH.

Mister Randolph Carter claimed to be a student at Miskatonic University (verified), grew up in the Boston area (verified) and is an amateur antiquarian (unable to be verified). During my brief interactions with Mister Carter, I found the man very disturbed and possibly mentally ill. Mister Carter repeatedly claimed to be an uncelebrated author whose numerous, unpublished works aren't taken seriously by his academic peers. Mister Carter also switched between shouting wildly and quietly answering my questions depending upon the level of the emotional stress involved in the specific question. Unprovoked, at the onset of my questions, Mister Carter claimed to be a direct descendant of a Mister (Sir) Randolph Carter from England who studied magic during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the 1st. This ancestor, (again, also named Randolph Carter), occurring to Mister Carter, migrated to America but later had to flee during the Salem witch trials (unverified). When questioned why the suspect, Mister Carter, told me about his ancestry when I didn't ask, Mister Carter stated he simply thought I should know. I recommend Mister Carter receive a psychological examination prior to any future police questioning.

The second page in the file appeared to be a summary of the account provided to the police by Randy during his questioning after the disappearance of Harley Warren.

Summary of verbal STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER, suspect in the disappearance and presumed murder of Harley Warren. Provided to the Massachusetts State Police voluntarily after being properly advised and waiving his right to counsel.

According to one, Mister Randolph Carter during his questioning by police, Carter stated he and his friend, Harley Warren, after studying together in a University library where they both attended as students, set off to investigate what Carter described as a "mysterious" crypt in an abandoned cemetery. When asked, Carter could not provide the exact location of the cemetery. Carter stated Warren believed the crypt contained evidence that could aid Warren in the research he was conducting on the nature of death as part of his studies at the University. Carter continued his story, explaining upon reaching the cemetery, both Carter and Warren located and uncovered the crypt they were searching for by removing the granite slab covering it. Once removed, according to Carter, the interior of the tomb revealed a set of stone steps deep leading into the ground. Carter then claimed Warren insisted Carter remain at the surface as Warren, alone, descended the crypt's steps. Carter and Warren remained in communication with Carter via a couple of off-the-shelf handheld radios they brought with him (Note: Carter did not know where the radios were purchased when asked by detectives). According to Carter, once Warren reached the bottom of the stairs, Warren told Carter, via the radios, that he had discovered an unbelievable secret (Carter also used the adjective "monstrous" when describing the secret). Carter stated Warren also pleaded with Carter to leave him in the crypt and to replace the stone lid and run for his life. Carter explained he initially refused and when Carter asked Warren what he had found, Warren would not answer Carter. After several minutes of Carter calling Warren on the radio and shouting down the steps, Carter reported he finally received an answer, however, instead of Warren answering his repeated calls, an unknown voice on the radio informed Carter that Warren had died. Carter stated he then tossed his radio down the stairs, replaced the crypt lid and fled as Warren had directed. At this point of the interview, Carter asked to be represented by a lawyer and the questioning stopped.

The remaining papers were all arrest reports and surveillance reports which added nothing I didn't already know.

As we pulled up to the house where Kenzie rented the attic in, the detective retrieved his file from me and added, "I can only look the other way once. Maybe twice. Good luck and although I can't say so officially, thanks for anything you can do to bring this maggot to justice in advance."

Speechless, I exited the unmarked cop car and watched the detective drive away.