Noorilhuda's Blog - Posts Tagged "catharsos"

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http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1514709759
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(Libraries and resellers links to appear shortly)

Dark tale of a tough-as-nails detective, a curious old man and a persistent district attorney - all trying to catch a pedophile.

Fear is relative.
What would you do to be free?
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...
http://www.amazon.com/Catharsis-Noori...

EXCERPT BELOW:
CONTENTS

TUESDAY - 1
WEDNESDAY - 55
THURSDAY MORN’ & AFTERNOON - 103
THURSDAY NIGHT - 158
FRIDAY - 200
A FEW DAYS LATER - 253




TUESDAY


“He’s right over there, waiting at your desk.”
She turned around to have a look at the person Sherriff Johnson wanted her to meet. The thin old man was already sitting at her desk with a calm expression.
“I wonder where all the blood goes?” She said out loud. “He looks half-dead and he’s our best shot?”
“Now Aurora he says he knows where the boy is,” Sheriff Johnson said.
“He had a dream.”
“He convinced the family. We have to play along or else they may go to the press.”
“Making us the bad guy no doubt. God, sometimes these people make me sick. We are supposed to follow real leads, not characters out of a bloody Stephen King novel!”
“Better be nice to him.”
She grunted and rushed out of his office.
He called out to her from behind.
“Hey Ro, one more thing. He drinks blood.”
“Beg-your-eff-pardon?”
“He carries a bit around.”
“He carries a bit what around?”
“Like a milkshake.”
“Is that legal?”
“He has a prescription for it.”
“And the hits keep coming.”
“Be -”
She did not let him finish.

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Without wasting a moment or breath she sat on her side of her desk and started.
“Hello, I hear you are some kind of blood sucking genius who knows where the body is. I’m Fox. So out with it Mr. Maxwell what-a-name Caine, where is Daniel?”
The frail guy smiled. Clearly, undeterred by her ambush, he remained motionless, sitting as he was, cross-legged with one hand on his knee and the other on the table. She hated him already.
“Who said Danny is dead?”
“Unless you are hard of hearing, and that wouldn’t surprise me, I did. Of course he is. Someone does not remain missing for 15 days without ending up in some hole somewhere. We just don’t know which one he is in. The attic, or river or under the kitchen sink.”
“He’s alive and we are getting late. We have to be at the 77th street cafe by twelve o’clock.”
“He’s in the cafe?”
“No. That’s where I have my lunch every Tuesday.” He got up to stand close to her. “So does the kidnapper.”
“Okay let’s go.” She noticed he had a cane.
Straightening himself up he asked, “Aren’t you going to take a few officers along?”
“I’m all the backup you’ll ever need,” she said checking her gun. “Come along.”
Soon they were driving to the place thirty blocks away.
“So tell me about yourself. How do you know the Logans?”
“I do not. I just happened to have a flat tire right outside their place and Mr. Logan was kind enough to let me use the phone.”
“And they believed the flat tire story?”
“They always do.....its hard enough being clever. One does not need to lay it too thick on grieving souls.”
‘A limping megalomaniac solves the crime’, she thought. ‘That will be the day.’
She had to ask. “You make puppets for a living do you not?”
“Yes.”
“Are you making a dummy of us?”
He glanced at her and milked his thoughts.
“Are you always this skeptical?” He asked in that raspy soft voice that she did not trust for a second.
“Comes with the job description,” she said making a left turn.
“Oh you won’t find a parking spot near the place. You’ll have to find a lot.”
“I’ll manage don’t worry.”
She double parked near the cafe.
“You’ll get a ticket.”
“No one will dare.” She pulled the brake, placed a ‘Criminal On Board’ card on the dashboard and locked the Ford. They walked to the corner coffee shop that read ‘Marionette’s’.
“You first,” she said as she opened the door for him.
“Thank you, are you going to pull the chair for me too?”
“We don’t want you stumbling over anything, now do we?” She said unapologetically.
“Your dates must be so proud.”
“No need to go snarky on me. I do a lot worse than bite.”
He gestured towards a table in the middle of the bustling shop.
“No, we should be in the corner,” she said.
“Oh no, I always sit here. Anything out of the routine may sniff off the buggar.”
“Do you bring women to lunches with you?”
“No.”
“Then it is safe to say he will be suspicious. Is he here?”
“No not yet.”
They sat down. A waitress came to take the order.
“Hi Jill, how are you today?”
“Same old same old. Day is slow.”
It didn’t look that way to Aurora. The place was cramped.
“Not asked out yet huh?” Caine smiled.
“He is just sitting over there!” Jill exclaimed. “He only asked for mocha and toffee, after I gave a shapeel about complementary croissants.”
“So the status quo remains. He did not increase the order,” Caine mused.
“Which means he is not interested.”
“That is not possible.”
Aurora had had enough. She had to jump in. “So what, forget him, find some other fool who will like complementary croissants even if he does not want one. I am sure there is some idiot here who will fancy you, and have high cholesterol for the rest of his life.”
Jill looked alarmingly at Caine who ventured an explanation.
“Yes, she is with me, though not by choice. Feel free to mind her; just don’t mess up her order. She does more than just bite!”
Aurora made a face. “Hey!”
Caine read from the menu card. “This time, Jill, I’ll have a roasted almond tea with vanilla topping.”
“Okay, still no winner on the favorites yet huh?” said Jill scribbling away.
“The world is built on hope.” He handed over the card.
Jill turned to Aurora.
“Oh no. Nothing.”
Caine said, “Oh we’ll be here a while. The cat is not in the bag yet, if you catch my drift. He is not in yet.”
Aurora could not believe it. “Nobody talks that way anymore......Cappuccino, better have a good foamy head on top.”
“What size?” Jill asked.
“How large is your Large?”
“Eight inches.”
“I’ll just have to get by, won’t I?”
Jill tried not to show the rolling of her eyes.
“Anything to go with the drinks?”
“No.” said Aurora canvassing the area.
“Not today, thank you,” Caine said. “And why don’t you delay his coffee? He is bound to come up to you.”
Jill nodded and gave Aurora a sliding glance as she walked away.
“How did you become a detective with such marvelous people skills?” Caine asked shaking his napkin.
Ignoring the jibe she asked, “Who is this guy we are chasing? How do you know him? How do you know who he is? How do you know what he is?”
“I’m glad we are warming up to each other,” He said enveloping the napkin neatly. “Why don’t you have a partner?”
She lunged back to the chair. “I’m in-between. He got shot. He had a problem hearing me as well.”
“Is he alive?”
“What do you think?” She put one elbow on the table. “God, you psychics! You think it is a walk in the park. This is the real world Mister Smooth, not the world of hand crafted animals and joy rides, and in it when someone is hurt, they stay hurt. When someone is dead, they stay dead.”
“I never said I was a psychic.”
“Oh how else are you going to explain your ‘flat tire’ if not as a premonition? You probably googled their home address off some news piece or reporter.”
She summarized his appearance mentally. He was 6 foot tall which made the limp more pronounced than it would have in a shorter man. Apart from the compact-ready face, he had long thinning hair and a straight nose. That was good, because if she was to look at him more than once, the nose need not be an eyesore. The teeth betrayed a smoking habit. He was dressed as if going to the opera, but in a dull shade of ill-fitted grey, with creaseless white shirt apparent underneath. All of it was a size too big for him - he must have lost weight recently. The long lean fingers with spores and bony wrinkled face betrayed a non-muscular frame. This would denote a thoroughly depressed senior citizen if she went by the theory that George up at MEs quoted just that morning after going through some university research. But this Caine character did not look sad. The eyes twinkled in two large frames as if he was in on some private joke of his making. The large mouth did not reflect the sentiment. He had a soft sweet voice that made her suspicious. He looked as if he was at peace with himself, all quiet and gentle and slow. She did not like him, no sir. She had seen quite a few characters like him before. Some had gel in their hair, some were fast-talkers, some had shifty eyes. They came down to the station with one story or another. She never had to humor any of them before.
“Why are you so caked up?”
Her question seemed to puzzle him.
She circled her finger pointing it towards his face. “Man, you have a lot of powder for an octogenarian.”
“Have to give a bit of color to these cheeks,” Caine smiled self-assuringly.
Gay. ‘No wonder he doesn’t bring women,’ she thought. Then ventured as if giving an explanation:
“Josh Logan has a spare parts business. He’s a multi-millionaire with that bottle-blonde trophy capped-teeth wife, who was too busy to get pregnant or stay pregnant the logical way - it would ruin the social calendar for both of them - they ended up having one via surrogate ten years ago, long before it was fashionable to do so. Real trendsetters. Both play the field. The kid saw them as much as he has seen Santa Claus. They did not even realize he was missing till seven hours after lunch when he failed to show up downstairs for the party. Nobody saw him or was even aware of him or what he was up to in those seven hours. And they wait five more hours before reporting it to the police, why? Because they thought they were going to get a ransom ring. Never happened. Why do such people even bother?! They hire a lawyer - for themselves. A PR guy to handle their appearances. Thank God Oprah has no daily anymore! And they had the audacity to throw a 15-minute fame-hungry puppeteer in the precinct! So you are damn right, my people skills are narrow - but only for the very special kinds.”
“Didn’t your boss tell you to be nice to me?”
Aurora was taken aback - Johnson’s office had transparent glass which was the only thing that separated his cubicle from the rest and it was no way near hers - but had no time to dwell on the uneasy feeling. Drama was unfolding at a large corner table where a mother was loudly scolding her little girl. And Jill had just put a round yellow cup in front of her. She had a strong dislike for yellow, lime, lemon, sun, daffodils……..and the flag of New Mexico. She did not know who to give cold looks to first - the irritating man sitting across, the desperado who brought in the cup or the loud crazy bitch at the end of the room. Thoroughly unhappy, she took a sip.
“How is it?” Caine asked as he took out a small bottle from a side pocket and poured the red liquid contents in his tea.
She was disgusted by the sight but did not say anything.
“If your plan is to be courteous for a change, you should fix that expression,” he said without looking up.
She flinched and took another sip. “Are you a dying man? Most hemophiliacs are.”
“Not if they can help it,” he smiled as he gulped down the concoction.
“You are what - 58, 59?”
“Sixty-seven. Too young to die?”
“Death is death. Age has nothing to do with it.” She said matter-of-factly - she was distracted - again. That fat mother was making a mountain of a molehill yet again. “Aren’t you people supposed to get injections or something?”
“Yes. I like this on the side.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“I like the sight of it. Strangely as often as I do bleed, it is life-affirming. Something a woman can understand.”
“Ugh!” She looked around, playing with the knife on the table. “Isn’t it time you ditched the coat. It’s warm as it is, sixty outside. You do not have a funeral to attend do you?”
“I like being covered up.”
“How’s that working for your sex life?” She made a sneer of a smile. “This is such a rowdy place. How long have you been coming here?”
“A week.”
It did not make sense. She had just assumed he frequented the joint. Then she understood his meaning.
“You came here because of him, the guy who kidnapped the boy. How did you -”
He cut her off.
“- No, he just happened to pick a place I like. I have been trying new eateries for a while now. The man who comes here is the ashizukai, at least I believe he is. He’s the roller, the negotiator, his work entails finding clients and making deals with them. I overheard him outside my shop. I don’t just perform with puppets, I sell them too.”
“Good God, you make dolls for a living. Can your life be any sadder?”
“The only person who likes dolls more than children is .......”
He expected her to finish the sentence.
“A parent?”
“Oh no. Parents buy toys because they absolutely must. They have to…….but the pedophiles do it for fun. They get their rocks off that way.”
“It’s a ring.”
“Yes it is. And today is the last day they ever work again.”
She had a gleam in her eyes. The long-necked one wasn’t a waste of time after all. She drank some more of the crap.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise at the end of a corner. She knew what the sound was before she shot a glance that way. The only thing worse than a whining kid was a discouraging low-life parent. And this girl had quite a sucker of a mother. The nubile kid, no more than probably five, was being shaken by the arm over some terrible misdeed as if it were the crime of the century. She sprung from her seat, almost spilling the round cup, and crossed the distance in a rough stride.
“Cut it out.” She said in a menacing low tone.
The mother with shrilly voice did not hear her.
“Hey,” she grabbed the mother’s arm and shrugged it off the child. “I said Cut - It - Out.”
“Who the hell?”
“I’m a cop and when I say I can eat you alive and spit you out in two seconds without anyone in here batting an eye, I am not far wrong. Stop messing with your kid or I will have the owner call up the child services and you will never see her again. Not till you have a rotting jolly time going back and forth the court, giving explanations to complete strangers on how good a pathetic mother such as yourself is, and having psychiatric evaluations and counseling thrown in for good measure. Talk about your childhood much? So save yourself the embarrassment.”
“Who do you think you are?! I have rights.”
Aurora needed to drive home the point to the shrew. She turned to the young couple seated on the next table. “Did you not see this woman thrash her kid to pieces?”
“I did no such thing!” screamed the mother.
The young neighborly woman spoke as if unsure of what to say. “Y-es I did.”
Satisfied with the reply, she turned to the fellow next to her. “And you?”
“She was ferocious.” He agreed wholeheartedly to the lie.
The mother was speechless.
Aurora raised a finger. “They are the witnesses. So be good.”
The mother got up. “You cannot just harass me. Get away from this table.”
Aurora grabbed the woman by the neck. “I did not want to do this in front of your kid, but you leave me no choice.”
She pushed the obese woman to the wall and slapped her silly.
“Do - Not - Hit - Your- Child - Especially - Out - In - Public. Got - That? I did not hear you bitch. Do You Get It?”
The mother winced a reply.
“Nice and Easy.” She took her hands off the woman and let her breathe. “Now if only you had listened the first time none of this would have happened,” she turned and spoke to the scared child. “Your mother was being a bad girl, it’s alright now. Enjoy your lunch.”
“Mommy!” the girl said.
Aurora didn’t hear her. She snatched the purse of the mother, looked at the driver’s license and put it back.
“Now I know your name and address. Don’t make me come looking for you. Be good to your daughter.”
The cafe was silent. Jill stood on one side with an open mouth. The Caine guy was watching her with keen eyes. Presently he got up and counted change. She went over to him.
“We have to go now,” he said.
“What do you mean, we just got here. Don’t worry about that. These things happen.”
“Something tells me they happen to you more often than to others,” he said taking hold of his cane. “He left.”
“B-” she didn’t have time to ask more questions, because Caine was already on the move. She followed him.
“Well, where is he?”
“Drive. I’ll explain.”
Back in the car, he asked for her phone.
“You left yours back there?” She asked.
“No I don’t carry one.”
“No cell? How do you survive in the real world man! What do you need my phone for?”
“You carry a blackberry.”
“So?”
“I have a USB.”
She held the wheel with her left hand and took out the phone with the other.
He was punching buttons. She was starting to doubt his words, he may very well have some wild goose chase mapped out to look convincing.
Finally he spoke. “Are you always this angry?”
“Are you always this evasive? Where is this guy? Who is this guy?”
“Jill was supposed to lure him into accepting a free toy for a late order. He did. I saw it in his hands. That’s when your spectacular outburst happened and you declared yourself to be a cop in front of everyone. And he bolted sooner than I expected.”
“You mean the guy she was trying to hook, was -”
“Yes.”
“And she was doing it because you asked her to. Well he may have just thrown it in a dumpster back there.”
“Relax. I am getting a reading of an object moving right towards the highway.”
“You rigged a toy?”
“I made it.”
“Wait a minute.”
She slowed down the car and curved it to a halt.
“Why did you not tell me this when I could have easily arrested him?”
“What would your probable cause be? I did not have anything to give you to arrest him on.”
“Two punches and he would have squealed like a bird.”
“Do you get most of your confessions this way?”
“Don’t play that game with me. Criminals do not follow law and their lawyers punch holes in the evidence. You have to be as crooked as them to get anywhere.”
“Sheriff Johnson shares this philosophy.”
“He better. I’m the best he’s got!”
“Well can you scold me while driving? We should not lose the trail.”
“What trail? For all I know you are fishing for a book deal and killing time with a cop to make it sale-able to an agent.”
“No one would believe me, Angry Bird.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Unless you want a shiner yourself, Pinocchio, don’t call me that. I do not like hitting handicapped or the elderly. And you are both. So don’t push me.”
She started the engine, checked out the rear, let the truck pass her by and then slid back into traffic.
“What makes you the best?” He asked in that irritating soft voice, eyes fixed on the Berry.
“I nab more people, close more files, the DA gets more convictions on my cases. Everyone goes home happy. Except the bad guy. That’s the important thing. He has to know he got what he deserved. You reap as you sow. Learnt that in the third grade. People go through their whole lives without understanding that basic principle. There are no second chances. This is all you’ve got.”
He took off his coat.
“Aah finally!” She said.
“You were right, it is hot. Plus you have no air conditioning.”
“Broke down a couple days ago. Haven’t had time to get it fixed.”
“You work a lot?”
“I grunt and slouch.”
“Oh I have no doubt you do. I meant in the way of pleasure.”
“I get by.”
“So who was it?”
“Who was what?”
“The one who was not nice to you.”
“Where’s Avishuku?”
“Who?”
“The guy we are tailing, where is he?”
“Ashizukai.”
“That cannot be his real name. I did not see any Asians in there.”
“It’s not. It’s a term we use in puppetry to denote one of three operators. He is the face of the operation, not the mind. The others remain in shadows. His name, or at least what he gave me, is Charlie Coco. He said it was the birthday of his brother’s kid and he wanted to surprise him. He bought one from the Saraband collection. It’s the cheapest but allows greater freedom to name and accessorize and develop an original personality of. Clean-cut three foot tall mannequin. Hopefully he is going straight to the place where Daniel is held.” He looked out the window. “That ought to make his parents very happy.”
“I bet it will. A great photo-op no doubt......How can you feel for such lousy selfish people?”
“I am trained to feel for wooden objects.”

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