her sister.
“He’s hurt? Did he fall, or something?”
“Fall? Huh-uh. Somebody--” Alexa paused for breath. “We don’t know exactly what somebody did. They hurt him, though, like maybe they stabbed him in the neck. Both of us saw the teeny tiny puncture marks. Then we saw two humongous guys--or something--run into the trees. We need the police to find them, too.”
“Wait one minute, you two. What were you doing at the lake?” Their mother paused and shook her head. “I thought your father and I warned you about going off the paved street without a parent. At this time of the night, how could you--”
“Sorry, Mom. But when we heard the call for help, well, Rache and I had to go and see what was wrong.”
“Girls, you can never tell what might be lurking there. I suppose that’s obvious, though, from what you are telling me.” Mrs. Casaday dropped the towels in a basket on the hallway floor and led the girls downstairs. She dialed nine-one-one. “Hello? I’m calling from Dunbar Lakes to report an incident down at the big lake. My daughters found an injured man there a few moments--yes, that’s the lake with all the park and playground facilities. I live at Eight Lakeside Drive. You’re sending a police officer? That would be great. We’ll wait at the front door for you.”
Within five minutes a policeman pulled into their driveway, screeched to a halt, and stepped out from his cruiser. “Officer David Mulligan, from the Voorhees Police Department. I understand you found an injured man?” Mulligan flashed his credentials as he spoke.
His right eye twitched annoyingly, something Rachael observed and mentioned to her sister later.
Mrs. Casaday told the girls to hold Peanut while she filled him in on the details. Officer Mulligan pulled out a pad and made some notes. “Okay, so you suspect that two unknown assailants committed a crime, perhaps an assault against an elderly gentleman in the woods by the lake.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Alexa replied.
“Let’s take a drive over there to investigate. Mrs. Casaday, if you would kindly secure your home, the three of you can follow my cruiser to the alleged crime scene.”
“Not alleged. It really happened,” Rachael said under her breath so the officer could not hear.
“Come on, girls, let’s get the car.” Vickie Casaday grabbed her handbag and keys.
“You better call for an emergency truck, like an ambulance or something. The man can’t walk on his own, from the way he looked to us,” Alexa said.
“Let’s find the victim first. Then we’ll decide on what we need, ladies.” Mulligan got into his car and headed for Stamford Lake. Mrs. Casaday put Peanut in the family room, locked up the house, and the three of them jumped into their Honda SUV.
In five minutes they arrived at the lake and parked in the nearby lot designated for neighbors who used the play facility. The entire area was silent and dark, even more eerie than their first visit. The fog grew more dense by the moment. Officer Mulligan pulled out a huge flashlight to light their way as they examined the park around them.
“I first yelled to him back there,” Alexa pointed. “When he called to us, we followed his voice to--”
Both sisters paused at the spot where they found him. Yes, they remembered exactly where it was. “We moved off to the left. Over here. He was lying . . .”
Alexa stopped talking and looked around her.
“Remember, Rachael? We went a few steps off to the left, and . . .”
She looked. Rachael looked.
“Where is he?” Alexa said.
“What the--” Rachael said, dumbfounded.
Officer Mulligan stood next to the girls. “Okay, just keep calm and try it again. We’ll retrace your steps. Let me grab some additional lighting, maybe a few flares. It’s awfully hard to see anything in this darned fog.”
“Yeah. Maybe we didn’t go far enough the first time,” Alexa said.
Mulligan set up the lights and flares from his trunk. By this time a few porch lights dotted the surrounding area, from various homes facing the parking lot. The girls stepped through the pines more carefully and they combed the wooded area again. And again. No one was lying in the brush, and they found no scarf left behind either.
“Rachael, where is this guy?”
“How should I know? We saw him here just an hour ago. No way he could get up and walk away on his own. Not the way he looked and talked.”
“Did you happen to get the man’s name or address?” Officer Mulligan asked.
“No,” Alexa mumbled. “We thought he’d be here, so why--”
“How about his features? Can you tell me what he looked like? Tall, short, fat, skinny, light or dark complexion?”
“We couldn’t tell, he was lying on the ground,” said Rachael. “He was old, with grey and white hair and dark eyes, I think. The man wore this heavy black coat, and he had two nasty bleeding marks on his neck. It was dark, so--”
“Marks on his neck,” the officer repeated as he made notes and shook his head, that eye twitching again. “Anything else?”
After years working as a cop, does your body start to do funny things? Rachael asked herself as she observed the eye movement.
“Nothing that I remember,” said Alexa. Come on, Rache, let’s keep looking.”
After another few minutes of this exercise Mulligan took them aside. “Look, girls, I’m not saying your story isn’t true, but you gotta admit, we’re not finding anyone injured here in the woods. It doesn’t look like we have a crime. I’m going to ask you this next question because I know it’s getting close to Halloween, and I’ve got to know. Kids make stuff up, to be cool and create extra work for us guys who patrol your neighborhood and keep it safe. I’m hoping this isn’t one of those times, girls, so give it to me straight. Did you really see an injured gentleman tonight, or not?”
Rachael and Alexa looked at each other.
“We found a man hurt, with little stab wounds in his neck. He needed help. That’s all we can tell you,” said Alexa.
“That’s your story?”
Both girls nodded.
“You’re sticking to it?”
“It’s the truth, so we must,” Alexa replied.
Officer Mulligan sighed. “Okay. If that’s the way it was, that’s how I’ll put it in the report. But if this is a prank, please don’t pull anything like this again. These stories can get you kids in big trouble with the authorities. Got it?”
“Okay,” Alexa said.
“We’re telling you--”
Alexa
