Why Not Murder

8. Bear

8. Bear

As Maya continued on her way home, she brooded on all the information she had gained, not in a reflective process such as when we consciously observe what we see and hear in our memory and imagination, not using any force of focus, rather a silent dwelling on, as though she were standing on a rock and gazing outwards at what is there without paying attention to it or knowing what she is seeing at that moment. After a while she found herself off the road and heading to the little graveyard where she had buried the dead man she found in the car in the lake. Her feet were leading her, guided by a decision made unconsciously. She felt a certain foreboding when she was near the graveyard and she soon saw why. Bees were swarming around the chapel. Two gigantic muddy front bear paw prints were on the chapel wall just underneath the overhang of the roof where there had been a large hive which was now in pieces on the ground below. Then Maya saw one of the gravestones had been pushed flat down and there was another huge muddy paw print on the back of it. A few ants were racing around but the rest had been gobbled up. Then with horror, Maya froze.

All the stones Maya had piled on top of the grave had been tossed aside like so many small pebbles, some evidently hurled with great force quite a distance away. The earth had been dug up and flung about. The body was no longer there. Maya shuddered at the strength displayed. She thought she could smell the beast. Maya saw drag marks and flattened vegetation where the bear had hauled the body away. She followed the trail a ways but then left and went in the opposite direction, down to the water's edge and on home because she absolutely did not want to encounter this gigantic bear.

Next day she went to the Laymuir residence hoping to be able to interview Harriet. She heard people talking excitedly on the road ahead of her and approached circumvently so that she would not be seen. There were police in uniform and some other people in a cluster around what was evidently the human remains of an animal attack. Numerous ravens called from the tree tops. Maya was down-wind. One of the police was holding onto a leashed dog which apparently did not notice Maya's presence. It was busy barking at the remains. Maya listened to what was being said. They had ascertained that it was a bear attack from the tracks found of a very large bear. The people in casual clothes were the ones who found the body and notified the police. One of the people was vomiting uncontrollably. It was an extremely gruesome sight. An arm and a leg had been ripped off and there were huge gouges bitten out of the torso. The face was gone. There was a hand with one finger left and the police would be able to get a print. The remains were bagged up and Maya overheard a forensic officer saying that dental records would be checked. The mystery they were baffling over was, where was the victim's car? Then it was put forth that possibly this was the person who had been driving the vehicle that fell over the cliff edge further down the road and he was walking to wherever when he was attacked. The bear had abandoned its meal when it heard a vehicle approach.

Maya postponed her trip to the Laymuir residence. She was not far from her home and wanted to go back there just in case the bear was still around. An idea rose in her mind, that the bear was a manifestation of Warren/Wyler's angry spirit. Why an angry spirit would do what this bear had done to the body was beyond her force of logic. The idea kept redressing itself as the day dream developed while at the same time Maya was actively watching for prints and other signs the bear may be around but she didn't see any and her usual feeling of safety and security in her environment returned. She stayed at home for the rest of the week and took advantage of the time to relax and restock her strength. The road would be patrolled by police until they gave up on the search for the bear so that they could kill it and appease their sense of justice. She had plenty to think about and after all the walking she had done lately, was happy to hang around, snoozing frequently. The bear dominated her dreams as did all the characters she had interviewed lately. Why did Warren/Wyler end up dead in Hudson's car in the lake? The answer was there. She just didn't recognize it yet, but she knew that she would sooner or later.