Her Eyes

Chapter 11: PHOTOGRAPHS

Over the past three months Alex kept running into Norma: at the grocery store, gas station...he couldn't shake her. They were friendly with each other. It had been about a year since the Bates' moved to White Pine Bay, and Alex found himself in a growing friendship with Norma. He didn't have many friends, if any at all, and he was beginning to feel a little muddled with the terms of their relationship.

It was a tuesday when Regina phoned Alex to tell him Norman wanted to speak with him. They were four months into the Blair Watson case with only unidentified semen samples as possible leads.

            Norman sat in Romero's office, waiting as he poured him a cup of coffee.

            "So what kind of info do you have?" the sheriff asked, stirring in the cream and sugar. He handed Norman the cup, taking the seat adjacent to him.

            Norman took a sip of the coffee before beginning. "Well today I was at the graveyard up on Shepard's Hill where Ms. Watson's buried." He fidgeted in the seat. Romero furrowed his eyebrows. That's a odd place for a teenager to be hanging out alone. "I saw this strange man standing at her grave. I took some photos that I thought might be helpful." He dug through his pants pocket and grabbed his phone. "I believe this man may have something to do with her murder." He flipped through the photos on his phone and handed it over to Romero once he found the one.

            The man was Nick Ford, Blair Watson's father. Alex recognized him the minute Norman zoomed in on the photo. There was no way Ford would kill his daughter, she was his pride and joy. "Why do you think that?" Alex asked genuinely concerned.

            The boy fiddled with his thumbs in his lap. "Before she died I overheard her having an argument with someone on the phone," he admitted. "Someone named Eric. I got suspicious when I saw that man standing at her grave."

            Alex knew who Eric was—he was one of Ford's employees. What confused him the most was Norman. Why was he at his teacher's gravesite? "You go to her grave a lot?" he asked, leaning back in his seat. He tried to rub the frustration off his face with his hands.

            "I do sometimes," the boy confessed.

            Alex gave him a sympathetic sheriff look. "Yeah. How come?"

            "I don't know. I just feel so terrible about her death...it seemed so unfair." His face formed a sorrowful look.

            Alex tried to study his face, but the boy seemed so hurt by his teacher's passing—not a hint of pretense. "You ever go to her house?"

            "Me?" the boy asked anxiously. "I did, yeah."

            "Yeah? When?" He hoped this didn't mean that Norman...

            "Ooh." He let out a puff of air and laughed loudly. "I don't remember exactly. We were working on a story I wrote for class. We were trying to get it published. I went over her house to work on it. She was wonderful that way. Ms. Watson." He smiled at the thought of her, like she was his most prized possession. "Always trying to be helpful to her students. Why? Did you find any evidence? Fingerprints at her house?"

            Alex gave him a questioning look. "Well if we did we wouldn't know they were yours cause you've never been fingerprinted before," he mumbled gruffly.

            "I haven't," the boy laughed awkwardly. "But I wouldn't have been the only student to ever have gone to her house...would I?" It was almost a threat.

            Alex was taken aback. "No. We found a lot of prints at her house. We assumed they belonged to students. Other teachers told us she did a lot of school projects at her home," he stated. He stared at Norman's almost too pleased smile. "Don't worry we're gonna find her killer."

            "Well that's very good to hear," he replied nearly menacingly. "Do you want me to email you a copy of those photos?" He tried to relieve the tension that began to circle the room.

            "No, that's not necessary...thanks." Alex handed the boy his phone back and shot him an appreciative smile.

            Norman stood up so that he was cowering over the sheriff. "Well I better be going," he stated before leaving.

            Alex pulled back in his chair. He stood up and turned around to watch the boy leave. What the hell just happened?

Alex had to go to Becker Street to deal with a violent confrontation outside a barbershop. When he walking back to his car he spotted Norma walking down the sidewalk to her car. "Norma!" he shouted after her.

            She whipped around at the sound of his voice. "You scared me. You shouldn't sneak up on somebody like that," she scolded him.

            "I don't know if walking down the sidewalk constitutes sneaking up on somebody," he mocked, approaching her. Her eyes moved up and down his uniform, smiling weakly. He gazed at her stressed face. "You all right?"

            "I've been better," she let out. Something had gotten under her skin and it would soon dig its way under Alex's.

            "What's the matter?" He couldn't stand to see her this way.

            She sighed deeply, readjusting the strap of her purse. "I am not even gonna go into it."

            He nodded and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well I wanted to tell you Norman came to see me today."

            "What for?" she smiled.

            "He brought me a photo he took of a man out at Blair Watson's grave. Did you know he's been going out there on a regular basis?" He gave her a concerned look.

            She was clearly annoyed by her son's obsession. "I know he's been out there. I thought he's gotten over this," she sighed. "He's young, impressionable. Her death hit him hard. She was his advisor. He really cared about her. Norman is a very sensitive boy."

            "Still four months after she died. I don't think he should be hanging out at her grave," Alex told her. He didn't want to intrude on their business—he wasn't the boy's father, but her did on some strange level care about the boy's wellbeing.

            "No, I totally agree with you. He needs to find other activities. Trust me, I'm working on it," she laughed.

            It warmed him to know she wouldn't fight him on this. "So go let him have some fun. You know, let him be a kid," he stated awkwardly. Alex had never been around kids—being an only child and having none of his own. He also didn't know what being a parent was like, but that didn't stop him from caring.

            She smiled at his words. "You're right, absolutely. He will." She stared at him for a moment as if lost in thought. "I better go," she muttered, pointing towards her car.

            "Bye, Norma." He waited for her to get in her car and drive off before finally returning to his car. He spent the rest of the night wondering what had bothered her so much. He wished she felt close enough to him to open up. He wanted them to be close, even though he knew neither one of them were ready.