The Claw

Chapter 1. The Home Coming

The fog had cleared away early in the morning. The day would be sunny.

Clare Howard climbed out of bed early. He went downstairs and set at the kitchen table. The Fremont Times was setting on the porch. He got up and walked to the side door. The morning air was fresh and felt cool on his face. "What a wonderful day," he thought.

Back in the kitchen he grabbed a cup of coffee from the pot. He could now hear Jane stirring in the upstairs. She was moving toward the stairway and would be down soon. He poured her a cup of coffee and placed it down at her place. He then used the creamer and set it next to her cup.

Beautiful Jane was entering the kitchen now. Even at her age she was a lovely creature. He had admired her from age 12 when they were in seventh grade. He had worked hard to maintain his looks. But not Jane, it came naturally to her.

She sat in her place and began a morning conversation. "Did you see anything outside last night?"

"Just rags," Clare replied.

"He's one ugly cat."

"You have that right."

"What are we going to do?"

"Stay vigilant, and allow the police to do their job." He looked up at her. "You scared?"

"A little," she stated. "But I have you to protect me, you big lug, you."

Clare laughed. She was obviously shaken by the vandalism, however, she was still able to joke. What a wonderful girl she was.

After some eggs and bacon, Clare headed to the office to get ready. Mr. Schultz body would be here soon. It was being transported to him. He didn't even have to pick it up. The transporters would be here soon.

It would be nice to see the family again. But under these circumstances it would be a difficult time. Mr. Schultz had been ill for a while and the family seemed relieved that he could finally have some peace.

The vehicle backed up to the door. Clare opened it and the two men got out and moved the body inside. They shut the vehicle up and left.

Clare looked at Mr. Schultz. His body had become very small. After completing his task he went back to the living area. Once in the living room he sat down to read.

Jane was working in the kitchen. She finished her preparation and placed a casserole in the oven.

Tomorrow would be a big day. People would be showing up for the viewing. At 3:P.M., Lilly would be here to work on the face and finish work for the viewing. At 6:P.M., they would move the casket into the chapel. The chairs would dusted and put into place. The flower stands would be set up to accept the bouquets that had and would arrive.

Clare's work was done after those tasks for tonight. He went back into the kitchen to have some of that great food that Jane had made. After supper they would take care of their plates and silver and retire to the living room for some evening television.

As they were heading upstairs for the night a crash was heard in the chapel. Clare hurried down the stairs and raced to the
chapel. The front window on the far side of the big room was broken again. Someone was inside and hiding in the shadows. Clare went over to the wall to turn on the lights. As he turned toward the wall the invader jumped back through the broken, now open window.

Clare turned back in time to see a shadow leave the room. Running to the window he tried to see the criminal. Their was no one to be seen.

He went to the back room and looked for the boards he had placed over the window a few nights ago. This was the third time in two weeks that the same window had been broken. After covering the open space he went back into the home area of the building. From the living room he called the police to report another broken window.

The deputies entered the main entrance and went to the chapel. The hole was already boarded. "Who boarded this up, Clare," the deputy asked.

"I did," Clare replied. " I wasn't thinking."

"I'm going to pull this out for a minute," the deputy grumbled. He went about his business. As he was looking around inside, two deputies were searching outside. When they reached the back yard they noticed rags sitting a top the board fense.

"You're an ugly one, kitty," one of the officers stated.

"That is an ugly one," the other officer replied.

"See anything out there guys," the inside deputy asked the other two.

"Two possible prints," one guy responded.

"Hey! Look at this he replied. As I was looking at those prints I noticed this."

"That's good evidence." They all looked at some hair and blood caught on a piece of glass. "Good DNA."

"This can be analized."

"This is the first time we found anything like this," he said collecting the evidence.

The outside guys started following the prints and soon began to find small drops of blood. "This is his path," a deputy stated. "He went this way."

They followed the path to the road. On the paved road they could see more prints. These prints were cat prints heading into the woods.

The two men ran into the woods to try to find an escaped cat. His prints were nearly three inches across. After heading along the path for a few hundred feet they came to the opening where the lake beach began.

They looked around the beach but could see nothing. As they looked along the path to the sand they could see more blood spots. The big creature or faker had come this way.

They walked along the swings and the slide and noticed more drops of blood. Then they headed up to the V.F.W. building. As they looked around the building they found the last of the drops of blood. From there the path was gone. They walked across Country Farm Road to the residential area. They tried to knock on some doors but there were few answers.

Finally, one person opened a door. "Hi. We are investigating a break in. Did you see or hear anyone or anything come through here?"

"What? A someone or something? What the hell happened? I saw nothing! I heard nothing! Now I'm just scared."

"Alright. Thanks for your time." The two policemen left the neighborhood. Before going they searched for more blood spots.

One thing was certain. This crime would not be easily solved. The trail was cold on the other side of the road. They went back over to search that side. There were no more clues on either side of the road.

They soon returned to the funeral home. After reporting what they had found, the officers decided to place the boards back over the window and return to the office to make their report.

Tomorrow would be another day. Clare had to get the window repaired again before the viewing. He called Jeff Darden. Jeff would take care of the window in plenty of time before the evening gathering.

Clare would be vigilant to make sure that the event went smoothly.

The police would be at the event to try to obtain clues. Tomorrow it would be plain clothes as not to scare the public.