A little bit dangerous

Chapter 57 : Bones

Three months later, the snow was falling in the entire town. Hopper was reading all the files he could in link with Jane, her friends, and even her family. He found an old document of a testimony of a couple about screams and violence coming from their neighbors; the description of the father and one of the daughters were matching with the descriptions of Leonard and Jane. He had nothing to lose, so he took his coat and went to the address. After a long ride, he arrived in a street, far from the town. All the houses were looking similar, all small and old, like if they could collapse with just a flick. He parked on the street, opened the small gate, walked on a small path, and knocked at the door. An old man opened it.

- "What is it?" asked the old man.

- "Hi, I'm Chief Hopper, can I ask you some questions?"

- "We didn't call the Police."

- "I know," quickly answered Hopper. "But you had called the Police for years about noise coming from the house next to yours, and I would like some clarifications."

- "You finally deign to listen to us? But it's too late now."

- "It won't be long."

The old man took a moment to analyze the policeman before letting him enter. The old man showed him the way to the kitchen, where an old lady was taking her breakfast.

- "It's the Police, they are here for our calls!" told loudly the old man.

- "It's about time!" grumbled the old lady. "Why would you believe us now, your colleagues never did before."

- "I'm not my colleagues," said Hopper, sitting at the table. "So, what's the problem with your neighbors?"

- "The house is haunted by the devil; this man is not a good man."

- "You know his name?"

- "We are not idiots, we are aware of what kind of person he is," said the old man.

- "It's just to be sure."

- "Doyle. I don't know his first name, it's something like...Bernard..."

- "Leonard?"

- "Yes, yes, it's that, it's Leonard."

- "Ok. Why do you think he was the devil?" asked Hopper.

- "He killed someone, I saw it," told the old lady.

- "You saw him killing someone?"

- "We heard the screams, then nothing, until he appeared with her body on his shoulders and a shovel in his hands. His wife, he killed her."

Hopper had a shiver; he was wondering if Jane saw it or not. He hoped not. He looked at his file to see the date of the calls. He was just back at this period, after he left for New-York, trying to build a new life, but he never did. He didn't know why he never heard about this before, he would have done something instead.

- "Was Jane there?" asked Hopper.

- "Jane?" frowned the old lady.

- "The little one," told the old man.

- "Oh, this daughter!"

- "Wait, he had other daughters?" cut the policeman.

- "Yeah, the tall one, she got shot in her chest in the street. I've never forgotten her scream..."

- "Of the tall one?"

- "No, of the little one, she was walking with her."

Hopper took notes, but none of these were written in Jane's files, no one was mentioning a sister or her murder. Even Jane never talked about her.

- "You said he brought his wife's body in his garden, right? You think he buried her there?"

- "I'm sure he did. This man is a creep."

- "Well, you won't have to worry about him anymore, he is dead. Thank you for answering my questions, some of my colleagues will certainly come back to ask you more questions. Have a good day."

The man left without letting them the time to answer. He wanted to clarify all of this, and with this witness statement, he would have a search warrant easily.

A few hours later, police cars were in the streets, policemen searching the house. The three officers who were digging found some bones that they sent at the police station to analyze them. Hopper searched the house to see the environment where Jane grew up. The table had been broken, but someone tried to fix it. He went upstairs and found only one bedroom for the parents. When he looked up, he noticed an access for the attic. He opened it, put the ladder, and climbed. There was a mattress on the ground and nothing more. It was certainly where Jane used to sleep before leaving this to go with her aunt. He felt a cold shiver when he realized it was impossible to open the access from the attic. He preferred joining the others than staying in this small room.

Two days later, Hopper got a call to tell him that the results of the analyze were ready. The man picked Joyce up, and both went to the police station to see the name of this woman. Hopper felt his heart stopping when he saw her.

- "Are you ok?" frowned Joyce.

- "Yeah...yeah...it's just...I, I knew her," told the man.

- "Oh, I'm sorry..."

- "It's ok, it's ok...We had a small affair years ago, it's just...she didn't deserve to die."

Something clicked in Joyce's mind. She asked the laboratory to do some tests for her. She brought them what they needed and waited for the results. When she read them, she couldn't believe it.