14 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

It was three days before Merlyn heard from Detective Jonas again. He followed the story on TV and in the newspaper. The body had been definitely identified as Paul Gunter. According to the paper he’d died from an overdose of heroine after having been severely beaten. Speculation in the press of course ran to a drug deal gone wrong. Merlyn was quite certain he knew otherwise. Gunther had been murdered to keep him from revealing who had given him the message for Alton.

While he waited, Merlyn finished the commissioned sculpture and began working on some of the small pieces he’d planned. Ones based on his sketches from the dance club.

And when he slept he dreamed and dreamed again.

Often about Alton, memories of him turned into strange blends of fantasy and horror. Alton living extravagantly and recklessly as he had been wont to do, but in a time long past, while something dark and sinister stalked him, always there, never seen, never acting until the end of the dream. Then, sudden cataclysmic death while Merlyn watched, helpless to stop it.

When he didn’t dream of Alton, it was the phantom lover who appeared. Always sensual, always unknown, his face in shadows no matter how bright the imagined scene was. The lust and passion of the dreams would inevitably find Merlyn hard and wanting when he woke, even though his semen-spattered body and sheets attested to the fact that he has come while involved in his erotic visions.  

By the third night Merlyn was dreading the thought of more dreams. He forced himself to stay awake until pure exhaustion took over. It was nearly morning when he fell comatose into bed. Thus when the phone began shrilling, he almost ignored it. Only the hope that it might be the detective with news about Alton’s murder had him crawling out of bed to groggily answer it.

A deep voice at the other end of the phone said, “Soon your dreams will come true if you accept the unacceptable.” There was a moment’s silence and then the caller hung up.

“What the hell!” Merlyn dropped the phone as if it had bitten him. He might well have left it there if the beep that said he had a call waiting hadn’t sounded. He picked it up, growling to the caller, “What do you want with me?”

There was a momentary pause and then, “This is Detective Jonas. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, sorry, I just had a very strange call and thought it was him again.”

She sounded worried as she asked, “Strange how? Threatening? Something related to the case?”

“Not at all, and not threatening, just some kook saying that all my dreams would come true. Probably the prelude to a phone scam saying I’ve just won a million dollars and that I only have to send them several thousand to pay the taxes before they release my money,” he replied, trying to laugh it off. “So, you have news for me?”

“Not much news I’m afraid,” Detective Jonas replied. “If you’ve watched TV you probably know about as much as we do. Mr. Gunther did live at the apartment complex, alone. According to the complex manager he paid his rent on time and in full. His neighbors say he was quiet and as far as they could tell rarely had company.”

“Do you know if he did the night of his murder?”

“The man who lives in the next apartment doesn’t think Gunther came home that night. Their apartments are at right angles to each other and he said he never saw any lights on there.”

“So… alright my brain is barely functioning right now. Does that mean he was killed somewhere else?”

“That’s the presumption. The lab work hasn’t come back yet from the forensics team. The coroner’s office says he was beaten and then drugged.”

“Yeah, that was on the news. It has to be related to Alton’s murder.”

“No shit,” the detective replied with a small chuckle. “He died just hours after your friend.”

“So if he, Gunther, didn’t go home…”

“We know he left work early but the club doesn’t close until two a.m. The odds are the killer dealt with Mr. Weber and afterwards he called Mr. Gunther and arranged for a meeting.”

“Can’t you trace the call or something to find him? They always do that in TV shows.”

“We did subpoena Gunther’s phone records and there was a call within the timeframe we’re interested in, but it was from a blocked phone, unfortunately.”

“So we’re—you’re up the creek,” Merlyn said, trying to cover a huge yawn.

The detective chuckled. “Go back to bed. I just wanted to update you. If we find out anything more I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that you’re doing this.”

“No problem. I know he was important to you.”

After they’d ended the phone call Merlyn fell back into bed, praying his sleep would be dreamless.