Scraps & Chum (15 page)

“But people have rats as pets, yes?”

“Sure. But again, those are domesticated, raised in stores. They’re vaccinated. These weren’t.”

“
Brown rats. They normal for these parts?
”

“
To all of America just about. Want a statistic? There
’
s always a rat within fifteen meters of a human.
”

“
I don
’
t do meters, sorry.
”

“
About fifty feet.
”

Ted suddenly noticed everything that was fifty feet from him. Were they in the heating vents even now?
“
Too close for comfort.
”

“
So, yes, there are rats in the park,
”
Julia continued.
“
But for all of them to end up in a man-made pit like that…
”

“
What if the guy caught them, kept them at his house or something till he was ready to use them?
”

“
Still a stretch. That many rats…there are no homes in these parts secluded enough someone wouldn
’
t see, hear or smell something. Rats mark their territory. It
’
s pretty foul. 
The stench alone would garner attention. Honestly,
I
’
m at a loss as to how he got them to co-exist. There are missing pieces of a puzzle here I don
’
t think I can fill in for you. Sorry.
”

Ted smiled again, going for more charm.
“
Just out of curiosity, about how long would it take these brown rats to kill someone?
”

“
I don
’
t really know. You have to understand it
’
s rare for a rat to bite a human. Generally only when people are sleeping and if the rat is very hungry
or defending it
s
elf
. But in this case, if the girl was unconscious, once the biting started…they have powerful incisors. They cut through meat quickly.
”

“
But how long?
”

“
I can
’
t say for sure how long. I don
’
t even know of any cases where people have been killed by rats. It
’
s usually the
diseases, or the
mites and fleas that cause the most damage. And almost all of it is curable with antibiotics. But, if I
’
m speculating, it would be slower than you would hope. Hours. Days. At least until the body shuts down from shock. It would take a long time.
”

She paused, reflecting on what she was saying. Ted could see her forming a mental image in her head. Welcome to my world, he thought.

“
Dear God,
”
she finally said,
“
I hope you catch this guy.
”

“
We
’
re trying.
”

Minutes later he left, without her number.

***

For the rest of the day, every news station in the city replayed George
’
s arrogant challenge to the killer. The chief was livid. Ted could hear him screaming at George even now in his office, ordering him out to fix this
“
fuck
job of a mess.
”

Ted, who was on the phone talking to the telephone company, had to put a finger in his free ear to hear the guy on the other end. But the conversation was
soon
exhausted so he said bye and hung up.

George exited the chief
’
s office, stopped at Ted
’
s desk.
“
What
’
d the phone company say?
”

“
What do you think? There was no service scheduled in the area, but they
’
re gonna get us a list of employees anyway. I
’
m calling the cable companies next. They
’
re being hard asses.
”

George hooked a thumb over his shoulder back toward the chief
’
s office.
“
You hear that? I think we
’
re breaking up.
”

“
He
’
ll get over it. Buy him some roses.
”

“
You think I should have been quiet at the briefing?
”

“
I only know what they
’
re showing on TV, George. Which is you directly challenging this guy. You might want to think of Mandy and your wife here.
”

“
I am, that
’
s why I did it. How do they have faith in me otherwise?
”

“
Faith shmaith. How about they live in peace rather than look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives because you pissed off some psycho pied piper.
”

“
You don
’
t understand.
”

Ted leaned back in his chair.
“
Enlighten me.
”

George stood mute, playing with his tie.
“
Aw, fuck it. I
’
m going to check on those
kids again, see if I can get their parents to shut up this time. Let me know what you find out.
”

***

It was nearly nine o
’
clock when George left the Burke home, apologizing once more for interrupting their dinner, though he really couldn
’
t care that he had. Ralph Burke was one of the
boys who
’
d moved the logs to find the body. Geo
rge had finally gotten the
kid to open up without the parent
’
s interrupting, and that was good. It made him eager to get home and see Mandy, maybe play a board game with her.

The radio
station was playing his sound bi
te again as he pulled onto the main road. His wife was going to give him hell for it as well. Hopefully Mandy hadn
’
t heard it; she was only beginning to suspect what his job was really like. He turned it off and called Ted on his cell, eager to relay the Burke kid
’
s new story.

Ted answered on the second ring.
“
George, what
’
s up?
”

“
Listen to this. I went back to interview the kids…Hang on, I
’
m driving. Move it, pal! Don
’
t flip me off I
’
ll fucking shoot you!
”

“
George
—
”

“
These idiots and their wannabe race cars.
”

“
—
what about the kids?
”

“
Okay, so the Burke kid, Ralph, him and his buddy Jason hang out in the woods a lot. They got a fort made out of some pallets they lean against a tree. Ralph says the other night he
’
s skateboarding near the woods as the sun
’
s going down and remembers he left something in the fort.
”

“
So he goes in to get it.
”

“
Right. Hang on, I
’
m gonna fucking kill this guy.
”

“
Just change lanes.
”

“
Okay, so he goes in to get his toy, some damn Star Wars thing or something, and anyway, when he
’
s in the fort, he hears someone coming.
”

“
He
’
s in the fort now?
”

“
Yeah. He peeks out through the slats in the pallet and sees a guy in a trench coat.
”

“
A trench coat? I love it. Do these guys buy a pervert starter kit or something?
”

“
A big guy, moving through the woods, about to pass by the fort. The guy
’
s breathing hard, like he
’
s sick or something, and he
’
s kind of hunched over and he
’
s dragging something but the kid can
’
t see what it is. He stops outside the fort for a sec, right near the slats.
”

“
What
’
s the kid do?
”

“
Just freezes. It
’
s dark, he
’
s already scared to be in the woods at sundown, and he
’
s supposed to be home for dinner. His mother piped in at this point and confirmed he wasn
’
t home. Says he closed his eyes and a few seconds later he opens them and looks out again and sees the guy moving off in the direction of the street. And get this, the moonlight catches him for a second…the guy
’
s wearing some kind of Halloween mask.
”