The Death Sculptor

Fifty-Two

Garcia was an early riser. He always got to the RHD before most, but this morning he’d gotten to his desk a lot earlier than usual. He wasn’t an insomniac like Hunter, but no one can really control their thoughts, or what their subconscious will throw at them once they close their eyes. Last night, the images that lay hidden behind Garcia’s eyelids were enough to scare sleep away for most of the night.

He did his best not to wake his wife up, but despite his lying soundless and motionless, Anna could sense her husband’s uneasiness as if it were crawling up her skin. She always could.

Garcia had met Anna Preston as a freshman in high school. Her unusual beauty captivated many boys, but it mesmerized Garcia, and he fell in love with her almost immediately. As a kid, Garcia was quiet and very shy. It took him ten months to gather the courage to walk up to Anna in a school dance and stammer the words – ‘Would you . . . umm . . . li . . . like to dance . . . ?’

‘Yes,’ she replied with a smile that made his legs wobble.

‘I mean . . . with me . . . would you like to dance with me . . . ?’

Her smile widened. ‘Yes, I’d love that.’

While on the dance floor, swinging awkwardly to a slow song, Anna whispered into Garcia’s ear.

‘What took you so long?’

Garcia pulled his chin from her shoulder and looked into Anna’s hazel-honey eyes. ‘What?’

‘Five school dances. This is the fifth school dance this year. What took you so long to ask me?’

Garcia tilted his head to one side and said tentatively. ‘I . . . like to keep the ladies waiting?’

They both laughed.

They started dating that night.

Garcia proposed three years later, straight after their graduation.

When Garcia became a detective for the LAPD, he made a promise to himself never to bring home any of the grotesque world his profession took him to. To never, ever discuss his day with Anna. Not because it was against protocol, but because he loved her too much, and he would never stain her thoughts with the images and the reality of his every day. He had never broken that promise.

Late last night, while in bed, Anna pulled herself closer to Garcia and whispered in his ear.

‘If you ever wanna talk. You know I’ll always be here. No matter what.’

He faced her and gently swept a lock of hair from her face. ‘I know.’ He smiled. ‘Everything is fine.’ He kissed her lips.

Anna placed her head on his chest and closed her eyes. ‘I love you,’ she said.

Garcia started stroking her hair. ‘I love you too.’ Sleep never came.

Garcia sat facing the pictures board. His attention mostly on the photograph of the shadow image cast by the second sculpture. ‘What the hell is he trying to tell us?’

‘I asked myself that same question all night long,’ Alice said, standing behind him.

Garcia jumped in his chair. He hadn’t noticed her entering the room. ‘Wow,’ he said, consulting his watch. ‘You’re up early.’

‘Or late, depends on how you look at it.’ She placed a few folders on her desk.

‘Couldn’t sleep?’

‘I didn’t want to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes my brain cooked up a new nightmare.’

Garcia made a face as if he knew exactly how she felt.

She picked up one of the folders she’d brought in with her and handed it to Garcia.

‘What’s this?’

‘Prison files and visitation records for Alfredo Ortega and Ken Sands.’

Garcia’s eyes widened. ‘Really? I didn’t even know the request had been sanctioned already.’

‘That’s one of the perks of having the DA, the Mayor of Los Angeles, and the Chief of Police so keen to see an investigation resolved. Things move a lot faster. They were faxed to my office at the crack of dawn today.’

‘Have you been through them already?’

Alice used both hands to tuck her loose hair behind her ears. ‘I have, yes.’

Garcia’s eyes dropped to the folders on his lap.

‘I read fast.’ She smiled. ‘I’ve highlighted a few points.’ She thought better of her words. ‘Actually, quite a few. Start with the blue folder, Alfredo Ortega’s file. As you’ll remember, he went to prison eleven years before Ken Sands.’

Garcia noticed a new quirk in Alice’s voice. ‘And I can tell you’ve found something.’

‘Wait until you read both files.’ She sat at the edge of her desk with a satisfied look on her face. ‘You’ll have to read it to believe it.’