Over the Darkened Landscape - By Derryl Murphy Page 0,42
starters. At least I assume there’s a Mrs.”
“There is. I’ve already made an appointment for you to see her, at 11:30.” The captain slid another piece of paper across the table to him. “Here’s her address. It’ll give you plenty of time to fix yourself up.” He turned and looked back at Simone. “And Perez, your day off just ended. Get yourself dressed like a detective again, so you can ride along.”
Two hours later, Mike was shaved and wearing a new, although cheap, suit, and they were back in the car after stopping at Simone’s apartment so that she could get changed. “Makes me sick,” said Mike, “thinking that Hayes and Sandy were getting it on like that. There’s no place for that sort of thing, anywhere in the world.”
Simone scratched her head. “It’s a weird situation, though, Mike. Here on this side of the Line, pedophilia is illegal. But how does it work over on the other side?” She looked uncomfortable, but pressed ahead. “I mean, do the kids over there make it with each other?”
Mike shook his head, feeling more than a little weirded out by the question. “Nuh-uh. No way. If anything like that happens to you, you know you’re a candidate for crossing the Line and not coming back. And since no one wants to do that, even the teens don’t go the distance.”
“What do you mean, ‘Go the distance?’” Simone gave him a half-smile. “Are you telling me that there’s heavy petting in Templeton?”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it that,” replied Mike. He felt himself squirming a little, hating where this was going. “Just that sometimes a couple of the older kids might get together for a date, because they like each other. Hell, there’s a few who even live together, although that tends to bring funny looks from everybody else. Never lasts too long.”
“So where . . .” She paused, appearing to gather her thoughts. “So where do new kids come from? I mean, I know that Templeton isn’t overpopulated or anything, but it’s always been there, it seems. If they lose kids every once in a while, like what happened to you or worse, what happened to that girl, Sandy, then eventually some kids have to replace them, or else Templeton becomes a ghost town.”
Mike shrugged. “They just show up.”
“They just show up?” Simone looked disgusted.
Mike was feeling defensive now. “Hey, don’t blame me for not knowing. I never thought about it when I was a kid. Never had any reason to, did I? When you live in Templeton, every day’s a new day, y’know? The big questions don’t need to be dealt with, not too often, anyways. Kids go about their lives, do what they want or sometimes even need to do, but usually life is just one long game, even when they’re doing what they call work.” He rubbed his eyes. “I don’t even remember where I came from. As far as I know, I was always there.”
“Always there? Jesus.” Simone pulled the car over to the curb and stepped heavily on the brake, slamming Mike forward in his seatbelt. “We’re here.”
Mike unbuckled himself and climbed out onto the sidewalk, choosing to ignore her mood for the moment. It wasn’t a topic that made him particularly comfortable, thinking about what little he knew of his past.
The house was smaller than he had expected, a simple gray bungalow set close to the street. Only the four-car garage and the professional landscaping gave it away. The front door of the house was already open and a man in suit and tie was standing, waiting for them. “Lawyer,” muttered Simone.
“Detectives,” said the man as they arrived at the door. “I’m Colin Singh, Ms. Hayes’s attorney. Please come in.”
He closed the door behind them and then asked them to follow him. It turned out the house seemed a lot larger from the inside, and soon Mike was feeling somewhat adrift. Soon enough, though, they were brought to a small office. Singh sat behind a large metal desk. “Please sit down, detectives.” He gestured, and they sat at the two chairs placed across from him. Before either could start, he raised his hand and said, “Ms. Hayes will be with us shortly, but will not be answering any questions at this time. If you wish to formally question her, please deliver a subpoena to my office so that we can arrange an interview.”