With great care, it stepped slowly around a small structure, the sweet smell of earth suspended in the air. The ears twitched as the sound of an engine faded from the world. Soon, it caught sight of its prey as they exited a vehicle, it slipped into a nearby brush, eyes alight with an eerie glow. Focus intense, it watched as its prey stepped towards their domicile.

Eldridge paused as he reached for his keys, a thought having skated across his mind. He turned towards his yard and fence as if in answer to an unasked question. He examined his shed, his brush, his garden, unsure of what he was looking for. With a sigh, he turned back to his door and slid his key in.

The door shut as he flicked on the light to his small apartment. The halogen bulb fluttered for a brief moment before it stabilized, illuminating the bare hallway. The beige walls lacked all but a single family portrait from his youth. He walks towards his living room, passing his kitchen in the process.

Absentmindedly, he tossed the uniform jacket of the Port Coulee PD onto the coffee table as he flopped onto the couch and stared at the tv. A sigh left him as he lifted the remote and powered on the device.

A commercial about men’s hair loss started and his gaze shifted from the tv to fall upon a large maple desk in the corner. Next to it was a scuffed and dented old fashioned filing cabinet. Deep inside his soul he felt a pull to continue that project, to continue to find answers. He gave in for the briefest of moments and let his gaze linger before he told himself it would have to be another day.

This night was the Charity golf event his friend C had arranged. The man pressed and pressed for Eldridge to be his partner, and when he tried to pass, C told him he couldn’t. The man wanted, no needed him as a handicap.

Given that the amount of golf Eldridge had done in his life could be measured in days, if not a few hours, a handicap was just what he would be. His friend, on the other hand, was the quintessential high school jock, able to play any sport at the drop of a hat but ask him to add two plus two and you would be lucky to see a four.

The commercial shifted to one about baking a split leveled cake, and Eldridge fumbled over the remote as his gaze shifted back to the desk in the corner. Try as it might, the television wasn’t able to hold his interest for long enough, much to Eldridge’s dismay. The low empty rumble of his stomach, however, brought forward another method, one he gladly latched onto. With a flick of his wrist, the TV went silent and the man stood and headed into the kitchen.

“Golf huh,” He spoke to himself as a smile came to his face along with the memories of the first time he saw C in person.

He had just entered the college cafeteria and saw the giant of a man surrounded by most of the men’s soccer team. Interest peaked, he slowly neared and found out that the man, C as he was called, had just insulted the sport. Something about it being a poor man’s ball. With a shake of his head he resolved to avoid that kind of jerk, it would only bring unneeded trouble. Later that day, he met C in his History of Croatian Literature and eventually the two hit it off.

“I still can’t believe he thought it was a class on the history of croquet,” Eldridge mumbled as he looked through his fridge. Though, if it wasn’t for that he never would have gotten to know his friend as well as he did. It turned out the man he thought was a crass jerk was simply one who thought it was best to give it to you straight.

If he thought you were an idiot, he would tell you. If something caught his interest, well that would be the conversation for the next few days. While that could rub many people the wrong way, Eldridge found it refreshing. Especially after long days dealing with criminals who try to sell you any story they could.

The man stared at the fridge, the cold air riled around him, uncertain of what he wanted to eat. There was always cold cereal, though he would prefer something warm at this moment. “Frozen pizza perhaps,” he muttered as he turned his gaze towards the freezer above.

“No, I don’t have that long,” He argued with himself as he turned back towards the fridge. His gaze landed on the eggs and cheese and with a quick glance to the counter to confirm his bagel stash he decided.

The bagels toasting and the eggs nuking, his eyes turned towards the corner once again. “Aron,” he mumbled to himself as he thought back towards his childhood friend. The man who could sleep through any class and still earn a high B if not ace it. The one who stayed home from college to look after his ailing dad. The one who found himself falling in with the wrong crowd.

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“No, don’t think on it, you have food cooking, just think about that.” Eldridge said to himself as he turned back towards the kitchen. After a few minutes he grabbed his food and he walked back onto the couch. His body landed and he powered the remote once more. A sitcom came on and he sat back doing his best to enjoy the moment.

Eldridge took the final bite of his bagel sandwich, unsure of what was happening in the show. It wasn’t from lack of information but focus. His mind was still rolling Aron and his case around inside. He sighed as he looked back towards his desk. There were days, weeks even, that went by without a thought towards that great foe of his. Then there were times like now, when he struggled to keep a single thought unrelated to the case in his mind.

Eldridge sat up and pivoted so that he faced his foe. “You have a half hour,” He told himself as if making a deal, even as he did, he knew it was just an excuse. With that decided he pulled out his phone and set the alarm before setting it on the edge of the couch, out of reach of the desk. That would force him, at the very least, to stand to turn it off.

The chair spun one rotation as he settled into his seat, his hand moved on instinct to the last file he had been working on. It was one of many files regarding a settled case six years back, one where a young man was sentenced for a quadruple homicide.

This young man, Aron McKenna, was a good friend of Eldridge’s from childhood to the end of high school. The two of them did almost everything together. When Eldridge went off to college, however, he had lost track of Aron. Distance and time afforded little in the way of contact.

Eldridge’s hand moved to his chest as he felt the pain burn anew. The pain from the day he found out about Aron, that Friday, may 4th, during the second month of his employment in the Port Coulee Police Department. The tears that flowed when he found out that Aron had been sentenced to life in prison with no room for parole. The guilt he felt for having left his friend alone for so many years. The disbelief that Aron could do something so cruel.

That was shocking enough, but as he investigated the case to quell the pain in his heart and perhaps understand his friend. He only ended up with more questions. The lack of residue on any of Aron’s clothes, the condition in which he was found, one which required weeks of medical care, and the multitude of other small details that only added to the mystery of that night. Most of this evidence was thrown out before the trial even started. Some bogus law forgotten about for decades was used as justification.

So, his friend went to a trial which only allowed evidence that pointed to his guilt. None of it made sense. Hoping for some answers, Eldridge finally visited his friend in prison. Aron, however, only made small talk. He would use every chance he could to divert the conversation off his imprisonment and onto something like his family or Eldridge’s job. Eldridge was growing frustrated until he noticed his friend’s knee.

The two of them, well they had this code in high school. A code for cheating, where one of their group could seek an answer. Part of it involved the very same knee fidget that Aron was now using. Eldridge asked a simple question as he watched his friend’s knee. Question One, Question Two, Question Three. He would go to five, then repeat. Eldridge didn’t understand what Aron had meant till well into that night.

“Question everything.” Aron was telling him that he was set up. At first Eldridge didn’t believe his friend. Everyone says they are innocent. Yet, the trial, the evidence, the strange set of circumstances, none of it made sense. Four years ago, Eldridge decided he would find out the truth. Either his friend was innocent, or he did in fact kill those four.

The phone burst into song and broke Eldridge out of his trance. He looked up at the wall, saw the time and sighed. That half hour had passed, and he barely began to understand his current thread of information. “I can take another fifteen,” He bargained with himself before his mind focused and drowned out the noise of the phone.

“The store clerk remembers the five of them laughing as they left the corner shop.” Eldridge mumbled as he read the testimony. “He kept a close eye on them as he was worried about shoplifting. Yet, there is no mention of the weapon that might have been used in the attack. Well they could’ve had it hidden. Though, I doubt it from the lack of…”

The phone burst into song once again, this time it was C’s ringtone, Let the Bodies Hit the Floor. Eldridge looked up at the phone then the clock. “Bah!” He screamed as he started to gather up all the paperwork. Though he was going to be late, he still made sure to meticulously file all them into their proper drawer. “C is sooo going to kill me.”

Files closed, he shot over the desk to pick up the phone before it went to voicemail. “Ho, Already on the way.” Eldridge lied as his body rushed to stand up off the ground.

“I aint forfeiting because you can’t read a clock,” C said from the other end. “You best be here in the next twenty.” With that his friend hung up. Eldridge shook his head, the tone of his friend was still light, so he wasn’t too late, yet. With a deep breath he made sure he had his wallet, keys and phone before he rushed towards the door. Once he was sure it was locked, he jogged to his crimson Jeep and jumped over the side. As it was late august the top of the vehicle was still off.

Eldridge paused as he twisted the ignition, his eyes having caught sight of a shadow in his rear-view mirror. It looked like a cougar was on the roof of his quadplex. His head snapped around and he examined the area behind him.

The roof glistened in the full moon, the trees danced gently in the light breeze and the neighborhood strays let out their screeches. He carefully examined the area once again and found no sign of any large cat. A shake of his head and he turned the jeep over, the headlights flooded the area.

“This is going to be a long night if I’m already seeing things.” He said as he turned onto the main Thoroughfare.