Chap 1 The Town

Chap 1 The Town

A Chapter by Shin ( formerly known as ) Bidayah
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by Shin

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It was the only 3-storey building in Willard square. Her great grandfather, on her mother's side, founded the town as a railway junction that linked up the three states nearby. It served as a warehousing center in this part of South Carolina.

Named after the town, Willard square was the town center with its shops and restaurants that catered to a population of about 75,000. Each time folks came into town, they were bound to drive past the square, past the statue of grandfather Willard, standing in the middle of the small park in the square, facing the 3-storey beige house that he had built for her great grandmother, which her mother inherited.

Her father Leo Quint, came from a farming family south of town, went to college on a city council scholarship and met her mother when he set up medical practice in town as a GP. His star rose on the shoulders of her mother and was soon known simply as 'Doc' in town.

Sara went to St. Peter's High, where she was home coming queen, before attending college in Jefferson. She did her post graduate in criminal psychology and took a position there as assistant professor in the School of Psychology.

People would turn to look at her as she passed, but would then go back again to what they were doing. She had naturally figured that she stirred an extraordinary excitation in people but nothing she could do in the way of new shampoos and dresses ever improved on that. It surprised her that a tall leggy blonde picked up very little interests in people.

That's why she had a natural affinity for her yoga instructor, a bi-sexual Malayalee from Kerala in India, whose pupils would dilate every time he saw her. He had come to the US to pursue a degree in computer programming, but dropped out and married a divorced Hispanic before opening up the only yoga center in Jefferson.

So she was a little surprised when, in the middle of a lazy summer, she suddenly ran into Matthias. He was with the homicide division of the Jefferson Police Dept. At six feet two with dark hair that arched in front as it settled into a wave on the sides, Matthias, had the look of a sunday school teacher in his corduroy jacket and blue jeans.

“ I'm Matthias Shin and this is my partner Alexander Koudinof,” he had said as they flashed their badges.

“What can I do for you officers?” Sara inquired as she set aside the assignments she had been grading and got up to shake hands.

“ We have a mutual friend, Krishnan, at the yoga center,” Matthias began.

Sara smiled faintly.

“ You do yoga?” she asked with an anxiety of expectation.

“ When I get some time off,” he remarked in a tone of dismissal, “ but I've known Krishnan from a previous case when we were pursuing some suspected terrorists.”

Sara mouthed an ' Oh,' but didn't say anything. Matthias continued.

“ Well, Krishnan is an Indian and they do things differently over there. We are looking at a multiple murder involving a Vietnamese family and I happened to mention it to Krish....,” he paused suddenly and then with a sway of his head continued, “ well, we have the suspect in custody but we don't have a motive. That's when....,” he paused again, “ Krish suggested that they are Linchavi, not Vietnamese.”

“ There are very clever,” Alexander cut in. “ The Indians....they come from a history of great empires and are very passionate about their lives. Their mind works in many ways to understand people and to get along with them. We....the Soviets have a traditional relationship with them going back centuries. “

“ And he suggested that you all talk to me about it?” she inquired. “ He didn't say a thing to me.”

“ It's a social thing....” Alexander continued in a voice that resembled crass mixed with officialdom, “ they try to fit in with our social norms about not being presumptuous.”

Sara turned again to Matthias with a look of concealed indifference. Matthias hurried to respond.

“ We just left from a meeting with him and thought we'll follow up on his suggestion. I hope we are not interrupting anything?”

The concern had a far reaching implication in Sara's mind but she dismissed it. Matthias continued.

“ We have to prove motive in court, “ Matthias began, “ but there's no money, no competition, no girlfriend problems.....it would go down as a case of diminished capacity. Yang, the suspect can only say that its a family matter and will not say more.”

“ We're concerned that there's criminal intent....that's the law,” Alexander offered, “ Krishnan suggested that our laws don't take into account blood feuds that can sometimes go on for centuries....so that's a curious something we want to look at.”

Matthias, who had been standing up all this while, pulled up a chair and sat down.

“ There's a bill awaiting congress that could change the way that we look at motivation in violent crimes. The bill is being tabled by one of our own from South Carolina, Congressman Bill Davis. Krish suggested that he had consulted you on the bill's preparation.” It sounded like a question.

“ Bill and I spent some time on it.” Sara began slowly. “ We had examined several volumes of the transcripts from Guantanamo Bay and it pointed at some issues that we thought had relevance to law enforcement.”

“ It does raise some new issues in law enforcement,” Matthias intoned.

“ On motivation... ,” Sara offered. She was starting to feel curiously defensive. “ Well, it's like this,” she suggested, fighting to regain control. “ Science is still trying to decide whether psychology is a science. Freud did a great job persuading everyone that there's something tangible in psychology but it is a constantly changing face of experience and there's on-going effort to validate the research techniques as being objective. This includes the aspect of human insight into issues. What Bill and I came to conclude is that such testimonies on the implications of human psychology would have to be undertaken by expert witnesses, the way its done now, but we can strengthen our view of it.”

“It's your basic American nightmare,” Alexander replied, “ the say so of one person that can eventually hang a man. We ….the Soviets are still grappling with that, especially after stifling their own free press.”

They stared at each other in silence. When Matthias spoke again, it was as if they had come through a long dark tunnel to confess to themselves their own delicate positions on the issue of rationality and norm.

Matthias spoke with a quiet calm.

“Why would a young man with everything going for him, who believed in the American way, suddenly without explanation beat to death five members of his cousin's family with a baseball bat? A father and mother and their two sons and a daughter.”

“The parents migrated?” Sara asked.

“ Yes,” Matthias replied.

“ Can ….Yeah Okay …. can I ask something first?” Sara interjected.

Matthias looked at his partner and then back at her and gestured with his hands.

“Why don't people view blondes the same way anymore?”

“You mean like a bombshell?” Alexander asked stoically and then answered after a glance at Matthias. “I don't know.”

“ Well that's what I mean. Something that was quite wondrous in what we are just got tossed away and nobody says anything about it.”

“ A fashion idea....” suggested Matthias, “ things change....don't they?”

“ You think it might be a blood feud with the redheads?” Alexander suggested. Matthias suppressed a smile.

“ I'm suggesting that there might be more going on than we have given ourselves to understand.” Sara replied.

“ How would we prove something like that?” Matthias asked.

Sara's mind went back to her hometown and to the statue of her great grandfather in Willard Square. Her home appeared right in front. She had grown up with a self consciousness that came from the fact that everybody knew where she lived. It had implied in her mind that they knew her. Then she had come to realize that, that wasn't so. And all she had going for her is the map of the mind that she had been working with, in the course she offered.

She looked back at Matthias.

“ Would you gentlemen like to join me in a drink?” the invitation just blurted out.

“ We have to be back at the station,” Alexander announced.

They rose from their chairs.

“ Call me again in two days,” she announced and gave her card.

They left.

She made her way down to the bar just outside the college premises. As she saw her reflection on the glass door before going in, she was reminded of the comment her mother always said about her.

' I swear, you're getting more like your father everyday.'

She was into her third whiskey when Matthias stepped in from the light outside. He was headed to her table.
 
 
 
 


© 2012 Shin ( formerly known as ) Bidayah


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I don't know about this. Long for a first chapter.

Posted 12 Years Ago



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Added on June 26, 2012
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Shin ( formerly known as ) Bidayah
Shin ( formerly known as ) Bidayah

Rome, Italy



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