Mystery - Chapter Three

 ( The Chief of Police and his assistant meet back at the
police station.)  (This is a thought.  Not in this chapter.)

Mrs. Henry walked the young police assistant to the door.
  "Please let me know if I can be of further assistance."


The young policeman tipped his hat and left with the brown
package tucked tightly under his left arm.

The crowd outside Dayton's  house had thinned and Cameron
located his boss among the sea of faces and walked at a fast pace
towards him.

Monroe saw the young man as he was approaching and noted the
bulge under his arm.

"What do you have there," he said,  pointing to the package as the young
man stepped stepped in front of him. 

"Something that Mrs. Henry said was left for her neighbor, Mr. Dayton."

Monroe gave his moustache a twist.

Dayton turned and looked Cameron in the eye.  There was puzzlement on the young
father's face.  All he said was i"I wasn't expecting a package."

Cameron noticed a slight deflection in the man's voice.  Something
that told him Dayton wasn't quite telling the truth.

"There isn't a return address," said Cameron.

But Dayton noticed the small red x in the left hand corner of the package.

The two men stood and looked at each other and the Chief, Monroe was
sizing up the situation.

He turned to Cameron and said, "Why don't we take this down to the
police station and discuss the facts of  the case."

His voice was directed at Cameron, but his gaze took in Dayton as well.

Dayton surmised that he was to be included in this discussion at the station and nodded.
In the same instant he rubbed his forehead.  Out loud all he said was, "OK. I don't mind"

Monore twirrled his moustache.  His thinking wsa that this man Dayton was a smart one, but
all he said out loud was, "good, Mr. Dayton, I'm glad you agree.".

Cameron caught the glance his captain gave Dayton.  Cameron's brown eyes never left the
Chief's face. He realized there was something at play here that he didn't understand.
but he also realized the chief was playing a cat and mouse game with Dayton. 

 "Can I have the  package," said Dayton?

Cameron turned to the Chief..

"Give it to him, Cameron."

By this time Cameron had switched the package to his right hand and gave it a
slight shake.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by Dayon or Monroe.

 Dayon reached out his hand and Cameron pressed his lips together and
held onto the package tightly.  It was only a slight movement of possession on
Cameron's part but Dayon in the moment had caught the frustration of the young policeman.
He realized Cameron didn't want to part with the package.

Cameron breathed, relaxed and handed him the package.

"Thank you," said Dayton.  "I'll just bring it in the house."

"No," said Monroe bring it with you.

"Oh, Okay." said Dayton with a slight frown as his eyebrows knitted together
in surprise. .


"You can open it at the station", said Monroe.

There was a slight pause in the conversation.

Then the Chief continued, "Any reason you don't want to open it?"

"No," replied Dayton.

"Well, then, maybe you should open it now.  It might be important," said Cameron.

Cameron turned toward the Chief a questioning look in his eyes.
He couldn't understand why the chief was playing this cat and mouse game
with Dayton.
He for one wanted to rip the brown wrapping paper off the
package and see what was in the box.

Cameron couldn't help think that it held a clue to what was going on here.

Dayton had dreaded this moment. 

A palpable quiet silence hung over the three men.

Dayton's mind was racing and his heart was beating so hard in his chest
that he thought for sure the other two men could hear it.

He knew what was in the package. He had recognized the bold handwriting
with the red x in the corner.  That was how the organization sent there get out
of Dodge box when things were going to hit the fan.  Usually the box contained
passports, money and airline tickets and an assortment of other documents
to begin a new life in a different part of the country or even another country.

And Usually Dayton received a phone call to be on the lookout for the package but
not this time.
This time he had been caught unprepared and unaware of any danger to
him or his girls which made him more apprehensive of  the present situation  because
at this time he had no idea what they would be fleeing from.

Dayton squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think fast.

Monroe turned to his assistant Cameron , but his gaze rested on Dayton.


"Mr. Dayton, maybe you better give me the package and if you'll accompany
me to my car we'll go to my office."

Cameron noticed a slight intake of breath on Dayton's part. 
Dayton hesitated just a heartbeat before handing the package to Monroe.

The Chief grasped the package and all three men started to travel towards the chief's car.

A few seconds into the walk Monroe motioned to Cameron with a hand's up.

The three men stopped.

"The chief twisted his moustache and said, "Cameron, on second thought it might be
better if stayed behind and finshed interviewing any neighbors you may have missed
or any stragglers in the crowd that may look like they have some information on the girls.

The Chief paused and then finished with a wink to his asssitant.
"You know go through the list and dot all the i's and cross all the t's and
make sure there isn't anything else to find out."

Cameron sucked in his breath.  All he said  was, "okay, chief." 

The young assistant saw Monroe tuck the package under his left arm and then he placed his
right hand under Dayton's left elbow and maneuvered him in the direction of  the parked patrol car.

Once a short distance from his assistant Monroe looked over his
shoulder and whispered in Dayton's ear. "Don't worry Dayton, I have you covered."

The breath whistled through Dayton's mouth and Monroe could feel
Dayton's shoulders tense.

Dayton fell out of step with Monroe but the Chief nudged him on.

He had surprised Dayton and Monroe chuckled and said,yes, the organization was thorough.

Meanwhile Dayton's mind was running rampant wild with thoughts

"Were his girls safe?" and "Who was this Monroe?"

but all Dayton said was, "I beg your pardon?  What did you say?"

The chief ignored him.

By this time the two men had reached the chief's cruiser and Monroe let
go of Dayton's elbow and opened the passenger door and said in a hushed
voice,  "get in. we don't' have much time."

Dayton pursed his lips together and stared at Monroe. His heart thumped wildly in his chest.

Who was this man with the twirling moustache.

"Get in," said Monroe with an authoritative voice.  
..  .
Dayton slid into the leather seat but not before he took another glance
at Monroe.

Dayton had a good view of the man under the light of the lit lamposts and he
watched the chief as he circled in front of the vehicle and finally reached the driver
side door. 

What Dayton saw was the unfolding of a man who squared his shoulders and straightened
his frame and in doing so Dayton saw the Chief grow in stature.
There was a transformation going on here that Dayton knew he didn't understand
but then in a moment the Chief  was sitting next to him and reverted back to
twirling his moustahce and the metamorphosis was complete.

Dayton clicked his seat belt on at the same moment Monroe got behind the
steering wheel..

Neither man said a word.  The quiet was deafening as Monroe keyed the
ignition and switched on the headlights.

The car had a low moan to it.  It was was a clean engine and barely audible.

Inside the car you could barely catch the exhalations and inhalations as each man wrestled
with their thoughts.

The click of  the Chief's seatbelt broke the silence.

Dayton rolled down his window and turned to breathe in the fresh air.

It seemed to slap him into action.

"Who are you?" said Dayton.

Monroe maneuvered the car at a slow speed out of the neighborhood.

"Give me a moment,"  said Monroe.

He took his hand off the steering wheel and rubbed his eyes.
  
After a moment of quiet Monroe said,  "the black queen sent me."
(After a moment of quiet Monroe said, "the queen of the dark side sent me.")
Dayton closed his eyes.  He had gotten his answer, but it wasn't the one he
had expected.

  .        XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When he finally collected his thoughts Dayton said, "what do you mean black queen?"

"Listen, Dayton, you better trust me because from the looks of it somebody is out to kill
you and your two daughters are still missing."

Dayton went over the man's demeanor in his mind.   He realized there was something more
to this man than his outward appearance.

A few moments ago he had seen Monroe's body take on the physical stature of a man
who was much stronger than he first appeared.  He had seen the chief grow in stature
and now he was sitting next to Dayton once again twisting his moustache and rubbing
his eyes.

Obviously there was something more to Monroe than the normal observant eye took in.

Dayton decided to go with his gut which was telling him to trust Monroe.
Besides thought Dayton what choice did he have.  None that he could
see in his mind's eye.

"Ok," said Dayton.

"Good," said Monroe.


At that point the two men stopped talking and Monroe revved up the engine.
They had gone about two blocks when they came to a stop sign.
Monroe made a full stop and then made a right hand turn.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cameron had walked a few feet when he stopped, turned and watched
the two men as they covered the distance
from where he was standing to Monroe's parked police car.
Cameran estimated it was an area of about thirty feet.
  .
The young assistant tried to quiet his mind and control his thoughts.
He had known the Chief for five years and in five minutes an almost
instant moment in time under a streetlight everything seemed to change.
Cameran thought he saw a glimpse of a Monroe he didn't  recognize.

He was observant this young assistant.  Very astute.  And he had caught a
balancing act between the two men as they got in the police car.   The
silhouette of the police chief as he crossed the front of the police car under
the lamplight seemed to be the shadow of a different Monroe.

Once in the car the silhouette had thrown something in the back seat.
And upon a moment's reflection Cameran realized that it must have been the package.

Cameran's mind raced.   "It seemed like such an indifferent act on the Police Chief's part."
Cameran's mind hammered it in,  "Like the package really didn't matter."

Cameran respected the Chief.   "No." his thoughts yelled.  "It was more than that.  He trusted him."

Cameron's heart quickened as he turned to complete his duties as Monroe had commanded him to do

He had questions but for now he put them to rest as he did his job.

.