Chapter 9 Chapter nine

She struggled to control herself from hysterics.Her fingers were shaking so much that she tried to dial the number three times but failed to get it right.She took a deep breath, tried 2-9-9-2-1-0-1 again, and the phone started ringing. "Sheriff's Office." "Adjutant Blake, please. Quick!" "Adjutant Black is home. Anyone else?" "No! I... can you get him to call me? This is Ashley Paterson. I want to speak to him right away." "Please don't hang up, miss, I'll see if I can find him." ※※※ Sheriff Sam Black patiently listened to his wife Serena yell at him. "My brother used you as his emissary day and night, but he didn't give you enough money to support me decently. Why didn't you ask for a raise? Why?"

They sit at the table. "Would you please pass me the potatoes, dear?" Serena reached over and slammed the plate of potatoes in front of her husband. "The problem is they don't appreciate you." "You're right, honey. Can I have some gravy?" "Aren't you listening to me?" she yelled. "Exactly, my love. It's a good meal. You're a wonderful cook." "If you don't fight back, you bastard, how can I fight you?" He took a bite of the veal. "It's because I love you, honey." the phone is ringing. "Excuse me," he stood up and picked up the receiver. "Hello...yes...take her here...Miss Paterson?" He could hear her sobbing.

"Something . . . something terrible has happened. You must come here at once." "I'll be right there." Serena stood up. "What? You're going out? We haven't finished eating yet!" "It's an emergency, honey. I'll be right back," she watched as he buckled the pistol in his belt.He leaned over and kissed her: "The dinner is great." ※※※ As soon as he arrived, Ashley opened the door for him.Her cheeks were stained with tears.She is trembling. Sam Black entered the apartment and looked around cautiously. "Is there anyone else here?"

"Yes, someone was here," she tried to control herself, "Look, look..." She led him to the bathroom. Sheriff Blake read aloud the words on the mirror: "You are going to die." He turned to Ashley. "Do you have any idea who might have written this?" "I don't know," Ashley said, "this is my apartment. No one else has the key... But people keep coming in here... People keep following me. Someone's plotting to kill me." She burst into tears , "I can't bear it anymore, I can't bear it anymore." She was sobbing uncontrollably.Sheriff Blake put his arms around her and patted her on the shoulder. "Okay. It'll be all right. We'll protect you, and we'll find out who's behind it."

Ashley took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I...I don't usually cry like this. This is...this is really horrible." "Let's talk," said Sam Black. She forced a smile. "Ok." "How about a cup of tea?" They talked while drinking hot tea. "When did it all start, Miss Paterson?" "About... about six months ago. I felt like I was being followed. It was just a vague feeling at first, but then it started to build up. I knew I was being followed, but I couldn't see anyone. Then At work, someone got into my computer and drew a drawing of a hand with a sharp knife trying to... stab me with a knife."

"Do you have any idea who might have done all this?" "have no idea." "You say someone broke into the apartment before today?" "Yes, one time someone turned on all the lights while I was away. Another time I found a cigarette butt on my dresser. I don't smoke. Someone else opened a drawer and flipped through my…  …my underwear.” She took a deep breath, “and now… this again.” "Have you ever had a boyfriend you rejected?" Ashley shook her head. "No." "Have you ever been in any business where someone lost money because of you?"

"No." "Have you ever received threats from anyone?" "No." She wanted to tell him about the Lost Weekend in Chicago, but that might have mentioned her father.She decided not to say a word. "I don't want to be here alone tonight," Ashley said. "Okay. I'm going to call the police and tell them to send someone..." "No! Please! I'm afraid to trust anyone else. Will you stay with me until morning?" "I don't think I..." "Oh, please." She was trembling. He looked directly into her eyes and thought he had never seen anyone so terrified.

"Don't you have somewhere to spend the night? You don't have any friends to go to?" "What if a friend of mine did it?" He nodded. "Yes. I'll stay. Tomorrow morning, I will arrange twenty-four-hour custody for you." "Thank you." Her voice was full of relief. He patted Ashley's hand. "Don't worry. I promise you, we'll get to the bottom of this. Let me call Sheriff Dowling and tell him what happened." He was on the phone for five minutes, and when he hung up, he said, "I'd better call my wife." "certainly."

Sheriff Blake picked up the phone and dialed again. "Hey honey. I'm not coming home tonight, so why don't you watch some TV..." "What are you doing? Where are you? With some sleazy whore?" Ashley could hear her screaming on the phone. "Serina..." "You can't fool me." "Serina..." "That's all you men think about—sleeping with women." "Serina..." "Well, I can't stand this situation any longer." "Serina..." "That's what I get for being a good wife." This one-sided conversation continued for another ten minutes.Finally, Lieutenant Blake puts the receiver back in place and turns to Ashley, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about that. She's not usually like this." Ashley looked at him and said, "I understand." "No...I mean it. Serena did it because she was scared." Ashley looked at him in surprise, "Fear?" He was silent for a while. "Serena was dying. She had cancer. She was in remission for a while. It started about seven years ago. We've been married five years." "Then you know..." "Yeah. It doesn't matter, I love her." He paused. "It's gotten worse lately, and she's scared because she's scared of dying, and she's scared I'm going to leave her. All that yelling is to cover up that fear."

"I'm...I'm so sorry." "She's an amazing person, deep down, she's gentle, caring and loving. That's the Serena I know." Ashley said, "I'm sorry if I brought you anything..." "Not at all." He looked around. Ashley said, "There's only one bedroom. You can go to sleep, I'll be on the couch." Sheriff Blake shook his head. "It's better for me to sleep on the sofa." "I can't tell you how grateful I am," Ashley said. "No problem, Miss Paterson." At that time she went to the closet and took out the sheets and blankets. She went to the sofa and spread the sheets. "I wish you could……" "Excellent. I don't intend to sleep much, anyway." He checked the windows to make sure they were locked, then went to the door and inserted the double latch. "Okay." He put his hands on the table next to the sofa. "Get a good night's sleep, and we'll arrange everything in the morning." Ashley nodded.She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you." Sheriff Blake watched her enter the bedroom and close the door.He walked back to the window and checked it again.It's going to be a long night. At FBI headquarters in Washington, Special Agent Lemley talks to his division chief, Roland Kingsley. "We put together fingerprints and DNA test reports from the homicide scenes in Bedford, Cupertino, Quebec and San Francisco. We just received the last DNA test report. The fingerprints at the scene all match, and the DNA traces match .” Kingsley nodded. "So, it's definitely a serial killer." "no doubt." "Let's track down the bastard." ※※※ At six o'clock in the morning, in an alley behind Ashley Paterson's apartment building, the naked body of Sheriff Sam Blake was found by the wife of the building's janitor. He was stabbed to death and castrated.