A New Discovery, An Old Crime
Introduction
finished writing on August 26, 2001. Updated dialogue on August 27, 2001. Also added an important final line. Updated nurse’s name and added ages of her kids.
TUESDAY MARCH 28
“How are you doing Donna?” Mrs. Martha Light asked Donna Hayward, leaning forward in her desk. Behind her were school posters discussing the greatness of joining the Navy, Army, and the Air Force.
Donna stared down at the guidance counselor’s name plate and answered, “Doing better.”
“It’s been a tough month for you, hasn’t it?”
Donna nodded, looking up at her. “You don’t know the worst of it.”
The counselor looked at her strangely. “What do you mean?”
Donna took a breath. This was the way she would heal the wounds and get back at her parents and Mr. Horne. This was her way of dealing with this whole situation. “Did you know that my father isn’t really my father?” Now taking a deep breath and letting it out as quickly as she could, “My father is Benjamin Horne.”
Light leaned forward, taking the eraser of the pencil out of her mouth, her ears perking as she discovered some new information. “Really? When did you learn and are you sure?”
Donna knew that Martha Light wasn’t just the school counselor, but also one of the biggest gossips in all of Twin Peaks. By tomorrow morning or even tonight, the town would be buzzing about the truth of Eileen Hayward, Doctor William Hayward and Benjamin Horne, Jr.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I found out the night of the Miss Twin Peaks Contest. I got it out of Mr. Horne.”
“How do you feel about that?” Light asked, thinking of who she would be calling first.
“How the hell do you think I feel?! My parents have been lying to me all these years and I find out that Mr. Horne is my father!? I just want to leave this damn town!”
“Running away doesn’t fix everything Donna.” I need to call Danielle, and then…
Donna was about to answer with, “That’s what Laura did and she’s okay…” but then realized she wasn’t okay. Had Laura died because she was always running from the truth? Donna thought.
“Well, I made this appointment to talk to you about universities in New York. I want to do either fashion work or architecture.”
Mrs. Light looked at her for a long time, not moving. Donna could tell she was trying to decide if she should continue the way their conversation had been going or go with this new one. She was about to speak when Donna said, “Well…?”
Thinking it was smarter to change subject, considering Donna’s angry face, she said, “Those are good choices, Donna. And there are some great schools in New York? Were you thinking New York City?”
“Yeah.”
——-
“Pete, who were you with in the bank?” Sheriff Truman asked Pete Martell in his hospital room just as the clock hit 9 a.m.
Pete looked at Truman then glanced at his wife who was staring at him, waiting for him to answer.
“Well, Harry, it’s a strange…long story….”
Catherine spoke up, “Have you identified the body, yet, Sheriff?”
Harry turned to Catherine, “No Catherine, we haven’t. They are doing an autopsy on the body downstairs in the morgue even as we speak.”
“I’ll save you the trouble, Sheriff. It was my brother, Andrew.”
Harry smiled and chuckled, expecting it to be a joke, but Catherine kept a straight face.
“Are you serious?” he asked her.
Catherine nodded. “The night the mill burned, I found myself wandering in the woods. At some point, I woke up and found myself in a cabin with my brother looking over me. I thought I was dead, Sheriff. He said my name and that’s when I realized I wasn’t. I stayed with him until I felt well enough to come back.”
“So your brother, Andrew, didn’t die in the boating accident?”
“No, sheriff.”
“Where was he all this time?”
“He was in an old logging cabin out in the woods, just across the Canadian border. He escaped the accident, knowing that someone was trying to kill him–he had it all setup before the hit.”
“And who was trying to kill him?” Harry asked standing up and walking to her, afraid of the answer he might actually hear. He saw Catherine glance at Pete for a second and then return to him. “Catherine?”
She looked closely at Harry, trying to study him, and then spoke: “Sheriff, it was Josie.”
—
Downstairs in the morgue, FBI Agents Dale Cooper, Gordon Cole, Albert Rosenfield, Deputy Hawk, Dr. Hayward and a couple of other agents stood around the destroyed remains of Andrew Packard.
“ALBERT, I THINK THAT’S AN EAR OVER THERE!” Cole pointed across the table to a bloody piece of flesh in the shape of an ear.
Albert leaned over and picked it up with his gloved hands. He looked at it and placed it to the top of the table where a burnt and black face laid. “You got it on the nose, Gordon!” he yelled back pushing down on the nose of the dead body on the table.
Dr. Hayward watched this, shaking his head in disgust.
“Why don’t you collect some of those teeth, Albert, and let’s get those examined as soon as possible,” Cooper told Albert.
“Already ahead of you, Coop!” Albert was already picking up a plastic bag and picking up pieces of teeth off the table and placing them in the bag. He handed it to one of the other agents, who then left the room.
The phone suddenly rang and Hawk went to answer it. He listened into it and then turned to Cooper. “Agent Cooper, it’s for you.”
“Thanks Hawk.” Cooper walked to it and then put it into his. “Cooper, here….Hi, Harry…what did you find out?” Cooper listened into the phone, his eyes widening. “Is she sure?” He listened some more and then replied, “Why don’t you come down here, we could use some help….no? Is everything okay Harry?…..Okay, I will see you back at the station.” He hung up and walked over to Dr. Hayward.
“This might sound strange, Doctor, but do you have any records of Andrew Packard?”
“Yes…why?”
“Could you bring them down here please?”
“Sure, Agent Cooper…you don’t think that that is….?” Hayward trailed off. “I’ll be back. It’s in my office upstairs.”
Hayward left the room and Cooper walked to the side of Albert where a file was sitting on top of another table. He opened it and scanned through it. His eyes stopped at the Blood Type: AB-.
“Gentleman, it looks like we know who this is. Dr. Hayward went to get a file and we will find out soon.”
“BY GOD, WHO IS IT, COOP?!”
“According to Catherine, “It’s her twice dead brother Andrew, who was believed to have met his demise 2 years ago.” Cooper glanced at Hawk.
Hawk stared at him, his brow coming together as he thought through what Cooper just said to them. “Andrew Packard?”
Cooper nodded. He then turned to Albert, “We must keep this strictly confidential until we are absolutely one hundred percent certain about this, Albert.”
“Sure, Coop. After I am done, you’ll be 110% sure!”
—
Upstairs, Deputy Andy Brennan spoke with Audrey about the bank explosion.
“Are you sure it was Mayor Packard, Audrey?”
“Yeah, I am pretty sure,” Audrey said, her entire face, except for her eyes bandaged. Last night, she had tried to get the nurses to take the bandages off of her so she could see her face, but they refused. She ended up crying herself to sleep wondering where her new beau was exactly. Probably off in South America enjoying whatever he does.
Andy sat there nodding his head….unsure of what he just heard. “Andrew Packard?”
“Yes, Deputy. Andrew Packard. The mayor of Twin Peaks. The one who was supposed to be dead.”
He nodded some more, looking at what he was writing.
“How bad do I look, Deputy?” Audrey asked him. The question scared Andy as he looked from his notepad to Audrey’s face.
“You look good, Ms. Horne. And when you are out of this hospital, you will be just as pretty.” Quickly changing the subject, “Did you know I am going to be a father?!”
“Really?! That’s great!”
“Yep. I found out Saturday night. Lucy chose me over that Dick, Dick Tremayne of Men’s Fashion at Horne’s Department Store!”
“That’s great, Andy.”
—
Back downstairs, Dr. Hayward walked out of the elevator and down the long hallway to the morgue. He had fumbled through his files and finally found Andrew Packard’s. He opened it and looked through it for anything strange but found nothing. Shrugging his shoulders, he walked out and to the elevator.
Now taking the hallway that Cooper and Truman had walked down on Friday after Laura’s death, listening to the sound of his footsteps echoing off the hospital walls. His right hand was snug in his white coat pocket and his left hand held the file tight.
He couldn’t help but think about his daughter and the entire incident with Ben Horne a few nights ago.
Why Ben? Why did you have to do that? he asked himself.
The entire night was a blur now and he tried hard to remember what exactly had happened. He remembered walking into the house, going toward Ben, pushing him and the next thing he knew, he was on the floor next to Ben, his throat soar from yelling. He looked up to see Sylvia on her knees over Ben. That’s when the doctor side of Hayward kicked in.
I need to get my bag! he thought to himself running to the door where he dropped it when he came in. He looked for his daughter but she was gone from the room, probably upstairs crying her eyes out, he had thought at the time. He went back to Ben and started checking his body for signs of life.
His pulse was strong, but blood was pouring from his forehead. He looked at Sylvia and told her to call 911.
A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived and took Horne to the hospital. He awoke the next morning with a throbbing headache, not knowing his daughter was about to also be placed in the hospital. Hayward was standing above him.
“I see you are awake, Ben. How are you feeling?”
Ben nodded and answered, “Head hurts.”
“Do you remember anything from last night?”
Ben looked at him keenly and nodded. “You hit me….” He paused thinking about why he was hit. “I’m sorry , Bill….I just wanted to be good.”
The doctor nodded, as if understanding, but deep down, he couldn’t understand Ben’s idea of being good. He wanted to yell at him about how he messed up his family by letting Donna know about her real father. Damn you, Ben!
Nineteen years ago, the Hornes and Haywards were friends. His wife was helping Horne with some fundraiser that Dr. Hayward could no longer remember the name of. One night, after a fight with Bill, Eileen ran to the Great Northern and into Ben’s arms. The two of them had dated for years until they broke it off and then she met William and fell in love with the doctor. Soon after breaking up, Ben and Sylvia met and were married only a few months later. But that night of passion between Ben and Eileen, Donna was conceived and the one night affair would tear at Eileen for weeks. It came to a head when she discovered she was pregnant. While eating at the Roadhouse, she broke down, crying in her green peas and creamed corn. “I’m sorry, Bill….” she started. Suddenly, words of an affair dropped from her mouth and the last sentence that came out was: “I’m pregnant with Ben Horne’s child.”
The news devastated William Hayward. After much soul-searching and counseling, they decided to keep it quiet from the town and eight months later, Donna was born. Two years later, Horne would learn through Eileen the truth of Donna’s father and they made an agreement not to tell Donna or anyone else. It’s best for everyone concerned, they had agreed.
Damn you Ben!
He came upon the door into the morgue and took a breath. He walked in to find Cooper and the rest of the agents standing over the remains of the body.
“Here you go Cooper.”
“Thanks, Doc!”
Cooper opened the file and scanned toward the blood type. “The blood type is a match!” He turned to Hayward, “Did Andrew Packard have any birthmarks or moles?”
“No, but he did have a gunshot wound in the left arm that he received when hunting back in the 50s or 60s, I believe.”
The agents turned to the body and Albert stuck his hand out toward the table to pick up what looked to be the left arm. He looked at it carefully, clearing out leftover debris from the arm.
“Was it about 1 inch long?”
“Yeah….I think so. His file should say.”
Cooper ran through the file to find a mention of the wound. “It says here the bullet left a one inch mark and that the bullet is still lodged in the bone,” Cooper told the crew.
Albert laid the arm on the table and grabbed a scalpel. He started to open up the arm, slowly cutting. He opened it up and felt around with his index finger. He glanced at Cooper and smiled. With his other hand, he grabbed a pair of tweezers and removed a small bullet from the arm.
“Pay dirt, gentleman!” Albert said laying the bullet on the table. It spun around slowly in a circle, glistening in the light for the first time in years.
“Now, we need to find out who set the bomb,” Cooper said looking at Albert.
—
“He has the mind of a child, Mrs. Johnson,” court-appointed Dr. Mark Rutland told the young waitress at the Double R Diner. “My colleagues and I have spoken with Leo numerous times over the past couple of days, have watched his actions. He may look like a 29 year-old man, but his mind is that of a child.”
“I don’t understand, Dr. Maverick,” Shelly said wringing her hands in her apron. “A child? Like how old?”
“As an educated guess, I would say around 4. Just old enough to understand basic principles of right and wrong.”
Shelly looked at the table stunned. From a loving cool guy, to a violent drug dealer, to a comatose vegetable, and now to a 4 year old child?
“What can I do for him?”
“Well, Mrs. Johnson, you really have two choices. You could send him off to a very good hospital. There’s a great one down in Spokane that have had great results with people just like your husband. They can probably help him and one day, he could be back to normal. Or, you could take care of himself, but the chances of him ever coming out of his current state would be quite slim. I have to be honest with you, Mrs. Johnson, the best place for Leo would be in a hospital.”
Shelly looked up and across the diner at Leo who was sitting with the doctor’s assistant. The assistant was in the process of pulling straws out of Leo’s nose and ears. Leo slapped at the assistant and started to laugh.
“Oh God….” she said under her breath, listening to the childish laughter of Leo Johnson.
—
Major Briggs sat in his office at home reading through his reports concerning the Black Lodge, trying to find any information concerning the message that Sarah Palmer had given to him on Saturday night.
Pouring over hundreds of documents, many of which were blackened out by black marker, he had a feeling it would be a lost cause. He would be forced to go to the Unguin’s Field Observatory and find the information there. He only hoped he had access to it and he could find the information he needed.
He thought back to that single quote from Palmer: “I’m in the black lodge with Dale Cooper….”
How did he get in? he asked himself.
Suddenly he heard Bobby enter the house downstairs and go into the kitchen. He listened to his son open the refrigerator and take something out–sounded like a Coke can. Then the sound of him walking up the steps and slamming his bedroom door shut. Music started blaring and Major Briggs stood up with a sigh. He walked to Bobby’s bedroom door and was about to knock and thought differently.
Let it go, a voice inside him said. Let it go.
He brought his hand down and made his way downstairs and out the door to the air field.
—
“Ed, what about this cruise?”
Nadine had gone to the Twin Peaks Travel Agency and picked up numerous catalogs ranging from cruises, to European vacations, to flights to anywhere. She avoided anything that involved camping or hunting.
“That looks nice, Nadine.” He glanced at the price. “A little out of our price range, dear.”
“Oh…..” She went to another catalog like a high school girl. “This one is for Cancun! It says: ‘All-Inconclusive Second Honeymoon Trip–Food, Room, Flight Included.’ This looks nice, Ed.”
Ed took the catalog and scanned through it. “We’ll put this one in the maybe pile.”
Nadine smiled at him and said, “I love you Ed!”
—
“Tell us the truth, Doctor,” Ben Horne told Audrey’s doctor, Marilyn Madison, who was sitting at her desk in her office. “How bad is Audrey?”
Sylvia sat next to Ben staring past the doctor and outside toward the mountain tops. She hadn’t said a word to Ben since Saturday night, unless it dealt specifically with Audrey.
“She’s scarred very badly, Ben. She will need plastic surgery for 90% of her face. Parts of her face are in fact completely gone. We tried the best that we could, but she needs some more work. I would say that it will take 3 years if not more to bring her face back to where it was, if even possible.”
Ben rubbed his eyes and thought about the doctor’s words for a few seconds. “Can you recommend a surgeon?”
“Yes I do.” The doctor pulled a piece of paper out from the desk and slid it to Ben. “The doctor on top is the best in the nation. He’s located in Los Angeles, Hollywood stars use him. Below him are a few other top doctors, including one in Seattle.”
“Thanks, Doctor.” Ben took a pen out and circled the Los Angeles doctor.
Truman left the hospital and just drove after his conversation with Catherine and Pete. He didn’t know where he was going, just driving.
Josie tried to kill Andrew? Why? he asked himself over and over, thinking back to any and all conversations that he had with her that might have hinted at the truth. But he could find none. Nothing in their time together did he ever get the idea that Josie had tried to kill her husband.
Why Josie? Why?
Taking lefts and taking rights, he found himself driving east and before he knew it, he found himself driving up to Glastonbury Grove. He brought the truck to a stop and grabbed his hat. Opening the door and stepping out, he placed the hat on his head and reached across to radio Lucy of his location.
“Lucy?”
“Yes, Sheriff Truman?”
“I’m up at Glastonbury Grove. If there are any problems, give Hawk a call first. Okay?”
“Sure, Sheriff. If any problems, call Hawk. Got it!” Truman could imagine Lucy taking a pen and writing a note somewhere on the desk.
“Thanks Lucy.” He put the radio down and closed the door. Glancing at his watch, he noted it was 11:15. He took a breath and made his way into the narrow passage of the trees toward the circle of trees.
Every year, around Easter, there would be a strange Easter Pageant put on at Glastonbury Grove by a small organization known as the Circulars of Twin Peaks. He had known about this organization since he was a child but hadn’t known anyone who was a member. Rumor had it that you had to be specifically asked by a current member to join. The other rumor was that the Bookhouse Boys put the pageant on, but he was 100% personally sure that wasn’t true.
As he walked ahead he could see small logs and large logs, all made for visitors to Glastonbury Grove to sit on. As he walked he took note of the log that he had sat on while waiting for Cooper to come back.
Just up ahead were the small sycamore trees. These trees had been here for as long as he could remember and had never grown. Rumor had it that the soil wouldn’t allow them to grow, but no one had ever cut them down. Once again, it had something to do with the Circulars.
Making his way up to the trees, he took in a breath. He could feel the wind blowing around him, hearing the trees sway back and forth.
He passed the first set of trees and entered the circle. He stopped, checking to see if he could feel anything. Nothing.
Moving forward he came upon the small circle of rocks. He leaned down toward them. There was a black substance in the middle. He carefully placed his index finger in it and brought it to his nose. He took a whiff.
“Oil,” he said aloud. He wiped it on his beige pants and stood directly in front of the circle of rocks.
He closed his eyes, waiting to feel some sort of presence, but nothing.
He tried to think back to what Cooper did. It was so dark that it was hard to see if Cooper had walked a certain way, said something, performed some ritual dance. He laughed, imagining Cooper in his trench coat performing an Indian ritual dance. Now, that I’d like to see. He looked into the sky and said aloud, “Planet alignment….but how?” He glanced down at the ground but couldn’t see anything in particular after the rainfall last night.
The only thing he could remember was Cooper actually stepping into the circle of rocks. And so he did, carefully.
He placed his right boot into the oil, knowing full well that he just ruined his boots. And then the other. He stood there again, waiting for some sort of presence, some sort of power that Cooper had mentioned last night.
He closed his eyes, and immediately saw Josie staring back at him. Keeping his eyes closed, he watched Josie in the darkness of his mind, walk up to him, silently. She was wearing a long sleek black dress, a slit on the side going up to her thigh. The dress was low cut and he could see the beginning of her breasts. He wanted to reach out and grab her, to kiss her, but dared not to move, afraid she would vanish. He also noticed that she was wearing black high heels but they made no sound as she took steps toward him.
Now stopping directly in front of him, she leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on the lips. He parted his just slightly and their tongues touched. Still trying not to touch her, Harry stood there, standing as tall as he could kissing his dead lover. Finally, Josie pulled away with slowly and smiled at him.
She turned and started making her way back away from him.
Don’t go, Truman thought. Don’t go!! he wanted to yell at her. But saying anything, moving, would that cause this strange vision or dream to end? He had to try.
“Josie, don’t leave me again!” he called at her.
She was already in the darkness, her long black hair had already vanished in the shadows of wherever they were. Harry could see her turn, but not her face anymore.
“Come back, Josie.” His voice seemed to echo off unknown walls.
She started walking again and her face came out of the shadows. But it wasn’t Josie.
“Laura?” Truman said.
Standing there, about 15-20 feet away was Laura Palmer, wearing a black slender dress. Her head was cocked to the side just slightly as she looked at Harry.
“Laura, that can’t be you?!”
She smiled, her lips still together.
No, it was Laura. It was that same mischievous Laura Palmer smile, Harry thought.
She smiled wider this time exposing her teeth. Where Truman was expecting white sparkling teeth, he saw blackness.
Truman opened his eyes and found himself still standing in the oil in the middle of Glastonbury Grove. His stomach was in knots and he felt very nervous. He wiped at his eyes and took a breath.
He stepped out of the oil and the circle of rocks and looked around. Everything was the same. “That was strange,” he said to the trees. “Very strange.”
Unsure of what exactly happened, Truman made his way back to his truck, this time a little more quickly than when he arrived. He jumped back in and started the engine.
He never noticed that his watch was now reading 11:59.
—
While Truman was kissing his dead girlfriend, Cooper, Cole and Albert were talking to a group of agents that Cole brought along for assistance.
“Good morning, gentleman,” Cooper started. “As you are all aware, we have a number of investigations going on right now. More importantly is the bank explosion and also the escape of Windom Earle. Without going into specifics, we believe that Earle is currently housed up somewhere in the woods, probably across the state line, but there’s no way to be sure, just yet.” Cooper showed a picture of Earle to the agents. “This is Windom Earle. Be assured, he is a master of disguise. Stay alert gentlemen. Windom Earle is an extremely dangerous and deviously cunning individual, and it is imperative that he be apprehended as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“Concerning the bank explosion, we have identified the body to be that of Andrew Packard. This is still classified information. Packard was the mayor of Twin Peaks until he was supposedly killed. Seems now that he was hiding off somewhere. We are currently investigating his quote death unquote. As to who blew the bank up, we are currently interviewing witnesses. Any questions?”
The agents stared up at Cooper with blank stares.
“Okay, gentleman. Half of you will be working on the bank and the other half on Earle’s disappearance. Your assignments are in the files in front of you. Make yourself familiar with these files. And remember, Twin Peaks is a small close-knit town. Do not offend anyone–try not to make yourself even known, if possible. Try not to make your presence known.
“Alright, let’s get out there and get some work done! Time is of the essence”
The agents filed out leaving Cooper, Cole and Albert by themselves.
“ANY NEWS ON LEO JOHNSON?!” Cole asked Cooper.
“No, Gordon! We should be hearing from the doctors sometime today!”
“OKAY. WHAT DO YOU SAY THAT WE GO OVER TO THE DOUBLE R AND GRAB SOMETHING TO EAT?”
“Sounds like a great idea!” Albert replied.
—
Shelly went through Leo’s clothing, finding and throwing a variety of items, mainly underwear into a suitcase. Only a couple of hours ago, she agreed to send Leo off to a hospital, hoping that they could do something for her husband. There was nothing that she could do for him, she wasn’t ready to deal with a 4 year old child who was really a 29 year old. She just couldn’t do it.
Pulling a collection of Fruit of the Looms out of the drawer, she started to cry and then wiped them away.
“Oh, Leo…..” she sighed.
She pulled the final amount of underwear from the drawer and then turned back ready to push the drawer back in. She stopped, feeling angry, and grabbed hold of the wooden sides.
“Damn you Leo!” she screamed, pulling the drawer out and throwing it across the room. It slammed against the wall, throwing remaining clothes over the floor. She sat on the bed and cried.
She wasn’t sure how long she had sat there, but she had finally calmed down. Taking in a breath, she stood up and walked over to the mess now on the floor to pick up the clothes. She lifted the drawer and flipped it over. She saw that a section of wood had pulled away and uncovered a hidden compartment. She pulled the small piece of wood completely out. Inside the small compartment sat a rolled up stash of money held together by a rubber band.
“Oh my God….” Shelly lifted the 2 inch wide wad of money. She opened it up and stared at the $100 bills that didn’t seem to stop.
—
Nurse Judy Barton sat on her bed looking at the ring that she had taken from Miss Twin Peaks. The small green stone with the strange symbol in the middle. She had never seen anything like it before. She picked it with her fat fingers from the table and examined it even more closely.
The light from outside made it glisten. And down in the middle, something almost seemed to move. She looked closer at the ring and slightly moved it. Yes, there was something, very, very small within the ring that was loose, but what she couldn’t tell.
Pulling away from it, she wondered why she had been drawn to the ring. It wasn’t some beautiful ring, it was….was….she couldn’t find the words to describe it. Not ugly, but not pretty, and surely not normal.
To get a better look at it, she decided to turn the lamp on. As she leaned over she could hear her two boys playing in the backyard. She heard one of them say, “No, I shot you first!” One was 10 and the other 12.
Holding the ring in her left hand and grabbing hold of the lamp with her right hand, she took hold of the black switch and was about to turn it.
“MOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!” the voice of her youngest cried out.
“BOYS!” she yelled placing the ring back on the table and running downstairs to find the her youngest had fallen and broken his arm.
—
On her way home from school, Donna stopped by the Twin Peaks Post Office a few stores down from the Double R Diner. There she bought a stamp and finished filling out her application to New York University in New York City.
Throughout the day she had filled out the application and then took study hall to finish up the final essays that the application requested.
She was off to change her life, and this was the first step.
On her way out, she slid the envelope into the outgoing mail slot and made her way to the Double R Diner. Entering the diner, she noticed that Agent Cooper and two other agents that she had seen before were sitting at the counter to the left. Each had a cup of coffee and looked to be waiting for their food. Cooper was speaking with Norma about something.
Donna went over to one of the empty booths and took a seat. She placed her books and a couple of other college applications on the table to finish filling those out as well.
“Hi Donna,” Norma said coming up to her table. “How are you today?”
“I’m doing good Norma. Can I just have a Coke?”
“Sure thing.” Norma gave her a smile and turned, walking back to the bar. A minute later, she brought the Coke back to Donna and glanced at what she was doing.
“Filling out college applications?” she asked her.
Donna looked up and nodded, feeling somewhat intruded upon. “It’s time I start think–”
“Norma!”
Everyone in the diner turns to the front door where Shelly stood, a huge grin on her face.
“Shelly?” Norma said, slightly upset with Shelly’s yelling.
Shelly ran over to Norma, her hand in her pocket, passing by the FBI agents. Gordon Cole smiled as she went by and said to Albert, “THERE’S MY ANGEL, ALBERT!”
“Come here…”Shelly said dragging Norma into the back.
Donna stared at them in amazement as they vanished behind the door. She could see their faces through the small circular window in the door but couldn’t hear them very well. She turned to look at the agents who were also looking at the strange episode and Cooper turned to Donna and smiled.
A shiver ran up her spine and she shook it off. She had seen that same smile somewhere else…..but where? She couldn’t remember and she just smiled back nodding her head, hoping, praying that Cooper wouldn’t walk up to her.
Luckily, the three agents turned back around and Donna let out a sigh of relief.
—
“You won’t believe what I found!” Shelly said to Norma.
“What? What?”
“Okay, you have to promise not to tell anyone. No one, Norma!”
“Sure I promise, Shelly.”
“Okay, I was putting clothes into Leo’s suitcase for the doctors to take with them down to Spokane and I found this in a compartment in his drawer.” Shelly pulled the wad of cash out of her pants pocket.
“Oh my! Shelly, how much is it?”
“$100,000!”
Norma’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding!”
“No, I counted it five times! Most of the money is hundred dollar bills–there is a few $500 bills…and….” Shelly rummaged through the money and pulled out 10 crisp $1000 bills.
“Where did Leo get all this money?”
“I don’t know, but like I told you, I’ve heard Leo mention large amounts of money on the phone, and I’m pretty sure it had something to do with drugs. But that’s not all. I looked around some more in drawers, looking for loose boards, every place I could think of. I found two more hiding places with $100,000 each.”
“You found $300,000 lying around the house?”
“Yeah, can you believe it!?”
“What are you going to do with all this?”
“I’m going to keep it silly!!!” Shelly told her, acting like a giddy 8 year old girl. “I was thinking that maybe we could go over to my house and start looking for more. No telling what else Leo has hidden in the house and even outside. You know, the cops found some of Leo’s stuff under the porch, so there could be a lot more!”
Norma nodded in excitement. “But shouldn’t you tell the police?”
“No way! Leo screwed around on me, and he used to hit me Norma. I think it’s time I used that bastard’s money for something!”
“Okay, Shelly. I will come over tonight, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.” Shelly leaned over and hugged her friend. She opened the door and made her way to the front door when her eyes and Cole’s met. Cole stood up to meet her.
“GOOD AFTERNOON, SHELLY!”
“Hi Gordon. How are you?”
Turning to Cooper and Albert, “I CAN HEAR HER!!” Then turning back to Shelly, “I AM FINE, SWEETHEART! HOW ARE YOU?”
Smiling, Shelly waved her hand up and down hoping that Cole would lower his voice. “I’m fine, Gordon. Remember, I can hear you just fine.”
Lowering his voice, “That’s right Shelly. Thank you. I still can’t believe how beautiful you are, Shelly. Do you want to go and get something to eat tonight?”
“Uh, uhm,” now glancing at Norma who is smiling at her, “I have plans Gordon, but maybe later?”
“GREAT!” Cole said and then realized he was yelling again. “Great, Shelly! Tomorrow night then. I will meet at the Great Northern at 7? We’ll go for some of Twin Peaks delicious gourmet food?”
Trying to leave as quickly as she could to get back to the house, “Sure, Gordon, tomorrow night at 7.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek and rushed by him.
“Shelly!” Cole called at her as she hit the door and was about to go out. She turned to see Cole pointing at her, “Be there or be square, beautiful!”
“I’ll be there!” she said and turned out the door.
Cole turned to look at his fellow agents and smiled. As he sat down, Albert said, “So Gordon, are you going to get lucky tomorrow night?”
“WHAT’S THIS ABOUT A RUBBER DUCKY, ALBERT?!”
—
Major Briggs sat at his desk running through as many documents as he could on his work computer. So much of it had been blocked by his supervisors and even he couldn’t find the information he needed.
In his mind he replayed over and over the words that Mrs. Palmer told him. I’m in the black lodge with Dale Cooper…..
He suddenly stopped.
There between mark after mark of black marker, he saw two words that stuck out at him: planetary alignment.
“Of course…..planetary alignment. But there has to be more….”
Suddenly a bright light filled the room and Briggs felt himself shift within his own body.
“Dear Lord, not again.”
The pen in his hand fell to the desk and rolled into a warm, empty chair.
—
Rummaging throughout the house, Norma and Shelly were flipping anything and everything over that they could find. Leo and Jacques had been building their house off and on for the past few months, but now with Leo as a child, Jacques dead, Shelly knew that it would be awhile before anything would be finished.
They had been looking now for an hour trying to find anything that Leo might have hidden from sight. So far, they discovered a small bag of cocaine, a fairly large bag of marijuana, and one more stash of money–this one equaling only $1000. Their total was now up to $301,000.
“I think we have pretty much gone throughout the house,” Norma said, now sitting down in the kitchen table. Watching her, Shelly suddenly had a flashback of Leo’s face falling into the cake. She started giggling.
“What?” Norma asked her.
“Oh nothing.”
Norma eyed her and then let it go. “Have any other ideas?”
Shelly sat there for a few seconds, biting her lower lip. “Yeah, there is one other place! The shed!!”
“Shed?”
“Yeah, right before Laura’s death, Jacques and Leo built this shed in the back up toward the woods and put a lock on it. I never did get to see what was inside.”
“Let’s find out!!” Norma said standing up.
They gathered two flashlights and started making their way out to the shed.
Arriving at it, Norma looked down at the lock, “And how are we going to open this thing?”
“With this.” Shelly pulled out the gun that Bobby had given her.
“Shelly!”
“Don’t worry Norma. I know how to use it.” She pointed the gun at the lock, and Norma stepped away. “And no one is going to hear it out here.”
“Okay….”
She pulled the trigger and the gun went off. The lock flew off the door and landed in the grass nearby.
The two women stepped inside the shed and shown the lights around it. Inside was a collection of boxes, some metal, some wooden, and some normal moving boxes. On the walls were saws and drills, normal tools.
“Let’s check the boxes,” Shelly said.
The first box they came to was a cardboard moving box. Shelly opened it up and found a large collection of Fleshworld magazines.
“Oh my, Norma.” she said picking one up and turning it open to a page that had been turned down.
“It’s your house and Leo’s truck!” Norma said.
“Yeah, it is. It says: Wanna have fun in Washington with two beautiful girls, both 17? They won’t disappoint! And then there’s a number. Norma, do you think that Leo was pimping Laura and Ronette, do you?”
“I don’t know, Shelly.”
“God, why am I so stupid to marry such a pig!!” Shelly asked Norma. “Why?”
“You didn’t know, Shelly. He seemed like a good guy.”
“Yeah, seemed is the right word.”
“C’mon, let’s look around some more.”
They finished looking through the box of Fleshworld and found nothing but porno magazines. The next box had a collection of screws and nuts. And another had a collection of footballs that had been cut. But in the next box, they found something they hadn’t expected.
“Norma, look at these.” Shelly pulled out a group of Polaroids with Leo, Jacques, Ronette and Laura. In them, Ronette and Laura were nude and there were a variety of shots of the guys having sex with the girls.
“Oh my God, these are disgusting,” Norma told Shelly.
Shelly was silent as she scanned the pictures and then finally spoke, “They’re at Jacques’ cabin when they took these. I was up there once or twice when Leo and I first got together. We had some wild parties up there. I had no idea Leo was cheating on me with Laura.”
Shelly knew her last comment was a lie–she had known about Leo and Laura months ago after seeing Laura jumping into Leo’s truck one night at the Roadhouse.
“Look at this.” Norma picked up a used roll of film. On the side in Leo’s handwriting was the date: 2-23-89.
“Oh my God, that’s the night Laura was killed.”
They stared at the date, their breathing the only sound in the small cold and dark shed.
—
Cooper sat on his bed, looking out the window, with a note in his hand. Just by seeing the handwriting on the front, he knew who it was from. He stared at it, still unopened. His face stern and straight.
How dare he come into this room, he thought. How dare he try and put a stop to my work!
Opening it up, he read the inside aloud, “You won’t find the ring.”
He crumbled the note and looked up at the window. BOB stared at himself in the reflection, angry and fuming.
“We’ll see Mike.”
And for a few seconds, his eyes glistened a strange bluish-white.
