Season 1 Episode 1

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Episode 1 – Traces to Nowhere

Episode 1 continues the story in narrative format. Like always, I’ve tried to stay as close to the original story as possible, adding a few things here and there. Let me know if you find any factual things that are wrong. Enjoy.

“Diane, 6:18 am, room 315, Great Northern Hotel up here in Twin Peaks.” Special Agent Dale Cooper had just hit the record button on his recorder while hanging upside down from a metal bar in the walkway of his hotel room. His boots had clamps on them, helping him to stay suspended upside. His short black hair fell from his head as he allowed the blood to rush to his head. Every morning, when and where possible, Cooper would hang upside down, allowing his mind to meditate and prepare for a challenging day.

“Slept pretty well. Non-smoking room. There’s no tobacco smell. That’s a nice consideration for the business traveler. A hint of douglas fir needles in the air. As Sheriff Truman indicated they would, everything this hotel promised, they’ve delivered.”

Yes, there were plenty of times where Dale Cooper ended up in a roach motel in a small town, spending the night killing bugs rather than sleeping. Thankfully, the Great Northern wasn’t anything like that. He had slept pretty well overall. He was in bed by 1 and asleep a few minutes later. Like clockwork, he was up before 5 in the morning. He brushed his teeth, took a quick shower and then started his morning meditating session, consisting of some yoga positions and then finishing up by hanging upside down.

“…clean, reasonably priced accomodations…telephone works good, steady pressure….could be a side benefit of the waterfall outside my window…matress firm, but not too firm…. and no lumps like that time I told you about down in El Paso. What a nightmare that was, but of course you’ve heard me tell that story once or twice, haven’t you Diane? Haven’t tried the television yet. Looks like cable, probably no reception problems. But the true test of any hotel, as you now well know, Diane, is that morning cup of coffee, which I’ll be getting back to you about within the half hour.”

Cooper picked up his recorder and turned it off. He pulled himself up and grabbed onto the bar, pulling his legs up and over and then flipping onto his feet. He did this with some ease, seemingly having done this for years. With the recorder in his hand, he started again, walking across the room past his bed to the night table:

“Diane, it struck me again earlier this morning. There are two things that continue to trouble me, and I’m speaking now not only as an agent of the Bureau, but also as a human being. What really went on between Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedys? And who pulled the trigger on JFK?”

Cooper clicked the recorder off and laid it on the table.

Fifteen minutes later, Dale Cooper was sitting at a dining room table in the Great Northern watching the waitress pour him a cup of coffee. Cooper held his hand up to stop her from leaving.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute….” he sniffed the coffee. “Hmmm…” He then sipped it and looked up at her, “You know, this is, excuse me, a damn fine cup of coffee. I’ve had I can’t tell you many cups of coffee in my life and this….this is one of the best.”

The waitress smiled and placed the pot of coffee on the table. She grabbed her pencil and prepared to take his order.

“Now I’d like two eggs, over hard. I know, don’t tell me, it’s hard on the arteries, but old habits die hard, just about as hard as I want those eggs…bacon, super-crispy, almost burned, creamate it….”

As Cooper ordered, 17 year old Audrey Horne walked into the room and glanced around, spying Cooper near the window. Her hearts skipped a beat as she saw the dashing agent with his slick back hair and black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. She smiled and started making her way over, ready to fall in love with him.

“…that’s great and I’ll have the grapefruit juice, just as long as those grapefruits…” Cooper looked up to see Audrey Horne coming his way, wearing a medium length skirt and a tight sweater.

“…are freshly squeezed…” Cooper finished up his order as the waitress left and Audrey came up to the table.

“My name’s Audrey Horne.”

Cooper stood. “Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent Dale Cooper.”

“Can I sit here?”

“Miss Horne, unless I miss my guess, your father is Benjamin Horne, the owner of this fine establishment, so I imagine you can sit anywhere you like. I’d also like to add that it would be my pleasure.” Cooper smiled and watched her closely, her every move.

“Thank you.” Audrey sat and Cooper followed. “You’re here investigating the murder of Laura Palmer?”

“Were you friends with Laura Palmer?”

“Not exactly.” Audrey continued, “See, Laura tutored my older brother Johnny three times a week. Johnny’s twenty-seven and he’s in the third grade. He’s got emotional problems, it runs in the family.” Changing subjects, Audrey brought her hands up and showed Cooper her ring, “Do you like my ring?”

“Very nice.”

“You know sometimes, I get so flushed, it’s interesting.” Audrey began to rub her palms and then asked, “Do your palms ever itch?”

Cooper looked at her strangely, still smiling though.

The two continued to talk, Audrey changing subjects every few minutes. After awhile, Cooper relaized that she was changing subjects and acting so strangely because she was nervous. Cooper finished his breakfast and then told Audrey he needed to get to the sheriff station.

“Okay, Agent Cooper. I’ll see you later?”

“I’m sure we will see each other again, Audrey.” Cooper left a tip behind and walked off. Audrey watched him go, her eyes filled with stars.

Deputy Andy Brennan watched two workmen welding with a blowtorch removing the doors from the foyer. The sheriff had been wanting to take these doors down for months, but hadn’t gotten around to it until recently. Andy bit into his turnover just as Cooper breezed through the door and waved.

“Morning, deputy.”

His mouth full, Andy replied, “Good morning, Agent Cooper.”

Lucy, sitting in her office, looked up at Cooper, with her own mouth full of donut.

“Hey there Lucy.”

“Agent Cooper…” Lucy’s words are hardly intelligible. “I got jelly for you special…the Sheriff’s in the conference room at the door across from the…”

“I’ll look for him in the conference room,” Cooper said making his way down the hall and opening the conference room door to see Harry stuffing his own face with a huge donut.

“Hey, three for three,” Cooper said.

Truman, now embarrased, began to try to swallow but not with much luck. Cooper continued:

“Sheriff, let’s get James Hurley up from cell four, and talk to him straight. He was in love with Laura Palmer and my bet is she told him whatever dirt she knew about Mike and Bobby and who knows what else.” Truman continued to chew as Cooper said, “Then let’s have a little chat with those two perpetrators, let’s also run a top to bottom on Bobby’s vehicle and see what that brings in. Oh, we’re also gonna want to talk to Mr. and Mr.s Palmer, but let’s give them a few days to deal with their grief. Now I got the rest of our day mapped out, let’s meet back here in three minutes…Harry, I really have to urinate…” Cooper turned and exited through the other door in the conference room. He then turned around: “Oh, by the way, coffee at the Great Northern, incredible!”

When Cooper exited, Truman finally swallowed his mouthful of donut.

“Harry, as you know, I delivered Laura,” Dr. Hayward began sitting at the table next to the windows in the conference room. In front of him he had laid a manilla fodler containing information concerning Laura’s autopsy. “I’ve known her all her life, she was my daughter’s best friend. I couldn’t bring myself to do the postmortem, so I called Joe Fielding in from Fairvale. He did the work, I assisted. Well, this is what he found.”

Hayward opened up the folder. The first thing in it was a large picture of Laura wrapped in plastic from the day before. “Time of death estimated to be between midnight and four AM. What killed her was loss of blood. Numerous shallow wounds, no single one serious enough to have caused death. Bite marks on her shoulders, also on her tongue, probably self-inflicted. Lesions on wrists, ankles, and upper arms, where she was bound. We’re waiting on the toxological tests for drug use.” Hayward removed his glasses and added one more bit of information, “Within the last twelve hours, she had sexual relations with at least three men.”

Taking it all in stride, Cooper asked, “You’ve examined Ronette Pulaski as well?”

“Yes…uh….there’s no question in my mind, the same perpetrator attacked both of them in that train car.”

Truman now spoke up, his mind racing once again as more of the dark world of Twin Peaks came forward, “Doc, when, if ever, will Ronette be able to talk to us?”

“She had a severe head injury, it’s still early to tell, add to that the psychological impact of the
fear…probably….witnessing what was happening to Laura before she…”Hayward trailed off and looked down at the picture of Laura. He graced his hand across her face, fighting back the tears now. “So beautiful….who would do a thing like that?”

Leo was cleaning out his truck with a dustbuster. He was making sure that any and all evidence was being taken care of in his rig. On the side of the truck were the words Big Pussycat. Shelly, dressed in her waitress uniform, came up behind leo.

“Leo…Leo honey? I have to go to work now and Norma should be here any sec…Leo?”

Leo turned off the dustbuster and turned to her, a cigarette dangling from his lips loosely.

“Did you finish cleaning my boots?”

“Yeah, I did them and I did the laundry too.”

“All of it?”

“Well, yeah.” Shelly could feel herself beginning to get defensive.

From his cab, Leo grabbed a canvas bag of dirty clothes and tossed it at her. “No you didn’t.”

She caught the bag and then replied, “Okay, Leo, when I get home, I’ll do it.”

“Now shelly!!”

“Okay…” Shelly walked off with the bag, berating herself for marrying such a jerk.

Behind the house, Shelly dumped the clothes into the washer. She shuffled them around and came across one of Leo’s blue work shirt. It was covered in blood. For a second, she thought she would scream. Her heart was pounding in her chest hard. She whispered, “Blood….”

Unsure of what to do, she stood there, beginning to tremble. scared. The sound of a car horn and Leo’s voice brought her back, “Shelly! Norma’s here!!”

Without much thinking, Shelly quickly balled up the shirt and hid it in a nearby drawer. She closed the washer and started it up, just as Leo came from the house.

“Shelly, did you hear me say Norma’s here?”

“Yeah, I heard you Leo…” Shelly shot back, extremely nervous.

Shelly started to go when Leo grabbed her by the arm. “I’m gonna come by the diner sometime today.” He began to pinch Shelly’s cheek softly and then held on to it, pinching harder and harder. “Be a good girl and save me a piece of pie.”

Shelly managed to smile, “Sure Leo.”

Leo continued to squeeze harder and harder, Shelly fought back the feeling to lash out at him. Finally he let go and she ran off to meet up with Norma.

In downtown Twin Peaks, Cooper was sitting in the conference room next to Truman with James Hurley on the other side of the table.

“James, you were placed under arrest for suspicion of murder, the murder of Laura Palmer. Now you have no previous criminal record, is that correct?” Cooper asked the young biker.

Quietly, James answered, “None. No, sir.”

Cooper turned on the VCR and showed him the tape of Laura and Donna.

“Did you shoot this video?” he asked.

James bowed his head, not wanting to answer. Cooper fast forwards to the closeup of Laura’s eye.

“That’s your cycle, isn’t it?”

James looked up. He nodded. “Yes sir. The three of us went up there two Sundays ago.”

Cooper leaned forward and quietly said, “James, you were in love with Laura. The two of you were seeing each other secretly. No one else at school, or any of her friends knew about it. She was the homecoming queen, she was dating the captain of the football team. How much longer did you think you could keep this relationship a
secret?”

James simply answered, “Well, it was secret because that’s the way she wanted it.”

“Why? Was she afraid of Bobby?”

“I think so.” Laura’s voice from two nights ago came back in his mind.

“Did you know that she was using cocaine?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ever use cocaine with her?”

The question surprised James. “No, I tried to get her to stop and she did for awhile.”

“Why did she start using again?”

“Something happened a couple of days ago.”

“What, what happened?” Cooper asked leaning closer.

James began to fight back the tears, his mind racing, voices haunting his mind. “I don’t know…I think something scared her because she wouldn’t see me. She wouldn’t even talk to me.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

James took a deep breath, knowing full well this was the question he would be asked, and dreading it the entire time. “The night she died.” There, I said it, he thought. “She snuck out of the house about 9:30. About 12:30, I stopped the bike at the light at Sparkwood and 21, and she jumped off and ran away. I didn’t see her again.”

“Did you and Laura have a fight?”

“Not exactly, but she said she couldn’t see me anymore.”

“Why?”

“She didn’t say.”

Cooper reached into his pocket and pulled out Laura’s half heart necklace. James looks at it, his mind racing even more.

“Recognize the neckalce?”

“Yes sir.”

Cooper now opened up Laura’s diary to February 5; the page marked “Day One.”

“James, what happened on February 5th and who has the other half of this heart?”

Tears formed in James’s eyes as he thought back to the beginning of the month.

His mind went racing back to that day. He could see Laura again, smiling at him, her voice cheerful and without
fear.

“James, guess why I’m so happy today?”

“Because your skin is so soft and you smell so good?” Thinking back at that day, James realized now how stupid of a comment he had just made. Why, he asked himself now.

Laura smiling. “No.”

“Why?”

“Because I really believe that you love me. Now my heart belongs to you.” Laura broke the heart in two and James’ mind came rushing back to reality. James looked up toward Cooper and answered him.

“I don’t know,” he lied.

Downstairs, Bobby and Mike waited for the cops to come and let them out after a night of fighting at the Roadhouse. Mike hadn’t slept well and hated being stuck behind bars. The bed had felt like a bunch of small pebbles and it was cold most of the night. Now he sat on the lower bunk while Bobby sat on the sink, his back up against the cell bars.

“Hey Bopper….since when does Leo Johnson call me at my parent’s house?”

“Leo called you?” Bobby asked, surprised.

“Yesterday. He was looking for you. He wanted to know where the other half of the money was.”

Bobby sighed. “What’d you tell him, Snake?”

Mike now stood up, “As far as I knew, he didn’t have any of it yet. I thought the deal was we were supposed to
give it to him today.”

“Yeah, well, I gave him half already.”

Mike turned away from Bobby, now angry at his friend.

“When did you see him?”

“Hey, I saw him the other night, okay?”

“What night?”

“The night Laura died. I went to see Leo cause I had this money burning a ten-thousand dollar hole in my pocket.”

“What about the other half?” he asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

Bobby closed his eyes in frustration. They were screwed and he knew it. “It’s in Laura’s safety deposit box.”

Mike turned to face Bobby. “So you didn’t get it back from her?”

“She was supposed to hand it over today. Then she went and checked out on us.”

“So how we gonna get that ten grand for Leo?”

Bobby answered sarcastically, “I don’t know, Snake. Maybe we could sell light bulbs door to door.”

“Oh, that’s great, that’s just…that’s just great. This isn’t funny, Bobby!!!”

“I’m not laughing!!”

“You know, we’ re lucky. We’re lucky we’re in jail because you know what’s gonna go down with Leo when we get out of here?”

Bobby was now standing and pushed on his friend, grabbing his shirt, “Shut up man!! Don’t mention one word about Leo Johnson, you do not know Leo Johnson.”

The holding area door suddenly opened and Hawk led James into the number four cell as Bobby and Mike watched. Bobby moved to the cell bars and grabbed on to them with both hands and stared at the newcomer. James glanced back at Bobby, staring him down.

Everything seemed fine for Leo until he realized that his bloody shirt was now missing. He started to search the cab of his truck frantically. He pulled his head out from the truck and said to himself, “DAMN IT! Where’s that shirt?!”

He jumped down from the cab and ran to the back of the house where the washer and dryer stood.

He opened the washer and started searching for the shirt, with no luck. He slammed his hands up against it and yelled, “NO!” The washer rocked back and forth making a loud clanking sound.

A few blocks away on the corner of Church and Owl streets, Donna Hayward’s eyes opened as she layed in bed. She glanced over at the clock and noticed that it was already after 10. She was late for her meeting with the sheriff.

“Oh god!” she said, standing up and running out of the room down the stairs. She entered the living room where she saw her mom drawing with a pencil.

“Mom?” Donna said but her mother didn’t hear her. She repeated, “Mom?”

Eileen looked up. “Oh, hi honey.”

Donna gave her mother a kiss. “Mom, it’s 10:30, why did you wake me? I was supposed to go down to the sheriff’s office.”

“They called this morning and said they could wait until tomorrow to see you. Your father and I thought you needed your rest. You woke us crying in your sleep last night, do you remember?”

“No….really?”

“We feel so badly for you, we’re so sorry.”

Donna took a seat next to her mom and began, “Mom, it’s so strange. I know I should be sad, and I am, part of me is, but it’s like…it’s like I’m having the most beautiful dream and the most terrible nightmare all at once.”

“Your father said you went out last night to meet a boy named James Hurley. Does this have anything to do with him?”

“Can this be between you and me?” Donna asked.

“Of course it can.”

“James and Laura were seeing each other the last two months. I was the only one who knew about it. Mom, James was so good for her, you don’t know how troubled Laura was. Last night, I had to see him. We were the two closest people in the world to her. But I feel so bad now.”

“Why angel?”

“Because we realized…that all this time…we were the ones falling in love. So I feel like I’ve betrayed my best friend….” Donna’s eyes filled up with tears. “…and if it’s true, then why am I so happy?”

“Oh honey…”

The mother and daughter hugged in the quiet living room where just a few days ago. On that early Sunday morning, Laura and Donna held each other after a strange night in Canada.

Back at the sheriff station, Cooper and Truman walked down the hall to the foyer where Big Ed Hurley now stood, a bandage on his head.

“You wanna see these guys separately or together?” Truman asked the agent.

“No, we can see them together.”

“Okay” Truman then turned to Ed. “Hey Ed, how’s that coconut?”

“Well, it’s kind a tender…but my pride is hurt worse.”

“Ed, this is Special Agent Dale Cooper,” Truman introduced.

The two shook hands and Cooper said, “Pleasure. Any relation to James?”

“I’m his uncle. And he works for my garage. His mother’s out of town and I look after him when she’s away. You fellas plan on holding him?”

“No, we can release him into your custody.” Cooper answered.

“Let me understand is James being charged?”

“I had one small doubt which he cleared up for me. He didn’t kill anybody. But you tell him to be careful because we’re going to have to release Mike and Bobby today as well.”

“Will do”

From the side, Lucy called for the Dale. “Agent Cooper, I’ve got a call for you from a Mr. Albert Rosenfield, sounds like long distance.”

Cooper excused himself from Ed and Harry and walked over to Lucy’s desk.

“It has that open air sound, you know, where it sounds like wind blowing, like wind blowing through trees.”

Cooper took the phone, “Yes, Albert!”

Ed grabbed Truman by the arm and spoke quietly to him. “Harry, I’ve been thinking about last night at the
Roadhouse, and something’s not right.”

“Yeah, when I first saw that bandage, I thought maybe ol’ Nadine got wind of you and Norma.”

“Harry, if Nadine got wind of me and Norma, I’d be playing harp for the Heavenly All-Stars.”

Truman smiled. “Ain’t that the truth!”

“I was there seeing Norma, but I was also on my stakeout. Now I can remember Mike and Bobby grabbing Donna and I got up to walk over and I got all lightheaded. I was out on my feet before I got there. I don’t even remember getting hit.”

“What do you mean you don’t remember?”

“I’m pretty sure my beer was drugged. Jacques Renault was tending the bar.”

Truman nodded his head.

Just a few feet away Cooper told Albert over the phone, “All…allright, Albert! Bring the boys, you guys can have the body all day tomorrow….No, I can’t do it….they’re gonna put her in the ground on Monday. Albert, listen, if you come up through Lewis Fork, I can recommend a place for lunch, the Lamplighter Inn.” Cooper smiled broadly thinking back at the food he had eaten just a couple of days ago, “They’ve got a cherry pie there that’ll kill ya!”

Carrying a small tray of sandwiches that were called in about an hour ago, Norma Jennings walked down from the Double R Diner to the Twin Peaks General Store to deliver them. She stepped inside and almost bumped into Nadine Hurley.

Acting pleasant, Norma said, “Hi, Nadine.”

“What are you doing here, Norma?” Nadine asked, clutching the bag of cotton balls to her body.

“I might ask you the same question,” Norma replied, still pleasant.

Now very aggressive and defensive, Nadine answered, “And I will tell you. I’ve gotten all new drapes for my house. Ed bought them for me yesterday at Gentlemen Jim’s and we installed them together. They’re a beige sheer. I was up all last night, do you know what I was doing?”

“No, I don’t..”

“I was inventing a noiseless, completely silent drape runner. And do you know how it works, do you know what makes it work? The thing I thought of at four this morning when I was waiting for my husband to be released from intensive care?”

Norma shook her head as Nadine took a package out of the bag. “Cotton balls!” she declared. “By god….those things’ll be quiet now.”

Nadine moved past Norma and out the door. Norma rolled her eyes and walked up to the register to deliver the sandwiches.

Hawk walked with James to the front of the sheriff station and looked up at Ed. Hawk and Ed raised their right hands and make a small subtle signal on the sides of their heads. Hawk turned to go as Ed took his nephew.

“Did you have to post bail?” James asked.

“No, I had a talk with Harry, there’s no charge.”

“Mom still out of town?”

“Yeah, she’s still out of town. Let’s get out of here.”

James nodded and then told his uncle: “Gonna need a hand from the Bookhouse Boys. Somebody’s gotta watch my back.”

Ed replied, “Already got it covered.”

They exited the building together and made their way to Ed’s gas station.

Downstairs Mike and Bobby sat at a table in the interrogation room across from Sheriff Truman. Cooper entered carrying the whistle that he had been whilttling the night before. He was sanding it down.

“Hi, Mike, Bobby. Now before we get started, have you two fellas got your stories straight?” Cooper asked.

Bobby looked up and replied, “If we tell the truth, we don’t have to get our stories straight.”

“Besides, the sheriff told us we’re just in here for fighting, and uh…it was self-defense.” Mike spoke up, lying.

Truman looked over at Cooper who seemed to be enjoying this small conversation.

“Right, well, I guess you can go then.”

“Now?” Bobby asks.

“Mm-hmmm,” Cooper mumbled.

Mike and Bobby stood and made their way to the door, Cooper moving out of the way. Truman put his feet up on the table.

Cooper blew on the whistle and then said, “Oh, fellas, one more thing.”

Mike and Bobby turned toward the agent.

“Pray for the health and safety of James Hurley because if anything happens to him, we’re coming for you.”

Mike and Bobby stared at Cooper and then left.

Cooper slapped his sandpaper free of dust and placed it in his pocket. “Sheriff? What are you sitting around for? We got places to go and people to see.”

“I think I’m gonna start studying medicine,” Harry mumbled.

“Why’s that?”

“Cause I’m beginning to feel a bit like Dr. Watson.”

It had been a great day for fishing and now Pete was in the kitchen slicing away and cleaning the fish he had caught this beautiful Saturday morning. Next to him was a metal coffee perculator steaming with coffee.

From the corner of his eye he saw movement and looked up to see Josie walking to him, wearing only a gown over a see through negligee. She was smiling brightly today.

“On top of the morning to you, Pete.”

“Uhm, no Josie, the expression is top of the morning…and it’s just barely morning.” Pete said, a joking tone in his voice.

“Pete, I want to thank you for yesterday, for standing up to me with Catherine.”

“Forget it…Catherine was wrong yesterday, period.”

“Thank you anyway.”

Suddenly the house intercom buzzed and Pete pushed a button on the nearby unit.

“Hhhheeelloooo?”

“Pete, it’s Harry. I got Agent Cooper with me. We’re here to see Mrs. Packard.”

Pete turned to Josie and she said, “Uhm…I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee.”


Cooper and Truman had been sitting in the main room of Blue Pine Lodge waiting for Josie to come through the doors. Pete had let them in and showed them to the couch and mentioned that Josie was in the back getting dressed. He then went off to finish up the pot of coffee that Josie had started.

A few minutes passed when Truman and Cooper when Josie entered the room with Pete close behind with some
coffee mugs and a pot of coffee. They stood up to greet her.

“Hi Sheriff,” Josie said.

“Mrs. Packard, Dale Cooper, FBI. You’ll remember him from the town meeting from last night, I’m sure.”

Cooper and Josie shook hands. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

“Agent Cooper, you remember Pete Martell.”

“Sure Pete.”

Pete nodded. “You bet.”

“Uhh, can we offer you gentlemen a cup of joe?” Josie asked them.

“Mrs Packard, you said the magic word,” Cooper told her smiling.

“I’d love a cup, thanks!”

Pete placed the cups on the coffee table and began to pour the hot, black liquid as he said, “Sure, I’ll pour that for ya’. Uhh, Mr. Cooper, how do you take it?”

“Black as midnight on a moonless night.”

“Pretty black,” Pete said to him.

“Please, sit down,” Josie encouraged and the men did so as Pete left the room.

Cooper began, “Mrs. Packard, I’ll come straight tot he point. Mrs. Packard, I understand that you hired Laura Palmer to come visit you twice a week to help you with your English, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“When was the last time you saw her?””

“Thursday afternoon, about the time the mill blew five.”

“That would be five o’clock?”

“Yes.”

“And when did she leave?”

“In an hour, when the lesson was finished. I didn’t see her again,” Josie answered, her voice even and steady, glancing over at Truman a couple of times.

“How did she seem to you on Thursday afternoon?”

“Something was bothering her but we didn’t have a heart-to-heart on it. Something she said, though, that stuck on my mind. She said, ‘I think now I understand how you feel about your husband’s death.'”

“Did she say what that was in reference to?”

“No, but after what happened to her, I can’t help hearing it in my head….like some haunting melody.” Josie made direct eye contact with Truman now and Cooper peered from the side to see Harry intently looking at the Asian woman.

“Mm-hmm…”

That’s when the phone rang and Josie excused herself to answer it.

“Certainly,” Cooper replied and then turned to Truman after she left the room. “So Harry, how long have you been seeing her?”

The question stopped Truman in his tracks. He looked up at Cooper, his expression completely bewildered and confused. “How did you know?”

“Body language.”

“Geez Louise! Uh, not long, six weeks. Andrew died a year and a half ago.”

Cooper and Truman now took their first drink of coffee just as Pete came into the room in a hurry:

“Fellas, don’t drink that coffee! You’d never guess, there was a fish…in the percolator.”

Truman and Cooper’s faces drew back as they handed over the cups of coffee to Pete. They swallowed hard tasting the awful mixture of raw fish and black coffee beans in their mouth. Just the thought of it made Harry’s stomach start to do flips.

As the men tried to digest the coffee, Josie said into the phone, “…yes, Catherine, I’m listening.”

“I just thought you ought to know what you sentimental good will shenanigans cost us yesterday. You do know what shenanigans are, don’t you?” Catherine spoke over the phone.

Josie mouthed the word, confused and unsure of what it meant.

“Shutting down the mill cost us eighty-seven thousand dollars and change. Do you really think that would have made brother Andrew happy?” And with that Catherine Martell hung up the phone.

Josie hung up the phone and walked back through the kitchen and into the main room. She glanced over at Pete who was smelling the pot that contained the fish and the coffee. Just to the side of him was the fish covered in coffee grounds.

Josie went into the main room, and Truman and Cooper rose. Still trying to figure out the word, Josie continued to mouth it to herself.

Truman spoke first, “Joceyln….” covering himself “Mrs. Packard?”

“What is shenanigans?”

Cooper answered flatly, “Nonsense, mischief, often a deceitful or treacherous trick.”

Josie looked down, putting the pieces of what Catherine told her together.

A few miles away on the edge of town, Catherine and Ben Horne celebrated together at the Timber Falls Motel. She laid in the bed, covers wrapped around her naked body as Ben finished dressing.

“Why do you always have to rush off?” she asked him.

“It’s been over an hour,” Ben replied.

“There was a time when we’d used to take the whole afternoon,” Catherine fired back.

Ben turned around and walked toward with a glass of champagne in his hand. “In the sweetness of passing time, this hour will soon seem like a day.”

Not moved by such words, Catherine said, “Sing it to somebody else. I’m no peabrain chambermaid looking for a tumble in the broom closet.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend your delicate sensabilities.”

“Oh, no…my mistake. I’d gotten used to our conducting business and pleasure,” Cathereine replied, flirtation in her voice.

“Sweetheart, it’s all the same to me.”

She laughed. “Don’t sweetheart me you old dog. I’m not schoolgirl either. What’s the enxt step? Do we escelate?”

“We may not have to do anything. A few more local tragedies and Josie might just run the ol’ mill into the ground all by herself.”

“The rate we’re going it’s gonna be years before the mill’s bankrupt. I don’t want to wait any longer. Besides, my knothead husband may peek in the ledger and sniff out the creative arithmetic.”

Ben moved down to her feet, which Catherine has pulled out from beneath the covers.

“Maybe it’s time to….uh…start a little fire.”

“Are you talking about busienss or pleasure?”

“I’m talking about the Packard Saw Mill.”

The idea registered in Catherine’s head. “Well, tri temper ira.”

“A stray spark…” Ben kissed one toe. “…one night….”

“…some night when Pete’s off on a toot with Smokey the Bear.”

Ben looked up at her now, a mischevious smile growing on his face as he tugged on his tie. “Now I remember how all those hours turned into days.”

Ben crawled across the bed to Catherine Martell.

Sarah Palmer was sitting on the couch, wearing a robe when her husband came into the room.

“Sarah, darling, I’m sorry to disturb you sweetheart, but uhm, Donna Hayward is here. Take this now.” Leland
handed her a pill and a glass of water. “I’ll send her in.”

Leland walked over to Donna who was standing by the door waiting for Leland to come back. He whispered to her, “Try not to upset her.”

“Okay.”

Donna walked over and sat down to Sarah Palmer on the couch. Sarah looked over at Donna. She noticed that Sarah’s eyes were bloodshot and swollen.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do? I miss her so much, you miss her?” Sarah asked.

Donna nodded. “Yes, I miss her so much.”

Sarah grinned, fighting back the tears and said, “I miss her so much…I miss her so much…I miss her so much.”

Sarah closed her eyes and laid her head low. Donna’s heart broke and she slid her hand on top of Sarah’s to comfort her. Sarah looked down at her hand then up at her face. But instead of seeing Donna Hayward, Sarah could see her Laura. Overwhelmed with joy, Sarah said, “Laura….oh, Laura…my baby….”

Sarah reached forward, clutching Donna and puling her into an embrace.

“Oh Laura, my baby.” As Sarah held her, Donna tried to gently pull away but Sarah wouldn’t let her go. Slowly, Sarah opened her eyes, but this time for a split second she saw another vision.

This time she saw a man with long grayish hair and wearing a jean jacket, the same man she thought she saw the night before. He was crouched behind the bedpost in Laura’s bedroom. The man was staring right up at her. And he frightened her!

Sarah released Donna and put her hands to her head and screamed. Donna stood up, frightened herself as Leland came rushing in.

“Sarah!” he said sitting next to her.

“Leland, Leland!” Sarah repeated as her husband held her in his arms. Sarah continued to stare ahead, her mind racing, and she continued to scream.

Up at Calhoun Memorial Hospital, Deputy Hawk stood above Janek and Suburbis Pulaski as their daughter laid in a room behind them still sleeping, lost in her own dark world.

“So neither one of you saw Ronette after school that day?” Hawk summed up.

“That’s right,” Suburbis replied.

“And as far as you know, she went to her after school job?”

“Yes, Horne’s Department Store downtown,” her dad answered.

“What did she do at the department store?”

“She was, uh, uh, a salesgirl. At the perfume counter,” her mother told Hawk.

“She used to joke it was the sweetest smelling job she ever had,” her father added as Hawk heard the elevator doors open and looked into the hall mirror in the corner. He saw a One Armed Man exit and go down the hall toward the morgue.

“Excuse me.” Hawk left the parents and made his way down the long hall. The strange man had moved down to the other end of the hallway quite quickly, much to Hawk’s surprise. He continued down the hall and entered through the double doors that the man also entered.

Inside the blue-lit hallway, Hawk saw that the man had completely vanished. Up on the wall was a sign that read Morgue and also Oxygen Storage. Hawk glanced around and then turned back, making his way back to Ronette’s room.

Benjamin Horne arrived at the Great Northern an hour later and was walking down the hall to his office when he heard music blaring.

“Damn it, Audrey!” he said, and sped up his pace. He pulled open the doors to see his only daughter dancing in middle of his office swaying slowly to the music.

Ben walked over to the stereo and turned it off. He turned back to his daughter who continued to sway slowly, still hearing the music in her head.

“How many times have I asked you not to disturb thte guests with this racket?!”

“About four thousand.” Audrey said, smiling, her back to her father.

Ben went to exit and then stopped. He turned back to his daughter. “Audrey, Julie tells me that…uh…you were in with the Norwegians just before they all suddenly decided en masse to return to the old country, without signing the contract. Is that true?” Ben talked while applying some lip balm on his chapped lips.

“Yes.”

“You wouldn’t have done or said anything that might have precipitated their evacuation, would you? I mean, I’m assuming that this was just a coincidence.”

“Daddy, I did go in there to check out taht ridiculous smorgasbord, and while I was in there I happened to mention that I was sad.”

“About what?” Ben probed.

“About my dear, close friend Laura being brutally murdered.”

That simple sentence from his daughter enraged Ben. “Do you realize the kind of money that your little performance just cost this fmaily?” He moved to her and grabbed her, spinning her around. He shook her slightly and then released, pointing a finger in her face.

“If you ever pull another stunt like that you are gonna be scrubbing bidets in a Bulgarian convent!”

Mocking her father, Audrey replied, “Oh, Daddy. I’m so afraid.”

Ben pulled away and told Audrey, “Laura died two days ago. I lost you years ago.” Ben then turned and left the room, leaving Audrey in the room alone. After a few seconds, she began to dance again to the music in her head.

“For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful.”

“Amen,” Betty Briggs finished up her husband’s prayer at the Briggs’ dining room table. The adults sat at the edge of the table on each side with Bobby in the middle.

“Robert, I was hoping we’d have a chance to discuss the events of the past few days. Not necessarily the physical events themselves, but rather the thoughts and feelings surrounding.”

Leaning back in his chair, Bobby rolled his eyes, trying to let what his dad said go through one ear and out the other.

“Rebellion in a young man your age is a necessary fact of life, and candidly, a sign of strength. In other words, Robert, I respect your rebellious nature. However, being your father, I am obligated to contain that fire of contrariness within the bounds established by society as well as those within our family structure.”

Bobby sat there quietly.

“Robert, I note your reluctance to enter in a dialogue with me, your father,” Briggs continued. “There are times when silence is golden. Silence can be taken many ways, as a sign of intelligence the quieter we become, the
more we hear…”

Bobby pulled a cigarette from his jacket and placed it in his mouth. With one swift and fast movement, Briggs slapped Bobby across the face. The cigarette flew across the table and landed directly in Betty’s plate of meatloaf. Bobby turned back to his father stunned.

“Now I am a tolerant man, buy my patience has its limit. To have his path made clear is the aspiration of every human being in our beclouded and tempestuous existence. Robert, you and I are going to work to make yours real clear.”

Betty pulled the cigarette from her food. “We’re here for you Bobby.”

Their son shook his head in confusion.

Truman and Cooper were seated at the counter at the Double R Diner. The place was fairly busy right now and there were plenty of people eating dinner. Shelly came up to the two men.

“Can I get you anything to go with that, Sheriff?”

“Agent Cooper here might want to try a slice of that pie.”

Cooper’s eyes widened at the sound of the word pie. “Cherry pie?”

“Best in the tri-counties.”

“And could you ask Norma to stop by a second, Shelly?” Truman asked.

“Sure thing,” Shelly replied.

Almost in a flirting manner, Cooper responded, “Nothing’s a sure thing, Shelly.”

The cute waitress gave him a smile and then walked off.

“Damn, I still can’t get the taste of that fish filtred coffee out of my mouth.” Cooper had just drunk some more coffee and all he could taste was fish.

“Me neither,” Truman replied, drinking some of his own coffee.

“Shelly Johnson with a ‘J’?”

“Mm-hmm. Husband’s a trucker. Leo. Minor rap sheet.”

Cooper nodded and made a note as he sipped his coffee. As he finished up the note in his small notebook, he noticed the Log Lady seated a couple of stools away, cradling her log and drinking coffee. Cooper looked back at Truman.

“Log Lady?” he whispered.

“Right.”

Cooper looked back and waved to her. “Hi.”

She looked at Cooper with a scowl and then turned away.

“Can I ask her about her log?”

“Many have,” Truman replied.

Cooper sat there thinking about the log when Norma walked up.

“Evening, Harry,” she said to the sheriff.

“Norma, I’d like to have you meet Special Agent Dale Cooper.”

Cooper offered his hand and they shook, “Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

“Norma Jennings.”

“Mrs. Jennings, is it true that Laura Palmer used to help you with the Meals on Wheels program, delievering hot dinners to elderly shut-ins?”

“Yeah. Laura helped organized the program,” she replied.

Cooper took a bite of his pie.

Truman asked, “Do you have the names of the people on her route?”

“I could get them for you.”

“Would you please? And uh…two more pieces of this incredible pie?” He took another bite.

Norma’s eyes widened and she smiled. “Okay.” She walked off as Truman watched Cooper eat the pie.

“Man-oh-man, you must have the metabolism of a bumblebee.”

As Coooper continued to eat his pie, the Log Lady approached.

“For your information, I heard you speaking about Laura Palmer,” she told Cooper.

He wiped his mouth. “Yes?”

“One day my log will have something to say about this. My log saw something that night.”

“Really? What did it see?” Cooper asked.

She held the log out toward Cooper. “Ask it.”

Cooper looked down at the log and then over to Truman who just shrugged. Cooper was unsure of what to do and just sat there silent. The Log Lady pulled the log away and then said, “I thought so.” She turned and walked out the Double R Diner.

At the Johnson residence, Leo was cutting open a football with a knife when Shelly entered the house and called back to Norma after her shift ended about fifteen minutes ago. “Thanks Norma! See you tomorrow!!”

In the kitchen, Leo took a bar of soap and also a sock. He dropped the soap into the sock as Shelly entered the kitchen. “Hi Leo. Brought you some pie.”

“Where’s my shirt?” Leo asked, turning around.

Slowly Shelly backpedaled. “What shirt?”

“My favorite blue shirt,” Leo said, advancing on Shelly. He slapped the pie plates from her hands and they scattered along the floor.

“That’s the second one you’ve lost this year!! I’m going to teach you a lesson now, Shelly, about taking care of my property! That means making sure things aren’t lost or damaged!”

“Hold on…please Leo!!”

“This is gonna hurt you!” Leo told her turning the radio on at full volume.

“No!!” Shelly yelled laying on the floor in the corner. She looked up at the approaching Leo Johnson, with a swinging sock in his hand.

Donna ran to the door when she heard the doorbell ring in the house. She opened it up to see James Hurley standing in the doorway, smiling, yet extremely nervous.

Donna smiled back and escorted James into the living room where Eileen and Dr. Hayward were waiting.

“Mom, Dad…this is James, James Hurley.”

“How you do, James?” Dr. Hayward said

“Nice to see you, sir….Mrs. Hayward.”

“Very nice to meet you, James,” Donna’s mother said.

Then an awkward silence fell on the four people until finally Dr. Hayward broke it, “Well, I hope you’re hungry. Eileen’s been cooking up a storm!”

“Yes sir!” James replied.

“Would you like something to drink?” Eileen asked. “We have some soft drinks and some fruit punch and some sparkling cider.”

Unsure of exactly how to answer, James spoke the first thing that came to his mind, “Ah, fruit punch. That’d be good, thank you.”

Donna said, “I’ll get it” and then walked off.

“Okay.” Eileen replied. “Uhm, why, why don’t you fellas sit down at the table and I’ll…I’ll go check on the roast.”

Eileen drove away in her chair as James and Donna’s father took a seat at the table. Donna entered and set down the drink. “Here’s your fruit punch.”

“Thanks Donna.” James replied. She then walked around the table and sat across from James.

“I don’t believe I know your parents, James?”

“No sir. My dad died when I was ten and my mom….travels a lot. She writes for the paper sometimes.”

Donna decided to speak up now. “Ed Hurley down at the Gas Farm is James’ uncle.”

“His wife is the lady with the patch,” Dr. Hayward added.

“Yes sir, that’s my Aunt Nadine. She’s a real character.”

They all laughed slightly as Eileen called from the kitchen. “Will? Can you give me a hand please?”

The doctor stood up and excused himself from the table.

Once he left, Donna leaned across the table and whispered, “We can talk after dinner.”

James gave her a goofy smile and then said, “It’s good to see you.”

Donna smiled back. “It’s good to see you too.”

They reached over the table and held hands.

Outside, Bobby and Mike pulled up to the house.

“That bastard!” Bobby said to Mike.

“First, your girlfriend, then mine…”

“Too bad we can only kill him once,” Bobby said, lighting a cigarette.

Out on Timber Lane across town, Dr. Lawrence Jacoby inserted an audio tape into his stereo and hit play. He popped a malted milk ball into his mouth.

From the tape, he could hear Laura Palmer’s voice.

“Hey, what’s up doc? It’s Laura Palmer, in case you haven’t guessed. I’m making you another one of these tapes…”

Jacoby picked up a pair of headphones and plugged it in. He then put up one of the earpieces to his head and listened to Laura talk as he went to the fake coconut tree in his office. He pulled one of the coconuts off and then made his way to his chair.

“…Which as you already know I’ve mailed it to you in one of the envelopes you gave me. It’s Thursday the twenty-third and I’m so bored. Actually, I’m in kind of a weird mood….” Laura’s voice broke down slightly. “Doc, James is sweet, but he’s so dumb. I should’ve met you a long time ago, Dr. Jacoby cause right now, I can take just so much of sweet. I just know I’m going to get lose in those woods again tonight. I just know it. Remember me telling you about that mystery man…well…”

Jacoby placed the other headphone on and listened intently to what Laura was telling him. On his chest he held the fake coconut and he lifted the top of it. He pulled the other half of the necklace out of the coconut. He stared at it, his emotions building as he listened to Laura’s voice. His mind raced and he began to cry, memories of sweet Laura flooding through him.

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