Feeling refreshed from a good night's sleep, Samuel woke when his alarm clock rang at six in the morning. He got out of bed and began his normal morning routine. While the coffee was brewing, he performed his morning exercise regime that included fifty sit-ups, push-ups, deep knee bends, toe touches, and other exercises. It was a typical prison cell exercise program that didn't require equipment of any kind.
Once he had finished his exercises, he drank a cup of coffee. Seated at the table, he read over what he had written in the notebook the previous night. He appended a line of text to the entry.
After finishing his coffee, he took a shower and then put on a clean work uniform. He returned to the kitchen and fixed a bowl of cereal for breakfast. It didn't take long to eat. He fixed a quick lunch of a sandwich, bag of chips, and an apple. He filled two large water bottles with water from the tap. It was 7:30 by the time he finished straightening up the bed. The small apartment was spotless just as it was every morning when he left for work.
After grabbing his lunch and the two bottles of water Samuel headed to work. He arrived at the parking lot twenty minutes after leaving the house. He walked into the maintenance area and clocked in early but within the five minute grace window that was either side of 8:00. By the official time the work day was to start, he was riding on the lawn vacuum clearing the leaves that had fallen or blown onto the front lawn since the previous day. The lawn vacuum was a lot like a lawn mower except that it sucked up the leaves and deposited them in a bag that was pulled behind the tractor body.
Julia Powers pulled into the parking lot narrowly missing a car because she was distracted by seeing Samuel at work. She had listened to the news the previous night and heard a short news story about the events of the previous evening. The news, based on early inaccurate information, had reported that a suspect had been taken to the police station and a victim had been taken to a hospital. She had assumed that the suspect was Samuel. Like many, she believed that when the police called someone a suspect that they actually meant perpetrator. She couldn't believe that they would release him so quickly.
She noticed Jeff walking a few paces ahead of her while entering the building. She started walking a little quicker to catch up to him without looking too obvious. Rather than starting with her questions, she said, "Hello, Jeff."
"Hello, Julia."
Gesturing to the front of the building, she asked, "What is Samuel Reynolds doing here?"
"He's working," Jeff answered well aware that was not the question she was asking.
Julia snorted and said, "I can see. What I mean is -- why isn't he in jail?"
"He's a hero. He saved Maria Menendez last night from her pistol packing ex-husband," Jeff answered. He still had a hard time believing what he had personally witnessed.
She was shocked by the suggestion that Samuel was a hero. Feeling guilty about the call to 911 that she had made, she said, "I thought Samuel was the one with the gun."
"You and a hundred other people," Jeff said. "I already had two e-mails demanding that we fire him. Of course they weren't quite nice in how they worded it. He was referred to as the psycho and the zombie killer. I imagine that my voice mail is filled with messages to that effect."
The pair walked in the direction of their offices while thinking about the consequences of the events of the previous evening. When they reached the privacy of their office area, Julia asked, "What are you going to do about Samuel?"
"I'll compose an e-mail pointing out that Samuel heroically faced an armed man to protect another of our employees. I'll stress that the attacker did not work here and that we are taking steps to assure better security in the parking areas. We'll issue the e-mail through one of the high level directors," Jeff answered. He hoped that would kill all talk about firing Samuel.
"That might help," Julia said.
Jeff said, "I hope that squelches calls to get rid of him. Based on what I've seen, I can only assume that comments to him will not be very nice. If it gets too bad he could sue us for creating a hostile workplace. After all, he didn't do anything wrong."
"When I heard that woman shouting about someone having a gun, I was positive that Samuel had gone postal on us," Julia said. She had not slept well the previous evening thinking about how close she had come to getting killed.
Having seen Samuel in action, Jeff hoped that the man never lost it. He feared that no one would survive. He hoped that events did not push Samuel in that direction. He looked over at Julia and knew that admitting his thoughts aloud would be a very bad idea.
The situation was becoming nearly unmanageable in the maintenance area. These were people who actually worked with Samuel and all of them had experienced staring into his blank eyes. John Delgado was surrounded by a very upset and angry maintenance crew. Unfortunately, John didn't know more about the events of the previous night than what anyone who worked for him knew.
One of the men said, "I heard that he went postal last night."
"My wife doesn't want me working around him anymore."
"He's a psycho."
"Have you ever looked in his eyes?"
"Dead man walking."
"I heard that he was out in the parking lot shooting at people."
Trying to get control over the situation, John whistled to get everyone to shut up. Looking around, he said, "I don't know exactly what happened last night. I do know that if Samuel had done anything wrong that the police wouldn't have released him to return to work."
"I don't believe that. He's probably out on bail or something."
John said, "Get to work. I'll find out what happened and let you know."
"Fucking management whitewash."
"Damned liberal lawyers."
John glared at the men and told them to get back to work. Once everyone had left, he headed to his office trying to figure out where he could learn the details about what had happened the previous night. He stared at his telephone wondering who to call. The only positive note was that Samuel had gone through his normal work routine without doing anything to escalate the tensions.
After a night without much sleep, Maria Menendez managed to rouse enough energy to call her boss. Her hands trembled while trying to dial the number and it took her three attempts to finally manage it. She nearly broke down in tears when she told him that she wouldn't be in the office and wasn't quite sure when she would make it.
A half an hour later she called the suicide hotline. She wasn't dealing with the situation well. An hour later, she checked into a hospital. The police still hadn't found her to get her version of the events.
John's problem with finding out details about the events of the previous evening was solved when Jeff stopped by his office. After a quick conversation with Jeff, John went out to call Samuel into his office to meet with Jeff. Samuel entered the office and took a seat without looking at Jeff. He sat there staring at the floor. Jeff said, "Good morning, Samuel."
Samuel shrugged his shoulders. Knowing that further small talk would be met with the same response, Jeff slid a sheet of paper across the desk to Samuel. He said, "We are planning on releasing this e-mail to everyone who works at this site. It basically explains the events of the previous evening. We would like your permission to release it since it mentions you by name."
"No."
Surprised by Samuel's response, Jeff said, "You might want to read it."
Samuel picked up the sheet of paper and read it carefully. He handed the sheet of paper back to Jeff and said, "No."
"Why not? It is a flattering article," Jeff asked.
Samuel shrugged his shoulders and stood up. Without saying a word he left the office. Jeff shouted, "Come back here Samuel. We need to talk about this."
When Samuel didn't return, Jeff knew that his plan for handling the situation had failed. He swore, "Fuck. What do I do now?"
Later that afternoon, Chief Calhoun, Detective Daniels, and Detective Stafford were in the conference room watching the tapes of the parking lot events and the interview. When the tape of the interview was over, Chief Calhoun said, "I didn't realize that Samuel Reynolds was out on parole."
"You know him?" Detective Stafford asked. They had mentioned Samuel's name, but not the fact that he was a convicted murderer.
Nodding his head, Chief Calhoun answered, "I was the first officer to arrive at the scene of the murder that he committed. Let me tell you, it was pretty shocking."
Detective Daniels said, "Tell us about it."
"He killed his wife and two kids. He shot his wife in the face. She was a real pretty woman and it was like he wanted to erase her beauty off the face of the earth. He shot his kids in the center of their chests from close range. The boy was three and the daughter was two. They were really nice kids," Chief Calhoun said. He had watched some tapes of the family on a picnic.
"Why did he do it?" Detective Stafford asked.
"We think his wife was having an affair and he found out about it. We found a pornographic magazine under his bed open to a story about a cheating wife," Chief Calhoun answered.
Detective Stafford asked, "What did he say happened?"
"He said that he was innocent. He claimed his wife and kids were okay when he left the house that morning and that he spent the entire day at his property in the country working on their new home," Chief Calhoun answered. He was silent for a moment and then added, "No one could confirm his story, but all of the evidence pointed at him. The time of death was approximately the same as when he left the house in the morning and the murder weapon was a pistol that he had bought a year earlier. The wife didn't have any defensive wounds which suggested that she knew and trusted her killer. Hell, even his own parents said that his wife was worried about him discovering something unpleasant."
Detective Stafford said, "His own parents testified against him?"
"Yeah," Chief Calhoun said. "His whole family testified against him."
"Sounds like simple case of a jealous husband killing his wife," Detective Daniels said.
Detective Stafford asked, "Are you sure he did it?"
"I'm positive," Chief Calhoun answered. There had never been a second suspect in the case. He said, "His family wouldn't even post bail for him once he had been arrested."
Detective Stafford asked, "What do you make of my interview with him?"
"He's an ex-con. He isn't going to cooperate with us even if he didn't do something illegal," Chief Calhoun answered.
"So should we see if there is any connection between him and Maria?" Detective Stafford asked.
Chief Calhoun answered, "Yes."
Detective Daniels said, "We haven't found Maria Menendez yet."
"See if she's hiding out at Samuel's place," Chief Calhoun said. He rubbed his chin and then said, "Let's leak a news story about this to the paper. Ask them not to mention that he's an ex-con. We'll see if that stirs up anything. We can play the ex-con angle later."
Detective Daniels said, "It sounds like you really want this guy."
"You didn't see what he did to his wife," Chief Calhoun said with a look of disgust on his face. "I don't want him in my town. He belongs in prison."
The white pickup truck turned into the parking lot of the apartment complex. Samuel parked in the spot right in front of his apartment. He stepped out and walked to the mailboxes. He picked up his mail and headed to his apartment. He was about halfway there when Detective Stafford blocked his way. Samuel looked up and stared the detective in the eye. His face remained emotionless.
Without greeting Samuel, Detective Stafford asked, "Where's Maria Menendez?"
Samuel shrugged his shoulders. Wanting to break through that wall of silence, Detective Stafford asked, "Where is she?"
"Ask the manager," Samuel answered. He continued to stare into the eyes of the detective.
"I'm asking you," Detective Stafford said. Having those dead eyes bore into his was beginning to make him angry.
Samuel shrugged his shoulders. Letting his anger get the better of him, Detective Stafford said, "I think that she is hiding in your apartment."
Samuel looked down at the ground and shook his head. His facial expression remained blank. Detective Stafford said, "I want to search your apartment."
Samuel shook his head. He said, "Get a warrant."
Forty minutes later Samuel was seated in the interrogation room waiting for Detective Stafford to begin questioning him. He had spent some of the time examining the two pieces of mail that had been in his mailbox. One was a very official looking notice informing him that he had qualified for a low interest mortgage. He hadn't applied for a mortgage. The other piece of mail was a request from a charity for money. The two pieces of mail now rested in a trashcan ripped into little pieces.
Detective Stafford was about to enter the room when Detective Daniels stopped him. Detective Daniels said, "We found Maria while you were waiting for Samuel Reynolds."
"Where?"
"She checked into the psych ward of the hospital early this morning," Detective Daniels answered. Seeing the expression on the other officer's face, he added, "She had a nervous breakdown as a result of the assault yesterday. We won't be able to talk to her until the doctor clears it."
"Did we get a warrant to search his apartment?" Detective Stafford asked.
"No and we can't get one now. No cause," Detective Daniels answered.
"Let's go in and talk to Mr. Reynolds."
The pair of detectives entered the interrogation room. They took seats to each side of the middle aged man. Detective Stafford said, "We want to find out what is going on between you and Maria."
Samuel stared at the center of the table. Detective Daniels asked, "How long have you and Maria been lovers?"
The questioning continued for almost two hours without Samuel saying a single word. His blank expression never changed. He didn't complain about being hungry or thirsty. He didn't protest his treatment. He just sat there staring at the center of the table. Convinced more than ever that he was hiding something, the two detectives left the room frustrated by his lack of response.
Detective Stafford said, "We're getting nowhere."
"We might as well be talking to a log," Detective Daniels said. He had never seen anything like it. No one could sit still for two hours without fidgeting even once.
"We'll have to let him go," Detective Stafford said. They were going to have to get the answers to their questions in a less direct manner.
"The Chief is not going to be happy," Detective Daniels said.
The two detectives returned to the room. Detective Stafford said, "You're free to go."
Samuel stood up and walked to the door. At the door, he turned and asked, "Who is Maria Menendez?"
"What?" Detective Stafford asked shocked by the question.
Detective Daniels asked, "You don't know who Maria Menendez is?"
"No," Samuel answered.
"You beat the shit out of her ex-husband last night," Detective Stafford said.
Samuel nodded his head and then left the room leaving behind two stunned detectives. Detective Daniels asked, "Do you believe he didn't know who Maria is?"
"I can't tell what he's thinking," Detective Stafford said. He snorted and said, "I'm going to the mall and interrogate some manikins. I think I have a better chance of getting one of them to talk than him."
The newspaper that night had an article covering all of the details about the events of the previous evening. The article had exactly the opposite effect that Chief Calhoun had wanted. Rather than stirring things up, all discussion about Samuel evaporated. Suggestions concerning the possibility of Samuel having an affair with Maria were met with laughter. No one who knew Samuel could imagine a woman ever giving him a second thought.
It was a week before the police finally managed to question Maria. She claimed that she had never met Samuel before the night he had protected her from her ex-husband. She even said that she didn't know who he was until she had read the newspaper article about the attack. She tended to get hysterical when pressed too much about details of that night. The detectives had to accept that she was a dead end.
Surveillance of Samuel Reynolds led the detectives to conclude that he had to be the most boring person in the world. Samuel's life appeared to involve nothing more than going to work and sitting at home. It didn't take them long to determine that he didn't have cable television or internet. He had never been observed purchasing alcohol in any form. Each Saturday he went grocery shopping and did his laundry. Even the times when he performed those simple activities were the same from week to week.
Two months after the incident in the parking lot, Chief Calhoun, Detective Stafford, and Detective Daniels met in the conference room. Chief Calhoun asked, "What have you got?"
"Nothing," Detective Stafford answered.
"Everyone calls him the dead man walking. From what I can tell, it is an accurate description of him. If I believed in zombies, I would say that he is the poster child for zombie-hood," Detective Daniels said.
"What do you mean?"
"He does nothing and I mean nothing," Detective Stafford said.
"What about a phone tap?" Chief Calhoun asked.
"He doesn't have a telephone."
"We've never seen him make a telephone call from a public telephone," Detective Daniels said.
"Who does he talk to?" Chief Calhoun asked.
Detective Stafford answered, "No one. He talks to no one. He doesn't talk to his neighbors. He doesn't talk to his coworkers. He doesn't talk to the clerk at the store. He doesn't even visit whores. The only report that we've had of him dealing with anything alive is that he feeds a stray cat at lunch."
"I can't believe that," Chief Calhoun said. Humans were social animals.
Detective Stafford said, "According to his boss, Maria stopped by to thank Samuel for saving her. Samuel shrugged his shoulders and walked off."
Nodding his head in agreement, Detective Daniels said, "His boss was pissed because he was stuck dealing with an emotional woman while Samuel was out shoveling snow."
Chief Calhoun asked, "What about Victor Menendez?"
"His jaw is still wired shut and his hand is still in a cast. It is going to be a while before he's a threat to anyone. Samuel really screwed him up," Detective Stafford answered. In reviewing the video, he had noticed that as soon as Samuel had disarmed Victor the man had stopped hammering on him.
Chief Calhoun said, "I guess we'll have to wrap this up."