Sometimes I Kill Myself Part 7

I grabbed my jacket, slipped Buster into his gentle lead and opened the kitchen door to go through the backyard. The sight of someone standing on the steps caused me to gasp.

“Detective Sintes! You caught me off guard. Buster and I are just going for a walk. Is there something I can do for you?”

“As a matter of fact, I came to share some information with you regarding the man you found in the park. I think you’ll find this interesting. Might we step inside? I’ll only keep you a couple minutes.”

“Of course, Detective. Just let me free Buster from his lead.” I opened the door and stepped back to allow Sintes to go in. “Stay in the yard, Buster. I’ll be right out.” I watched to make sure Buster wasn’t going to leap over the fence to show off, but he didn’t. I joined Sintes inside.

“So what was so important to bring you all the way over here? You could have phoned, you know.”

“I’m sorry if my visit is inconvenient. Like I said, I think you’ll find what I have to tell you interesting.”

“Well?”

“The man’s name is the same as yours. Masson is spelled with only one s and the last name is spelled m-e-r-s-a-l-t, but to speak it, the names are identical. Quite a coincidence wouldn’t you say, Meursault? You find a man who has died with virtually the same name as you and yet you claim you never met him?”

This news took a while to sink in. I didn’t understand what significance Sintes was attaching to this detail. Obviously, he was making something of it.

“No, I’ve never known anyone who was not family with my name. Certainly, I have never met anyone with a name so close to mine. Why mention this to me?”

“I found it a curiosity. That is all. I wondered if he might be some distant cousin or something like that. There is one other thing you might find interesting.”

“What is that, Detective? Did he also have a dog named Buster?”

Sintes looked at me as though I had presented him with another piece of evidence. “We haven’t determined an address for him yet. When we do and if we find a dog there, you’ll be the first person I tell. The other thing we do know about Mr. Mersalt is that he was due in court to be arraigned for child sexual abuse. It appears our victim had victims of his own.”

My jaw dropped. This was incredulous to me! “Again, Detective, why tell this to me? I’ve told you I didn’t know that man; I had never seen him before.”

“Given how details are emerging, I thought you should know. The public might confuse you with the victim. Some might even try to take justice into their own hands, especially where pedophilia is involved.”

“But the man who did unspeakable things to children is dead. Why should I worry about vigilantes? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You know how people can be sometimes. All it takes is some eager reporter to do an address trace and come up with your address. I’ll do all I can, of course, to keep a lid on that happening. We can’t always control the press. I think you might want to take extra precautions just in case. You have my number. Call me if you notice anyone doing anything out of the ordinary.”

As I opened the door so the detective and I could leave, we heard a blood curdling cry. I pushed past Sintes to see Buster lying in the yard a couple feet from the fence. The dog was obviously in a tremendous amount of pain. Sintes followed me to Buster. Someone had poured acid on him and his fur was melting away.

“How could someone do this to a dog?” I shouted at Sintes.

“I’m calling for an animal control van. We’ll get Buster taken care of. You stay here with him. I’m going to scout your neighborhood. I think our nightmare reporter had just stuck.”

Sintes ran off. I stayed with Buster and talked softly to him. I wanted to pet him, but there wasn’t any place to do that without causing him even more pain. I stretched out next to him on the grass so we could gaze into one another’s eyes. I still clutched his lead in my hand. “Hang in there, buddy. Help is coming. You’re going to be all right. I have your lead. We’ll go for that walk later. Just stay with me.”

Suddenly I heard a strange sound. I thought it must be the rescue team. “Hear that Buster? The medics are here. You’re going to be better in no time.”

The strange noise didn’t seem to get nearer, nor did it stop. I rolled to my other side. I reached out and turned off my alarm clock. Buster was standing on the bed next to me where he had dropped his lead to breathe into my face. In times such as this, dog breath is as sweet as violets.

“Okay. Okay. Buster, give a guy a chance to wake up, will ya?”

I got up, used the toilet and washed my face. Buster was eager to go outside and was being a nuisance. I managed to dress and slipped his gentle lead on him. As I opened the door to leave the house, I heard a huge explosion. An electrical transformer must have blown up. Ozone filled the air. To top it off, there was a man standing on the steps ready to enter. He had keys in one hand and a dog lead in the other. His dog was a boxer whom I felt like I knew. Buster definitely recognized him. He ran to the security of the backside of the sofa. The man seemed vaguely familiar and then he spoke.

“So it’s true!” he exclaimed. “There are two of us!”

“I beg your pardon,” I said.

“Does the name Masson Meursault mean anything to you, sir?”

“Of course it does. That’s my name.”

“Mine, too. This here is my dog Buster. I think your dog’s name is also Buster. Am I right?”

“Yes,” I replied with some hesitancy.

“I don’t know how long we have, but we definitely need to talk. Do you mind if we go to the living room?”

“What would we possibly have to talk about?”

“Survival, Masson, our continued survival. It’s highly unorthodox that we’re meeting like this. I think it must have something to do with the man we discovered in the park.”

“Wait a minute! What do you mean we discovered in the park? I found the body in the park. You weren’t there.”

“Actually I was. You and I are both the same. We’re separated by time. The man we found is also us. He was a pedophile. I think you must have killed him. I only found the man on line.”

“I think you’re right.”

“You mean you did kill him?”

“No, of course not. What I mean is I think you should come in so we can discuss this further in the living room. It’s right this way,” I said trying to be gracious.

“I know. Let’s be quick. Like I said, I don’t know how long we have for this visit.”