The Artifact IV

IV. The Testimony of Inspector Donald Hart, Pt. 2

“So then you had this artifact at the precinct?” One of the agents asked.
“Yes.” Inspector Hart replied.
The same agent followed up with, “And the last place you saw it was in the evidence locker?”
“Well no, I told you the last place I saw it was in Carmichael’s hand as she was running away.”
“And could you run us through this ‘Maggie Carmichael’ thing one more time?” The other agent asked attempting a friendly manner.
By this point Donald Hart had given up being frustrated and resigned himself to the inevitability of repeating his story once more to the federal agents in front of him. He looked to his right, to the large mirror on one of the walls. Inspector Hart watched the polished surface for a few seconds and began to feel as if he was being watched. ‘Crafty feds,’ he thought. Donald knew a two-way mirror when he saw one. “Well, when Daniels went on that killing spree I got called back to work; you know about how I took a week’s vacation.”
One of the federal agents looked down at his chart, then up at Inspector Hart and said, “Yes, I remember. You said you and your family went to New Hampshire, correct?”
Donald had told him three times now yet confirmed a third time that, “Yes, yes that is correct. When the precinct identified Daniels’ artifact as the one missing from the museum, they called me in to look into it. The chief thought it was my kind of case and with the tragedy of what happened to Daniels, we needed all the help in the field as we could get. I didn’t mind covering it.”
“So then would you say you looked extensively into the case of Deputy Henry Daniels?” the agent with a clipboard said.
“Yes, very much so,” replied Inspector Hart. “I found some interesting connections that make finding Ms. Carmichael a very important goal for us, as I already told you. I don’t know why you still have not taken action.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Hart,” the federal agent without a clipboard said, “I assure you that all necessary action is being taken in tracking down this ‘Maggie Carmichael’ and yet we still have more questions that we need to ask of you.”
“Fine. Ask away.” Donald Hart said curtly.
“Alright.” The fed with a clipboard said as he leaned forward and put down his clipboard. “Did you take the artifact?”
Donald Hart was shocked at this accusation. “What? Of course not, I would never dream of taking that infernal thing! Not after seeing what it can do. You know I investigated Deputy Daniels fairly thoroughly in this case, and what I found was disconcerting. He was the one who answered the domestic disturbance call when Larson drowned her kid.”
Neither of the federal agents said anything for a moment, so he continued, “The one who almost got hit by Prentke’s body.”
“Yes, nobody is denying any of this. It’s a strange coincidence indeed and that’s why the Bureau sent us to look at this case to begin with. We just need to know exactly to what extent you were involved with it.”
Donald Hart sighed and prepared to continue. “Daniels just lost it a few days after reporting the Larson incident. I’m sure you read the reports on his case, about the victims. Shot five people, four of them fatally. Witnesses told the boys at the precinct that he pulled out his gun on a crowded street and shot two civilians at point blank range in the backs of their heads. As the crowd began to flee he shot three more civilians: one in the head, one in the back, and another in the leg.”
The inspector swallowed hard and continued. “The latter two were still alive, so he began to reload as the officers were closing in. When his gun was again loaded he shot the man in the back again and this time he stopped moving. He looked around for the fifth victim, Maggie Carmichael, who had been shot in the leg. She claims to have tried to crawl under a car, but only managed to hide next to one. Before he could find her, however, Officer Stein and Sheriff Hooker announced their presence and told him to put down the gun.”
He paused before continuing the story, a faintly unpleasant look in his eye. “They say he just turned around really casually and shot himself. Daniels put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger before Stein even had the pin out of the tear gas grenade. That’s how we usually would derail a suicide attempt like this, but he was just too quick. I guess they just didn’t expect it.
“Long story short, he was holding the artifact when he ended it and they found Maggie alive but she seemed to not care about her injury. She kept trying to go for the little stone ball that Daniels had been holding in his free hand. There was a little bit of blood on it. One of the guys on the scene recognized it from the description of the Museum of Natural History case, so they slipped it into an evidence baggie and sent it to the locker. Maggie’s interest in the little thing was always of interest to me, but now I wish I had paid more attention to that hunch.”
“And why exactly is that, Mr. Hart?” One of the agents asked in the same way he had asked for the past few hours.
Inspector Hart quickly responded, “Because then I could’ve prevented her from stealing that artifact. I told you already, I think it does weird things to people.” He trailed off for a moment. “I visited Maggie in the hospital and gave her my card. I told her that her testimony would be very useful to our case and that she should stop by when she was feeling better. Luckily her gunshot wound wasn’t that bad so she would be out again soon, albeit on crutches.
“That night I had nothing better to do than research exactly what this artifact was.” Donald continued, a small glimmer in his eye. “I had a few questions about it that I wanted answers to.”
“Like what?” The other agent asked after not speaking for a while.
“I wanted to know what exactly it was, and if maybe it was indeed the link between the deaths of Prentke, Larson, and Daniels.” Donald Hart said, certain integrity present in his voice. “Ms. Carmichael’s actions may have proven my hunch, in which case I fear for the safety of us all.”
The federal agents met each other’s stares for a second, and then one of them said, “So how did she steal the artifact?”
“She came in the next day. The doctors said she’d be fine in a week but she was walking on crutches at the time. As soon as I greeted her at the front door she asked to see the artifact in the evidence locker with a hint of fear in her voice. She asked me several times if it was okay and if it had been properly okay, and I assured her of the safety of the evidence locker each time as we approached it.
“When I showed her the baggie with the little stone artifact inside, she stopped asking questions and looked at it for a good while. When I asked if it was indeed the same artifact, she simply nodded and continued staring until I put it away. I proceeded to lead her back to the interrogation room so I could officially record her report, but she asked for a bathroom break beforehand. I led her to the bathroom and waited outside for her to come out, and when she did I again picked up the path back to the interrogation room.”
“Then what happened?” One of the agents asked. “If I remember correctly you didn’t make it back to the room,” he said as he looked down at his clipboard, “and I have no report here filed by you of Maggie Carmichael.”
Donald, slightly flustered, said, “That’s because you called me in for interrogation about all this just a day after she stole it. And besides, I already told you how she fled the station.”
“Yeah,” the other agent nodded, “tell me about that again. She just slipped off?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Inspector Hart nodded grimly. “Eventually I noticed that she wasn’t responding to any small talk I made, and turned around to discover that she’d quietly snuck off. I searched around for her but only thought of where to find her when I noticed that she had also lifted my key ring from me before going. I headed off to the evidence locker, fearing she was after the artifact.”
He scratched the side of his head and looked away for a moment, unable to meet the gaze of the federal agents. He knew he was at fault for letting his guard down around the girl, but he continued his story anyway as honestly as he could. “When I got there, though, the key ring was in the door and she was gone with the artifact. I grabbed my keys and ran off into the streets after her and I saw her turn into an alley between two buildings. I sprinted over and drew my gun, ready in the event of another grisly situation caused by that thing. When I turned into the alley I saw her, standing there with her back turned. She was tightly holding something in her left hand. She slowly turned around when she heard me take a few steps closer, and…” his story trailed off as he looked down, scratching his arm.
“Please go on, Inspector Hart. This part is crucial to our own investigation.” The federal agent without the clipboard leaned in, holding his chin in thought with his free hand.
Donald Hart apologized and continued after taking a few breaths to compose himself. “I know you didn’t believe it last time, but I swear her eyes were white. It was like they were rolled up into her head.”
“We never said we didn’t believe you.”
Donald snorted at this statement and continued, “But I swear it’s true. She stared at me for one long, terrible second and then sprinted around the corner. I ran after her but as soon as I turned the corner myself I was confronted with a dead end and she was gone. I don’t know where she ended up but she’s the one with the artifact and a terrible fate will befall her soon enough. You’ve got to listen to me; we need to find her.”
“Davis, come with me.” The federal agent with the clipboard said to the other. They both got up and approached the door.
Inspector Donald Hart called out as they were leaving, “You need to find her before it’s too late.” They closed the door and walked into the room with the two-way mirror to confer with a third agent who had been sitting behind the glass and recording the conversation. ‘Fuckin’ feds.’ Hart thought once more as he nervously thrust his hands into his pockets.
The federal agent Davis asked his colleagues in the room, “So what do you make of this guy? Still think he’s lying?”
The one recording the conversation looked up. “I think so, it’s the same bullshit story he gave us yesterday. All of the victims of Daniels’ spree were reported as DOA, including the girl Carmichael. There’s no way she could’ve stolen the artifact, Daniels bashed her head in with the butt of his gun before offing himself. You read the report. It doesn’t add up.”
“I know. Plus, have either of you read the dossier on this guy?” The other agent from the interrogation interrupted. “There’s no record in any of the precinct’s tax information that Hart ever had a wife or any kids. Other local officers say he never even went on vacation last week.”
“So what do you make of all this?” The first agent asked no one in particular. “What could he have to gain by giving us pointless false information?”
The agent sitting at the recording booth said “I don’t know, but I don’t like it” as he stared through the two-way mirror at Inspector Donald Hart, who under the table silently squeezed the small, stone, circular artifact in his pocket with the bizarre shape of hook-like tentacles, clusters of fangs, and an eye within an eye.