The M1 Theory by Brian Hesse (best novels to read for beginners .TXT) 📕

Like the eyes of a soulless animal, surviving, navigating, the world only through the imitation of others. For the past several weeks, when he closes his eyes to sleep, he could see the eyes of Thomas Lorey.

 “Hey Richard, I just knew you would be working late,” he stated into his phone. He looked at the alarm clock on the night stand next to his bed. The large glowing red letters screamed to him that it was two fifteen in the am, and time for him to go the Fuck to bed.

  Richard Johns, head of the crime scene investigation team of the department, was not surprised to receive an early morning phone call. He worked the nightshift hours, preferring to work alone without the daytime distractions of ringing phones, shuffling feet, and endless questions pointed in his direction.

   “Go ahead my man, what’s on your mind?”

   “I recently conducted a search of the Lorey residence. As you know, I didn’t come up with anything.”

   Richard interrupted him, already knowing the reason for the call. He was accustomed to several detectives on the force being haunted by searches that came up empty. He also knew that ninety-nine-point nine percent of the time, the searches came up empty because, well there was just nothing to be found. But there was always that slim percentage where something could be found. A microscopic clue swept carefully into a plastic evidence bag. A tiny speck of blood imbedded into the fabric of a suspects clothing. A small seed hiding deep within the soft decaying tissue of the deceased, screaming to be found, in the name of some cosmic sense of justice. He loved nothing more than to answer the call and rework the evidence, in hopes of bringing that justice to a world, he painfully understood, was not always just and fair.

  “You want me to go over the dirt you collected from his basement floor, correct.”

   “Its scary how you could read minds Richard. You should have been a mind reader with a traveling circus.”

   “Maybe in the next life, I will do just that. Unless of course the Universe has other plans for my released energy.” “I will rework the dirt now, but I may not have an answer for a good twenty-four hours.”

   “Just do your best my old friend. I would love to retire next month with another arrest under my belt. There is something off about this Lorey guy. Sandra could see it, and I think we owe it to her to listen.”

Rest and Relaxation

 Sandra raced down the mountainside with her heart beating wildly in her chest. This was her tenth time down the beginner’s slope, each time making the excuse that she was not ready for the intermediate course. She was fully aware that this was nothing more than her own fear of the unknown. For as strong a wall that she built around herself through the years, she was not impervious to the fear of change, the transition from the comfortable and familiar, to the new and uncertain. But none of that mattered to her at this moment in time. She was with the man that she never thought she would love. A typical one-night conquest has grown into something meaningful, and good in her life. Unburdened by the demands of her former life, she boarded the ski lift an eleventh time to Eric waiting patiently at the top. He was an old hand at the art of skiing. The advance slope was not even much of a challenge to him anymore, but he stayed with Sarah on the beginner slope until she was ready, and she loved him for his patience.

 “Wow, that was a fun day,” stated Eric, as he removed his clothes to take a hot shower.

  “I’m already undressed so I will go in first. Later we can take another one together.”

  “Ok, babe, I will just stand here naked until you’re done.”

   She laughed, as she walked to the bathroom, leaving Eric standing naked with a faked look of rejection on his face.

   The hot water of the shower felt rejuvenating against her cold naked flesh. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of her strawberry lavender shampoo, as the soapy bubbles slid down the curves of her body. All seemed right with the world, but for just a moment, the world grew dark and a shadow seemed to pass across her mind. The image of Thomas Lorey flashed across her conscious turning her fantasy world once more into cold reality. She was aware once again that Thomas Lorey got away with murder on her watch. He believes himself to be a pioneer of the mind, using others as his human guinea pigs, and he is not going to stop.

#

  “Detective, its Richard, I found something,” came the voice over the other end of the line.

  “Go ahead Richard, what do have for me?”

  “In all that dust and dirt, you swept up off Thomas’s floor. I found a tiny copper wire, too small to accurately identify with the naked eye. In a pile of dust, not noticeable at all, I would imagine. Well anyway, the wire is approximately the same size of several copper wires retrieved from the Dorfman crime scene. We pulled apart one of the, what Sandra called, some type of receiver from Ronald Dorfman’s collection, and they match.”

  “Son of a bitch. He either dragged it with him, or Ronald was making these things for Thomas.”

   “I would put my money on the latter,” stated Richard.

   “I owe you one big time my friend.”

#

   “Chief its John Connor, we got him.”

   “Got who?” asked the sleepy voice of the Chief over the other end. “And why the hell does it always turn out that people want to break cases in the wee hours of the morning?”

  “Sorry chief, I know its late, but yesterday morning I asked the crime lab to recheck the Lorey evidence.”

   The chief immediately interrupted him upon hearing the dreaded name of Thomas Lorey.

   “The Lorey case is closed John. Don’t end up in the same boat as Sandra. You are close to retirement and can’t afford to lose everything.”

   John knew what his boss was saying was true. If he was smart, he would just pack his bags, sit on the edge of his bed, and do nothing but wait for his official retirement day to arrive. He would not have a long wait either, just forty-three days and counting.

   “Chief this is not just a whim, or a hunch. Not intuition like Sandra’s. I have proof that Lorey knew Ronald Dorfman. They worked together in some capacity.”

   “On what! What did they work on together? I’m getting tired of hearing this guys name come across my desk. He already cost me my best detective and, he may be costing me to lose another.”

   He picked up easily on the chief’s threat, but he could not ignore the connection. Either Ronald was at Lorey’s home, or Lorey was at Ronald’s garage. This did not prove that Lorey gutted Ronald Dorfman, but Sandra’s instinct certainly tipped the scales in that direction.

    “Ok chief, at least tell me please she let someone know where she was going.”

    “How the hell would I know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she never spoke to me again.”

End Game

   “Ok baby, here I come,” stated Sandra in her best come hither sexy voice. She removed her towel, and was pleased to find that all the right parts of her firm body still dripped wet with warm water. Before even reaching the bathroom door, she felt herself tingle with anticipation of the act.

   “Come here sweetie, I have a confession to make,” stated Eric, sitting on the queen-sized luxury bed.

   Sandra wrapped the towel tightly around her body and sat down next to him on the luxury queen sized bed. She didn’t dare to speak after looking into his eyes, that were filled with a seriousness that she never saw before in another. This thought only brought him closer to her heart. She never had a man so considerate that he was almost paralyzed by the fear of ruining, what she could see, was the best thing in his sterile world.

   “Honey, he began, I was a bit jealous of your time. I felt very lonely as you conducted your constant surveillance of Mr. Lorey.”

   Sandra breathed an inner sigh of relief. She was expecting Eric to tell her that he slept with another during her absence. To her, this slight indiscretion was understandable. They did not know each other very long, and sex is just that, its just sex. What they had was more than just a harmless role in the hay. She could forgive a minor romp before they really got serious, and started talking marriage.

   “Sandra, I went to Thomas Lorey’s home to see what all the fuss was about.”

   Sandra’s heart felt as if it dropped heavily from her chest. She thought about the drug concoction found in Kathy’s system. Toxicology gave her the knowledge that such a combination could, in just the precise amounts, cause amnesia.

   “We need to get you to a doctor. Don’t ask questions. Don’t pack. Let’s go.”

   Sandra quickly dressed and grabbed her car keys off the lodge’s nightstand table. She ran to the door and noticed that she was alone. She slowly turned her head, feeling Eric’s hot breath on the back of her neck. Before she could react, Eric punched her with violent blunt force on the side of her temple, the same temple still bruised by the power of the Lumber Jack killer. She fell to the floor determined not to let this scenario end in the same way. Sandra crawled across the plush carpeting with one side of her face numb, and the other burning from the carpet fibers being scraped deeply into her skin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thomas Lorey step out from the bedroom closet. He was holding, what looked to her, like a black box, with a green button protruding from the top.

  Thomas touched the button, and Eric immediately ceased his attack, like a robot made of wires and cables submersed in oil, rather than veins ands arteries, submersed in blood. He stared at the floor with a long string of drool pouring from the corner of his mouth, forming a small discolored spot on the floor.

  “Yes, it worked. I can control aggression by way of the M1 pathway!” exclaimed Thomas, jumping up and down like a spoiled child on the neighborhood playground.

  “You did nothing but created a zombie. No different than a depraved cannibal like Jeffrey Dahmer.”

  Sandra could see the insult cut deeply into his flesh, like a knife slicing through rice paper. She watched as his eyes turned black, revealing the monster that lurked hidden deep within his soul, hidden from the rest of the normal world. She felt a stab of pity overtake her own rage, as she considered the abuse that must have created such a sad young man.

  “Thomas I’m sorry,” she stated just before he pushed the button again. I know what that bastard of a Father did to you and your sweet beautiful Mother. I recognize your brilliance, your achievements, your dedication to the world.”

  Thomas lowered the box, and for just a moment appeared as a sad wounded child, with the color vibrancy of the well adjusted brilliant scientist, he could have become, before the world grabbed hold of his mind.

  Sandra was laying her cards on the table. The time for bluffing and holding her best cards was over. She recalled her discussion with Dr. Zeigler, just before catching the Lumber Jack killer. She remembered him saying once that the brain is the most elastic organ in our bodies. One part may suffer terrible damage, only for another dormant system to take