Chasing Sleep Page #6

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INT. BATHROOM

He looks in the mirror. His eye is swelling up already and his lip is bruised. He washes his lip off, and then takes a towel from the bathroom.

INT. KITCHEN

He fills the towel with ice and holds it to his head.

INT. LIVING ROOM

He picks up the phone as he walks into the living room and places it on the coffee table. He sits on the couch and stares at it for a second.

Then he brings the phone over to his desk and finds Derm's business card. He sits down at the desk and calls Derm.

ED:

Hello. Detective?

DERM:

Mr Saxon?

ED:

Yes.

DERM:

I've been trying to call you.

ED:

You found her.

DERM:

No. I need to talk to you.

ED:

Detective. George Simian was just over here. He hit me.

DERM:

Are you OK?

ED:

I think so.

DERM:

Do you want me to call an ambulance?

ED:

I don't need an ambulance.

DERM:

I'll be right over.

ED:

OK.

He hangs up the phone.

He sits at the desk, resting the ice on his forehead.

Then he notices something under the sofa. It grabs his attention. He gets up for a closer look.

There are dust bunnies and dust under the edge of the sofa, like it hasn't been swept for a while. Ed kneels down and tries to peer under the sofa. It is dark underneath and he can't see anything.

He reaches his fingers under and sweeps out a few dust bunnies.

Then he reaches a little further under the sofa and sweeps out Eve's pinkie finger.

He recoils at the sight of this. The finger has been neatly cut, as if by a sharp blade. Dust has clung to the clotted blood around the stump, but it is unquestionably a woman's pinkie finger.

He stares at it for a second, curiously disgusted.

He goes to pick it up, decides he doesn't want to touch it, then uses a tissue to pick it up.

He hurries to the bathroom.

INT. BATHROOM

He drops the finger into the toilet with the tissue and flushes it.

INT. LIVING ROOM

He hurries to the edge of the couch with a sponge and cleans up the small amount of blood and dust left there.

INT. KITCHEN

He squeezes the sponge out until it is clean, then puts it aside.

He lets out a huge sigh of relief.

INT. LIVING ROOM

Much of the ice has melted and the towel it was wrapped in is now soaking wet.

INT. BATHROOM

He takes the towel into the bathroom and rings it out.

Then he looks over at the toilet. The finger is still there, floating like a cigarette butt. The water is pink from the blood, the tissue is gone, but the finger floats there defiantly.

He flushes the toilet again, but this time stays to watch. The water goes down, but the finger stays buoyant and won't go down.

There is a knock on the front door.

Ed takes a bunch of toilet paper from the roll and tosses it over the finger. He flushes again, but the tank hasn't filled up yet and, if anything, this makes it longer until it will fill up again.

There is another impatient knock at the door.

ED:

One second!

Ed sits there waiting, listening to the toilet tank filling.

The knocking outside is becoming more impatient.

The tank finally fills. Ed flushes and watches. This time the paper he threw in clogs the toilet and the bowl quickly fills up with water.

Ed reaches behind the toilet and turns off the water, stopping it from overflowing.

He looks in the toilet and can't see the finger through the mess of toilet paper.

There is another knock on the door.

Ed closes the toilet lid.

INT. HALLWAY

Ed shuts the bathroom door firmly, takes a breath, and hurries out to meet Derm.

INT. LIVING ROOM

Ed answers the door. Derm comes in with two assistants, MAZUREK and SNYDER. Snyder is holding Ed's morning paper.

DERM:

Damn. You did take a couple of blows, didn't you.

ED:

I was just putting some ice on it.

DERM:

That's the best thing for it. Try to keep the swelling down. It's going to look worse tomorrow. You don't want to have a doctor examine you?

ED:

It's not necessary.

DERM:

Mr Saxon, Officer Mazurek and Officer Snyder. They'll be assisting me.

ED:

Hi.

MAZUREK:

How's it going?

SNYDER:

Here. I brought this in.

Snyder hands Ed the newspaper.

ED:

Thanks.

DERM:

You say it was George Simian who hit you?

ED:

Yes, he did. He came barreling in here and hit me. Several times.

DERM:

Do you have any idea why he would come here?

ED:

Because he's a f***ing a**hole.

DERM:

I should say that I'm concerned that he would come here. Mr Simian has a history of violent behavior, in regards to domestic disputes.

ED:

What kind of history?

DERM:

Nothing too serious. No felonies. But enough, I think, to warrant some concern. With your permission, I'd like to fill in a complaint report for his assault on you, and as soon as we're finished here, I'll send these two over to arrest him, assuming he can be found.

ED:

You think he did something to Eve?

DERM:

We don't have any evidence that he's even seen your wife she left her office and disappeared. We'll be arresting him solely for his assault on you.

ED:

But Eve's car. You said you found her car near his house.

DERM:

It does no one any good to jump to conclusions.

ED:

I guess I misunderstood.

DERM:

We're going to have to take some pictures of you for the complaint report. The pictures will be used as evidence against Mr Simian if this matter does, eventually, go to trial.

ED:

Fine.

Derm turns to Snyder, who has heard this conversation, and Snyder begins to take pictures of Ed.

DERM:

Mr Saxon. These investigations can be quite demanding, especially when experiencing the trauma of loss. Do you understand what I am saying?

ED:

Yes.

DERM:

If you feel that you need someone to talk to, at any time, there are people, sometimes victims of similar situation themselves, who are will to listen and would like to help.

He hands Ed a business card which reads Human Support Services, and has some address and phone information on it.

DERM:

Are you aware that your wife has been having an affair?

ED:

With George Simian?

DERM:

Yes.

ED:

The P.E. teacher. I guess I should have known.

DERM:

Apparently your wife has been seeing him for some time. Almost a year, in fact.

ED:

A year?

DERM:

Do you consider that you and your wife have a normal relationship?

ED:

I don't know. Normal relationship. We get on each other's nerves, have sex a few times a year, order pizza on Fridays. We've been married for ten years. It doesn't stay rosy forever. Maybe it isn't paradise, but that doesn't mean that I don't love her.

DERM:

Are you having any other relationships?

ED:

No.

DERM:

Does your wife keep a diary?

ED:

No. She isn't the type.

DERM:

Mr Saxon. May I be frank?

ED:

Yes. Please.

DERM:

Cases involving missing persons are not uncommon. In many cases, and that is not to say in every case, but in many cases, the results are unfortunate.

ED:

My God.

DERM:

I'm not saying that you should give up hope, but my experience tells me that you should prepare yourself for the worst. Now, having said that, we will do everything in our power to find your wife.

ED:

I understand.

DERM:

Now, it's best if we can gather as much information as possible, as quickly as possible. I'm sure you understand the urgency here.

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