Transformation.



She doesn’t look the same to him for some reason, she is standing there with an almost stark indifference to the events that are taking place around her. Abigail Henry is being lowered into her final resting place, and Maxine Greer stands there emotionless, tearless as though she has barely noticed. Joshua Kirkland has seen many different reactions to peoples loss of a loved one but never has he seen one quite like this. He thinks back to when he broke the tragic news to her, and how she had almost immediately collapsed onto her living room floor. And now here she stands, almost the picture of serenity, calm, collected.. Confident. Even her outward appearance has taken a new tone, and it is then when Detective Joshua Kirkland takes notice that there is something very, very different about Maxine Greer now. He approaches her with the slightest hint of caution on his part, “Ms Greer?” she turns to face him.. “Why.. Detective Kirkland.. What a wonderful surprise.. So nice of you to come.” he takes her hand and briefly looks into her eye’s, no sadness, no shock, but something else is pulling at him, something in her eye’s that wasn’t there before.. Something alluring.. Sultry.. Strangely hypnotic. “Ms Greer I..” she takes his hand and smiles.. “Joshua.. Its okay. Don’t worry.. Everything is fine.. I am better now than I have ever been before,.” her words stop almost in mid sentence.. “Oh.. You want to give condolences for Abigail.. Well that’s sweet but.. We weren’t family or anything.. Its all been taken care of.. Abbey is resting now. It was so nice of you to bother though.” He slowly pulls his hand away, and a strange feeling of disbelief tugs at his thoughts. He knows.. That something has taken place with Maxine Greer.

He tries to study her look for a clue but nothing comes to him, her whole demeanor has changed.. she has changed.. virtually overnight.. It has only been three days since he told her about Abigail’s untimely Death and the woman that now stood before him seemed to be a completely different person. “Ms Greer.. I wanted to talk to you about the man that you told me about. Someone matching the description that you gave was seen around the vacant lot where Abigail was found, on the morning of her death.. Our detective’s haven’t been able to get a name yet, or to make a positive connection, but I did find it interesting that the description they got was almost the same as the one that you gave me.” She gave him a blank stare. “oh? Well detective.. I haven’t seen that man since.. On reflection I would have to say that it was a coincidence that he and I were in the same neighborhood and he probably wasn’t following me at all, I do have an over active imagination sometimes.. It would appear.” He shook her hand again and made his exit, but paused briefly to watch as she walked over to where a sleek looking black sports car was waiting for her to get in. she lowered herself into the passengers seat and leaned over to the driver and kissed him full on the lips, and when Joshua Kirkland sees his face he knows that Maxine Greer has lied to him. The man in the drivers seat of the sports car at first glance matches the description that she gave him only days earlier, and he can feel it in the pit of his stomach that Maxine Greer will be next.

Revelation..



He follows them for the better part of two hours along Canal Street, and watches them go in and out of various clothing shops and restaurant’s. he checks his watch and its twelve thirty in the afternoon, when he returns to the precinct, he now has a better image of the man that he knows is responsible for Abigail Henry’s death. And he also knows that he must approach Maxine Greer cautiously from this minute forward or he will completely lose her confidence. It has become clear that she is simply not herself anymore, and at two pm he makes a phone call to Faversham’s book store on Prospect St to talk to her employer about her recent change in demeanor only to find that has resigned her position at the book store only two days earlier. He knows that this is very bad and if he doesn’t find a way to prove that Maxine’s new love interest is indeed the person responsible for Abigail’s death, Maxine will be lost forever. At three thirty seven the black sports car pulls up in front of Maxine’s apartment where she gets out and removes the packages from the back seat and takes them upstairs, and when she returns, she finds that he has left, she turns towards the stairs and walks up to her apartment and close’s the door behind her.. She waits there by her phone in her bathrobe for what seems like hours for him to call her.. And when it doesn’t ring she finds herself becoming anxious and angry. And decides to go to bed and when she turns to pull back the covers she finds him sitting there in the chair.. Smiling.. Confidently.. She folds her arms in front of her body defiantly taking an angry posture with him. He smiles at her childish mannerisms.. “Maxine.. Do not be a stubborn child.. Come here.. Now..”

She doesn’t respond, and instead tries to look away from him out the window at the falling snow.. “You just left me here.. Didn’t say a fucking word.. You just left.” silence.. He pauses to see if there is more.. “Maxine.. What is it exactly that you would like to hear me say? I’m sorry I had other business to attend to?.. I’m sorry I left in a hurry??’’ he stops.. “No Maxine.. We both know that that isn’t what is bothering you.. You need to know something else don’t you?” she say’s nothing but looks away, he’s smiling there at her again.. “You need to know about Abigail.. Don’t you?? You need to know if I ..” she stops him in mid sentence.. “I already know in my heart, its you that I don’t know.. Your name.. what you do.. I know nothing about you..”
“You want a name?”
“Y.. Yes.”
“I have Many.. Which would you prefer?”
She says nothing. She looks at the floor, fearing that she already knows the answer..
“Come over here Maxine.. Now..”
She hesitates.. Before finally giving in to his soft demands.. He reaches up from his seat and unties the robe and helps it slowly fall to the floor.. She is standing in front of him now naked once again. He rise’s from the chair and slowly ease’s her down on the bed, removes his clothing and lowers himself on top of her.. And there in the chill of her own bed he takes her for the last time. As he dresses she watches him from the bed.
“You won’t be back will you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He looks down at her beautiful naked body.. And once again smiles.
“Our business has concluded Maxine.. My work here is done.. She rolls onto her back and stares at the ceiling.. He is gone now.. And she knows that everything that she thought she knew.. Has horribly changed.

Scratch..© 2006.