Growl
Episode 2 of The June Murders
John had been sleeping. He knew he had. At least for a moment. And that pattern had been set some time ago. Whenever he got home and managed to impose a hint of tidiness on the mess he had left behind him, he would go to bed and start knitting the moments of rest into something that could be called sleep.
Of course, if he was still thinking about work (which he always did), he would toss and turn. And if he tossed and turned, he would discover that the torn muscles from two months ago were still not healed. And so would end the moment of rest before it could really be called sleep.
The bed did not help. He needed a new mattress. It was a thought that would recur at inappropriate times. A couple of days ago, he had been sitting under the fluorescent lights in Interview Room 2 with a suspected child molester, listening to a stubby fat man explain why he was seen by multiple witnesses at three different playgrounds on the same day. The man worked in a supermarket on the west side. He lived on the west side and the playgrounds were located south and east of these locations, yet he was still explaining that he had been seen on his way to work. As incredulity and dislike gathered inside him, however, John had heard an inner voice say. “You need a new mattress. Make sure you get one this week.” And he had nodded and even smiled, prompting…
