The Face on the Skull

Posted on Sun 17th Dec, 2017 @ 3:16pm by Purulence Addams

1,821 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: Addams family home, Queen Anne Villas
Timeline: Morning after the Halloween party and seance
Tags: Ischemia, Purulence

It was astounding how much there was to clean up, even after a party of relatively civilized guests, Purulence thought as she stacked used hors d'oeuvres plates and silverware on a tray and carried them into the kitchen. It really had been a lovely party. So often, people seemed fearful of her family, for reasons Purulence couldn't fathom. Who wouldn't want to know people who hung out with Zeta Reticulan spiders and frequently called up the spirits of their dead ancestors?

Purulence shuddered as she thought about the séance.

"There are lots more plates where those came from," Ischemia said, nudging Purulence aside so she could add her batch to the pile. "Thank goodness we have machines to do the cleaning. I suppose we could just toss them in the recycling bin." She picked up a plate and ran her finger along the gold color encircling its edge. "I doubt Great Grandmama Delilah would appreciate the efficiency of that, though." With a sigh, she set the plate down.

She turned and leaned against the washing robot. "What did you actually see in the glass last night?"

"You mean after the murder?" Purulence thought a moment. "I saw a lot of weird half-images and fog after Dr. Dhuro sent his greetings to Scott whoever-it-was. I'm pretty sure I saw Great-great Aunt Wednesday for a moment--her hand, anyway. And then, when Chlamydia asked if anyone else wanted to communicate..." Purulence bit her lower lip. "I saw Cousin Perverto looking terrified and then being disintegrated in some kind of weird lab. Maybe a NICU? But that doesn't make any sense, because he isn't--wasn't?--a doctor. What did you see?"

Ischemia looked down at her hands, rubbing at a spot on her palm. "More or less what you saw. The scene with Perverto ... that was a little weird, wasn't it? Does that mean he is dead? And what was he doing in that lab? Was he murdered, too?" She stood up tall and wiped her hands down the sides of the jeans she'd changed into. Great invention, jeans she thought in passing.

"I think it does mean he's dead," Purulence said. "And I haven't heard word of a funeral or anything--which makes me think no one else knows he's dead."

"What disturbs me is Chlamydia's reaction. Did you catch that, Pru?"

"The way she was crying? I couldn't figure that out," Purulence said. "I mean, over Perverto? I never realized he inspired such feelings in Chlamy." Purulence frowned. "Except then she acted like nothing happened afterward--not faking it, but literally, as if nothing at all had happened. That was the really bizarre thing." She gave Ischemia a sidelong glance. "Do you think we should ask her about it?"

"Ha, and be cut off at the knees? No, we don't ask, but this seems like a good time to tell you something else I've noticed. Almost every time Perverto's name is mentioned when I've spoken with her privately, she's gone into some kind of trance. She's still there with me, but her mind is somewhere else. Then after a few moments, or almost fifteen minutes once, she looks at me and picks up where we left off in the conversation.

"Or not exactly where we left off, but her mind backs up to the point before Perverto's name came up. There's something wrong here, Pru, and it has to do with Perverto. It looked like he was in a nursery of some kind, at a birthing center, perhaps, but you're right. It did remind me of a lab. Do you think he was doing one of his horrid experiments and someone found out and killed him?" Ischemia pondered that thought for a moment. It left no regret in her heart or feelings of remorse at not knowing him better. She'd known him as well as she had chosen. Did his name make him into the monster, or was he a monster who had been suitably named?

"He's definitely dead, from what we saw. I've never seen anyone in the crystal who wasn't. Nor heard tell of anyone who had. But what would any of that have to do with our sister? Why was she crying as if her heart were broken, and then ... nothing at all? It makes no sense."

Purulence pressed her lips into a thin line, and she looked at her sister. "I think something...bad...must have happened. I can't even imagine what could have been so horrible that Chlamy has to block it completely out, like she's in a fugue state or something. She's tough as nails, not at all squeamish." Purulence let out a breath. "I'm glad Pervie's dead, if he did anything to hurt her."

"For once, my darling, we agree. We can't do anything about Chlamydia right now, except watch her, I suppose. She would not take kindly to the idea that she should see a shrink, and what could she tell one, anyway? She has no memory of these little episodes." Ischemia turned around and began to rinse dishes to put into the automat, muttering, "You'd think she'd have a robot to do this, wouldn't you?"

A few minutes of running water was soothing, and before long, the dishes were all entered in a washing program, along with the glasses they'd collected. Starting the machine, she turned to see Prudence drawing something. "I'm working and you're drawing? Figures. It better be something useful." She walked over and peered over her sister's shoulder.

The face of a cocky-looking, dark-haired man with expressive eyebrows was taking shape as Purulence sketched him with swift strokes of an art pencil. "Sorry," Purulence muttered under her breath. "I have to do this now; I should have drawn him last night before I went to bed. It's been driving me crazy all morning. Do you think I should draw the breasts, too? I got a glimpse of the killer's chin, and the chin, oddly enough, is an easily recognizable part of the face. That's one reason why Wild West bandits used to cover their chins with bandanas but not the area around their eyes."

"I think you should stick to his face and leave out peripherals. However, perhaps you should draw what you remember of the entire scene in another picture. Sometimes having the whole visual can help a good investigator." She watched as Pru sketched, thinking, for the thousandth time since they were young, that she wished she had the talent to reproduce what she saw the way her sister did.

"I think you've caught him perfectly," Ischemia complimented Purulence. "He really was a handsome man, with a cockiness that made him even more appealing, I would think ... and probably more annoying, too. What was it he was saying?" She tapped her fingernail against her teeth as she tried to remember it all.

"We really only got the one sentence, didn't we? 'So what? You're going to kill me for it?' What could he have meant? He clearly didn't expect her to kill him, didn't think whatever it was would cost him his life. Is it sad or ridiculous that I find myself wishing I had known him?"

"Neither," Purulence said. "I kind of wish I had at least met him while he was alive, too. I got the sense that he could be cocky, arrogant, and somehow charming, all at the same time." She smirked. "And yes, probably also annoying."

"So what are you going to do with the drawings?" her sister asked. "I hear there's a Federation News Service office somewhere in the Promenade. Someone had to know him. Then there are the investigators. Chlamy will know who they are, she's working with them."

"Oh, is that why she was called away this morning? I'm not sure what to do with this," Purulence said as she added some shading to her portrait sketch. "I want to take it to the investigators, but they will think I'm a nutcase--or a suspect--if I do. I'm not taking it to the media. I'll leave that to the investigators. Don't they usually release missing person images to the media, in hopes of locating people?"

"They do, but this," Ischemia tapped the corner of the sketch, "is essentially a missing person, don't you think? We don't know who he is, but someone does. Do you really think the investigators won't listen to the sister of the good doctor? And you are an Addams of the New York Addamses, Pru. Have a little confidence in yourself."

Purulence nodded and sighed. "I'll look up where station security is and go talk to them." She pinned Ischemia with a look. "But you're the lawyer, so you'd better give me pointers on how to talk to them, so I don't muff it all up and wind up behind a force-field."

"Pretend you are Chlamydia. That's my best advice. Look down on them as though it's natural that they would listen to every word you say. Address them by rank. Look them straight in the eyes. No smiling. You are not a friend. You are someone important who has taken the time from your busy day to help the beleaguered guardians of the innocent. You have other things to do, but you are patient with their shortcomings. You've seen how Chlamydia is - kind but still herself."

Ischemia looked her sister over and sighed, "Perhaps I'd better come with you."

Purulence peered at Ischemia and then burst out laughing. "Schemy, I don't need someone to hold my hand; I just need some pointers ahead of time of how to speak with people in criminal justice, what terms to use so they'll take me seriously and not think I'm a kook. I don't think pretending I'm Chlamydia will work because I'm not her, and I'll just start giggling when I try. It's like when I used to dress up as Professor Snape; I couldn't maintain the frown and always wound up snickering, instead. I think what I'll do is just talk to them the way I would with someone whose portrait I'm going to paint. I'll feel a lot more comfortable and business-like if I do it that way. Do you think that will work?"

Ischemia shrugged, "It's as good as anything else. I didn't mean to pretend to be Chlaymidia, just take a clue from how she acts. What you're comfortable with will work best, I'm sure. The point is that you are an Addams, and no one can disregard or disrespect that if you don't allow it." She smiled at her sister. "I'm sure you'll be fine. And now, I'm off to look at a home of my own, so I'll see you later."

"See you later," Purulence said. "I'll tell you how it goes."

Ischemia Addams (NPC)
Lawyer

Purulence Addams (NPC)
Portrait painter

 

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