{"id":1895,"date":"2019-05-23T09:52:24","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T09:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/?page_id=1895"},"modified":"2022-10-27T09:23:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T09:23:58","slug":"short-story-horror-tales","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/short-story-horror-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"Legacy – 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joe Stanley<\/span><\/p>\n

4<\/span><\/p>\n

A gentle knocking drew his eyes up from the paperwork that covered his desk.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ballard leaned from behind the frame, his waxy face making an attempt at a smile. It didn\u2019t work. He was repulsive, both physically and personally, and Alder wondered if the man had ever managed a genuine expression in his whole life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGot a minute?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alder looked back down at the mess in front of him and gently tossed his pen on it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSure, Jim.\u201d he replied, \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d he said, slithering through the door like a human snake, \u201cI\u2019m having some trouble with the case, and I\u2019m hoping I can pick your brain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The case, thought Alder, as if there was only one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat exactly do you think I can do to help?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026\u201d, Ballard began, but his smirk was just too much to take. He looked like a fly rubbing its forelegs together in anticipation of digging in to its favorite fare.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCut the shit. Just cut the shit and say it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSay it? Say what? Bob, I just\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have nothing. You have no clues, you have no leads, and now you\u2019re turning back on me. It\u2019s what any amatuer sleuth would do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you get the note, Bob?\u201d Ballard all but yelled, not liking the comparison, \u201cWhy did the killer leave it on your car?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think you do. I think you know more about this than you\u2019re saying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care what you think.\u201d At the words, Ballard recoiled as though slapped. He buckled down and leaned forward, trying to tighten the screws.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, maybe you better care. And maybe you\u2019d better take this opportunity to tell me anything you know, because…\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo you got a search warrant?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?! Who told you about it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo one. Jim, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re aware of it or not, but I\u2019m a detective. And I\u2019ve been one since before you even had pimples to play with. You think I haven\u2019t noticed the looks I\u2019ve been getting around here? You think I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on? You\u2019re under pressure to find someone, anyone. And you\u2019re going to try to lay this on me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ballard\u2019s face became even more disgusting as the blood drained from it. He almost seemed like he was about to cry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe you know something about it, and I\u2019m going to find out.\u201d he spat, and practically ran for the door. Alder rose and followed him. He saw the other cops quickly turn away or drop their eyes and pretend to be busy. To the retreating Ballard he called out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll say it again. I don\u2019t care what you believe. I don\u2019t care what you think and I don\u2019t care how you feel. And if you were half the detective you thought you were, you wouldn\u2019t either.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As his eyes passed over the others, he had to admit that it hurt. These men and women had been like family a month before. They had respected and admired him, but now they were hungry to see how far he would fall. How quickly they had changed with nothing more than a suggestion.<\/span><\/p>\n

He wondered if they could ever look at him the way they had before but then decided that it didn\u2019t matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

He would never see them the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

next part<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

back to previous episode<\/a><\/p>\n

back to list of stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Stanley 4 A gentle knocking drew his eyes up from the paperwork that covered his desk. Ballard leaned from behind the frame, his waxy face making an attempt at a smile. It didn\u2019t work. He was repulsive, both physically and personally, and Alder wondered if the man had ever managed a genuine expression […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1895","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1895"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2999,"href":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1895\/revisions\/2999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonathanharker.co.uk\/theghostlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}