Free Soul Hostage by Jeffrey Littorno Page B

the location of the keys pops into your mind.  That is the phenomenon which Detective Columbus attempted to recreate.”
         Once again, I became wrapped up in the old man’s words. At some point in Stoaffer’s story, the waitress brought our food and refilled our coffee cups.   
         “However, no matter how he tried over the following days, the detective could not break through the barricade  keeping my memories of that night out of reach.  During our time together, I did manage to learn a few things.  Detective Columbus had been on the force for twenty-four years.  He was married with two grown children who never called unless they needed help with something.  His wife’s name was Marie.  And Gary had been embezzling money from the company for a few years.”
         Stoaffer’s last words hung in the air for a moment.
         “Wait … Oh, Lou ... talk about fucked up!”  Joey nearly shouted although no one in the nearly-empty restaurant took notice.  “Yer sayin’ that all the shit you went through was ‘cuz yer partner was stealin’ from the company?”
           Louis Stoaffer smiled at Joey’s reaction. “That is the epiphany which would not come to me until sometime later.  As I said, the daily sessions with the detective went on for some weeks without any significant breakthrough. However, Detective Columbus filled me in on the details of the circumstances which had brought me to the hospital.          
         “It seems a passing driver had seen lights at the bottom of the canyon that night.  The police had investigated and eventually found me inside the car.  Next to me in the passenger seat was a very dead Linda Blake. I was taken to the hospital with a couple of broken ribs and severe head trauma which resulted in my comatose condition.  Of course, all of this was a huge shock to me since I had no recollection of how this could have happened.  However, it was nothing compared to what I had been involved in prior to the crash.”  Stoaffer paused for a moment as if to give full dramatic effect to his previous sentence.
         “Okay, my shift is over.”  The red-headed waitress had suddenly appeared at our table and announced wearily as she refilled our coffees. “If you need anything else, Ginger can help you.”
         A glance at my watch showed that it was nearly eleven o’clock. The restaurant was empty of customers save the three of us.  The big windows overlooked an inky black landscape.
         “Maybe we oughta get going.”  I said grabbing the check and starting to stand.
         Joey’s response was immediate and absolute.  “No!  We’re gonna hear the rest of the story.”
         Louis smiled happily as I sat back down.  “Well, it is certainly nice having a captive audience.  So as I said, I was found in the car with Linda’s corpse and taken to the hospital.  Once I came out of the coma, I began learning about the events that had led me to the bottom of the canyon.  The evening had started with Theresa and me visiting Gary and Linda’s house. Over the course of the evening, a great deal of alcohol was consumed. At some point in the evening, I reportedly became violent.  One thing led to another. A quarrel started, and tempers flared. From there, the argument had allegedly devolved into a fist fight and then into a wrestling match on the floor of the living room.  According to the testimony of my loving wife…” His voice trembled, and Stoaffer paused as he gathered his thoughts. “Well, amid this physical confrontation, a gun appeared. Gary and I wrestled around on the floor the gun went off.   My business partner ended up with a bullet in his chest.  I had no memory of any of this, mind you, but after being told the story so many times I came to accept it as truth.”
         A question suddenly occurred to me as I was sitting            there listening to Louis’ story. “So what