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Mar. 31st, 2006 04:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tibetanmethod"There is no need for medicine. I am not in pain."
Cooper settles on the table in the conference room in the Twin Peaks sheriff's station, eyes never leaving Gerard's face -- except. Except it's not Gerard. It's -- "Who are you?"
"My name is Mike," Gerard -- the one-armed man -- Mike -- says, with dignity, superiority, as though he's deigning to respond.
"What are you?"
"I," Mike says, "am an inhabiting spirit."
"Who is Phillip Gerard?"
"He is host to me."
"You spoke to me in my dream. Do you remember?" At Gerard's nod, Cooper continues, "Do you know 'Bob'?"
"He..." Mike hesitates. "...was my familiar."
"Where does Bob come from?" One question, steady, right after another. There are pieces, and these are the pieces that will fit together, tell him who killed Laura Palmer. And then -- then the door will be closed. For the time being.
"There are indications that we come from another world," Mike says, and Cooper is not surprised at all.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Sheriff Harry Truman and his boss Gordon Cole exchange dubious glances. That's all right. What matters is getting the pieces. Cooper's dreams are a code waiting to be broken. Here is the key. "What does Bob want?"
"He is Bob, eager for fun. He wears a smile, everybody run."
Mike smiles.
Cooper straightens, head rising, looking at Mike.
Mike continues, "Do you understand the parasite? It attaches itself to a life form and feeds. Bob requires a human host. He feeds on fear...and pleasures." Mike is savoring every word, Cooper can tell. "They are his children. I am similar to Bob. We once were partners."
He pushes back the frisson of fear, because something entirely better is taking over -- that slow, spreading surety of intuition. "Through the darkness of future past -- " He's locking eyes with Mike, and Mike's saying it with him, they understand what's going on. " -- the magician longs to see -- " He understands what's going on -- the appearance of something he's been chasing for years, there in front of him to find and confront.
"One chants out between two worlds," says Mike, by himself. "Fire -- walk with me." He casts his eyes up. "But then I saw the face of God and was purified. I took off the arm, but remained...close to this vessel." Staring at Gerard's hand. "Inhabiting from time to time for one single purpose."
Now Mike is looking at Cooper again, with -- well, with fire in his eyes.
"To find Bob," says Cooper.
"To stop him!" Mike rests a finger on the flyer with the drawing of Bob's face, as seen by Sarah Palmer and Maddy Ferguson in visions and Cooper in his dreams, with HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? in big letters at the top. "This is his true face. Few can see it. The gifted...and the damned."
There's not time, Cooper thinks vaguely, to figure out which I am, and what that means. "Is he near? Is Bob near us now?"
Mike says, "For nearly forty years."
Gordon and Harry look lost.
Cooper's dark eyes gleam.
***
The next afternoon, Cooper is back at the table, sitting where Gerard -- Mike -- sat, papers spread in front of him. Some are crumpled and torn. There's also a sizeable plate of doughnuts and a cup of coffee, both largely untouched.
Click.
"Diane, it's 2:47 pm. I'm in the conference room at the sheriff's station with the remains of Laura Palmer's secret diary. A great deal of it has been mutilated, many of Laura's secrets along with it. Much of what I've been able to decipher supports the contention of the one-armed man. There are repeated references to a 'BOB'. He was a threatening presence in her life from early adolescence. There are intimations of abuse and molestation on a regular basis. He is referred to on more than one occasion as a friend of her father's. And I just uncovered this entry, dated less than two weeks before her death. 'Someday I'm going to tell the world about Ben Horne. I'm going to tell them who Ben Horne really is.'
Click.
A knock comes at the door; Cooper straightens and looks up. "Yes."
Audrey pushes the door open and steps cautiously into the room, looking for all the world like she expects someone to hit her at any time. Cooper is on his feet instantly, leaving his tape recorder -- and Laura's diary -- behind on the table. "Audrey -- "
"I had to see you, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you -- "
"How are you feeling?" They're by the door, now. He doesn't like the distress in her face, her eyes.
"I spoke with my father."
Cooper nods and sticks his hands in his pockets. That's not an answer, Audrey. "Yeah?"
Audrey swallows. "He was sleeping with her. With Laura. I don't know for how long, maybe quite a while."
For a few seconds Cooper doesn't know what to say. He turns, looks at the pieces of the diary. Someday I'm going to tell the world about Ben Horne. Almost whispered: "Holy smokes."
"She was up at One-Eyed Jack's, working there, and he owns the place -- that's what I found out."
"He told you this?"
"Yes," Audrey whispers, hugging the coat folded over her arms close. When Cooper doesn't respond immediately -- I'm going to tell them who Ben Horne really is -- she demands, "What are you going to tell them?"
The door opens again. "Harry," Cooper says, almost absently, and looks back at Audrey.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to arrest him?"
"...Audrey, I don't want you to say a word about this to anyone." He's playing on her trust. He knows it. He doesn't like it. He has to do it.
"Okay," she whispers.
"Okay." Cooper rests his hand on her arm -- reassurance, yes, but also a request to leave. "Go on home."
She leaves -- but not without looking over her shoulder. Cooper watches her go.
***
"You're wanted for questioning in the murder of Laura Palmer," says Harry to Benjamin Horne, calm, hard. Cooper's standing beside him, eyes on Audrey's father, composed, serene, unforgiving. "Is that specific enough for you?"
"You're insane," Ben says. "Insane." They've walked in on Ben in the middle of a business meeting; now he turns to the Japanese man -- a buyer, a client, something -- and says, "Mr. Tojamura, I'm sure this is a dreadful mistake -- "
Harry's face is set. "Come with us now -- or would you rather go out through your lobby in handcuffs?"
Ben snaps, "Cooper, is this some sort of sick joke? Because if it is, I know people in high places!"
Cooper shakes his head. This is Harry's show to run. "You'd better do what he says."
Ben Horne tries to run -- of course -- and Hawk and Andy subdue him and drag him out through the lobby. In handcuffs.
Cooper is the last one out of Benjamin Horne's office; he bows to Tojamura on his way.
Cooper settles on the table in the conference room in the Twin Peaks sheriff's station, eyes never leaving Gerard's face -- except. Except it's not Gerard. It's -- "Who are you?"
"My name is Mike," Gerard -- the one-armed man -- Mike -- says, with dignity, superiority, as though he's deigning to respond.
"What are you?"
"I," Mike says, "am an inhabiting spirit."
"Who is Phillip Gerard?"
"He is host to me."
"You spoke to me in my dream. Do you remember?" At Gerard's nod, Cooper continues, "Do you know 'Bob'?"
"He..." Mike hesitates. "...was my familiar."
"Where does Bob come from?" One question, steady, right after another. There are pieces, and these are the pieces that will fit together, tell him who killed Laura Palmer. And then -- then the door will be closed. For the time being.
"There are indications that we come from another world," Mike says, and Cooper is not surprised at all.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Sheriff Harry Truman and his boss Gordon Cole exchange dubious glances. That's all right. What matters is getting the pieces. Cooper's dreams are a code waiting to be broken. Here is the key. "What does Bob want?"
"He is Bob, eager for fun. He wears a smile, everybody run."
Mike smiles.
Cooper straightens, head rising, looking at Mike.
Mike continues, "Do you understand the parasite? It attaches itself to a life form and feeds. Bob requires a human host. He feeds on fear...and pleasures." Mike is savoring every word, Cooper can tell. "They are his children. I am similar to Bob. We once were partners."
He pushes back the frisson of fear, because something entirely better is taking over -- that slow, spreading surety of intuition. "Through the darkness of future past -- " He's locking eyes with Mike, and Mike's saying it with him, they understand what's going on. " -- the magician longs to see -- " He understands what's going on -- the appearance of something he's been chasing for years, there in front of him to find and confront.
"One chants out between two worlds," says Mike, by himself. "Fire -- walk with me." He casts his eyes up. "But then I saw the face of God and was purified. I took off the arm, but remained...close to this vessel." Staring at Gerard's hand. "Inhabiting from time to time for one single purpose."
Now Mike is looking at Cooper again, with -- well, with fire in his eyes.
"To find Bob," says Cooper.
"To stop him!" Mike rests a finger on the flyer with the drawing of Bob's face, as seen by Sarah Palmer and Maddy Ferguson in visions and Cooper in his dreams, with HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? in big letters at the top. "This is his true face. Few can see it. The gifted...and the damned."
There's not time, Cooper thinks vaguely, to figure out which I am, and what that means. "Is he near? Is Bob near us now?"
Mike says, "For nearly forty years."
Gordon and Harry look lost.
Cooper's dark eyes gleam.
The next afternoon, Cooper is back at the table, sitting where Gerard -- Mike -- sat, papers spread in front of him. Some are crumpled and torn. There's also a sizeable plate of doughnuts and a cup of coffee, both largely untouched.
Click.
"Diane, it's 2:47 pm. I'm in the conference room at the sheriff's station with the remains of Laura Palmer's secret diary. A great deal of it has been mutilated, many of Laura's secrets along with it. Much of what I've been able to decipher supports the contention of the one-armed man. There are repeated references to a 'BOB'. He was a threatening presence in her life from early adolescence. There are intimations of abuse and molestation on a regular basis. He is referred to on more than one occasion as a friend of her father's. And I just uncovered this entry, dated less than two weeks before her death. 'Someday I'm going to tell the world about Ben Horne. I'm going to tell them who Ben Horne really is.'
Click.
A knock comes at the door; Cooper straightens and looks up. "Yes."
Audrey pushes the door open and steps cautiously into the room, looking for all the world like she expects someone to hit her at any time. Cooper is on his feet instantly, leaving his tape recorder -- and Laura's diary -- behind on the table. "Audrey -- "
"I had to see you, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you -- "
"How are you feeling?" They're by the door, now. He doesn't like the distress in her face, her eyes.
"I spoke with my father."
Cooper nods and sticks his hands in his pockets. That's not an answer, Audrey. "Yeah?"
Audrey swallows. "He was sleeping with her. With Laura. I don't know for how long, maybe quite a while."
For a few seconds Cooper doesn't know what to say. He turns, looks at the pieces of the diary. Someday I'm going to tell the world about Ben Horne. Almost whispered: "Holy smokes."
"She was up at One-Eyed Jack's, working there, and he owns the place -- that's what I found out."
"He told you this?"
"Yes," Audrey whispers, hugging the coat folded over her arms close. When Cooper doesn't respond immediately -- I'm going to tell them who Ben Horne really is -- she demands, "What are you going to tell them?"
The door opens again. "Harry," Cooper says, almost absently, and looks back at Audrey.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to arrest him?"
"...Audrey, I don't want you to say a word about this to anyone." He's playing on her trust. He knows it. He doesn't like it. He has to do it.
"Okay," she whispers.
"Okay." Cooper rests his hand on her arm -- reassurance, yes, but also a request to leave. "Go on home."
She leaves -- but not without looking over her shoulder. Cooper watches her go.
"You're wanted for questioning in the murder of Laura Palmer," says Harry to Benjamin Horne, calm, hard. Cooper's standing beside him, eyes on Audrey's father, composed, serene, unforgiving. "Is that specific enough for you?"
"You're insane," Ben says. "Insane." They've walked in on Ben in the middle of a business meeting; now he turns to the Japanese man -- a buyer, a client, something -- and says, "Mr. Tojamura, I'm sure this is a dreadful mistake -- "
Harry's face is set. "Come with us now -- or would you rather go out through your lobby in handcuffs?"
Ben snaps, "Cooper, is this some sort of sick joke? Because if it is, I know people in high places!"
Cooper shakes his head. This is Harry's show to run. "You'd better do what he says."
Ben Horne tries to run -- of course -- and Hawk and Andy subdue him and drag him out through the lobby. In handcuffs.
Cooper is the last one out of Benjamin Horne's office; he bows to Tojamura on his way.
