The Hopper: Chapter 4

Detective Towns investigates a van that he believes is tied to the hospital theft

Detective Towns was hot on The Hopper’s trail as he started to get more and more aggressive with his pursuit of the legendary criminal. With a license plate number of the black van, David was on his way to pay Mark Jones a visit, the man the van was registered to. As David pulled up to Mark’s house, he noticed the black van parked in the driveway.

“Got you!” He said to himself as he exited his police car that was parked across the street and walked to the house. David knocked on the door as a woman answered it. David was a bit confused.

“Hello sir, can I help you?” She asked.

“Uhh yeah I’m Detective Towns with the Chicago PD. I’m here looking for a Mark Jones, is he home?” The lady looked a bit concerned and confused.

“Not right now, he’s at work. Is there a reason you want to speak to my husband?”

“Well ma’am, we wanted to ask some questions about his van over there and what he’s been up to these past couple days.” The lady continued to look puzzled as she didn’t quite understand why the police were looking for her husband.

“Well as far as I know he’s been going to work. As for the van, that’s not really his, it’s mine.” David looked a bit confused.

“That’s your van?”

“Correct. But I don’t really drive it during the day. Only time it really moves is on the weekends when we go to the local flea market to sell my wood work.” David pulled out his note pad and began to jot down notes. It was starting to become real interesting as this was all becoming more complex than he originally thought.

“And you said the van hasn’t moved at all this week, right?”

“Correct.” At this point, the lady wanted to do nothing more than close the door on David as this all felt like a big conspiracy. To her, having a random police detective show up to your door and ask about your husband and your van raised several eyebrows. “Is there anything I can do for you?” David thought about it and suddenly thought of a question to ask this woman.

“Well I just have a couple questions I want to ask you, if that’s alright.” The lady just nodded. “Have you experienced any blackouts lately?” The lady looked confused.

“No our power has been fine.” David realized his wording and asked the question again.

“I mean… have you passed out at all these past couple days? Had points in the day where you feel you can’t remember what happened?” The lady thought about it and realized she did.

“Now that you mention it, I have. It feels like the past couple days I seem to forget what happens in the middle of the day. I guess my memory has been getting worse and worse lately.” The dots were starting to connect in David’s mind.

“Is it alright if I check out your van real quick? I won’t touch anything.” The lady was skeptical and paused for a moment, thinking it over. She knew her rights but at the same time knew she didn’t have anything to hide.

“Umm I guess. Let me get my keys for you,” she said as she walked away and shortly returned back with a pair of keys in her hands. She held them out for David who took them and thanked her. Taking the keys, David went over the van where he investigated it.

Looking at the van much closer, it looked like your typical work van. The black paint had scratches in it along with certain sections having clear coat peeling. Unlocking the van, David opened the back doors and looked around. He could see scratches all over the interior, something that could be useful had he not known this was a work van. Stepping inside, he noticed the floor was covered in wood dust and random stains. Nothing seemed to jump out to David until he noticed something, a parking ticket. Thinking it was a clue, David picked up the ticket and decided to give it a read.

“396 Elm Street”

That was the address in which the ticket was given out at. David quickly pulled out his phone and entered the address in. The address came back to a house in a suburban neighborhood that wasn’t too far from the hospital. This must have been where the equipment was taken.

While David was in the van searching for clues, the lady had gone back into her house and was sitting in her living room, waiting to get her keys back. As she sat there, she felt herself losing consciousness. Just like with Reggie, the lady passed out and began to move after a couple seconds. Her body looked around the room and smiled.

“Let’s see if the detective is here,” the lady said to herself as it was clear The Hopper was in control of her body now. The Hopper used her body to walk over to the window where it instantly noticed the police car parked across the street. Looking over at the van in the driveway, The Hopper noticed that someone was clearly in it. The suspension of the van bounced every time David moved inside of it which gave The Hopper a clear sign he was in there. It thought about its next move and decided the best thing to do would be to lie low and see how much David knew. After a couple minutes, David exited the van with the parking ticket in his back pocket. He locked the van and walked back to the house. He approached the front door and noticed what he thought was the lady waiting for him.

“Find what you needed?” The Hopper asked.

“Yeah I think so. Here’s your keys, thank you.” David said as he handed the keys to The Hopper and turned to walk away. As he did so, The Hopper called for him, hoping to find out what the detective had found.

“Umm can I ask what you’re investigating? I feel like I deserve it after letting you look through my van,” The Hopper said as David turned back around. Just like with Tiffany, he didn’t want to share too much about the case and decided to give a surface level amount of information.

“We’re just looking into a theft involving some medical equipment. We had reason to believe your husband had something to do with it but it seems like just a misunderstanding. Sorry to waste your time,” David said as he planned to walk away again. Unfortunately for him, The Hopper wasn’t letting up so easy.

“Medical equipment? What would someone want to do with that? It doesn’t have anything to do with this Hopper story I keep hearing on the news, does it?” David frowned as he just wanted to walk away.

“Unfortunately it does. Don’t worry, we’ll catch him,” David said as he forced the conversation to end by walking away. The Hopper just stood there and watched David get back in his car as he realized the detective was onto him. It seems The Hopper would have to make sure he’s one step ahead of David.