Visions of Death

by B. T. Lord

  Ellis gave him a rueful smile. “These are the Coffin Islands, Greg. Nothing here ever makes much sense.”

  Rhys returned the smile before turning back to his work.

  While Ellis watched, his mind swiftly went over likely scenarios to explain what had happened to the young woman who now lay dead at his feet. It was possible DeeDee had been right all along regarding the motive for Mallory’s death. Although there was ample proof her friend had been a rude, insensitive and nasty human being, it wasn’t until she became pregnant that she lost her life. If Richard was the father, and so far his disappearance and the volatile relationship he’d had with Mallory pointed in that direction, it was entirely possible that he wasn’t ready for fatherhood. Knowing how close DeeDee and Mallory were, he’d naturally assume Mallory shared the news of her pregnancy, including the identity of the father. It was also natural to assume that after killing Mallory, DeeDee would easily put two and two together and conclude Richard was a killer. He’d had no choice but to murder her in order to silence her.

  But there were several reasons Ellis didn’t completely buy that conclusion.

  Why would DeeDee’s body be left in such an obvious location? If Richard was trying to hide his tracks, the last place he’d deposit his second victim was in his own backyard in his own father’s fishing trawler. Why didn’t he do what he’d done with Mallory? Dispose of the body in such a way it would be difficult to point a finger at him?

  Then there was the question of the lack of evidence. Richard wasn’t stupid by any means. But Ellis doubted he had the understanding to clean up so thoroughly after himself that not even Ana and her crack team could uncover anything.

  Lastly, why wait so long to dispose of DeeDee if he was worried she’d spill the beans that he was the father of Mallory’s baby? It stood to reason that he would have killed DeeDee soon after the discovery of Mallory’s body, therefore ensuring the young woman kept her mouth shut.

  Did DeeDee threaten him in some way to guarantee her safety? Did she guess he was the father, and took steps to make sure he didn’t kill her? Had she left her house last night with that intention? If so, her plan had tragically backfired.

  Ellis looked out over the picturesque bay and was struck by how the natural beauty of the area contradicted the underlying eeriness of the Coffin Islands. He thought back to the reading Dara had given him, telling him how much he was needed here because of his open-mindedness.

  How his open-mindedness was going to solve these murders was anyone’s guess. Two young people were dead. One was missing. A strange, otherworldly figure had appeared, not only to Ellis, but to DeeDee as well. How did that tie into all of this?

  Chandra had explained the shadow man was part of a phenomena that had been taking place for centuries. She’d called them a bad influence on society.

  Was that thing a harbinger of doom? Was that why he’d appeared to Ellis and DeeDee? Did it show itself to people it had marked out for death?

  What did it mean for him?

  After flying in on the police helicopter, Rob unexpectedly asked Rhys if he could use his medical office to do his own preliminary examination on DeeDee’s body. He wouldn’t say why, though by the puckish look on his face, Ellis knew he had an excellent reason for doing so. He took note of the pleasure Rhys took in Rob’s request. It had been a long time since he’d done this sort of work. Catering to the islanders’ medical needs could never compare to his past career as coroner. Getting pulled into this case awakened an excitement in him that he tried to hide, but which still managed to peek through his professional demeanor.

  Ellis quietly stood in the corner of the surgery room in Eagla’s small hospital, watching as the two men discussed what they were finding, or in this case not finding. They took blood and tissue samples and carefully went over the corpse.

  “Ah, here it is,” Rob said as he straightened up from examining DeeDee’s inside elbow. “Ellis, you’re going to want to see this.”

  He brought down the magnifier and pointed out what looked like a prick on the skin. “This is where she was injected.”

  “So you think she died the same way Mallory did?” Ellis asked.

  “I’ll do a more extensive exam back in Portland, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we find she died of an air embolism.”

  “Good Lord, is that how Mallory died?” Rhys asked.

  “Afraid so,” Rob answered. “I bet when we do the toxicology, we’ll also find copious amounts of sedatives in her system as well.”

  “What about time of death?”

  “Both Dr. Rhys and I agree she’s been dead for approximately four to five hours.”

  “So that would put her death around four am?”

  “Give or take.”

  “Keep me posted,” Ellis said. “I need to inform her parents and get them to provide a positive ID.”

  They all winced when they recalled what occurred when Derek Angleton came to identify the body of his daughter.

  “If you don’t need me anymore, Dr. Crozier, I’d better go with Ellis. Aggie has a weak heart. This news may very well kill her.”

  News had already spread about the discovery of DeeDee’s body by the time Ellis and Rhys arrived at the Reids’ residence. Knocking on the door, it was Tim who answered.

  Until Ellis’s appearance, they could console themselves with the hope that what was found on the Huntsons’ boat was a mistake. Gossip run amok. Yet as soon as the deputy walked through the door, the hope was crushed. It was Frank who fell apart, racked with guilt and remorse that he hadn’t believed his daughter’s entreaties to get her off the island. While Rhys helped him to his bedroom, Aggie tried her best to hold it together as Ellis confirmed the awful news.

  “Were her mouth and eyes --?” Tim stammered to ask.

  “No, they weren’t.”

  He wouldn’t elaborate on how DeeDee was found. It was too horrendous a detail and he felt, at this time, they didn’t need to know about the ice picks.

  “We should have listened to her,” Aggie replied in a soft, broken voice. “We should have gotten her off the island as soon as Mallory died. But we thought…” her words trailed off, though it was easy to see what she’d been about to say.

  It was the story of Chicken Little who constantly ran around warning everyone the sky was falling. When it finally did look as if the sky would fall, nobody listened.

  Just as nobody had listened to DeeDee.

  Aggie crumpled back into her chair and began to sob. Tim threw his arm around her shoulder and they waited until Rhys returned from the bedroom. He took one look at her and gently helped her up.

  “There’s a guest bedroom at the end of the hall,” Tim replied, trying his best to remain stoic. Rhys nodded and gently assisted Aggie down the hall.

  “Where were you last night around 4 am?” Ellis asked the young man.

  “You honestly can’t wait?” Tim countered indignantly.

  “I wish I could. But if I have any hopes of finding out what happened to DeeDee, I’ll need your help. And cooperation.”

  Tim looked away angrily. “Where the hell else would I be at 4 in the morning? I was in bed asleep.”

  “Can anyone vouch for that?”

  Tim jumped to his feet. “Why are you wasting time here? You should be looking for Richard. He’s also missing, isn’t he? That’s pretty suspicious.”

  “Do you have any idea where Richard might be? Any places he likes to hang out?”

  “We’re not that close for me to know his favorite spots.”

  The manner in which he answered caught Ellis’s interest. “Sounds like you’re not crazy about Richard.”

  “I told you before, he’s bossy. Most of the time I just ignore him. But sometimes, he gets under my skin, especially when he tried to push DeeDee around.”

  “Why did you associate with him then?”

  Tim barked out a sarcastic laugh. “We live on a small island, Deputy. It’s not like we have a huge selection of people w
e can hang around with.”

  “How do you get on with John?”

  “I like John. He’s a good guy. Could never quite get why he’s always with Richard, but…” He shrugged.

  “Did Richard ever threaten you or DeeDee?”

  Ellis noticed how Tim’s smile turned icy. “He wouldn’t dare.”

  “How long did you and DeeDee date?”

  “A year last month.”

  “When was the last time you heard from her?”

  Tim reached into his pocket and withdrew his cell. He scrolled through it for a moment, then handed it to Ellis.

  “That’s our last conversation.”

  His eyes watered and he turned his head abruptly towards the window. Ellis looked down and read the message. It was all pretty innocuous – DeeDee lamenting how much she would miss Tim while she was away at Bethel. Her last text however, caught Ellis’s attention.

  10:30 pm

  I’ve got a plan that I’ll tell you about tomorrow. If I don’t do something, I’m going to go stark raving mad. Love you lots and lots. I miss you!!!

  “What was this plan she mentioned?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. As you can see, she said she’d tell me this morning.”

  “Can you guess at what she was up to?”

  Tim shook his head. “The only thing I can think of is that she wanted so badly to get off Eagla, she may have come up with a way to do that.”

  “Do you know if Richard had a boat of his own? A boat he could take to the mainland?”

  Tim looked at Ellis, his face ravaged with grief. “Why would she ask him? Why wouldn’t she ask me? I know plenty of people with a boat who could have taken her and her mom over to Portland.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  Tim looked as if he’d been punched in the gut. He shared in the guilt of not believing his girlfriend’s genuine fear of being murdered. Now it had come to pass and he, along with the Reids, were going to need to find a way to live with the burden of that.

  “Do you honestly believe Richard capable of killing DeeDee or Mallory?”

  Tim took a long moment to answer. “We knew each other for years. But I never knew what he was thinking. I don’t think anybody did. He kept his deepest thoughts to himself.”

  He fell back onto the nearest chair and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”

  His hold on his emotions finally gave way and he began to cry. Ellis came over and placed his hand on the weeping man’s shoulder.

  “We’ll find out who did this to her.”

  He let himself out of the Reid house and tracked down John. He and his small group of friends had joined the larger search groups, their focus now on finding Richard. He asked John to join him in his SUV where it was warm and out of the windy weather.

  “Nobody knew him like I did,” John said adamantly before Ellis could begin to question him. “There’s absolutely no way he would have hurt DeeDee.”

  “I heard he didn’t like her.”

  “What he didn’t like was her habit of blabbing about people. That girl couldn’t keep a secret if her life –” he suddenly stopped as the realization hit him of what had happened to her. “Shit, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Tell me about Richard. And DeeDee.”

  “He was actually worried about her.”

  “Really? In what way?” John grew quiet. “John, you need to tell me what you know.”

  “Why? You think he’s a murderer.”

  “Or a victim. I won’t know until I find him.”

  John appeared stricken by Ellis’s words. He pursed his lips as he glanced out the windshield. “I’m sure you already know that Mallory could be very cruel. DeeDee was a lot more sensitive. We could see she didn’t enjoy the nasty things Mallory said to people. But she never spoke up or made any waves. Richard tried talking to her. Telling her that she was only enabling Mallory by not saying anything. But she never did.”

  “Why do you think she didn’t speak up?”

  “Because she enjoyed being Mallory’s best friend. Mal may have been a royal bitch, but people flocked to her. You could see it around town. There was something about her that made you want to be part of her group.”

  “You mean the in-group?”

  John gave a sad smile. “Yeah, something like that. DeeDee and Mallory would spend hours tearing other people down, as if they were better than everyone else. Yet if you got DeeDee away from Mal, she was actually nice and caring.” He paused, then added, “I think she was terrified she’d be ignored if she was no longer part of Mallory’s orbit.”

  “Tell me about Richard’s relationship with Mallory.”

  A look of discomfort crossed John’s face. He chewed his lower lip for a moment, then shook his head. “I never understood it. It was as if they were addicted to each other.”

  “Is it because they were cut from the same cloth?” John’s discomfort grew. “I know he threatened Dara.”

  “He didn’t mean it,” he answered lamely. “He’s just – he was afraid of her.”

  “Because of her psychic abilities?” John nodded. “Did you go to her for a reading?”

  “I – I went to apologize, that’s all.” He glanced at Ellis out of the corner of his eye, his lie written all over his face.

  Ellis understood his need to cover it up. For most of his life, John and his friends had treated Dara as though she were a pariah. An object of ridicule. How would it look if it became known he’d snuck into her house to get a reading?

  “There’s no point in lying about it, John.”

  “Okay, so I did. I wanted to know if I was next on this killer’s list.”

  “And?”

  He gave a slight smile. “I’m going to live into my eighties.”

  “Who do you think killed Mallory and DeeDee?”

  He shrugged. “I really don’t know.”

  “You don’t think it was Richard?”

  He wheeled around in his seat and stared at Ellis. “Hell no! I told you, Richard would never do that.”

  “He was involved in several bar fights. And let’s not forget his threatening Dara.”

  “So he has a temper. But that doesn’t mean he’d actually kill someone.”

  “Do you have any idea where he could be?” John grew silent. “The time you waste with me here could make the difference between life and death for your best friend.”

  That seemed to convince the young man to stop stalling. “Okay. There is a place he likes to go to. It’s sort of like his own private fishing spot. In fact, we were on our way to check it out when you showed up.”

  “Where is it?”

  “At Watson Pond.”

  Ellis hid his surprise.

  So Richard’s favorite place was in the same pond where Mallory’s body had been found.

  He kept his suspicions to himself as he drove to the pond’s empty parking lot. Upon arriving, he let John take the lead. Taking the path to the right, they walked single file along the slush and mud.

  Just as the trail curved to the left to continue around the pond, John suddenly took off to the right down a trail that, to anyone not familiar with the area, would be easily missed.

  The path here was narrower, and it skirted a thin stream of water that emptied out into the larger pond. They walked for almost five minutes before the forest opened up and Ellis found himself standing before a sizeable body of water.

  “We try to keep this place private,” John explained. “Only locals know it’s here. We leave the larger part of Watson Pond to the summer visitors and keep this small area to ourselves.”

  A thin sandy beach lay at the bottom of a small incline. Glancing down, Ellis immediately noticed boot prints in the sand.

  “Do you know what size boot Richard wears?” he asked.

  “Eleven.”

  “Stay here on the path and don’t move.”

  Ellis quickly slipped on a pair of booties and walked down
to the beach where he squatted down next to one of the prints. If he wasn’t mistaken, they looked to belong to a man who wore size 11 boots. He looked around and immediately spied what looked like a red object peeking out from beneath the center of a row of shrubs that overlooked the beach. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and walked over to investigate. Squatting down, he grabbed the red material and pulled it out.

  It was a woman’s handbag.

  He undid the snap and saw it contained a wallet and a cellphone. Already guessing who it belonged to, he opened the wallet and saw he was right.

  DeeDee’s smiling face looked back at him from her driver’s license.

  Removing the cellphone, he hit the button and was surprised to see he didn’t require a password to unlock it. He immediately clicked on the phone icon and hit Recents.

  “Damn,” he whispered to himself.

  It showed DeeDee’s last phone call was at 11:20 pm the night before.

  And it had been placed to Richard Huntson.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  It needed to be done. Another waste of space disposed of. Is my job complete? Only if I’m not caught. Which I know will never happen. The detective is very smart. But is he smart enough to track me down?

  The thought of it is intriguing.

  And highly unlikely.

  Catch me if you can, Ellis Martin.

  Catch me if you can.

  “The shoe is definitely a size eleven,” Ana replied.

  The pond was abuzz with activity as Ana and her team swept the area for any evidence that could point to what DeeDee’s items were doing there, whether she’d been present and if Richard was responsible.

  After making a series of phone calls, Ellis caught up with her.

  “I contacted the harbor master and told him to keep an eye out for Richard,” he said. “I doubt he’d try to leave Eagla through Paradise Cove, but you never know. I also asked Cade McHadon to ask around to see if anyone is missing a boat and to keep an eye out for Richard’s truck. According to Mrs. Huntson, he picked it up from the shop yesterday morning. He could have arranged to meet DeeDee last night and drove her out here.”