Kallista

by Sian B. Claven

  He stopped. His DNA was under Darren’s fingertips. He cursed silently and went back to the body. He went up the stairs and paused where Darren’s hands were. Sure enough, there was skin and blood under Darren’s nails.

  Finding his bone saw again, he carefully removed the tips of all Darren’s fingers up to the second knuckle. He pocketed the fingers; he would keep them as a reminder to not make rash mistakes like that again.

  With that done, he left, locking the back door behind him and putting the key back in its place. He returned to his house to shower and to examine his new mementos.

  Time passed slowly, but soon he heard the tell-tale sign of a car pulling into the driveway. He smiled and, from the shadows of his room where no one could see him, watched as Smith and Kallista got out of the car.

  For some reason they appeared worried about something.

  The door opened and pizza boxes dropped to the floor.

  Chapter 18

  Kallista

  WHEN KALLI AND MIKE arrived back from getting the food they instantly knew something was wrong. As their car pulled into the driveway the headlights illuminated Robyn standing in front of the garage, watching them sadly. They got out, grabbing the food and worriedly walked towards the house.

  “Everything is probably fine,” she said. “Robyn is just trying to convey another message about something else.”

  Mike didn’t say a word.

  Kalli shifted the pizza box in her arm so she could unlock the front door. She let it swing open on its own, and dropped the box she was holding. She heard Mike’s drop as well, and screamed. Mike swung her around and wrapped her in his arms as she shrieked into his chest.

  Darren’s corpse hung from the staircase railing, his head by his feet, his mouth open in another silent and bloody scream.

  He pulled Kalli into the yard, fumbling for his phone in his pocket. He dialled the station and requested assistance.

  Kalli let go of Mike and sank to the grass beneath her, her body trembling as she sobbed. She looked up at the sky and screamed, “I’ll find you! I’ll find you and you will pay for this!”

  Lights came on in the other houses, except for Mr Wild’s, which was still empty, and families came out to see what the commotion was about.

  Mike set up a perimeter while they waited for backup to arrive.

  KALLI CRIED HERSELF out and when she had no more tears left to offer her friend, she got angry. She couldn’t believe that the one night they left someone alone in the house was the night that the killer struck. It was not a coincidence, he had been watching them. He had to have known that Darren was alone.

  She needed to see his body.

  Gathering herself, she stood up, walking towards her house.

  Mike stood in front of her and stopped her. “No.”

  “Get out of the way, Mike,” she said. “I need to check for clues.”

  “That is not what you are trained to do,” he said. “You are trained to examine the clues found and use them to find criminals.”

  She didn’t understand how he was so calm, but years on the force, and seeing the unimaginable, had trained him to remain calm. He could fall apart later.

  Kalli punched his chest, not hard, but forceful enough to make him grunt, and then she rested her forehead against his chest. “It’s my fault.” The tears she thought she didn’t have returned and flowed into Mike’s shirt. “I should have stayed with him.”

  Mike rubbed her back gently. “It’s no one’s fault except The Butcher’s,” he said. “And he will pay.”

  “You said that when he got Tatum, and we’ve been saying that all along.” Her voice broke and she tried to catch her breath between sobs. “And ... we ... can’t ... we ... can’t ...”

  Mike hugged her. “We can and we will and nothing is going to stop us.” He lifted her chin with his finger so he could look into her eyes. “We have already found something, even if we don’t know it.”

  “How ... how can ... you know ... that?”

  “Because he killed Darren! And he killed Darren because he knows we are closing in on him. He killed Darren and he will probably try to kill us too.”

  Kalli looked at him with wide shining eyes. “We’re close,” she murmured. “We are close.”

  THE POLICE PROCESSED the crime scene and promised to have all the information sent to Mike once they were done. He saw them off before going to stand next to Kallista, who was watching them load Darren’s body into the back of the coroner's van.

  As she slid an arm around his waist, she said, “We’re not going to get anything done tonight.”

  He leaned down and kissed her head. “Let’s get some rest then.”

  They weren’t allowed to stay in the house until the processing was done, but they were able to get some of their things, and thereafter Mike took them to a nearby hotel.

  Once in the room he made sure the door was locked.

  As Kalli closed the curtains, she realised she had left the curtains at the house open the entire time and was suddenly aware of how foolish she had been.

  Mike checked the room thoroughly.

  Kalli changed into pyjamas and crawled into the bed, waiting for Mike to wash his face, brush his teeth and slide in next to her. She cuddled up to him, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder, her arm tucked between them. He had an arm around her shoulders, caressing her skin lightly. Her left hand rested against his stomach. Through his shirt, she could hear his heart beating and it was lulling.

  They couldn’t stay like that; it wasn’t the most comfortable position. Kalli sleepily turned over. Mike didn’t want to break contact yet, so he shifted to his side behind her. His left arm rested against the back of her shoulders, still caressing her gently, while his right arm snaked around her body and his hand cupped her left breast. It wasn’t sexual, it was comforting, and she rested her right hand on top of his, interlocking their fingers.

  They fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

  WHEN KALLI WOKE UP the next morning, Mike wasn’t behind her anymore. She stretched, feeling that the bed beside her was cold. She opened her eyes. He was nowhere to be seen.

  She got out of bed and went to relieve herself. Nervous about where Mike could be, she skipped having a shower, opting to dress quickly and go find him instead. He was nowhere to be found. She stopped at the reception, where there was a note left for her, Mike saying he had gone back to the house.

  Kalli returned to their room, packed her stuff and called for a cab.

  Once delivered, she ran to the front door of the house and opened it.

  “Mike?” she called.

  She checked the kitchen and then went upstairs. Mike paced between the boards.

  “Morning,” she said, relieved to find he was okay.

  He gave her a gentle smile. He moved to her and kissed her softly. “Morning,” he said.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking at the boards.

  “I just wanted to go over them, all the notes. I wanted to see if I could figure out what we were missing.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I cleared it with the chief to be here. You ready to go?”

  “Go where?” she asked.

  “Penny,” he answered. “I got her address and I called her already. She’s expecting us.”

  Kalli felt a spark inside of her and energy coursed through. “Why didn’t you lead with that?” She bounded from the room, rushing down the stairs to the front door.

  Mike ambled after her, smiling.

  They were soon in the car and driving to Penny’s neighbourhood. Kalli had decided to skip her morning coffee, but remembered to grab a notebook and pen from the sideboard before exiting the house.

  The drive there was uneventful. They barely spoke. Kalli jotted down questions she wanted to ask Penny, and the more questions she penned, the more she thought of.

  Eventually Mike said, “Calm down, Kalli.”

  “I need the truth,” she said. “I need the whole truth.”


  “You aren’t going to get it by bombarding her with a million questions. You’ll confuse her. Trust me, I know.”

  “So what do we do then?” she snapped. “How do we get her to tell the truth?”

  “Gently. Let me lead this. Trust me.” He put a hand on her leg. “I’ve done thousands of interrogations, let me handle this.”

  Kalli looked out the window and didn’t answer him.

  They pulled into the driveway of a large two-storey house. It was absolutely beautiful, with a large front porch and a neatly trimmed front yard. It was the kind of house Kalli had always dreamed of owning, before everything happened, when she had wanted children of her own.

  Kalli reached the front door first and rapped on the wood impatiently. Mike stood just behind her, waiting.

  The door opened to reveal a young blonde girl. She looked up at Kalli curiously and Kalli looked at her, surprised. It was like looking at Robyn, only a much younger version, a more innocent version of her.

  The little girl gave them a toothless grin. “Hi.”

  Kalli didn’t say anything, so Mike shifted in front of her. “Hey, sweetheart. Is your mommy home?”

  The little girl shut the door on them. Mike looked at Kalli and she raised her hand to knock again when the door opened to reveal a tall older woman. She was at least fifteen years older than Kalli.

  “Hi, sorry about that. Robyn is only three.”

  Mike smiled. “I’m Mike, we spoke on the phone?” He offered his hand to her.

  “Penny.” She shook his hand, then Kallista’s.

  “Kalli.”

  “Nice to meet you both.”

  Mike said, “May we have a seat? This won’t take too long.”

  “Sure,” Penny said. “Do you want to come inside?”

  Before Kalli could say anything, Mike held a hand up. “It’s a beautiful day. Why don’t we sit out here?”

  Penny smiled and led them over to the large patio table and chairs that took up the one end of the porch. Kalli and Mike sat next to each other on one side and Penny sat opposite them.

  “I don’t know if I can be of any help ...” she said, playing with her wedding band nervously. “It all happened so many years ago.”

  Mike nodded. “I know, but new evidence has come to light, and we’re just trying to tie up a few loose ends. Any information you might have, even if you don’t think it’s important, will be really useful.”

  Penny nodded and Kallista waited until Mike gave her a small nod, and leaned forward. “Penny, I want to know if there is anything you remember now that you maybe didn’t remember when the original officers took your statement.”

  Penny bit her lip and stared at her wedding band. “I told the officers everything I knew,” she said. “We went to the party, I went off to get drinks with friends, and when I came back Robyn was gone.”

  Mike watched her closely, before he leaned over and took her hand. A small spark of jealousy ignited in Kalli, but she ignored it. Mike was just doing his job.

  “I know this is really hard and you must have been terrified.”

  Penny held his hand and said, “One minute we were all laughing and having fun and the next, well, our parents came to the house, mine and hers, and they were screaming and yelling at me about Robyn being dead. My Aunt Natalie was shaking me, screaming at me to tell her what happened. I didn’t know.”

  “No one blames you, Penny,” he reassured her. “We know it wasn’t you.”

  “I blame me, and so did my aunt and uncle and my parents. I took Robyn to that party, I left her alone in a strange house in a strange neighbourhood and I didn’t check where she was while I hung out with my friends. It’s my fault she went home with that boy I should have stopped her.” Penny choked slightly, her voice catching.

  “How could you have?” Mike asked. “You originally said you didn’t see her.”

  Penny fell silent, realising she had said something wrong. She hugged herself and wiped her eyes. “I ... do I ...”

  “You’re not in trouble. You were a kid who was scared to get into a lot more trouble.” Mike stood up and moved to sit next to her. “I promise, if you can tell us exactly what happened, there will not be any repercussions, okay?”

  Penny looked at him. She held his eyes for a minute before looking at Kalli, and nodded, bursting into tears. “I’m ... I’m sorry.” She sobbed. “I should have stopped her.”

  It took several minutes of Mike calming her down before she was finally able to talk properly again.

  “We went to the party because I wanted to see my boyfriend. I hadn’t told Robyn that, and I snuck off with him to mess around. After a while I thought I should go check on her and as I was coming downstairs I saw her leaving with a kid from school.” She shook her head. “I didn’t stop her because she was smiling, she looked happy, so I didn’t worry.”

  She shook and Mike pulled her into a comforting hug. “There, there,” he said, “it’s okay.”

  Penny wiped her eyes as she pulled away, and sniffed. “I wish I had taken better care of her. She might not have gone home early and then Phillip Blackwood wouldn’t have gotten to her. She would have been safe.”

  “You believe Phillip Blackwood did this? Despite seeing her leave with a boy from school?” Kalli asked.

  Penny was confused. “Of course Blackwood did. I mean, how could a boy from our school do something that terrible?” She glanced between them.

  Kalli took a deep breath. “I need to question the boy who took her home. Do you remember who it was?”

  “I remember he was an honour roll society kid and that he had a few friends here and there, but I never spoke to him. He wasn’t like an outcast or anything, but he wasn’t popular. He was ...”

  “... average,” Kalli finished, nodding. “Hardly noticeable.”

  Mike stood and said, “Thank you for your time, Penny. You have no idea how much this assists us with our investigation.”

  Penny stood and wiped her face one last time before shaking Mike’s hand, then Kalli’s. “Thank you.”

  They walked back to the car together after Penny entered her house. Kalli thought hard about everything that had transpired. She got into the car absentmindedly.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Mike asked. Kalli smiled. “No pun intended,” he added when he saw her face.

  “He was an average student,” she said. “Someone who wouldn’t want to be noticed, but was on the honour roll.”

  Mike raised an eyebrow. “I’m not following.”

  “He was a good student, exceptionally bright, but didn’t want to stand out so that he was easily recognisable. He wanted to make himself invisible. If I’m right, then he’s been doing this since he was like fifteen. Mike. Maybe younger.”

  Mike looked surprised, trying to split his attention between the road and what Kalli was saying. “So you’re saying he started young? Like really young?”

  “By the time he killed Roger, Jacqui, Barker and Tatum he would have been an adult. It would have been easier for him. That’s why the last kills are more skilled, more detailed than his first two. That’s why the first two couldn’t be linked to him; he was still learning what was what.” She paused. “He hadn’t perfected what he was doing ...”

  Mike pulled into the driveway of her house and turned the car off. “I don’t understand where you are going with this.”

  “That is his mistake. Every serial killer has one,” she stated, turning to look at him. “Our list of suspects just got really short because we can literally take the honour roll teens from Penny’s year and look at them. He couldn’t help being bright, he wouldn’t play dumb and get bad marks. It was the only thing remembered about him, probably by others as well. He wasn’t an star athlete; he didn’t participate in clubs because he wanted to be unknown. He must have had a few friends, so he wouldn’t be remembered as a social outcast, but regardless of all the steps he took ...”

  “He made honour roll.” Mike finally understood where s
he was going and got out of the car. “There’s a yearbook from Penny’s year in Robyn’s box, I saw it there. The investigators used it to track down all the teenagers from the party.”

  Both ran upstairs and started digging through the boxes. It was Mike who found it, pulling it out and opening it on the table, flipping through it quickly while saying, “Clear the suspects board.”

  Kalli tore down the photos and rubbed out the names, picking up her marker. “Hit me.”

  “Jones, David.”

  She wrote it down.

  “I’m skipping the girls,” he commented and then said, “Cunningham, Mathew.”

  She wrote it next to David’s

  “Daniels, Stefan. Fredricks, Charles. Linney, Jack. Long, Cho. Meyer, Peter. Munster, Elliot. Norington, Kyle. Paddington, Weston. Strong, Christopher. Tiller, Marco. Warington, James. Wild, Bart.”

  Kalli paused at the last name. “Sorry, what did you say?”

  “Bart Wild?” Mike repeated, looking up at her. “He was Barker Wild’s little brother.”

  “I didn’t know there was a little brother,” Kalli said. “I thought Barker was an only child.”

  Mike stared at her. “You must have known him. He was the janitor at your school.” He straightened.

  Kalli looked shocked and said, “No way! I remembered Creepy Bart, but I didn’t know his surname was Wild! He was on the honour roll and became a janitor?”

  Mike nodded. “Yeah, I think he’s still there.”

  “Where does he live?”

  “I actually don’t know. As far as I understood, he stayed in some trailer park out near the end of the city, why?”

  “Has anyone ever confirmed that?”

  “Why would they?” he asked before it dawned on him. “Holy shit!”

  “It could be him. Where’s a photo of him?” she asked, as she walked towards him.

  “There isn’t one. He was absent from the photo day,” Mike said, checking the back of the book. “There are no pictures of him.”