The Darkest Hour

by Anina Collins

  “It’s actually quite easy to figure out what kind of weapon was used since knives have particular cut patterns. The Krear 550 has a jagged edge that leaves a very distinctive mark on the skin. It wouldn’t have been difficult for the medical examiner on the case to determine this.”

  Feeling somewhat deflated by his easy dismissal of what I’d thought was a very clever question, I sat back in my chair and waited for him to continue reading the report.

  “From what it says here, the coroner believed the killer came up from behind, and with one swipe, cut her from ear to ear.”

  “Is it really that easy to cut human flesh and bone?” I asked, my stomach turning at the thought of Helena and Bethany suffering through that.

  Ken nodded and lifted his chin to show me his neck. Running his fingers up and down, he said, “Feel your neck. It’s skin and muscle, so a sharp knife applied to the area with enough pressure would slice through easily since there really is no bone to cut.”

  I tilted my head back and mimicked his motions with my own fingertips, astonished at how delicate it was considering it had to hold up a head. “You’re right. I never realized how soft this whole area is. So it wouldn’t necessarily have to be a large attacker. It could be a woman, for example?”

  “Oh, definitely. The knife wields all the power in this type of situation. A female could certainly be strong enough to slit another female’s throat.”

  “What happens after the knife begins cutting?”

  With a twinkle in his eye I guessed came from having the chance to talk shop with someone, Ken said, “Blood. Lots of it. You’ve got major arteries and veins running up and down the neck. If the attacker cuts the victim’s throat from the front, they’re going to be hit with jets of blood, at the very least. I’ve seen instances where someone cut a person when they were standing facing them, and the guy was drenched in blood.”

  I jotted all these details down on my sheet of paper and looked up to see him waiting for me to continue. “What if someone was attacked from behind? I mean, what if the killer slit their victim’s throat while they were standing behind them? Would they be covered in blood the same way as if they did it facing them?”

  Shaking his head, Ken pursed his lips. “No, they wouldn’t. It’s possible if an attacker came up behind someone and slit their throat that they wouldn’t have blood on them at all.”

  The idea that someone had lay in wait in Bethany’s back seat until she got in and without even looking into her eyes slit her throat from ear to ear made a chill run up my spine. I couldn’t imagine the level of rage that someone would have to feel to want to kill like that.

  Hoping to hear some detail that would be less gory, I asked, “Does it say anything else that I might be able to use to help Alex?”

  Ken narrowed his eyes and began to read the report again, but soon he looked up and I saw disappointment on his face. “I’m having a hard time reading the coroner’s notes.”

  “You guys still hand write notes in this day and age?” I asked, surprised to hear anyone other than Alex and I still wrote notes on paper like that.

  “Sometimes. It’s up to the medical examiner on staff for the case. I don’t because my handwriting is terrible, but some do. Their report is still complete, but the handwritten notes can have details they didn’t include in the official autopsy. I’m having a hard time reading this one.”

  I stood from my seat and leaned over his desk. “Can I take a look? I’m pretty good with deciphering even the worst handwriting. Doctor’s notes are no match for me.”

  “I wish I could, Poppy, but you’re not an officer, so by rights, I shouldn’t even be telling you about this, except I want to help my friend,” he said as he pulled the folder away so I couldn’t see anything.

  “Yeah, I understand.” I sat back down in my seat feeling helpless yet again that day. “Too bad you weren’t the medical examiner on Helena’s case.”

  He nodded and said in a sad voice, “I know. I can’t tell you how many times I wished I was instead of being out of town for a medical conference in West Palm Beach the day she was murdered. I can’t believe it’s been so long since she died. I remember the moment I first heard the news. I was sitting on the beach relaxing between conference sessions. It was a gorgeous sunny day. And then I heard those terrible words telling me she was gone from this world and it was like the sun had been stolen from the sky.”

  I felt awkward asking him to give me any other details after hearing his sorrow over losing his friend, but I had to. Alex couldn’t afford for me to be sensitive or socially polite.

  “Is there anything else you can tell me from the report on her death? Anything that could show who may have done this to Helena? Did the homeless man say anything to the police about seeing who the killer was?”

  Ken opened the file once again and scanned the information it held. Without looking up, he said, “The officers on the case weren’t able to get anything definitive from the homeless man, unfortunately. As for the coroner’s findings about who may have done this crime, he believed that it was a man at least six feet tall who was right handed.”

  With every word he said, Alex remained a viable suspect, even as I told myself that was impossible. Just over six feet tall, he was right handed. Discouraged, I asked, “Why would he or she have to be right handed?”

  “By the way the knife cut her, the medical examiner determined it started under her left ear and came across the front of the neck until it stopped under her right ear. That indicates a right handed killer.”

  “Oh,” I mumbled as I hung my head.

  “I wish I could have been more help, Poppy. I’m sorry. Nothing would make me happier than being able to help find Helena’s murderer. It’s been years and every day I think about her.”

  “Helena’s murderer? I came here hoping to prove that Alex had no part in Bethany’s murder.”

  Ken nodded and closed the file, pushing it away from him off to the side. “I know, but I thought you wanted details on Helena’s murder because it’s likely the same killer.”

  “I know, but the problem is that nothing in her autopsy doesn’t exclude Alex. I was hoping to hear some clue that would help me show he wasn’t part of Bethany’s murder.”

  I stood and extended my hand over his desk to thank him. “I appreciate you taking the time to help me, Ken. I’ll be sure to tell Alex how great you were to fit me in this afternoon.”

  “Do and be sure to tell him I’m thinking of him.”

  “I will.”

  Turning to leave, I walked toward the door, but Ken stopped me. “Poppy, one more thing. I want you to be careful as you look into this.”

  His face told me he feared for my safety, but why? Did he know something he wasn’t telling me?

  “I will. I’m just looking for the truth.”

  “The problem is that with now two murders of two women associated with Alex, I worry that your life may be in danger from whoever is guilty of these heinous crimes.”

  “What are you saying?” I asked as I wondered if he’d just implicated Alex in both Bethany’s and Helena’s murders.

  “Within months of her death, Alex moved away from Baltimore and bought a house in Sunset Ridge where he basically lived like a hermit until you came into his life. Then poor Bethany came into it too and look what happened. I’d hate to see you get hurt, Poppy.”

  Defiant even as he listed so succinctly how entwined Alex was in both murder cases, I tilted my head up and said, “I’ll be fine. Thanks for all your help, Ken. Time for me to go look for clues so Alex isn’t unjustly blamed for either of these terrible crimes.”

  He merely nodded, understanding that whatever would happen, I wasn’t going to back down from finding out the truth. Alex deserved that from his partner, and I wouldn’t disappoint him.

  Chapter Six

  A little over an hour later, I returned to Sunset Ridge and drove directly to the police station. Although I hadn’t found out anything from Ken Bryer
that could show conclusively that Alex wasn’t his wife’s killer or Bethany’s, and in truth hadn’t found anything at all that could help him, I worried that Derek had more luck than I had and may not have been in a hurry to let me in on what he’d learned. Better for me to stay on top of him because if I planned on waiting for him to come to me with information, I may be waiting a long time.

  I found Sunset Ridge’s chief of police sitting in his office staring at the far wall with a look that said he was either deep in thought or sleeping with his eyes open. That he was just hanging out in his office gave me hope he hadn’t found any more neighbors willing to claim that Alex and Bethany had been fighting like cats and dogs last night, or even better, hadn’t found actual evidence to tie Alex to the crime at all.

  Derek sitting and staring usually meant he had nothing to go on and the case had stalled. As I stepped into his office, I could only hope.

  “Hey, Chief, what’s new?” I asked, trying to remain as upbeat as possible so as not to make him think I’d found anything that would incriminate Alex.

  Turning his focus toward me, Derek shook his head and frowned. “Nothing. I have a few leads I want to follow up on, but in general, nothing’s new.

  As I sat down in the chair in front of his desk, I asked, “So you don’t have any more evidence in the case?”

  He leveled his gaze on me and said nothing for a few seconds. I had no idea what was going through his head as he stared at me, but I hoped it wasn’t that he had changed his mind and decided to ice me out of the investigation. I didn’t want to, but I wasn’t above begging to get him to let me stay on. Without the ability to know what the police knew, I’d be working blind and have little chance to help Alex.

  “If you’re asking if I found the knife with Alex’s fingerprints on it, the answer is no.”

  I sighed, my head already hurting from Derek’s pigheadedness on this issue. “Why is it so easy for you to believe one of your officers killed someone? It’s like you aren’t even considering anyone else could have done this. I swear, Derek, I can’t figure out why you became a cop if you have no interest in finding out who really committed crimes and prefer to just jump to ridiculous conclusions.”

  My insult stunned him, and his mouth hung open for a moment before he sat straight up in his chair and snapped, “I don’t have to let you work on this case, Poppy McGuire, average citizen with no badge, no training, and no ability to do much other than muddle things up.”

  Ouch. It was true I’d been a little harsh in my comment to him, but he didn’t have to slice and dice my feelings like that. Ordinarily, I’d simply brush him off if he acted like that, but this case had my emotions all jumbled, so I didn’t stop the tears when they filled my eyes. Also, I knew Derek Hampton well enough to know that making a woman cry was one of those things he hated doing.

  It was his Kryptonite, and I wasn’t above using it to stay on this case.

  Burying my face in my hands, I let the tears flow. They came because I missed Bethany. They came because of my fear that I wouldn’t be able to show the world that the man I loved wasn’t a killer. They came because of the frustration building inside me from finding nothing at Ken Bryer’s office that would exonerate Alex.

  They came because as I sat there, I was little more than a wrung-out emotional dishrag after the past few hours.

  “Christ, Poppy, stop crying. I didn’t mean it. You don’t have to stop looking into the case.”

  I dropped my hands from my face and looked up at him through tear-filled eyes as my emotions continued to unravel. “Does that mean you think I muddle things up?”

  He shook his head and handed me a tissue. “No. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. This case has me has on edge and I took it out on you. I know you’re just trying to help Alex.”

  Thanking him for the tissue and his apology, I dried my eyes and sniffled the last of my sobs away. “It’s just so hard, Derek. I’m trying to find something that can show he would never do this—something other than my just knowing deep down in my soul that he would never hurt Bethany like this. I know that’s not enough.”

  “No, it’s not. I like him, Poppy. I do, but I can’t ignore the facts here. He and Bethany had dated, and from what her next door neighbor saw, they’d rekindled their relationship recently.”

  “That’s not possible, Derek! That, at least, I can prove.”

  Curious, his eyebrows shot up into his forehead. “Really? How’s that?”

  “Because he’s been at my house almost every night since October.”

  Derek knitted his now angry eyebrows. “What are you saying, Poppy? Are you two more than just partners who work on cases?”

  As much as I preferred my private life to stay just that, I wasn’t going to lie about what I felt for Alex. Nodding, I told Derek the truth. “Yes. We’re dating and have been for months, so whatever Bethany’s nosy neighbor thinks she saw is nonsense. Alex wasn’t back with Bethany because he’s with me.”

  Sunset Ridge’s police chief had liked me since grade school when he would walk me home from school every day, and as he sat there gaping at me in surprise at what I’d just told him, I saw hints of that same young boy who still liked me in his eyes. I also saw disapproval, but I didn’t know if that was because he had feelings for me, as I’d long suspected, or because there was an unspoken sense between him, Alex, and me that when he agreed to let us work together that it meant that was all it could ever be.

  “You and Alex are together?” he asked in a quiet voice full of shock.

  “Yes, so you see, Mallory Michaels was wrong. Alex may have gone over there last night, but he and Bethany weren’t back together.”

  Derek remained silent as he processed what I’d told him and then announced, “You can’t work on this case, Poppy. You’re too close to it. I thought you were too close before when I thought you and Alex were just good friends and partners, but if you’re lovers, that’s definitely too close.”

  “What?” I screamed as I jumped out of my seat. “Don’t do this, Derek. I need to be able to work on this case to help him. Don’t push me out.”

  He stared up at me, and as the surprise faded, I saw resignation fill his eyes. It was one of the best parts of Derek. He hated a hassle, and if I could be anything, I could be a huge hassle for him and he knew it.

  “Sit down before one of my officers comes in and puts you in handcuffs for acting this way toward the chief of police.”

  I leaned my hands against the edge of his desk and lowered my head so we were just about eye level. “Tell me you’re not going to force me off this case and I’ll sit down.”

  He remained silent for a long moment and then blew the air out of his lungs. “Fine. Now sit down and get yourself together. First, you’re crying, and then you’re jumping all over the place. You won’t be able to help your boyfriend if you’re an emotional mess.”

  I took my seat again and tried to compose myself. “If we could just stick with calling Alex by his given name, I’d appreciate it. Oh, and if the word lovers ever comes out of your mouth in regard to my personal life, Derek Hampton, I won’t care if you’re the chief of police of this town or not. I’ll tell anyone who’s willing to listen about how Kristy Baumburger left you standing without your pants in the woods out past the Hotel Piermont in the middle of the night in senior year and how you called me begging me to get clothes for you so nobody would see. Got it?”

  A smile spread across his face, and he nodded. “That’s low, Poppy, but message received. I’m worried you’re going to have your heart broken on this, though, and I won’t be able to do a thing about it.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’m a lot tougher than I look, but it won’t matter. Alex didn’t do this, so there won’t be any hearts breaking. So can we get back to the case and where we’re at with it?”

  My outburst behind us, he returned to his usual all-business way. “The coroner won’t have his report until tomorrow, but the knife nearly took poor Betha
ny’s head off. Other than that, there’s Mallory Michaels and her eyewitness testimony.”

  The thought of Bethany’s last moments being so unbelievably awful made my heart contract, but I had to keep focused on getting Derek to see the murderer could be anyone. “We need to begin looking at the clues to find suspects because Alex can’t be the killer.”

  “I want to believe that, Poppy, but Mallory’s statement about Alex and Bethany having a fight makes it look bad.”

  “What about her cell phone? What did you find on that? Bethany was never without her cell phone.”

  Derek opened up his notes and read from them. “She only called one person last night. Alex at right around nine. Her last call before that was to The Eagle on Friday around four.”

  That didn’t sound right. Like most people, Bethany was always on her cell and her last call was to her workplace on a Friday until she made one call Sunday night? Something wasn’t right.

  “So you think a woman with an active social life like Bethany didn’t call a soul from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening? How likely does that sound, Derek?”

  He shrugged, clearly not seeing the problem. “I don’t know, but that’s what her phone said. Her sister had been in town for the past few weeks, so it wouldn’t be surprising that she wouldn’t be calling many people with family around and her active social life, as you call it, could have slowed down a lot so she could spend time with her sister.”

  “What about incoming calls?”

  Derek looked down at the paper in front of him and shook his head as he looked up at me. “A few from work. That’s all.”

  That didn’t sound right either. Bethany wasn’t some lonely hermit. But maybe he was correct and she was spending a lot of time with her sister.

  “Have you found Mariah yet?”

  “No, she hasn’t been heard from and we don’t know her whereabouts yet. I called her from the number on Bethany’s phone, but the phone was turned off and I couldn’t leave a voicemail. We found none of her belongings in Bethany’s apartment. It’s like she wasn’t there Sunday.”