by D. K. Hood
“Yeah, but I’ll need Rio’s help. They bring in supplies through the staff entrance using a forklift. I recall seeing it when we arrived. It will mess up the floor but I should be able to use it to move the freezer. With Rio’s help, I’ll take it to a more suitable location. I was thinking maybe a maintenance shed as there’s one close by. They have power, so we’ll have plenty of light to do a forensic examination.”
Jenna nodded. “When I’m through here, I’ll go upstairs and swap with Rio. Once you have the body secured off-site, we’ll call in Wolfe and get to the bottom of this. There must be more of this victim out there and we’ll need to find it.” She tapped her bottom lip. “Okay, process the scene. I’ll go take some statements. Head up to the suite with Julie when you’re done and we’ll work out a plan of action.”
She walked into the dining room. “I’m Sheriff Alton. Who found the body?”
“That was me. The door wasn’t closing properly or I’d have walked right past it.” A man in his fifties came forward. “I’m Jeromy Eton, the head baker.”
Jenna nodded. “What time was this?”
“A little after four.” Eton frowned. “It was a shock, seeing it staring at me.”
Glancing at the stunned people sitting at the tables, Jenna kept her tone even. “Did you see anyone here when you arrived? Anyone outside?”
“Nope, we all arrive at four. We walk down as a group every morning and come in the back door. We usually change in the mudroom and then get on with our chores. I came in first and straight away noticed the freezer door. When I saw what was inside, I kept everyone waiting in the mudroom and called Mr. Brightway. He told us to remove our shoes and come in here.” Eton shrugged. “Apart from the freezer door, the only thing I noticed was the footprints tracked to the storeroom. It’s where we keep the hams, cans of fruit, things like that, and someone has been taking food every week or so. They don’t usually leave body parts behind.”
Jenna had checked the other fridges and freezers when she’d arrived. “Well, there’s nothing in the kitchen. It seems they only used the smaller freezer outside in the hallway. Why is that outside the kitchen?”
“It’s just an overflow freezer, is all.” Eton rubbed his chin. “What happens now?”
“We’ll be processing the scene.” Jenna handed him her statement book. “I’ll need you to write down everything that happened with times if you have them.”
“Okay.” Eton pulled a pen from his top pocket and began to write.
Jenna looked around the staff members. “Anyone else notice anything unusual this morning?”
Most shook their heads but the others had fixed startled stares like a deer caught in the headlights. She glanced over her shoulder as the door opened and Kane walked into the room.
“No sign of forced entry.” Kane led her away from the others and lowered his voice. “There are tracks outside from the staff coming in this morning, but I couldn’t find anything else of significance. The maintenance crews are all over the complex daily with snowmobiles, collecting firewood, so there are tracks everywhere.” He sucked in a breath. “There’s a maintenance shed close by and I looked inside. There’s blood in there but only a few spots. I spoke to Brightway and he said one of his crew had a fall in there yesterday and banged his head. He’s taking a few days off with concussion. I’m moving the freezer into that shed once Em has finished a preliminary examination. I sure don’t want the media coming out and stamping all over the evidence. We’ll need to keep this on the downlow for now.”
Jenna nodded. “How long will you need to clear the area? I figure they’ll want to start cleaning the kitchen as soon as possible.”
“Hours. I’ll need daylight to search for the rest of the body and the murder weapon.” Kane pulled his woolen cap down over his ears. “It’s bitterly cold out there and we won’t be able to stay outside indefinitely. Once we’re set up, I’ll contact Wolfe in a video call. There’s power and a bench in the shed we can use for the examination. I’ll grab a few rolls of plastic wrap from the storeroom to cover the bench.” He blew out a long sigh. “From the mangled way the body is cut up, I figure he used a chainsaw. It must be around here somewhere, it’s not something you can carry around inside a hotel without being noticed.” He indicated with his chin to the staff. “You might as well send these people away. Tell Brightway we’ll contact him once we’ve finished and he can send in a cleaning crew.”
“Okay.” Jenna headed back to the sea of expectant faces and pulled her notebook and pen out of her pocket. “I’ll need a list of the names of everyone here and then you can leave. The restaurant will be closed for most of the day.”
“If nothing was touched inside the kitchen, why close the restaurant?” Eton stared at her. “How will they feed the guests?”
Jenna shrugged. “The other eateries will have to cope for one day. We’ll need time to process the scene and then the kitchen will need to be cleaned.”
“What about your team?” Eton frowned. “You won’t have time to line up for hours for food.”
Jenna stared at him, surprised by his obvious concern. “What do you suggest? We have a coffee machine and a microwave upstairs in our suite, and plates and silverware, but no food.”
“There’s bread left over from yesterday, butter and fixings in the refrigerator in the staff break room.” Eton scratched his head. “There’s a ton of pies in the refrigerator, and plenty of milk if you want cereal. Everything you need to keep you going for today, and we have spare toasters in the store cupboard. They use them in the chalets. Take what you need to your suite to feed your team. The food is left for our breakfast, but after we’ve eaten, everything is thrown away before the next shift arrives.”
Jenna nodded. “Okay, so you usually eat here during your shift?”
“Yeah.” Eton glanced at the others. “Once we’ve prepared the bread, there’s an hour before we bake it, so we eat breakfast. The food will go to waste unless you take it. We have food at home.” He smiled and pointed to an aluminum room service cart. “There’s a cart over there you can use.”
“Thanks that’s very kind of you.” She collected the list of names and counted them off. “Okay but before I let you go. Please, don’t mention a word of this to anyone. The future of the ski lodge and your jobs are at stake. I must find who did this and the smallest leaked details will hamper our investigation. Don’t worry, Mr. Brightway will keep you up to date. Use the front entrance on your way out, please.”
Confident Kane had things under control, Jenna grabbed the cart and headed through the kitchen to the staff area. She found the refrigerator and the toasters and then loaded up the cart. Before she left the kitchen, she drew her weapon and moved in silence through the corridors. A deranged serial killer was here somewhere, maybe lurking close by watching her every move. Which one of her suspects had committed such heinous crimes? Shadows leaped out at her like gargoyles on ancient buildings as she moved along the passageways increasing the pounding of her heart. The killer was escalating rapidly and no one was safe.
Forty-Eight
Black Rock Falls
After listening to Kane’s matter-of-fact details of yet another homicide at Glacial Heights Ski Resort, Wolfe seriously considered driving up the mountain and taking his chances. Anger rode on his shoulders at the thought of his precious daughters being isolated on a mountain with a homicidal maniac on the rampage. He’d not been able to sleep, waiting for the next call from Jenna or Kane to inform him of another murder. Containing his anger, he set up his equipment to receive a video feed from Kane’s phone. “Do you have eyes on my girls?”
“All the time.” Kane’s phone rustled as if he’d handed it to someone.
“Hi, Dad. It’s Emily. We’re fine. I’m here with Dave, and Rio is guarding Julie. During the day, Julie is surrounded by her friends. We don’t allow her even to walk back and forth to the sessions alone. Trust me, the moment the weather clears we’ll be coming home.” Emily passed the pho
ne back to Kane.
“The weather forecast says we’ll have clear weather from this afternoon with more snow forecast next week.” Kane sounded optimistic. “As soon as we’ve located the rest of the body and the murder weapon, if the weather holds, I’ll bring the body down and the girls. No one else has wanted to leave. This is the strangest group of people I’ve ever encountered. Most would be running for the hills. It seems crime writers and all those who work with them figure having a psychopath in their midst is all part of the fun.”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Wolfe adjusted his webcam and an image of Kane popped up on his screen. As he was about to examine body parts, he needed a wide screen and not his phone. “Until one of them is murdered.”
“They seem to think it’s an elaborate hoax, a game the convention has organized. We have groups trying to figure out the killers. It’s unbelievable.” Kane narrowed his gaze. “Okay, what do you need first?”
Wolfe cleared his throat. “The overall image. I want to see the remains in situ.”
An image appeared on the screen and Wolfe captured what he needed. He swallowed hard at a very familiar scarf. “Don’t tell me that’s Julie’s scarf stuffed in the mouth.”
“Yeah.” Kane’s eyes flashed with anger. “It went missing from her room after she saw the guy at the end of her bed.”
Squashing the need to swear, Wolfe nodded. “Okay, Em, I gather you did a preliminary examination. Did you remove the limbs from the shelves?”
“Yes, I slid one to the edge to examine the cut and then replaced it.” Emily’s face looked pale and drawn. “It was pretty chewed up, the bone splintered. We’ve wrapped the bench in plastic. Do you want us to take them out so you can look at them?”
“Yeah, we’ll examine each piece at a time—feet, legs, hands, arms, and head last.” Wolfe leaned on his desk. “How many pieces apart from the head do you see?”
“Six. The torso is missing.” Kane held a foot and calf in front of the camera. “Hold the phone steady, Em.”
Wolfe ran his gaze over the masticated end of the stump. “Hmm, I’ve seen this before. This is a chainsaw used on frozen flesh. You’ll have to check all the chainsaws on the premises for human blood or tissue traces. The management will have a record of how many they own. It must be one from the resort, likely taken from one of the maintenance crew. Em, you’ll have to take swabs and test them as you go. Push the swab deep into the chain, look for places that might have collected blood spatter or tissue. A chainsaw tears up flesh, even frozen, so you’ll find traces on the tool even if he tried to clean it.” He made a note and looked back. “Now show me the thigh.”
What he saw surprised him. “The main problem here is the blood clot on the severed end and, look, above the knee, there’s a torniquet mark. This person was dissected alive.”
“Oh, now that’s darn right nasty.” Kane’s voice came through the speaker. “A psychopath with masochistic tendencies, that’s all we need.”
“I see the same mark on the other thigh and both upper arms, Dad.” Emily stared into the screen. “How do you get someone to just lie there and let someone dissect them? Even if they were knocked out, the pain would bring them around. This doesn’t make sense.”
In his experience in battle, Wolfe had seen indescribable atrocities. He thought back, seeking comparisons, and stared into the camera. “Now the head. Forget the face and show me what’s left of the back of the neck.”
As luck would have it, Kane had no problem displaying the head, and there it was, the two little red dots right at the base of the skull. “Okay, I’ve seen enough. This person, presumably male by the features and size was hit with a stun gun. On high, the shock would have caused paralysis from the neck down. From what I’m seeing, this is torture. This killer gets off on fear. I’ve given the cases a great deal of thought and that’s what connects them all. Dakota Storm, bludgeoned, half strangled, stabbed in the eye, and tossed into a freezing lake. Kitty Pandora, was likely forced into the bathtub and the killer used a hairdryer dangling over the water to scare her, the same motive for Jedidiah Longfellow. He died slowly, stalked by his killer—he was actually scared to death—and now this one. Which of your suspects knew the victims well enough to be trusted? These murders are all very personal.”
“I’ll discuss it with the team.” Kane returned the body parts to the freezer and closed the door. “The problem is we have two hundred people here and as most of them believe we’re playing a mystery game, no one is coming forward at all. I’d expect people to be banging our door down with information but no one is saying anything. I figure they’re concerned that if they’ve found a clue, they’ll miss out on a prize or something. It’s bizarre. Most of the suspects have been involved with each other and the victims at one time. Identifying the killer is like finding the odd strand in a plate of spaghetti.”
Forty-Nine
Glacial Heights Ski Resort
I’ve been waiting for Julie, hanging around a display of books, on constant alert. The mood is different today, the long wait to buy food making everyone jumpy. I lined up at one of the eateries, hoping to see Julie, but she didn’t show. People around me sniff the air, concern over their faces. The announcement of a gas leak in the main restaurant being the main topic of conversation. I smile to myself, knowing the reason the place is closed, and I try to imagine the expression on the person’s face who’d found what I’d left of Riggs. I’d set his final scene to the book, right down to the placement of his hands and feet. I’d made his client rich overnight. Publicity, no matter how gruesome, was always good for sales. No doubt, within the year I’ll be seeing Body Parts made into a movie… of course, with my added touch of flavor. How incredibly amusing, I can hardly refrain from bursting into laughter.
Ah, I see her now, blonde hair flying and with the sheriff strolling along beside her. As Julie greets her friends, the sheriff does a sweeping scan of the immediate area. Casually, I lift a book from the table and peruse the pages. She has interviewed me, but I’m confident I outwitted her. She has no evidence against me and I can see, as her eyes sweep past me, I’m no one of interest to her. I blend in, just a normal person enjoying the conference. But I will take extra precautions, especially after overhearing Julie mention someone photobombing her selfies wearing a hoodie. For now, I’ve kept mine tied around my waist. A cunning move as Julie constantly moves away from anyone wearing one, and that isn’t in my best interest. Later, after the session ends and the rush for the elevators begins, I’ll need to be close by. I’ve made plans to encourage her to take the stairs. People are so effortlessly controlled. With one suggestion, they’ll follow like sheep, and my little lamb can so easily get lost in a crowd.
I leave the bookstand as Julie joins the line into the last session of the day. A panel of experts titled “Forensics Procedures You Should Know.”
As I move in behind her, she peeks over one shoulder and gives me the sweetest smile. Red nails rake through her bangs, and as her perfume fills my nostrils, I move closer. My hands are trembling so hard that I push them deep into my pockets among the discarded candy wrappers. A toss of her head sends silver-blonde hair cascading down her back like wet silk. I open my palm and allow the glossy ends to brush my flesh. My heart pounds. Beads of sweat run down my forehead, tickle across my cheek on the way to my collar. So close, my fingers ache to touch her white flesh. I so need to watch her eyes widen and bulge as I squeeze the life from her. I bite down hard on my cheek and lift my gaze, fixing it anywhere but on her. I feel my control sliding into the abyss. I must remain strong for a few more hours. My job is done here. Now it’s time for fun.
Fifty
In the interview room, Jenna stared at the information she’d correlated from all sources on each of her suspects. The report from Bobby Kalo hadn’t given any more clues on how the suspects and victims were connected, but he’d been able to identify the victim in the freezer using facial recognition software against all the males staying at the ski res
ort. The victim was a literary agent from New York, Quentin Riggs. The man hadn’t been missed, and Jenna had spent most of the afternoon checking CCTV footage to determine a timeline between the last time Riggs was seen alive, during a session in one of the halls, and the time the baker discovered his body. She looked up as Kane and Emily came into the room with Duke close on their heels. “Ah, good. Find anything?”
“Yeah, we discovered where the killer stored the body parts overnight.” Kane went straight to the coffee machine and poured two cups. “By the look of things, he buried them in the snow just outside the staff entrance to the lodge. We searched all around, even took Duke out with us, but found no trace of the torso. No doubt that will show up in the melt. The killer left nothing behind, no evidence we can use. Em collected the blood evidence on scene, but as sure as hell, he wasn’t killed there.”
“The chainsaws were a wipeout.” Emily’s lips were blue and her nose bright red. “I checked them all, but there’s one missing. Mr. Brightway is checking the numbers on them to find out who was issued the missing one. It must be close by somewhere. I figure the killer buried it with the torso.” She took the coffee Kane handed her. “Any pie left? I’m famished. It was freezing out there.”
“Did you establish a timeline for Riggs?” Kane searched the fridge and pulled out a pie, cut it into sections, slid it onto a plate, and handed it across the table to Julie. “That man suffered. This killer is on a personal revenge murder spree. There must be something to link the victims together.”
“I’ve looked over the suspects’ statements so many times my head is spinning.” Rio leaned back in his chair and stretched. “I went and spoke to all of them again today. We need to take out Bradford and concentrate on the two literary agents: Finnian and Rain. We know they’ve both had axes to grind with at least two of our victims. I’m keeping Grayson on the list because apart from the two agents, he’s the only author on the list who can’t account for his whereabouts between three and four this morning. Bradford spent the entire night with a woman, and Jenna verified his arriving and leaving on the CCTV feed. His woman friend’s door is in plain sight of the camera. It can’t have been him. The other three spent the night alone and inconveniently all have rooms in corridors with shielded access to the fire stairs. We can track them to their rooms and leaving this morning, but any one of them could’ve sneaked out overnight and used the stairs.”