Psychosis_When a Dream Turns Deadly

by Roger Bray

  “It leaves us with the question of how, or why, did Hazel go missing. Given what happened in the lead up to her going missing and from what you’ve told me about her, I find it hard to believe that she walked off into the night and made herself disappear.

  “If it wasn’t Alex, and it wasn’t Nicholas then what? Are we to believe that a complete stranger happened to be coming along and spirit Hazel away without leaving any sort of evidence behind?”

  “It does seem a little strange.” Alex conceded as Alice nodded.

  “If Hazel had disappeared after leaving Nicholas’s house and then her car was found near the rail yards, absolutely anything could have happened, but she didn’t. She made it back to her own house. She parked outside and then something happened.”

  “You’re presuming that Hazel drove the car back here,” Alex said.

  Steve nodded, “That was an idea that I was concerned about as well but yes, I am, because nothing else would make sense. If she was taken somewhere else why would the assailant, kidnapper, whatever we are calling them, drive back to your house, park the car there long enough for Ron to see it then drive off again to dump it somewhere else?”

  Alice nodded, “I see … it doesn’t make sense, does it?”

  “No, it doesn’t. The only thing that does make sense is, and you’re not going to like this, but if …”

  “If it was me after all.” Alex finished for him.

  “Yes, if Hazel came home safely and came into the house. You had an argument then, and that’s when Hazel died and not the few hours before.”

  “But we know,” Alice interrupted, “from the forensics the police did on Alex’s computer and from his service provider records that he was not only online, but he was working on the computer for all the time from before midnight until well after Ron saw Hazel’s car was back and then gone again.”

  “Correct. You know a lot more about this than I do, you can interpret the computer records better than I ever could.” He looked straight at Alex as he asked, “Is it possible that Alex could have been logged on but not actually been here?”

  “No, it wasn’t a matter of being online. The logs show that he was interacting the whole time. He was working, doing what he said that he was doing the longest that there was nothing happening was about fifteen minutes when he said he made himself a cup of soup, a little after two in the morning.”

  “Not long enough to do what needed to have been done to get rid of Hazel. To drive her car to the rail yard, dump it, and pedal back here on a bicycle he doesn’t own.”

  “Not even close.”

  Alice’s voice was raised a little and Alex grabbed her hand, “Alice, I don’t blame Steve for asking, even though we knew all of that, I agree that it still needed to be asked.”

  Alice nodded, “I know, but it doesn’t help much, does it? It definitely clears you but what may have happened is no clearer.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. The main thing is that we don’t ignore anything because we might not like the answer. When we first met, I had no idea about the case or if he might be guilty. I would go so far to say that on the first night, I was fairly sure that was the case …”

  “But?”

  “Well, as time went by, I became more convinced of his innocence. And he has now been proven to be and no amount of questions will change that.”

  Alice nodded and smiled at him, “OK, I knew that. I don’t want Alex to feel that we’re doubting him. He shouldn’t have to prove himself innocent all the time.”

  “And I won’t. I know what happened as far as I’m concerned, and no amount of questions will change that, but we still have no idea what happened to Hazel. No one knew her plans had changed until Rowe told you.”

  “That’s the other thing that doesn’t make sense,” Steve took the chance to move the conversation past Alice’s indignation.

  “Hazel’s plans that night were unknown, least of all by her. She had a plan, and it fell apart, so she went with it. She intended to stay at Nicholas’s but then circumstances determined that she’d go back to Alex after all. She didn’t know that she was going to do that, so how could anyone else?”

  “They couldn’t.”

  “No. And how would someone be waiting for Hazel if they didn’t know where she was going to be? Her phone record shows that she didn’t call anyone, and nobody called her.”

  “So, where does that take us?”

  “Everything points to the road right outside this house. The evening started there, and it finished there. I think we’re looking for someone who lives locally. A neighbor or maybe a delivery man who travels this area a lot. I think it’s someone who lives here in this area. And it’s someone who knew Hazel—”

  Alice stopped him, “And suddenly took it into their head to what? Kidnap or murder her? An impromptu act like that would have left traces if it wasn’t planned. Instead there was nothing.”

  “An impromptu act suggests a rash and spur-of-the-moment act. I’m not suggesting that it was rash. Spur of the moment almost definitely as the opportunity presented itself when Hazel turned up. I think it happened and the reason why there was nothing left at the scene was that it was planned. Not exactly, not a precise plan to kidnap Hazel because we know she turned up unannounced, but I think there was a plan. A plan that could be carried out when an opportunity arose. And I think that happened that night.”

  “Still,” Alice said not convinced, “It’s a bit of a stretch that whoever it was could do it so well. Most people are not skilled in kidnapping.”

  “No, of course you’re right about that, they aren’t. Unless they’ve done it before.”

  “Before?” Alice was unsure whether she should be alarmed or amused by Steve’s suggestion.

  “I’ve been looking into missing person cases over the past few years in this general area. I found two reports of missing women almost straight away. One was from north Eugene and the other one was from Cottage Grove. Then there were a few others that were close but didn’t match the description that I was trying for.”

  “Which was?” Alex asked before guessing the answer, “Hazel?”

  Steve nodded, “At least a rough fit, anyway. I ran the checks on missing Caucasian females aged between thirty-three and thirty-six years of age when they went missing. All had to be slim, with good figures, and all over five feet nine inches tall. Long, straight, darkish hair and all had to have disappeared without a trace.

  “And you found two?”

  “Three actually. I found two locally and another from Bend.”

  “Bend is two-and-a-half hours away. That one must be hard to link to the other two women.”

  “Not so much. You might see it as a bit of a stretch but stick with me on this. For one, they all matched the parameters I searched under down to the letter. Also, I found that there was a distinct separation of time between the disappearances.”

  “Of how long?” Alex was starting to understand the work that Steve had put into this investigation.

  “About four years between them, give or take a few weeks.”

  Alex looked a little shocked, but Alice shook her head, not entirely convinced by what Steve was telling them.

  Steve opened the folder and took a sheaf of papers from it and started reading from the first sheet.

  “Grace Armitage was white, thirty-five years of age when she went missing. She was five feet nine and a half inches tall. She weighed 135lbs and had long, light brown hair—parted in the center—and light brown eyes. Grace went missing on October 17, 2000 from Cottage Grove sometime between 9.00 p.m. and 9.45 p.m. from a car park at the rear of an assisted living center near the airport where she worked part-time as a therapist. It was normal for her to stay back every second Tuesday to catch up with typing up her case notes. Amicably separated from her husband, Grace lived alone in a two-bedroom cottage near Bohemia Park which she had inherited from her grandfather.

  “Her ex-husband is an independent truck driver who was away in Sacra
mento with a pick up there, then on to Reno. He was away for nearly four days covering the time she went missing and had a lot of witnesses to prove he was away. He lives in a house south of Walden which he owned before they married. It’s on a couple of acres of land where he can park his truck safely.”

  Steve picked up the next piece of paper and continued reading.

  “Thirty-six years old, Maisie Graham, who is described as white and five feet ten inches tall. She was of a slim build and had long, straight, dark blond colored hair, parted at the center, and she had hazel eyes. Went missing between August 6 and 8, 2004. She left work on Friday at 5.00 p.m. and was going home to her apartment at River Terrace in north Eugene. She was supposed to meet friends for lunch on Sunday. When she didn’t show up, they went to her apartment and to her work on the following Tuesday. When they couldn’t find her, or anyone who had seen her, they filed a missing person report. There was no boyfriend or ex, and she didn’t own a car which was funny as she worked on the reception desk of a local car dealership. She was well liked and described as a good worker. She was attractive but a bit shy and a little naïve.”

  He handed over that piece of paper to Alice and continued with the last one.

  “This is the woman from Bend. Ruth Amanda Johnston, white, thirty-five years. She was five feet nine inches tall, and had brown eyes and long, straight auburn colored hair. She was last seen about 9.00 p.m. on July 12, 2007 after walking from a friend’s house in the Orchard district of Bend. She was seen by a neighbor who was walking his dog. They knew each other and stopped and chatted for a few minutes before the neighbor continued with their walk and Ruth walked in the direction of her own house, a rental which is also in the Orchard district.

  “Ruth was divorced, and her ex-husband was killed in a climbing accident a year before Ruth went missing. There were no dependents and no close relatives. She was reported missing by her boss, and best friend, from the coffee shop she worked in Old Bend. Ruth was also described being polite and pleasant to talk to, but reserved.”

  Alice glance at the last description as Steve handed her the piece of paper.

  “There are some inconsistencies,” Steve continued.

  “Like?”

  “Where they worked, what they did for a job, and where they lived. Apart from matching Hazel’s description; they were all employed, none of them told anyone they were planning to go away or had any known reason to leave. Unlike Hazel, there were no relationship problems.” As he said that, he looked apologetically at Alex who shrugged his shoulders in acceptance of the fact.

  “They were all going about their lives. Carrying on with their normal routines without a care in the world and they all disappeared without leaving a trace behind. But I think I’ve left the most compelling piece of evidence until last.”

  “Which is?” Alice wanted to know.

  Steve picked up another folder from the table, he opened it and pulled out the letter sized picture of Hazel they were all familiar with. He set the picture on the table and pulled a second picture from the folder, then a third then, finally a fourth.

  He laid them all out in a row under Hazel’s saying each woman’s name as he did.

  Alex and Alice looked at the photos on the table and Alice felt her jaw drop. Not only were the three women similar—they were almost identical.

  “Oh my God,” she exclaimed. “Now I can see what you’re getting at. They could be sisters, or at least closely related.”

  Alex pointed at one of the pictures, “This picture of Maisie reminds me of Hazel when I first met her. The resemblance is unbelievable.”

  Steve finished with his notes, “None of them had a lifestyle that would put them into any type of compromising position, and none of them knew each other, that I’m aware of, anyway. Grace went missing in 2000, and each of the others disappeared at almost four-year intervals, including Hazel.”

  “And Hazel has been missing now for?”

  “Three years and three months.”

  “What happened to them?” Alice asked. As she and Alex continued to look at the pictures.

  It was Steve’s turn to shrug his shoulders.

  “I have no idea, no trace of them has ever been found. There have been no remains, no clothes, nothing.”

  “You think Todd may know something about Hazel’s disappearance?”

  “I don’t know, but I think that it’s worth pursuing.”

  Alice and Alex nodded as Steve gathered his papers together and put them back into his folio case.

  “And the first thing we need to do is see if we can find Cheryl.”

  Chapter Nine

  Cheryl James had never married so finding her was a lot easier than they thought. A check in the phone book showed her as living in north-western Eugene. She took the phone call from Steve and agreed to see them at her house that Saturday morning.

  She opened the front door dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and her auburn hair tied in a ponytail. Alice had been expecting her to be similar to Hazel, but was still struck by how similar she was. Her long hair was a few shades lighter but from a distance or a quick glance, she might have been mistaken for Hazel or one of the other women.

  Steve made the introductions and Cheryl invited them in to sit in her living room and they sat facing each other across a coffee table centrally placed with matching sofas on each side. Alice and Steve on one and Cheryl on the other.

  “I agreed to see you, but I have no idea what I might know that would interest a PI.”

  When they planned for the meeting, Steve wanted Alice to start the conversation with an explanation of who she was and the background to the investigation. He wanted her to break the ice a little, so Cheryl wouldn’t be alarmed but as it turned out, her willingness to meet them surprised him a little. From the description Alex had given, he had expected her to be a little shy and reserved. Maybe not willing to get involved but when they had turned up, she seemed more bemused than concerned.

  “As Steve said,” Alice started, “My name is Alice Reed. I went to the same school as you although a few years later. My brother, Alex, went there as well a couple of years behind you.”

  “Alex Reed who was jailed for killing his wife?”

  Alice nodded.

  “Wow,” Cheryl exclaimed, but not actually sounding too surprised by the revelation.

  “You don’t sound surprised?”

  “I was surprised when he first rang. Your name struck a chord with me but I didn’t realize why until your brother’s name came to me.”

  “You remembered Alex?” Steve asked.

  “Not at all if I’m to be honest. Even when he was charged, the paper mentioned our school, and I was interested more for that. There’s nothing like a bit of notoriety.”

  “Do you remember him from school?”

  “I didn’t, no. When I first heard about the murder, I had no recollection of Alex or his wife at all.”

  “Hazel, his wife’s name was Hazel.”

  “Yeah, whatever. But I couldn’t remember them. When I saw their pictures in the paper I had a vague memory of having seen them around, but I didn’t know them. I didn’t socialize with them at all. They weren’t in my group of friends.”

  “No, probably not. But you do recall them from school?”

  “Vaguely, a little maybe. But, I thought that your brother had been released?”

  “He has.”

  “Found not guilty or something?”

  “He has been fully cleared of having anything to do with Hazel’s disappearance.”

  “If he’s been cleared then that’s it, isn’t it? He’s out so isn’t that the end of it?”

  “Yes, but we’re still trying to find out what happened to Hazel,” Steve took over.

  “And you think I can help?”

  “Hazel looks a lot like you.” Steve replied.

  “Yeah, someone at work said that to me, but I couldn’t see the resemblance.”

  “In some ways that’s why we’r
e here.”

  “Because I look like her? That’s a little disconcerting.”

  “I can imagine,” Alice said, “But it’s more than your resemblance. There’s a link between you both to someone else.”

  “Someone else?”

  “Todd Bailey.”

  “Todd?” she shook her head, “Todd Bailey? What on earth has Todd Bailey got to do with this?”

  “Do you still see Todd?”

  She laughed and shook her head.

  “No, not at all, I haven’t seen him in years. I don’t understand. Do you think Todd has something to with Hazel going missing? I’m sorry but I can’t see that at all. Why do you think Todd might be involved?”

  “We don’t,” Steve lied, “Todd’s mom lives down the road from Alex and Hazel’s house and as a part of the investigation we’re revisiting the people in the area to see if we can find out any fresh information.”

  Cheryl seemed to accept that and nodded that he should continue. Alice noticed that she had drawn her knees up in front of her and was holding her cup in both hands. Her elbows on her knees, protectively shielding her from them, or her memories she couldn’t be sure.

  “When was the last time that you saw him?” Steve continued.

  “About five, maybe six years after high school.”

  “You were an item, a couple?”

  “Yes, we were. We started going out in school and for about five years after we left. We went out for about six years.”

  “Did he break it off, or did you?”

  “I did.”

  “Can I ask why?”

  Cheryl sighed and shrugged her shoulders, “It wasn’t going anywhere. I wanted us to move in together, but he wouldn’t. I thought we would get married, but we seemed to reach a point where he was happy to be, but he didn’t want to take it to the next level, as they say now.”

  “A house, marriage, maybe children?”

  She nodded, “Yeah, exactly.”

  “Why? Did he say why he didn’t want that?”

  “No, he didn’t. We were good together, we were happy, and we had a lot of fun. But if I tried to raise that subject he would clam up and refuse to discuss it. It was the only time I ever saw him angry or upset, when I tried to push that subject on him.”