“A Ruger No. 1 Varminter K1-V-BBZ. Fits the type that could have shot our vics. Can’t know for sure ‘til we get it though. It wasn’t at the house.”
The men pushed through the photos and Noah watched January search through the banker’s box.
“Ken? Have you had contact with Charla Kent?” Noah asked.
“I just got off the phone with her. Ethan asked Jan to set up another appointment with her, but I guess she was too busy…”
January rolled her eyes.
“Why do you ask?” Ethan said.
“You call them Uncle Arnie and Aunt Maggie.”
Ken furrowed his brow, and looked to Ethan. “You call them that too.”
Ethan let out a deep breath. “You’re not in trouble Ken, just answer the damn question.”
“Well,” Ken started to play with his pen, “I don’t know. I guess she kept saying their names like that, so I do too.”
“She’s still calling him Uncle Arnie? After everything she knows?” January asked.
“Yeah.” Ken dropped the pen.
“I guess it could just be she’s used to calling him that?” Ethan shrugged, and studied the photo with the gun again.
January sat down and Ethan handed the photo to Noah. He saw a group of three men standing together with their hunting gear in front of a cottage or cabin. He held the photo closer, and squinted.
Darrel Beelson.
“Ethan. I know this guy.”
“Uncle— I mean Arnold Henderson?”
“No,” Noah pointed to Darrel. “Him. He’s the guy I went to talk to at the funeral. He was a friend of my drowning vic.”
“Your vic knew Arnold Henderson? Are you sure?” Ethan leaned over the picture.
“Yeah, and I bet I know who the guy in the middle is. I’ll tell you on the way.” Noah jumped out of his seat, and headed for the door, without waiting for Ethan to follow.
He heard footsteps behind him as he reached the end of the hall.
“Wait up, where are we going?”
“Jerry D’s.”
Chapter 34
Fiona
“Hey Fiona, I’m leaving early, but Ralph just got here.” Owen called up the stairs.
“Okay, see you later!”
She heard her front door shut a moment later, opened her laptop, and began to read.
Avery Hart was attacked in her apartment this past Saturday in the early hours of the morning. There is reason to believe there may be a connection with the masked serial killer, as just days ago, Avery called in to Channel 12 news, and claimed she may have been attacked by the serial killer ten years ago. After her initial statement, we were not able to follow up for any comments, but we have news that she is being released from the hospital as early as today.
Why didn’t Owen tell me, she wondered, as she clicked on a site from her recent browsing history. Wendy O’Connor’s memorial site.
She checked Tamara Sweeten’s page often, and found most of the grizzly details of each of their murders on news sites online.
She knew the same things would have happened to her had help not arrived in time.
They would have found her body along the path.
Carved.
Fiona read each of the articles carefully, trying to get to know the girls, and to find any similarities she could between them.
Tamara was black, a college student, and had a job in her local mall doing part-time retail work. She could find nothing in common with her yet, but she searched every day. Wendy was white, with dark hair like Fiona’s, but those were the only features they had in common. Wendy was a receptionist at a car dealership, and was engaged. Fiona was the oldest target at twenty-eight, but not by much, and she was the most established in her career of the three.
The thing all three had in common was jogging or running. The fact that they were all attacked on a path in their respective towns made Fiona lean toward the possibility that it was a crime of opportunity.
She entered Avery Hart’s name into her Google search engine, along with Crown River. She found a few news articles on the first page, which were related to her attack, and then something related to a college website that she clicked.
A photography course, she thought, that Avery teaches. She clicked on her Facebook page, and found the first photo she had seen. Light blonde hair, blue eyes. Fiona studied her face for a while, closed the laptop, and sighed.
Where do you fit in, Avery?
She heard the front door slam shut.
“Ralph, you in here?”
“Yep, what’s up Fiona?”
“Would you help me down the stairs?”
She heard him march up to her room, and when he reached her door, she smiled.
“I can bring you whatever you need.”
“I just want a change of scenery, alright? Maybe do some yoga in the living room.”
“You? Do yoga? Sorry, but doesn’t that involve twisting yourself around?”
“It’s just meditating really,” She smiled wide, “and stretching. It’ll be good for me.”
“Alright. Sure.” Ralph grabbed her crutches, as she swung out of the bed, and walked beside her down the hallway. “Careful.”
The stairs seemed daunting, and before Fiona could attempt them, Ralph picked her up.
“Ralph!”
“What?” He smiled, as he walked down the stairs carefully. “If dreamy Officer Owen can do it, so can I. Hold on.”
When they reached the bottom, she used the banister to steady herself, and Ralph raced back up the stairs to grab her crutches.
“Do you mind leaving me for a bit? Go out front, or down to the basement? I like to do my meditation alone.” She batted her eye lashes at him.
Ralph shrugged, and felt his pocket. Fiona knew he was a smoker, and it probably killed him to wait out the better part of a shift without one.
“Back in fifteen.”
When he was gone, she eased her way to the living room, and set the crutches against the couch. She eased herself down on it, and relaxed for a moment, before she brought her hands by each side of her legs, and pushed herself off the seat, held up by her arms.
She dipped down, pushed herself back up, and took a deep breath.
Up and down.
She closed her eyes, and pictured a field in Ireland, where her parents were from. Green as far as the eye could see and a calm sky above.
Up and down.
She needed to remain focused.
Up and down.
Keep motivated.
Up.
Strong
And down.
To walk on her own again.
And soon.
Chapter 35
“Doesn’t look too busy.” Ethan checked his cell phone again. “Owen should be here soon.”
Noah watched a few smokers out front checking out two well dressed women as they walked by.
Noah turned to Ethan. “What’s the plan?”
“I thought you had a plan.”
Noah studied the photo and slipped it onto the dashboard.
“Well, the plan is to confront Beelson about this photo, and prove a connection between him, Hornby, and Henderson. We can find out where Arnold Henderson is, and if they don’t know, they might know something else. I thought you called Owen to help bring them in for questioning?”
Ethan craned his neck to see which car had entered the lot. “I don’t know if interrogating them is the best way to get information. I understand you’re eager and it’s a great lead, but I’ve had experience with this kind of thing, alright?”
“Okay…”
“I was thinking maybe you could go in and kinda feel them out first.”
Noah looked at the building, and back to Ethan. “What?”
“You could talk to them about old times with their dead friend Hornby, who they’ve all come to celebrate and remember. Make them think it’s just about finding his killer. Act buddy-buddy with them.”
“You think t
hat’s a good idea? I’m still an outsider. What if they don’t want to talk to me?”
“Beelson will right? He’s the one who invited you. You’re in Noah.”
“Alright.” Noah looked around the lot. “And when Owen comes?”
“We only use him if we need him. I send him in, and he’ll be watching if you need any help. If you’re able to stay friendly, do. Nothing’s gotten in the news about Arnold Henderson yet, but we don’t have much time. Hornby knew him, and Beelson definitely does. Maybe Henderson has something to do with Hornby’s drowning.”
Noah nodded. “I think he found out that Arnold Henderson was killing people. It’s the most logical explanation I can think of for now.”
Ethan shrugged. “Who knows, but we’ve gotta consider it. You need to get in there.”
Noah opened the car door. “Any advice?”
“Just try to get them to co-operate peacefully.” Ethan added, before Noah was out.
Noah entered the bar, and spotted the group immediately. They sat in a round booth, far from the door, with somber faces.
Beelson noticed him right away, and Noah wondered if he had been expecting him, when he waved him over.
“Boys, this is Inspector…”
“Cotter. I’m sorry for your loss.” Beelson nodded once, and a man he didn’t recognize took a swig of his drink.
“This is Bob Pope, the one who owns the cottage we all go up to, the one I told you about. This is Scott Parker. Another friend of ours.” Beelson scooted over in the booth and Noah sat beside him.
“Not sure if Darrel told you about our conversation.” Noah said.
“Just that you’re tryin’a find out who did it.” Bob burped, and scratched his beard. “I’ll tell you the same thing Darrel did. Nobody’d wanna kill Grant Hornby.”
“I’ll be honest. When Darrel filled me in on how you know each other, and your hunting trips, it choked me up. You’ve been friends for a while now, and to have something happen like this, I mean, you’ve gotta be asking yourselves why.”
Bob looked at Darrel. “Just don’t make sense.”
Noah shook his head. “And it’s my job to try to make sense of it. To try to bring justice to this horrible act. From what I’ve heard, Grant Hornby was a great guy, and it doesn’t make sense.”
“He was great.” Scott echoed.
“Do anything for ya,” Darrel nodded, “shirt off his back kinda guy. That’s what I told Noah here.”
“If it was random, I mean,” Bob picked up his pint glass, “that’s just about the worst thing. How do you catch the guy if it was random?”
“You don’t.” Scott put his drink down. “You haven’t got any suspects, have you? Why’d you come if you don’t have anything to tell us?”
“Listen, I didn’t want to interrupt your night and paying respect to your friend. When Darrel told me I could come, I figured you’d want to help catch the bastard. I didn’t want to ruin your night though,” Noah went to stand, but Darrel grabbed his sleeve, and pulled him back down.
Scott shook his head. “No, we’ll help however we can.”
“We owe it to Grant.” Bob raised his glass, and they all took a drink.
“You mind if I record it?” Noah asked, and pulled out his phone.
Darrel stared at the phone for a moment, but Bob shook his head. “Just do whatever you can. If we help catch the guy, God, we could give Jen some closure.”
“She deserves it.” Scott nodded, as Noah pressed record.
“I spoke with Mrs. Hornby before.”
“She’s a mess.” Darrel shook his head. “Naturally.”
“What’d she have to say?” Bob asked.
“Same as you all. Didn’t think she could help. I want to do the best job I can here boys. Please state your names, and your consent to this taping.” They all did. “Darrel, do you know of anyone who had issues with Grant Hornby?”
“No sir. Everybody loved him.”
Bob and Scott answered the same.
“Do you know of anyone who would stand to profit from his death?”
Scott looked to the others. “Just Jen, but she’s got her own money. Her family’s stinkin’ rich.”
Bob gave Scott a look, and he stopped. “It wasn’t her.”
“When you all went up to Bob’s cabin to go hunting, who all went?”
Darrel looked to the others. “There’s us three, Grant, sometimes Bob’s friend Arnie, and what was that guy’s name again Scott? That friend of yours you brought up that summer?”
“Ray.”
“Right, and that’s it. We’d all go hunting, but like I told ya, Grant wasn’t much for it.”
Bob laughed. “He’d always pretend to shoot at an animal, but he’d scare em’ off. Bastard.”
They all burst out laughing, and Noah shared a genuine smile with them.
“Did he get along with Arnie and Ray? Last names?”
“God, I don’t even know Ray’s last name.” Scott kept laughing long after the rest stopped. “Guy’s a weirdo and we don’t talk anymore.”
Bob took a sip of his drink. “Henderson. Arnie Henderson. He got along fine with Grant. Now he was pissed when Grant scared away the prey, but that was it. After that, he’d always ask if Grant would be coming up, and when he was, Arnie just wouldn’t show. No issue there.”
“Ray only came the one time. Don’t even know if Grant was there.” Scott finished the beer, and refilled his glass from the pitcher. “Hell, I wasn’t up as often as these boys.”
“Back to this Arnie guy,” Noah said, “he come out often?”
“Like I said, as long as Grant couldn’t make it, he was there. Half the time it was one, other half the other.” Bob burped again and Noah watched his eyes glaze. It gave him an idea.
“I see.” Noah raised his hand, and pointed to the pitcher, when the bartender looked their way.
“Thanks man.” Darrel smiled and clapped him on the back. Same glazed look.
“No problem. So did any of you ever hunt anywhere else?”
“Bob and I hunted up at another friend’s cottage one time.” Bob nodded, and Darrel continued, “When Arnie was up at Bob’s with us, Grant never hunted somewhere else. He’d never hunt without us, but Arnie did on his own.”
Noah took a sip of his drink. “Know where that’d be?”
“North of our usual hunting grounds by my cottage. That’s for sure.” Bob looked at the empty pitcher, and then over to the bartender who was pouring them another.
“Anyone know where?”
“Naw, he never said specifics.” Bob grabbed a few beer nuts and shoved them in his mouth.
“He’d always tell us about his trips without us. Always claimed he’d bagged lots, and we figured he was lying, but then he never told us where. We think he was holding out on us. Keeping the more populated areas to himself.” Darrel shrugged.
“When was the last time you saw Arnie?” Noah asked as the bartender brought them their drinks, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Owen enter the bar. He took a seat on a bar stool, and didn’t make eye contact. “Maybe I should speak to him.”
“Listen,” Bob said, pouring himself a tall drink, with lots of head, “it’s been a while. Like we said, they were never around each other.”
“They were both there last month at the BBQ, the one they brought their wives to.” Scott said, greedily eyeing the pitcher. “They’re the only ones shacked up. Bob, Darrel and I here are bachelors.”
“So a recent barbeque. Was Grant acting differently then? He get into any fights?”
Scott started laughing and slapped his hand on the table, and the other patrons, including Owen, turned to them.
Darrel shot a look at Scott. “Nothing happened, so no big deal.”
Noah continued to stare at Scott. “Where was the BBQ?”
“Arnie and Maggie’s.” Bob smiled. “Maggie makes the best potato salad.”
“No way,” Scott shook his head. “Jen does.”
> “I’ve gotta take a piss.” Darrel started to slide out of the booth before Noah even moved, and Noah nodded to him.
He caught Owen’s nod to the bartender out of the corner of his eye, and watched Owen slide a bill down for his drink and leave.
“So nothing unusual happened at the barbeque?”
“Like we just told you. No.” Bob wiped his mouth with his hand. “Listen buddy, we came to remember Hornby, not investigate his death alright? That’s your job.”
“I think we’re done here.” Noah looked at his phone. “Thank you for your time.”
Scott nodded, and Bob shook his head. “Thanks for the drinks.”
When Noah got to the parking lot, he found Owen standing outside waiting for him.
“Hey man, wait here alright?”
Noah knew the topic of the barbeque made Beelson act differently than the rest of the group, but he couldn’t say how. When they started talking about the barbeque, Noah noticed a change in his demeanor, and decided to play a hunch.
Owen nodded, and they leaned back against the front of the building.
A few minutes later, Darrel walked out, with a smoke in his hand.
“Hey, I thought you left?” He said, and when he saw Owen, his forehead wrinkled.
“You wanna tell me what you know, or should we go downtown?” Noah asked.
Darrel looked between them, lit his cigar, and shifted his weight from foot to foot.
He took a few puffs, and shook his head. “I swear I didn’t hurt him. Let’s get that outta the way first.”
“Don’t waste my time.” Noah said.
“The barbeque last month? The one where everyone brought their wives? I caught Jen Hornby getting it on with Arnie in the hallway.”
Noah looked to Owen, who squinted at Darrel. “Okay.”
“They were finishing up, or whatever, and then he whispered something to her. She shakes her head and she slips him a note. Course, she had to go an’ do that.” Darrel puffed his cigar again, and shook his head. “I wasn’t gunna tell Grant, cause there would be no proof, and it’d be their word against mine, but then when I saw that letter, I knew I had to tell him.”
“What happened next?”
“She was cryin’ I think, so she went to the bathroom, and Arnie took the note with him, down to the basement. I went outside, and found Grant, and I told him.” Darrel ran his fingers through his hair. “He was my best friend. I told him what I saw, and about the letter. He just stood there, watching the house, but then when she came out, and then he came out…he looked at me, and told me to distract Arnie. I tried to stop him, but nobody could’ve.” Darrel choked on a chuckle.
Lies Come True Page 11