“What’s funny?”
“If you were there, you’da thought he was going after Arnie, to hit him or something, but I knew him better.”
“That why Scott was laughing?”
Darrel nodded. “He was going to find that note. I did what he said, and kept Arnie busy. When he came back out, he acted like nothing was wrong. He walked right over to Jen and kissed her. I didn’t know what to make of it. Arnie watched them too, but he didn’t do anything either.”
“Then what happened?”
“Nothing, that’s it. Grant never said anything to me about it, and nobody else knew anything.”
Owen cleared his throat. “He was your best friend, and you never spoke about it again?”
Darrel shrugged. “We don’t talk about that shit. Come on. It was none of my business. Maybe they had one of those open marriages? Shoulda kept my mouth shut in the first place.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Darrel rolled his eyes. “No one was supposed to know, and nothing ever came from it.”
“Grant found out his wife was cheating on him, and he dies a month later. You didn’t think that was important?” Noah crossed his arms. “I don’t buy it.”
“I didn’t want to get involved. I shouldn’t have told him.”
“Problem is,” Owen clapped his hand on Darrel’s back, “now we know you’re a liar.”
“I swear I didn’t kill Grant. I’ve told the truth about everything. I thought Jen was still seeing Arnie, but she came onto me when I came to pay my respects. I’m not a good friend, but I’m not a killer either.”
“Listen to me Darrel,” Noah stepped close, “where does Arnold Henderson go hunting?”
“I don’t know. I swear. I don’t think he killed him though, I mean, nothing ever came from it. They barely knew each other, and Grant seemed over whatever happened with Jen and Arnie.”
“Owen, take him.”
Owen nodded, cuffed Darrel Beelson, and walked him towards Ethan’s car.
“I’m telling you, I told you everything I know now.”
They both ignored him, and slipped him into the back seat, as Ethan got out.
“Arnold was having an affair with my murder vic’s wife, Jennifer Hornby.”
Ethan walked to the front of the car to meet them. “How’d you find out?”
They all looked in the car, where Darrel Beelson sat staring back at them.
“You think Arnold caught him? Maybe he found something related to the murders? The mask?”
“Nope, he was outside with Darrel the whole time. He might have realized things had been moved though, or maybe someone else saw Grant going downstairs. Arnold might have been paranoid, but I think he killed Grant Hornby because he at least thought he knew.”
“About the affair or him being a serial killer?” Owen asked.
“Either.” Noah shrugged, and looked back to Darrel. “Both? We’ll get a statement from him, but he says he doesn’t know where Arnold is.”
“Alright. I’ll meet you back at the department. It’s time to make a statement to the press.”
Chapter 36
Fiona
After Ralph brought her up to her room, Fiona went back online, and checked her email.
Another from her mom and dad, begging her to move back to Ireland with them. If they only knew, she thought, and was thankful they were in the dark about her attack. Her ex fiancé, Sam, had been her emergency contact the hospital used when she arrived in the ambulance.
The next email was from Jill, asking when she could come by. She missed going to yoga with her, and she wanted to bring her a care package whenever the police would allow it. Fiona wanted to tell her to come over, but the truth was, the police hadn’t banned her, or Sam, or anyone from visiting.
She had.
The last email was from Sam.
How are you feeling? Anything I can do?
Their break up was recent, and with muddled feelings, she didn’t blame him for wanting to be there for her. She wished she had someone close to look after her, instead of these officers she barely knew, but this was safer. She shut her laptop, and pushed it beside her on the bed.
She lifted her good leg in the air as far as she could, and slowly set it down. Without moving her wounded leg, she let the muscles clench and relax with the motion of the other. It felt weird, but she kept going, eventually lifting her wounded leg slightly, and then setting it down to raise the other. She continued until beads of sweat fell from her forehead, and then she relaxed.
When she could breathe normally, she sat up and grabbed her crutches. She hobbled to the bathroom, and turned on her shower.
It was her third time showering with crutches, and she couldn’t get used to it.
The hot water relaxed her aching muscles, and she finally felt clean, when she heard a knock on the door.
“Yeah?” She shouted, and turned the water off.
“It’s just me,”
Ralph.
“Listen, Inspector Ascott wants you down at the department tomorrow morning. You feel up to it, or would you rather he came here?”
“I can go.” She shouted louder than before. “Thanks, Ralph!”
“Okay, sorry for interrupting.”
She listened to the footsteps fade on the other side of the door, and turned the hot water she craved back on.
Maybe they’ve made progress.
She let the water wash away her worries.
Maybe they need my help.
She started singing the first song that came to her mind.
Maybe it’s over.
Chapter 37
“I hear my pictures helped.” January smiled as Noah and Owen entered Room C.
Noah thought he saw a twinkle in her eye, and couldn’t help but smile. Ken sat at the table in a black polo shirt, and typed away on his laptop, seemingly unaware of their arrival.
“Well, one did at least.” Ken said.
Owen and January bumped knuckles and smiled at each other.
“Whoa, which of you smokes cheap cigars?” The smile faded from her face, and she glanced at Owen who shook his head.
“That smell is courtesy of Darrel Beelson.” Noah pulled out a chair, “So was the new info we just got. We’re going to fill the whole department in, put out a province wide search for him. I guess Ethan already told you guys everything. Where’s Ethan?”
“Dealing with Darrel.” January smiled at Owen. “How’s Fiona doing?”
“She’s doing alright. Ethan’s bringing her in tomorrow.”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, he wants to see if she can tell us anything more about Arnold, and form some type of protection plan for them.”
“Them?” Ken asked.
Ethan strode into the room and slammed the door behind him.
“Darrel’s lawyered up. He says he doesn’t know anything else, and I doubt he does.” Ethan went to the dry erase board, and started to write. “Doesn’t know where Arnold would be, and was shocked to hear we consider him a suspect. He’s clueless.”
Noah read the board aloud. “Q Darrel Beelson, no leads.”
“So that’s where we’re at folks. We talk to Avery and Fiona together tomorrow, but before that, we’ve gotta give the department a profile for Arnold. What do we have?”
“Here’s the most recent picture.” January held it up. “I’ve made hundreds of copies to hand out. Six foot one, Caucasian male, brown, thinning hair.”
Ken looked up from his laptop for the first time and didn’t miss a beat from where January left off. “Uses a rifle to shoot his victims, and a hunting knife to carve them up. Has at least twenty years of hunting experience and is known to frequent these woods.” Ken set a stack of papers down on the desk. “Hunts in Cedar Ridge, but is thought to hunt in more northern regions, circled here, and possible regions north of there.”
“His victims are female,” Ethan clipped photos of the women on the timeline, “between the ages of twenty and
twenty-eight, except for Grant Hornby. He’s the only vic who was drowned, likely on purpose to avoid using our killer’s method of operation so we wouldn’t link the two.”
“Tamara Sweeten,” January said.
Ethan stood beside her picture. “The first vic was shot and stabbed at Crown River Park, body found near initial contact. The second, Fiona Wolfe, was shot on her jogging path in Birch Falls, but survived when a local man walking his dogs interrupted the killer. Around the same time, Grant Hornby is found drowned in the Crown River. Third victim, Wendy O’Connor. Shot in Birch Falls Park. Stabbed to death, and body found where initial contact was made.”
“Avery Hart.” January said as Ethan clipped her photo up.
Noah stared at her picture, and wished it wasn’t up with the others.
“Went to the media about her past, and the possible connection to our masked killer, attacked in her apartment, cut ten times and left alive. What else do we know?”
Ken looked down at his laptop, and typed quickly. “Medical Examiner reports Tamara, Wendy, and Fiona were all shot with the same gun, all three in the leg. Tamara and Wendy’s bullets both hit arteries, and they were both sliced up afterward. Avery was cut with the same hunting knife, however Avery’s cuts were far less severe. It took Tamara an hour and a half to die after she was shot and two hours for Wendy. The hunting knife was the final cause of death in both instances.
Tamara and Wendy’s bodies were moved back after time of death to their primary locations where they were first attacked. Still not aware of their secondary murder locations.”
“Wait,” Noah said, “they were moved?”
Ken nodded. “He keeps them for short amounts of time, not enough blood at the parks; no one knew they were missing until their bodies were found there with minimal blood surrounding them at the scene.”
“What does this all tell us?” Ethan asked.
“Secondary murder location is close. Less than a few hours away from initial contact.” Ken said.
“Likely crimes of opportunity.” Noah interjected, and they all looked at him. “Victims unrelated.”
January turned to the group. “He likes to torture them before he kills them, and unlike real hunters, he likes them to suffer after they’ve been shot.”
The room went quiet.
“What are we hoping to learn from Fiona and Avery?” Owen asked and his voice startled Noah.
Ethan took a seat at the head of the table. “I’m hoping they’ll be able to jog each other’s memory. One of them will remember something they didn’t before, or they’ll be able to tell us more if we give them some more information. We also need to figure out what we are doing for them regarding security.”
“Okay, what else?” January asked.
“We need motive.” Ethan drummed the dry erase marker on the table, “and what made him start killing now?”
“One thing,” Noah stood from his seat, “both Avery and Fiona were maimed using the usual tactics, but one was shot, while the other was cut. He meant to leave Avery alive, but certainly not Fiona. She was saved by a man with dogs. Avery was also saved by a man with a dog.”
“Huh,” January put her hands on her hips. “I didn’t think it was the same person…”
“They weren’t.” Ken clicked his keyboard, and read, “Joshua Carter, thirty-six, found Avery Hart in the Crown River ten years ago. Steve Baxter, forty-nine, found Fiona on the Birch Falls pathway.”
“Well, it’s worth keeping in mind.” January smiled at Noah and nodded. “I’ve got everyone coming in less than an hour to give a briefing. Until then, I was hoping we could look for some patterns to help predict his actions. Prevent this from happening to anyone else.”
“We have to know why before we discover anything else.” Ethan said, before Noah grabbed the marker from his hand, and went to the board where the map hung.
“If Arnold’s our guy, he started off here, in Crown River, with Tamara.” He drew a circle, and wrote her name. “Here is Fiona, just north of Tamara, at the north edge of Birch Falls. Then there’s Grant.” He drew an X beside his name. “He was drowned in Crown River. I’d say there was symbolism behind the location, but his wife confirmed he jogs that path every morning, so we shouldn’t use him for the pattern. Next, Wendy. Then Avery here in Crown River.” He circled the last place and wrote her name.
“So he’s staying within the two towns.” Ethan stood in front on the board, “Arnold Henderson lives here, twenty minutes North East of Fiona.”
“Might change his pattern now that he’s been found out. If he continues though, he’ll be headed to Cedar Ridge.” Noah circled the town just north of Birch Falls. “If not, could be anywhere.”
January grabbed a ruler, and joined Noah at the board. “Let’s look at the border between Birch Falls and Crown River. Any abandoned buildings, or property there? If he’s been bringing the victims back, and dumping them on the same night, it can’t be further than…”She placed the ruler at the midpoint, and made a mark, drawing a circle around the surrounding towns and cities.
“Either this guy is old school,” Ken said looking up at the board, “or he’s got a laptop of his own that his wife didn’t know about, because there is nothing on his. It’s clean.”
“He killed Tamara on the night of their barbeque.” Noah looked to Owen and Ethan. “That’s the day he was caught by Darrel fooling around with Jen Hornby. She gave him a letter. Her husband found out about the affair that day too. Maybe she broke up with him?”
They all stared at him and he stood up straight. “I think that was his trigger.”
Ethan nodded. “Makes sense, but why kill?”
“Because ever since Maggie told him about what Charla had done in the woods, he’d wanted to do the same thing. He’s abusive. He likes the control. Maybe Jen Hornby breaking up with him made him lose the control he’d always had with her, and of course Maggie.”
January nodded. “That’s good, but it happened ten years ago.”
“I think he thought about Avery’s attack all this time. Do you remember how Maggie told us about it? She said he was enthralled with the story. That’s why he got the mask. The rejection from Jennifer Hornby triggered his attack on Tamara.”
“Noah’s right,” Ethan nodded, “let’s run with this.”
“So he’s turned down by the woman he loved? Maybe that’s too strong, maybe it was just sexual, but he was embarrassed. He was frustrated. Angry.” January looked at the board, “Ready to lash out.”
“Ready to kill.” Noah said.
January looked at him and the twinkle in her eyes was back.
“Okay, let’s give the profile, and get the info out.” Ethan stood up. “We keep the motive to ourselves, and we meet back here tomorrow at noon after Noah and I talk to the girls.”
Ethan put his fist in front of Noah’s and Noah bumped his.
I’m in.
“Let’s go get him.”
Chapter 38
Fiona
Fiona woke to a crashing sound. She grabbed at the dark for her crutches, and when she found them, she hobbled slowly to the door.
“Don’t move!” Ralph yelled, and Fiona heard something break.
She hobbled to the top of the stairs, and when the lights came on, she saw Sam standing at the bottom of the stair case with his hands up.
“Ralph, it’s alright. I know him.”
Sam turned to look up at her, with his hands still raised in the air.
“Sam, what are you doing?”
“I wanted to see you, and I still had your key, so…”
“Fine.” She turned back down the hall, and heard Ralph tell him he had better follow.
By the time she sat back down on her bed, Sam stood in the doorway.
“Fee, what’s going on?”
“I told you, I can’t have visitors. It isn’t safe.”
“Why haven’t you called me then? Or emailed me back? Am I not even worth an email?” He stood tall in th
e doorway.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get all dramatic.”
“You’re back on your feet so to speak.”
“Yeah. You’re not surprised are you?”
He shook his head and grinned. “You smell good.”
“Sam. Stop.”
He swayed through the doorframe, and back out again. “I’m worried.”
“I’m not for you to worry about.” She looked down into her lap.
“Doesn’t stop me from worrying.”
“Sam,” She looked up at him, and forced herself to speak, “we’re done. We’re over. What we had is in the past. You can’t do this.”
He stood still in the doorway, and shadows from the light in the hall made it difficult to see his expression.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you?”
“I’m fine,” she raised her voice. “Just stop it Sam.”
“Everything okay up there?” Ralph yelled.
Sam leaned away from the door, still holding the frame. She saw his face, and she wished she’d looked away. His eyes were glazed, and his lips pressed together.
“I guess it is.” He swayed out of the doorway, and when he left her vision, it felt like he’d never been there at all. She didn’t hear him going down the stairs, or the front door open and shut.
All she could hear was her heart banging in her ears, and she lay back down on her bed, and cried into her pillow.
Chapter 39
“When do you think Ethan will bring Aunt Maggie in again?” Owen poured his beer into the pint glass.
“You’ve been talking to Ken, huh? Soon. I’ll bring it up if he doesn’t. She knows more than she thinks she does. The wife always knows…”
“That’s what you think. Missy doesn’t know I come here.”
Lies Come True Page 12