by RB Schalin
Chapter 29
"Here are the Pizzas," says Friedman, walking into Hawk’s office carrying two large boxes. He places them on a chair he has brought with him and the others take a break from what they are doing.
The office is in a mess. There are half empty coffee cups everywhere and the walls are filled with prints of the forest around the area Maria was found. On each wall there is a note saying what area is being shown and what relation it has to the I25. There are three laptops all connected to one printer and Collins, Friedman and Holmes have been on them for hours. Hawk has mostly sat quiet at his desk thinking. It’s almost eleven at night and they have decided to eat and have a last brainstorming session before they go home to get some rest.
"OK people, what do we know?" asks Hawk, sitting up a bit straighter.
"Friedman and I have spent hours on the blowups we have printed, but haven’t found a single construction that could be used as a hideout. We haven’t found any building at all," says Holmes with a sigh.
"I think we are barking up the wrong tree here Chief, the idea of it being someone local and keeping a hideout sounded good in the beginning, but I’m not so sure anymore," says Friedman, biting into a large slice of pizza.
"Meaning what? We are back to truck drivers?" asks Collins, sitting down on Hawks desk.
"I don’t believe in the truck driver theory, I still like the local mad man better, " says Hawk.
"But we haven’t found anything yet, and there are not many more places to look," says Holmes.
"Maybe we are looking at this from the wrong angle. We assume the hideout can be seen from the air, what if it’s hidden? What if the killer has disguised it and you can’t see it from above?" asks Hawk.
The others are quiet chewing on their pizzas, then Collins says, "OK, that is a possibility, but how will we find it if it’s hidden?"
"He supposedly killed Alex Read and three other kids, plus Maria, and we found no trace of them during the search. He has to be able to move fast at night in the forest. Imagine for a second that you have just killed five people. He obviously found four of them, but what did he do with them?" asks Hawk.
More silence, then Friedman says, "cut them up, and spread the body parts around, or even took them to one single hiding place."
Hawk nods and says, "If it was me, I would collect all the bodies and bring them to one place, there I would cut them up and bury them, deep. Remember, there was at least twelve hours between Maria was found and the search party was on its way. That’s plenty of time to cut up and get rid of few bodies."
"Sure, but what about the weight of a dead body, and that night it was raining. What kind person can carry four wet bodies for maybe miles at night in the rain and then chop them up and hide the parts?" asks Holmes
"I think we all have to think about that, I’m going home, we meet here again tomorrow morning, and I want each of you to come up with a profile of a person that could do what Holmes just described."
Holmes stays behind with Hawk to help him tidy the office, they collect all the coffee cups and the pizza cartons and put them in big trash bags, when they are done Hawk turns off the light and heads out.
In the parking lot Holmes stop before getting in her car and says, "are you serious about believing in my theory, or did you just say so to make me feel better?
Hawk thinks back to what Mrs. Walker said. He decided against telling the others, wanting them to keep their minds open and he himself does not actually believe Kerry could be their killer. He just doesn't match what Hawk new.
"Yeah, I do believe in what you think."
She smiles and opens the car door, "hey Chief, no drinking tonight, we have an early morning tomorrow."
He grins and says, "I’m too old to change, but I promise I will be clearheaded and in the office before you."
On the drive back home Hawk makes a detour and drives by Kerry’s house. The lights are turned off and he continues down the road. At the end he turns around and heads back the same way he came.
That night he doesn’t watch his family on TV, he does have a few drinks, but he makes it an early night. Suddenly catching a killer seems more important than thinking about the past and self-pity.