by R E Gauthier
Cold Case Behavioral Unit Offices, Pittsburgh, PA, January 30, 2012
“Mack, I don’t know what to tell you, other than I’m not having any luck finding more information on the case.” Nikki looked perplexed. She explained how she had searched all avenues to locate the witnesses that said they saw or heard something on the night of September second, 1990. “I haven’t been able to locate a single witness. If I didn’t know better; I’d think they all vanished without a trace. Every call to the original investigators went to voicemails; no one has returned my calls.”
Kelsey frowned, it was worse than she had first thought. When they began their search into what occurred that night, she knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but she had no idea they would meet with so much resistance. What reason did the police have not to answer their questions? Why would they not be able to find the witnesses? “You’re not able to fish for any mention of the case in the police database?”
Nikki shook her head. “They closed the case, and this was before police stations started entering all their cases into computers.”
“So, we only have what is in the copy of the file, the bedcovers, the footprint photos, and the stuffed animals, that I collected.”
“I’ve sent the stuffed animals and bedcovers off for a full forensic analysis, but I’m not certain we’ll get much off of them. Over twenty-one years have passed; any biologicals may not be viable. I’m not sure what you hope to find on them.”
Kelsey took a deep breath. Kelsey had yet to tell Nikki about the reoccurring nightmare about the night Aisling, Aunt Cat, and Uncle Ethan died. “I have only told three people what I am about to tell you. Please understand how difficult it is for me to repeat it. My grandmother and father were less than supportive, so I’ve been reluctant to risk being ridiculed again.”
“Mack, you know I’m here for you. I’d never ridicule you, but if this is too painful you can always—”
“No, I need to tell you so you can understand why the police have it all wrong.”
“Are you sure? I can always wait until you can write it down or…”
“No, I’m ready. That night, Aisling was supposed to spend it with Nanna and I, but at the last minute, Aunt Cat told us Aisling wasn’t feeling well. I could tell she wasn’t telling the truth but didn’t bring it up. Then while I slept, I had a vision of something sinister going on inside Aisling’s house. At first, it was fuzzy, but then it became clear to me what happened inside that house.”
“How far away was their home to Nanna’s house?” Nikki interrupted, cocking her head.
“They only lived two blocks over; the house is still there although there had been some renovations done over the years. Why did you want to know how close the house was to me?”
“I’m just trying to understand how your visions work. I mean if you could sense something wrong, why couldn’t Nanna?”
Kelsey had already thought of this fact many times and had confronted Nanna about it just as many times over the years. Nanna always had the same explanation. Nanna had been sore and made strong herbal tea. “I’ve thought of this and Nanna explained it had to do with a tea she made herself that night.”
“Was it usual for Nanna to drink tea before she went to bed?”
“Yes, she usually makes a tea every night. She also made one for me as well. Nanna would say the tea will help me relax and attain a deep, healing sleep.”
“So, when you knew something was wrong, why did you not wake up and tell someone.”
Kelsey felt the same angry bile climb up her throat; she always did when she thought about why her gift had not helped Aisling and her family that night. “Believe me, I’ve asked that question many times, but Nanna says that my gift doesn’t work like that. During a vision, I’m not aware of the danger or threat the vision may hold for my loved ones or me. It is not until I’m awake and can assess what I saw, that I can make sense out of what my vision may have revealed.”
“So, that night you saw a person in the house and knew your cousin was scared, did you see faces or hear voices that could help to identify the person —”
“There was more than one person in the house. I heard voices and heard gunshots, but it wasn’t until much later that I saw more detail from that night.”
“Then how do you know that one of those men was not Daniel Richardson?”
Kelsey shook her head. “The report says that Richardson stated he broke into the house to find items to sell quickly and was surprised by my uncle and panicked. Richardson says he shot Uncle Ethan first because he woke up and then he killed Aunt Cat when she woke up. Richardson then went out and started to leave but stopped because he heard a noise in the other bedroom. Upon entering the room, he shot Aisling while she lay in her bed. The crime scene report described what the police photos depicted. They found all three bodies in their beds, shot in their heads. That’s not what happened.”
“What did happen?”
Kelsey swallowed the lump in her throat. “I tried to make sense of it by writing it down.” Her fingers closed over the folded piece of paper in her jacket pocket. Pulling it out, Kelsey unfolded the paper and took a deep breath. “The day I snuck into the house was three days after that night. The police tape was still on the door; I used a window in the basement that I had used many times to sneak into the house when Aisling forgot her keys. That’s how I got the bedcovers and the stuffed animals from Aisling’s bed. There was no blood on them; her pillow still had an indentation of her head.”
“Mack, that makes no sense.” Nikki pointed to the copy of the photograph of a crime scene number ten next to a bloody pillowcase. “They took a photograph of the bloody pillowcase and here is the photograph of your cousin lying on it.”
Kelsey grimaced like she had the many times she looked at that photo. Blood covered the face of Aisling and her brown hair. It sickened her to view the end of her beloved cousin’s life “I don’t know why, but at least the photo of the bloody pillowcase had to be staged.”
“But for what purpose? I mean the police had no reason not to photograph the scene as they found it.”
“Nikki, I don’t know, but when I was in Aisling’s bedroom, I saw her pillow, and there was no blood on it or the bedcovers. I never saw any blood anywhere in the house. I went to Aisling’s room, and I looked into Aunt Cat and Uncle Ethan’s bedroom, and I saw no blood on the bed, headboard or the wall as is depicted in this photo.” Kelsey took another crime scene photo from the pile.
Looking incredulous, Nikki opened her mouth as if to say something and then closed it again.
“I was as shocked as you are right now when I read the file and saw the photos. I figured that the police either mixed up two cases, or there had been a serious cover-up.”
“You said you heard more than one man in the house. Did you see what happened? I mean did you see how they died?”
“That’s what is fuzzy. I saw a man with a gun. I heard my aunt scream, saw my uncle get shot in the shoulder. Aisling was terrified, and then I was in her room under the bed with her. She was blocking me from seeing or keeping me there with her. I saw the man’s face who attacked Aunt Cat. Then I was back with Aisling in her room; I heard other men and gunshots but never saw the other men and didn’t see them kill either Aunt Cat or Uncle Ethan; they were still alive before the gunshots.”
“She can do that? I mean someone you see in a vision can block you from seeing something?”
“Nanna taught us how to block someone from seeing things we were experiencing. Aisling and I used to use this skill to play hide and seek when we were much younger.”
“But it wasn’t something she was experiencing; it was something happening to your Aunt Cat, not Aisling.”
“I’m not sure how it happened, but I was with Aisling and could hear what she heard and felt her terror. There were voices of men I didn’t recognize, and then my aunt screamed. I heard the gunshots. It got quiet, and then someone was outside Aisling’s bedroom door. What happened next
is what affected me so deeply all these years.” Kelsey covered her face with her hands.
“If it’s too hard to say out loud, I can read it if you wrote it down.”
Nikki’s fingers lightly touched Kelsey’s shoulder. Kelsey nodded her head and handed Nikki the folded paper.
After a few moments of silence, Kelsey slowly lowered her hands to witness the shock on Nikki’s face.
“Oh my God. Mack, you saw this?”
Kelsey nodded. The uncomfortable lump in the pit of her stomach grew.
“But there is no mention of sexual assault in the file. The coroner didn’t note any evidence of bruising or signs of sexual assault when he examined Aisling or your aunt.”
Kelsey swallowed the sudden hot bile that threatened to choke her. She experienced the same feelings every time she thought about what Aisling and Aunt Cat had endured that night. “I don’t know how they could have missed it.”
“If what you saw, really happened, then we’re looking at more than a mix-up or a cover-up. The file we have is a complete fabrication. What is it that someone doesn’t want to come out? If your cousin and her family didn’t die as the police said they did, and Daniel Richardson isn’t their killer, then how are we ever going to prove what happened, and find the person who is responsible?”
“All we have to go on is my memory of my vision and my nightmare. That is why I want to exhume the bodies. We need to do an independent examination of their remains to find out how they died. I never saw them die; I saw dark images in a dark house; I heard gunshots. When I woke up the next morning it was like a nightmare. The police were at Nanna’s front door. My dad whisked me away. Nanna and dad sat me down later that day and told me there had been an accident and they were dead.”
“You mentioned that things hadn’t got clearer until much later and you said all we have is your vision and your nightmare; How did it become clearer later? What does a nightmare have to do with solving this case?”
Kelsey explained to Nikki that the rendition she read was from a nightmare she had almost three years after the night of the attack on her family.
“You were young, is there any way that this nightmare was just that, and not what happened? I mean you said you didn’t see any of the faces in your original vision, but did see a man’s face in the description of your nightmare; you could have been confused. My problem with this nightmare is that you had it almost three years after the fact. Has this ever happened before; that you have had a nightmare about a previous vision?”
Anger bubbled up as it did when she had tried to tell her father and Nanna about what she saw in her dream. People always thought she must have got mixed up. Shaking her head, Kelsey stood up. “I didn’t mix anything up. When you get the results back from the bedcovers and the stuffed animals you will see, there will not be any blood droplets, but there could be biologicals like semen or unfamiliar hairs.”
“Mack, don’t hang your hopes on this happening. After twenty-one years in a plastic bag and not kept in an environmentally-controlled storage area there may not be any viable biologicals.”
“But you’ll see there isn’t any blood. In the photograph that amount of blood could not have been there without some splattering on the bedcovers.”
“Even if we don’t find any blood, we still won’t have the COD’s, and without that, we cannot hope to discover what happened that night. Is there any way you can have a memory-recovery session with Doc? Maybe there is something in your subconscious that could be helpful to us in finding out how they died and who killed them. Doc could shed some light on why you have two separate recollections in your subconscious.”
Kelsey had thought of doing this many times over the years. She knew her visions jumbled up at times, but maybe Doc could unlock her images in her mind of that night’s events. “I’d be willing to do this, and I think if I could get inside the house that may help as well.”
Nikki took out her phone and tapped the screen. “I’m texting Doc to ask him if he has some time to come here for a session.”
A buzzing interrupted Kelsey’s thoughts. She had put her phone on vibrate. Taking it out of her pocket, she saw a picture of Nanna on the screen. “Hello Nanna, I was going to call you. Do you know if there is anyone in the house on Pearl Drive?”
There was a deafening silence before she heard a soft cry. “Mo Chridhe, please come home. I’m not feeling very well.”
Chapter Seven
Driving towards Canonsburg Hospital, Canonsburg, PA, January 30, 2012
Kelsey ran from her office and called Miranda’s cell phone as she made her way to the parking garage.
Miranda picked up on the first ring. “I’ve called 911 against her wishes.”
Kelsey blew out the breath she’d been holding since she told Nanna to lie down and ended their call. “She said she’s not feeling well. What’s going on?”
Miranda sighed before she explained, “after our yoga practice, Nanna said she felt faint. She sat down and felt better. I made us some tea, and after a few sips, she looked odd. I asked her what was going on because I could tell by the blank stare and the silence, something wasn’t right.”
Kelsey was becoming impatient because Miranda’s voice sounded worried. “Do you think she is having a heart attack or a stroke?” Worried that Nanna’s age could mean she wouldn’t see her grandmother alive again, Kelsey urged Miranda to hurry up with her explanation of the events. She had reached the parking level three, where her car was parked.
“I don’t think she had either. I asked her questions, and she answered them even if she did so slowly, she’s very lucid. She was quite pale, but right now, her face looks quite red from her angry assertion that she does not want to bother the paramedics. I hear them pulling up now. I’ll let you go and will call you after they examine her.”
Kelsey nodded and said a quiet “Okay.” She called Nikki to explain her hurried exit and jammed the key into the lock of her car. “Nikki, I need to go home.” Not waiting to hear Nikki’s response, Kelsey continued, “Nanna isn’t feeling well, and Miranda called an ambulance against my grandmother’s wishes. I’ll call you when I know anything.” Kelsey heard Nikki’s mumbled response as she ended the call and pulled the car out of the parking space.
The drive from Pittsburgh to Nanna’s house seemed to drag on longer than the usual twenty-five minutes. The silent phone only made Kelsey’s anxiety worse. Why hasn’t Miranda called back? All sorts of scenarios played out in Kelsey’s head. As she took exit 45 off of I-79, Kelsey’s phone rang. Punching the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel, Kelsey asked, “What’s going on? Do they think she needs to go to the hospital?”
Miranda’s voice sounded strained as she spoke. “Well, she did have to be convinced, but the paramedics didn’t like her elevated blood pressure. We’ll be on our way shortly; they’ll be taking her to Canonsburg Hospital at 100 Medical Boulevard, you can meet us there.”
“Miranda, how does she seem?”
Miranda softly chuckled. “She’s annoyed and demanding she can stay here and wait for you to come home. The paramedics called ahead to the hospital, and Nanna’s doctor is working in the ER today. She told them she didn’t like the sounds of the elevated blood pressure in a woman whose blood pressure is normally quite low for a woman her age. It was only by letting her doctor speak to Nanna that we were able to convince her to let them transport her into the ER for her doctor to perform some tests and a full examination.”
Kelsey blew out a loud breath. “Thank you, Mo Chridhe; I don’t know what I’d have done if you were not there and could take care of her. I heard the worry in Nanna’s voice. It’s not like her to complain of not feeling well. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Ending the call, Kelsey turned into a business parking lot to go back the way she had come. The GPS on the dash was telling her to take McClelland Road back under the overpass and off of the side streets. Kelsey was only six minutes away from Nanna’s house, but this route would take her away from the
usual way the ambulance would take. As she neared the star on her GPS, Kelsey heard sounds that signaled she was nearing a hospital. The distinct loud blaring of sirens, a helicopter’s blades approaching, and cars slowing down told her that she was coming to the right turn onto Medical Boulevard. The computerized voice told her she would reach her destination point in three miles.
Following the signs, Kelsey found the Emergency entrance and saw the helicopter landing on the pad to the left of the Emergency Parking area. The on-coming ambulance in her rearview mirror caused Kelsey to step on the gas and turn into the parking lot to get out of the way just as the ambulance signaled it was also turning into the entrance to her left. The distinct beeping of a vehicle backing up told Kelsey that the ambulance had reached the ambulance door and was pulling into the bay. It was possible that the ambulance pulling in was the one carrying Miranda and Nanna, so when she hurried in through the entrance, she searched for a sign for patient admittance. When she approached the desk, Kelsey saw through the door of the Emergency Department, paramedics pushing an ambulance gurney, and brown hair on a petite woman that looked like her fiancée. The familiar tug of awareness she experienced when Miranda was close sealed it. They were bringing Nanna into the hospital.
“Can I help you?” A tall man in blue scrubs asked Kelsey. He stood in her way of the door leading to where she saw the paramedics and Miranda going.
“My grandmother just arrived here by ambulance. I need to find out what is going on. She could be scared.” Kelsey tried to walk around the man and look through the door. Pointing her finger, she indicated where she had seen them go. “I just saw my fiancée come in with her. Please, you must take me to see her.”
The man asked her to come with him as he approached the admittance desk. He spoke to a woman behind the glass cubicle window. After a few moments, the man smiled and told Kelsey that someone would go and see what was happening and come back to tell Kelsey.
Not to be deterred, Kelsey pushed past him and rapped on the glass window. “Please, can I go in there to be with my grandmother. Her name is Isla MacKenzie; she just came here by ambulance.”