Page 17 of Only Girl Alive

“You’re right. Something is off. We need eyes in the backs of our heads whenever we’re in this county but this is stranger than usual.”

He grunted in a pure Clyde way, his frustration clear.

He rubbed his head. “Collin just told me about the attic. We need to take a look. Grab your camera.”

Eve did not have a good feeling about what lay in store.

Eleven

Collin led them through the gathering area and up the stairs. The bad feeling in Eve’s gut did not diminish. In the master bedroom, Collin went to the closet and grabbed a pull-down rope that she didn’t remember from her pictures. The stairs made a slight creaking noise as they lowered. There was plastic, wrapped and taped to the wooden steps, that someone from her team had secured. Eve would have time to ask questions later.

The stairs were wobbly but held. She climbed then stepped onto a floor made of stained wood, rougher than the ones on the first floor and the upstairs hallway. This room wasn’t spotless like the rest of the house and that was odd. The floor was dusty and multiple sets of footprints littered the area. There were cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling. She remembered going into the attic where clothing was stored when she was a child. Hand-me-downs were a way of life. It also held extra cribs when they weren’t needed. Like the remainder of her childhood home, the room was kept clean and free of bugs.

This attic was entirely different.

There were smudges that looked like dirt on the cracked and peeling walls. At the back of the room, a small octagon-shaped window with translucent glass gave the area its only light. There were no electrical fixtures. The dark shadows made the room feel more like a dungeon than attic. She removed her flashlight from her pocket and observed the empty area again until the light rested on the only furniture, which was tucked in the corner to the right side of the stair opening.

A single metal bedframe with a bare, thin mattress stood out in the large, nearly empty room. The yellowed mattress with thin blue pinstripes had various visible stains. Stacked at the foot of the bed was a folded beige blanket resting on a set of white folded sheets. The wall behind the bed was empty of anything but peeling paint and the same dirt smudges. Eve moved her flashlight.

Three feet from the bottom corner of the stacked bedding was a wooden, straight-backed chair with spindled legs facing the bed. It was what was on the chair that drew Eve’s attention. A partial roll of silver duct tape lay on the seat. To make it worse, a wide black, leather belt hung over the back.

Serial killers and rapists used duct tape.

Eve ran her gloved hands over her arms. Weird wasn’t exactly the word that came to mind. The items in front of her were more unsettling than anything. She turned to her team who stood behind her.

Bina shrugged, her eyes on the chair and duct tape, not Eve. “Is this fundamentalist ceremony shit that you can explain?”

Eve understood why Bina would say this. During their work together, her team had learned of certain polygamy practices that made no sense to them and Eve had to explain. In some cases, such as women holding down other women for their first marital bed, grasping the weird concepts accepted inside the community was difficult. Her team saw much of it as a crime and didn’t like the fact it wouldn’t be charged.

“Why a ceremony?” Eve asked Bina curiously while her eyes went to the bed again.

“This is strange, creepy weird. I thought it could possibly be part of a secret, unknown ritual.”

The single bed and chair were bizarre. Add the duct tape and belt and even creepy weird didn’t describe her personal feelings. Her fight-or-flight response was kicking in and she wanted out of the attic. If any of the murder victims had been abused, as the room led her to believe, it would be discovered at autopsy; she never undressed the bodies.

“There were traces of possible blood on the stairs so I preserved them after collecting samples,” Ray said.

Eve’s eyebrows rose.

“They are also some on the bed and chair,” added Bina. “We need to Luminol the entire room to get the full picture. Maybe Luminol will clarify what we’re having trouble seeing.”

What they were seeing was a room of deeply held secrets within the family. Horrible secrets.

“Do it Friday,” Eve said. “I want to be here. We have the autopsies tomorrow.”

“Believe me, I don’t mind waiting for you,” Bina told her. “I don’t want to be up here alone under any circumstances.”

They were spooked because this room did not fit the narrative of the dead family. It fit more of a case of abduction and torture.

Eve thought about the overall investigation for a moment

“We need to keep working and more things will add up.” She looked around at each of them. “Are you good to go?”

“Yes,” Collin said. Ray and Bina didn’t question her. They all felt the eeriness of the room. Clyde gave his nod of agreement.

“I’ll photograph up here,” she told them, and saw Bina, Ray, and Collin’s looks of relief.

Clyde stayed with her while she took still images of the attic. Collin had videotaped the room the day before. Bina was right: the Luminol would show a clearer picture.

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