Page 47 of Only One More Lie

“Me too.” Duke frowned and shook his head. “Bert’s not a good person. However, I don’t think he’s a killer either.”

Andi let out a long breath. “Unfortunately, I think the same thing.”

As Duke and Andi stepped inside, the gang looked up from the kitchen table where they’d gathered.

“That guy is a real treat, huh?” Mariella looked up from the table, a fluffy pink turtleneck sweater consuming her neck. A coffee mug—also pink—rested in front of her.

“He sure is,” Duke muttered. “I take it you didn’t get anything useful from him?”

“Just a lot of self-righteousness,” Simmy murmured with a roll of her eyes.

“I even found a camera on him,” Matthew said. “He was recording all of this, probably in hopes of garnering more attention for himself.”

Duke shook his head, aggravated. Some people . . .

“Did you learn anything new from Tim?” Ranger asked.

Duke exchanged a glance with Andi. Then they both took a seat around the table and updated the team on what had happened.

Just as Duke thought, from their position here, they hadn’t heard the ambulance or the commotion. They’d had no idea what had transpired on the other side of the camp. The gang looked just as surprised by everything they shared as Duke had felt when they were discovering the information.

He grabbed a couple of cashews from a bowl on the table before asking, “How about you guys? Anything new? Or did Bert consume all your time?”

“I wanted to let you all know that I talked to the family of one of the victims earlier today,” Mariella said. “Anderson Carswell. They live in Fairbanks.”

From what Duke could remember, Anderson was the fifth victim. He was fifty-four, married with one son, and he worked at a garden center.

“They’re desperate for answers and were thrilled to learn we’re looking into this,” Mariella continued. “They offered to drive out here so we could talk to them. I figured that was a good idea since it would save us the travel time. They’re coming this evening.”

“Sounds good,” Duke said.

“There was one thing I discovered I thought was really interesting.” Ranger pushed a photo toward them. “The state police sent these over, and I printed them off this morning.”

Duke winced when he saw the image. It was from one of the December Dismemberer’s crime scenes, and the details were gruesome, not something most people should see.

Several other pictures of the dead bodies were spread across the table . . . as well as the mutilations.

Andi glanced at the pictures and quickly averted her gaze. As she did, Ranger angled the pictures away from Simmy and Mariella, protecting them from seeing the horror.

“What is it about this photo in particular?” Duke looked away, giving himself a mental break from the horrific image. “Did you see something?”

“I examined all the photos from the various crime scenes,” Ranger started. “It wasn’t fun, but someone had to do it. I noticed an unusual injury on Calvin and Mary, something I didn’t see on the other victims.”

“What was that?” Ranger had Duke’s full attention now.

“This right here.” He pointed to the photo and Duke leaned closer, hoping to see something that would help them.

CHAPTER 22

“There appears to be hesitation marks on their neck.” Ranger pointed to several small cuts on Calvin and Mary’s skin. “To me, it looks like the killer started to kill them but stopped. He seemed to second-guess himself before finishing the deed.”

Duke picked up the photo and studied it more closely. Ranger was right. Barely visible cut marks stretched across their skin.

“It could be because this was the first time this guy killed two victims at once,” Andi suggested. “Maybe that threw him off his game.”

“Maybe.” Duke’s jaw tightened as he stared at the photo. “It almost looks like he changed his mind. But why would he do that?”

“Maybe the killer knew Calvin and Mary personally.” Ranger let his words linger in the air. “That could make him rethink his methods and do something less gruesome.”

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