Page 12 of The Killing Plains

“Serial killers escalate till they’re caught. They don’t go dormant for twenty years.”

“Some do,” Avery said quickly, dragging her stool towards the desk. “This is just like that BTK guy up in Kansas.”

Russ nodded, his eyes on Colly. “The town’s on edge. Folks are scared for their kids. To keep the rabbit masks a secret, the Rangers couldn’t explain why they closed the case after Willis died. Most people reckon they got it right. But a lot don’t. I’ve heard talk about forming a citizen posse, which would be a nightmare. There’s way more guns than people here. And if this killer strikes again...” He sat back heavily. “We’ve got to catch this guy.”

Colly nodded, and her gaze wandered to the window. On the station lawn, two gray squirrels, lean from winter and excited by the warm weather, were chasing each other around a tree trunk. They paused, tails flicking in alarm, then shot up into the live oak’s dark canopy as a UPS truck rumbled by.

Colly sighed and looked back at Russ. “Okay. Tell me about Denny Knox.”

Russ pulled a sheaf of papers from the folder in front of him, but before he could speak, they were interrupted by a knock. The door opened, and the elderly receptionist appeared. “Sorry to bother you, Chief. The team at the pond says they’ve found something.”

Russ’s look of irritation vanished. “Tell them we’re on our way.”

Chapter 4

By the time they emerged from the station, the morning haze had burned off. The sky was now a clear, brassy blue that promised unseasonable heat.

“What team was she talking about?” Colly asked.

Russ settled his Stetson on his head. “The Rangers wanted to dredge the stock pond. But the judge is a golfing buddy of Lowell’s and wouldn’t give them a warrant, and Momma flat refused. I think she was scared they’d find something incriminating to Willis. I told her she’d have to agree to total cooperation if she wanted your help, though. I sent a couple guys out there this morning.” He handed Colly the Denny Knox file he was carrying. “You can skim this as we drive.”

He led the way to a dusty black SUV and opened the front passenger door for Colly. Avery, carrying an expensive-looking camera, climbed into the back seat.

As they headed north, Colly dug in her bag for her reading glasses and opened the file. The first document was a typed case summary. She picked it up.

“The Rangers wrote this?”

“Avery did. She’s been great on this case.” Russ winked into the rearview mirror.

Pretending not to see, Colly put on her glasses and read quickly.

The summary was succinct and well-written: thirteen-year-old Denny Knox had disappeared on a sunny Friday afternoon in early September. He had ridden his bicycle from his home to the Compass Counseling Center for his court-mandated therapy, arriving at noon. His therapist, Brenda Newland, reported that their session was uneventful and that Knox was in a good mood throughout. Both Newland and the office coordinator, Pearl Granley, saw the boy exit through the center’s front entrance shortly after one p.m., a fact confirmed by CCTV footage from a daycare across the street. Security cameras from several homes and businesses recorded Knox pedaling rapidly northwards through town. He was wearing jeans, a yellow t-shirt, and a red ballcap, and carrying an army-green canvas backpack. Tom Gunnell, a mechanic at Digby’s Automotive on the Old Ranch Way, reported seeing Knox ride past the shop around 1:20 p.m., going north towards Newland Ranch, though Digby’s had no cameras, and police could not independently confirm the account. Gunnell’s was the last known sighting of Knox, whose nude body was discovered beside the Newland Ranch stock pond at 6:30 the next morning. He appeared to have been strangled with some sort of ligature not found at the scene; his bicycle and clothing (minus ballcap and backpack) were located nearby. Ranch foreman Felix Arredondo discovered the corpse while checking on the cattle and called Chief of Police Ruston Newland to report the news.

Colly stopped reading and looked up. Like most West Texas towns, Crescent Bluff had no suburban perimeter. Its tight cluster of homes and shops thinned to a spotty fringe of junkyards, garages, and trailer parks, and then, abruptly, to rural landscape. They were already past the outskirts and speeding along a straight two-lane highway into open country.

“I didn’t know Brenda was Denny’s therapist.”

Russ nodded. “She works afternoons at the counseling center.”

Strange she didn’t mention it this morning,Colly thought.“Why was his therapy court-mandated?”

“He started a fire in a school bathroom last spring. District pressed charges. Denny was in trouble a lot. We arrested him for vandalism and petty theft several times.”

Colly tapped her pencil thoughtfully against the folder. “His folks didn’t report him missing the night before?”

“Avery, what did Jolene say about that?” Russ braked as they approached a dark, feathered lump in the road. An enormous turkey vulture looked up, then hoisted itself in the air to reveal the carcass of a white-tailed deer.

“Interview transcript’s in the folder.”

“Give me the gist,” Colly said.

Avery looked annoyed. “His mom said Denny ran off sometimes, after fights with his stepdad. He’d cool down at his Little League coach’s house and come back in a day or two. So she didn’t worry.”

Russ glanced at Colly. “Sounds neglectful, but Jolene’s had her hands full with him. Plus, her husband’s been out of work for months, and their relationship’s stormy. We’ve been called out on several domestics, but she won’t press charges.”

“Who’s the coach?”

“Tom Gunnell—mechanic at Digby’s Automotive.”

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