Page 38 of In Her Fears
Outside, the afternoon sun seemed too bright after the subtle lighting of the gallery.Jake still had the car keys, and Jenna headed for the passenger seat.As they settled into the patrol car, Jake turned to her before starting the engine.“So what’s your thinking?Harrow must have painted the Holbrook murder scene weeks before it happened.”
“Which means either he committed the murder himself, making the painting a kind of blueprint,” Jenna said, “or as you suggested … he somehow foresaw it.”
“There are some other options,” Jake added grimly.“Elias Harrow could have created a painting as a model for something he wanted to do—and finally did.”
“But if he’s incapacitated and really never leaves home …”
“Then maybe someone else saw his painting and decided to recreate it in real life.”
Jenna stared through the windshield at the idyllic Main Street of Trentville, so at odds with the horrors they were investigating.“Whatever the answer is, we need to find it fast.If we’re right about the full moon connection, someone else could die horribly tonight.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The gallery’s paintings lingered in Jenna’s mind as Jake navigated the patrol car.One of those grotesque scenes had depicted Martin Holbrook’s murder weeks before it happened.
“We should update the mayor,” Jake said, breaking the silence.“Another murder in her jurisdiction isn’t going to sit well.”
Jenna nodded, pulling out her phone.“She’s going to be difficult about this.”
“When isn’t she?”Jake muttered, slowing for a curve in the road.
Jenna dialed Claire’s number, switching to speaker phone.Three rings, then the mayor’s crisp voice came through.
“Sheriff Graves, I was just about to call you.I’ve heard rumors about—”
“Alexis Downey is dead,” Jenna interrupted, too tired for preamble.“She was murdered last night, her body found this morning at an abandoned hunting lodge in Whispering Pines Forest.”
The silence that followed stretched for several seconds.
“Claire?”Jenna prompted.
“I’m here.”The mayor’s voice was suddenly less steady.“Are you certain it’s murder?Could it have been—”
“It was murder,” Jenna confirmed.“Dr.Stark has already examined the body.Alexis was strangled, then suspended from the rafters of the lodge post-mortem.”
“Horrible.”The single word carried genuine distress.“Do we have any leads?”
“We’re pursuing several angles,” Jenna said carefully.“Colonel Spelling is involved.We believe this murder may be connected to the Holbrook case in Pinecrest last month.”
“Connected how?”Claire asked sharply.
“Similar theatrical staging.Both victims were positioned to create maximum impact when discovered.”Jenna paused.“We’re concerned that the killer may be working on a lunar cycle.Martin Holbrook was killed during the full moon last month.Last night was the first night of this month’s full moon.”
“Which means...”
Jake replied.“Even though there was only one during the last full moon period, we have to consider the possibility of another murder tonight.We’re headed to interview a person of interest right now.”
Claire’s politician voice returned.“Keep me in the loop.Every step.I don’t want to hear any more rumors before I get facts from you two directly.And Sheriff?”
“Yes?”
“Please catch whoever did this before anyone else gets hurt.”
The line went dead.Jenna tucked her phone away, struck by the vulnerability in Claire’s voice.In spite of her constant political calculations, Jenna knew that the mayor cared deeply about the townspeople of Trentville.
As they drove the houses grew scarce, set farther back from the road.“There,” Jenna said, pointing to a rusted mailbox set next to a narrow road that was almost obscured by overhanging bushes.“Turn here,” she instructed Jake.“Should be about a little way down this road.”
The paved road gave way to gravel, the patrol car bumping over the uneven surface that wound through dense woods for nearly a quarter mile before opening into a small clearing.In the center stood Elias Harrow’s house—a traditional farmhouse, once a substantial country home but now showing decades of neglect.A wraparound porch sagged slightly on one side, its railing missing several balusters.
