Page 7 of The Clearing Rain

Yesterday had been hard.Keeping a secret from her partner was hard, especially when they were cooped up in the police cruiser for most of the day.In some ways, Linc knew her almost better than Nico did.More than once during their shift he’d asked her if everything was okay.She’d told him she was just a little shocked at this new murder in their sleepy little town and he’d taken her answer at face value, then changed the subject to how they were going to catch this guy.But she knew it was only a matter of time before Linc’s suspicions grew, and she wouldn’t be able to lie to him forever.The morning sickness alone was going to be a dead giveaway.It was getting worse.She’d had to rush to the ladies’ bathroom right before this meeting.She’d learned to carry those disgusting dry crackers on her at all times, as for some reason, they seemed to calm the swells of nausea.

Dragging her thoughts away from how she was going to break her pregnancy to her partner, Lacey instead let her gaze settle on the large image of the murdered girl, front and center on the whiteboard.If it weren’t for the ligature marks around her neck, she could almost be peacefully asleep, using the long, dry grass as a pillow and the blue sky as her roof.Lacey’s mind drifted, and she wondered what the girl’s story was.What had she been doing before her life had been so cruelly cut short?Judging her age to be around twenty-one, Lacey knew she was on the cusp of adulthood.Fresh-faced and eager to face the world.Where was home for this girl?Did she have a boyfriend?Or girlfriend?Or family that were missing her?Such a shame this girl wouldn’t be able to fulfill her potential and go on to live the life she was meant to.

The backs of Lacey’s eyelids began to prickle, and she gave her head a quick shake.This bloody pregnancy stuff was a pain in the ass.Now she was getting teary at the drop of a hat.She was supposed to be a hardened cop, not be affected by death and carnage…Well, at least not show how affected she was.How was it going to look to her colleagues if she burst into tears every time she studied a crime scene photo of a dead or mutilated victim?

But then again, every death still reminded her of Cindi.She’d never get over watching that little girl take her last breath.The nightmares still haunted her sleep, but they were getting less and less.She’d suffered PTSD after the event where Cindi had been stabbed to death by her mother, but she was getting on top of her inner demons slowly, bit by bit every day.And being a cop was part of the process of winning back her old sense of purpose.It was just a shame that being a cop also brought these kinds of murders into stark contrast, reminding her that not every story had a happy ending in this world and she wasn’t infallible.

Refocussing on Nico’s words, she pushed images of Cindi out of her head, while also banishing questions about this new dead girl’s previous life.The only way they could truly help the victim now was to find her killer and mete out justice for her death.

“The more we scratch the surface of this crime the more questions it poses,” Nico said.“The only thing we know for sure is that she died by strangulation, and that time of death was around midnight on Monday.Autopsy confirmed that this morning,” he added.“Other than that, we don’t know where she was murdered.It could’ve been on scene, or somewhere else, and then her body dumped by the side of the road.”

Nico stopped speaking giving his team space to ask questions.But when none came, he continued, “At first glance, this murder looks like it follows all the typical MO of the sex worker serial killer we identified mid last year.”Lacey grimaced at the label.Someone in the team had bandied the term around after the third victim was found and the nickname had stuck.But Lacey found it crass and disrespectful to the women he’d killed so far, and she decided she’d have words with Nico afterward to see if they could come up with a better moniker.

“The precision with which the naked body was laid out postmortem, hands crossed over heart, the ligature marks, the age of the victim, the way the site has been left spotless, almost as if the killer was never there, no signs of physical assault, other than strangulation, all point to him.”

At least that was one small mercy in the litany of other despicable acts.None of the other three murder victims had been raped or tortured.

“But there is one major difference.We can’t confirm this yet, but it doesn’t look like this girl worked in the sex industry.She was too…clean.”Nico hesitated over the word, but Lacey got his meaning.Girls in that field often had drug habits or were involved in other substance abuse, the signs of which were unmistakable.There was often bruising or marks on a woman’s body left by over enthusiastic customers.Poor nutrition, eating disorders, and lack of self-care leading to poor dental hygiene were also often an indication of mistreatment.And not to be indelicate, but inflammation or other injuries of the vaginal area were also common.The forensic pathologist would have been able to document any of these as evidence if they’d been there, but it seemed like she was just a normal young adult, living a healthy life.

“Like I said, this isn’t definitive.But if it’s true, this puts the victim outside the serial killer’s normal scope of his preferred victim pool.Which is worrying.It might mean he’s branching out.Taking on a wider sweep of prey,” Nico said.

The room was silent for a few seconds as everyone digested this news.

“Or it could mean this isn’t the work of our serial killer,” Pederson said.And while it was what everyone else might’ve been thinking, Nico still threw him a blank look that fooled no one.Nico and Pederson didn’t see eye to eye.Not since he and stablemate, Saito, had joined them in the Sandra Brown case before Christmas.Pederson was curt and had little to no bedside manner.He said things as he saw them.Saito was more circumspect, had a quiet manner, but a steely gaze that belied her small stature.Both were good detectives in their own way, and both might prove handy in the days and weeks to come.

“It could,” Nico agreed.“Again, we’re not discounting anything at this early stage.”He turned on his heel to pace forward to the whiteboard, pointing at the photo of the old man on the alpaca farm and changing the direction of the conversation.“I’ve interviewed the farmer, Vincent McMillan—he prefers to be called Pacca—who made the report of screams during the night.His farm vehicles and building have been thoroughly checked, with no signs of evidence or any foul play.He has no alibi for the night in question, but I’m inclined to believe his story for now.”

No alibi apart from the bottle of whisky Pacca had consumed that night, Lacey thought darkly.And then chastised herself for being so unkind.The old man was clearly battling his own demons, so who was she to judge.

“We need to dig deeper into his past, however, make sure he hasn’t got any priors, or criminal connections,” Nico continued, tapping his finger thoughtfully against his chin as he stared at the image of the old farmer he’d pinned to the board.

Lacey understood that Nico had to follow all avenues to make sure he didn’t miss any vital clues, but she highly doubted Pacca was their killer.He wasn’t the most sprightly of old men.She concluded he must be close to eighty, even though it was hard to tell, sun ravaged and wrinkled as he was.But the way he’d shuffled around on his front veranda spoke of arthritic joints and years of prolonged pain.Not like her lively neighbor Herb, who, with his wife, Margie, were cycling enthusiasts, keeping fit and trim even though they were now both well into their seventies.Pacca would’ve struggled to hold down a twenty-one-year-old girl, even if he did manage to drug her beforehand, let alone to strangle her, which was a very intimate crime and possibly spoke of a lover or someone else who felt passionately about the victim.And that didn’t even begin to answer the question of how he got the girl out into the ditch in the first place.He couldn’t have carried her that far.He might have transported her in one of his dusty vehicles, but Nico said they’d all been checked and cleared of evidence.Which left the possibility that the old man had an accomplice.Or was an accomplice himself.

“Why did the killer choose that remote, unused road?”The question interrupted her musing, and Lacey glanced over to see it was Constable Karl Hickey who’d spoken up.Thick-necked and stocky, Hickey reminded her of a bulldog.But he was a good cop, with great instincts and she respected him, even if he was a little gruff for her liking.“Not a lot of people even know that Cutter’s Road exists, it tends to be local knowledge only,” Hickey continued.“Which means this guy is either a local, or he’s spent some time and energy scoping out the place.”

It was true.Pacca had told them—and it’d been confirmed by the council—that the end of the road, where it joined up with the highway had been permanently blocked off with a concrete barricade ten years ago at the request of the farmer himself to stop“those stupid tourists getting lost on his property”, as he’d so eloquently put it.The other end of the track terminated at a junction with another dirt road used by locals to access their properties from the main highway between Burnie and Strahan, around forty farms in all.Pacca’s rear access road was blocked with a gate and cattle grid on that end.Not locked, merely latched closed, much like the gate she and Linc had driven through the other day.So anyone could access the road if they really wanted to.But it was clearly marked with a Private Property, Keep Off sign to keep trespassers away, and it seemed no one had the need nor the desire to travel down it anyway.

“Agreed,” Nico responded.“I’ve got Sally-Ann and Constable Lawson door knocking the area to see if any of the residents heard the same thing Pacca did.She’s also going to ask for any security footage they have.Who knows, we might be able to identify a vehicle or a person visiting that road over the past few weeks.”It was a long shot, Lacey thought, but they might get lucky.

“Do you think he might’ve had a specific reason to choose that particular crime scene?”Hickey continued, obviously on a roll, trying to make any connections he could between victim and killer.

“Possibly.”Nico raised one shoulder in a bemused shrug.“And if he did, does it have something to do with Mr.McMillan?Is the killer sending him a message?Or sending us a message?Perhaps trying to frame him for the murder?”

“Yeah, right,” Hickey mused, then lapsed back into a thoughtful silence.

The debrief continued for another twenty minutes with all the team members contributing something to the conversation.But it became more and more apparent the longer they talked how little they actually knew about the crime.No witnesses—apart from a drunk, old, unreliable man—no clues, nothing.

Nico released them all to their daily duties.While he and the other two detectives stayed on the case, she and Linc were back out on patrol.Sally-Ann and Dawn were out door knocking, and Nico had a couple of the junior constables searching through the databases to see if they could come up with an ID for the girl.The crime scene had been thoroughly and forensically searched and cleared, but with no real leads to follow up, the rest of them were on normal duties unless something else came up.

“Come on, Shorty,” Linc called over as he stood and stretched his arms above his head.“Let’s head out.”He nodded toward the door, and then stage-whispered, “And grab a coffee from our favorite barista on the way.”He gave a wicked smile; with so many brilliant white teeth flashing it almost blinded her.She was so glad to have Linc back as her partner.When he’d been struck over the head during the previous case and ended up in hospital, she’d been so scared that he might die.The incident made her all the more grateful that he’d made a full recovery and was back on the beat with her.She couldn’t imagine working with any other partner.

She grinned back.“I’m sure Conner is expecting us,” she quipped, also standing and resettling her duty belt around her hips.How long would this belt fit her until she had to let it out a notch?The wayward thought made her grimace.“I’m right behind you,” she stated, waving him through the doorway before he saw her face.

Just before she slipped through the door behind him, she turned and caught Nico’s eye, and they shared a secret smile.She had to look away quickly, scared someone would see their clandestine glance.No one could know that she was pregnant yet.It was too early; she was only seven weeks if her calculations were correct.And she still needed to have it doubly confirmed by the doctor; she had an appointment booked for tomorrow before her midday shift.But she was so happy, it was hard to keep it off her face.Lacey was almost bursting at having to keep the secret behind her closed lips.She wanted to shout it from the rooftops that she and Nico were going to have a baby together.Her thoughts of asking Nico to marry her had taken a back seat for now.But she hadn’t shelved the idea completely.Now, more than ever, would be a great time to get married.For the baby’s sake as much as their own.But she needed to pick her time, get it just right.It may come up sooner rather than later in discussions about how they were going to manage things.But for now, she and Nico were just digesting the news, letting it settle into their psyche and enjoy the notion.

Yesterday morning, after Lacey had blurted out the news—not how she’d intended to tell Nico, but she hadn’t been able to hold in the words—they’d gone back inside to the living room and talked and talked.He’d held her hand as she recounted how she’d figured out she was pregnant while on their weekend away when she’d thrown up after drinking the wine, but she hadn’t wanted to say anything until she was certain.Then they talked some more, about their hopes and dreams for the future.Nico should’ve been at work, but they both knew these few precious moments were a sacred time between them that shouldn’t be lost.Nico had pulled her onto his lap and she’d rested her head on his shoulder, while he lay one protective palm over her belly—which was ridiculous because the baby was probably only the size of a raisin right now.Lacey had decided that she’d fallen pregnant during the make-up sex they’d had after their argument over Nico’s ex-wife.

Things had progressed from there, and Lacey had found herself tugging Nico by the hand down the hallway toward their bedroom.Flooded with relief after sharing her growing joy with Nico, she wanted to feel his body cover hers, feel him moving inside her as the ultimate manifestation of their love.

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