Page 36 of A Song for the Dead

Shaking her head, Jenna shrugged. “Nothing substantial. We’re trying all angles, but so far we haven’t found a potential suspect who looks right for the crime.”

“There’s been nothing of interest on the hotline.” Maggie rolled her eyes skyward. “Sometimes I figure people call in for an excuse to chat. Halloween has the townsfolk’s imaginations running riot. One woman called who swore she’d seen a unicorn running along the middle of Main late last night, but she wasn’t sure if it was a zebra with a horn. When I explained that unicorns were usually white, she admitted she’d made a mistake. Like I said, people’s imaginations get the better of them over Halloween.”

“People see many strange things in the mist at night.” Kane smiled. “Add a good sprinkling of weird whines and cackles from the local displays and anything is possible.”

“They do indeed.” Maggie turned as the phone on the desk rang. “Ah… another report of a headless horseman no doubt.”

Laughing, Jenna headed for the stairs and walked to the conference room. The sound of voices drifted toward her as she pushed open the door. Jo, Carter, Rio, and Rowley all sat at the long table. The whiteboard had been brought up to date and she recognized Rio’s neat handwriting, listing victims of the cold cases on one side and the missing women on the other. Suspects and information on each set up in a bulleted list. They must have arrived early or worked late to have correlated all the information on both cases. On the bench both coffee machines gurgled, filling the glass jugs with a rich aromatic brew. The pod machine was a luxury she enjoyed, but she’d noticed most of her team preferred the filtered variety. She placed her things on the table and glanced around the room. “Morning. You’ve been busy, Rio. Thanks for all the information. It’s good to see everything at a glance.”

“It was a joint effort.” Rio leaned back in his chair. “After searching through hours of drone footage without a result, we spent the rest of our time piecing together all the information everyone had gathered to date.”

Jenna nodded and sat down to bring everyone up to speed with her trip to Twisted Limbs Trail and the strange Hank Maxwell. She grimaced recalling the smell and the overconfident man. “Could he be a serial killer? Yeah, in my opinion he is more than capable. He lives in the forest, already has a house that stinks of death, and was over-cooperative.”

“Hmm, burning potential evidence makes him suspicious.” Carter frowned. “If he moves around on horseback, he knows the forest well. I wouldn’t discount him. He could be moving bodies in his horse trailer and transporting them on his horse to a burial site.”

“His behavior would suggest he’s a person of interest.” Jo made notes on her iPad and glanced up at Jenna. “We don’t know if he collects roadkill or he’s butchering animals for fun. Many psychopaths begin their killing sprees by mutilating animals. We’ve already agreed the MO of this killer is well rehearsed. He’s either been killing for longer than we realize or he’s practiced on animals.”

“I’m confident he’s the same man who murdered the women seven years ago.” Kane rested both hands on the table, his fingers loosely interlaced. “The crime scenes match. This guy is re-creating a scene, replaying something that happened to him a long time ago. We all agree he’s following a ritual and we also know that some psychopaths can go through periods of not killing as they plan a multiple murder. It seems this particular type of psychopath is content with a series of killings once a year. I would imagine he spends the rest of the year selecting his victims.”

Jenna glanced at the whiteboard and nodded in agreement. “They all have the transport and types of occupations where they can move bodies around, plus they move around without people noticing them because they’re seen regularly.” Her attention moving to Jo and Carter. “I’m glad you found Duane Warner. What is your opinion of him?”

“Same as the others.” Jo stood and poured a cup of coffee and then turned back to look at her. “Smooth as silk, with just the right amount of indignation at being questioned.”

“I’d keep him on the list.” Carter tossed his toothpick into the trash and stood. “I’ll pour the coffee. I figure the interview with him was routine.”

After listening to their encounter with Duane Warner, Jenna rubbed her temples. “So, we have another possible but only circumstantial evidence. Do you figure we need to bring him in for questioning and hope he incriminates himself?”

“It would be pointless unless we have some shred of evidence to point to him being involved.” Carter handed out cups and slid the fixings on the table. “I figure Warner, Stark, Cummings, and Maxwell are all possibles.” He dropped into a chair and looked around the table. “We have Kalo checking them out again, but we come up against the same background with all of them. It’s like they’re facsimiles of each other. They all drive vehicles suitable for carrying a body and that blend into daily life. They were all in town around the time of the murders, although we can’t prove it. They move around and work odd hours.” He stirred his coffee and tapped the spoon on the side of the cup. “The one I’d have at the top of the list is Stark. The rest are close behind, but he’s the only one of them who we have saying he’d been actively interested in Freya Richardson and we know he spoke to Daisy in the pizzeria.”

Making a note on her “things to do” list, Jenna met his gaze. “Okay, I guess we haul him in for questioning. He’s a postal worker, so we should be able to locate him.” She thought for a beat. “Not that we’d be able to hold him as we only have an assumption of a crime. For now, both our victims are missing persons.” She turned her attention to Rio and Rowley. “Rowley, call all the local departments of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for here, Louan, and Blackwater and ask them to notify all their wardens that we’re searching for missing persons and, more likely, bodies. They know the signs to look for if our victims have been dumped anywhere.” She turned to Rio. “Do the same for the tour guides, hikers clubs, and all the hunting clubs. Also update the media release, reminding people to be on the lookout for the missing women and to call in about anyone acting suspiciously, including any vehicles parked late at night.”

“Okay.” Rowley stood, picked up his coffee, and headed downstairs.

“Do you want me to include prowlers on the list?” Rio frowned. “I know it’s Halloween and all, but maybe if we make it clear that, Halloween or not, prowlers set on frightening people at night won’t be tolerated?”

“Maybe you should tell them to shoot on sight?” Carter grinned at Jenna over the rim of his cup. “It would save you the trouble of hunting them down.”

Shaking her head, Jenna gave him her best disparaging glance. “I guess it’s within their legal right to do so if they feel threatened, but so far our townsfolk haven’t descended into the mentality of the Wild Westerners.” She looked at Rio. “Mention being aware of prowlers, but leave out the shoot-to-kill advice.”

“Okay.” Rio’s lips lifted in the corners as he fought back a grin. “Aw, and just when the media releases were getting interesting.” He collected his things and, shaking his head, strolled out the door.

FORTY-THREE

Getting nowhere fast in the investigation, Jenna turned to Jo. “We’ve exhausted all avenues of the investigation. We have a guy slaughtering women and I need to stop him before he strikes again.” She ran both hands through her hair and stared at the table. “Why can’t we locate the bodies? Where the heck is he hiding them?”

“It would sure help if we could locate them.” Kane finished his coffee and collected the cups and took them to the sink. “I’ve looked over the search areas that Rio and Rowley have covered with the drones and the problem is, if he’s covered the graves with leaves, they’re undetectable. He’d need only see the drones flying around to keep well away from that area during the daytime. This guy knows the forest. It’s an angle we might explore.”

“I’m not sure how much we’ll get out of reinterviewing the suspects.” Jo leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “If one of them is the killer, and I’ll say ‘killer’ because it’s obvious no one could survive the blood loss we witnessed at the crime scenes, then he knows we haven’t found a body.” She twirled a pen in her fingers. “The media release will let him know we have no idea where he’s hidden the bodies. The women are being spoken about as ‘missing,’ so why do you figure he’ll falter in an interview? In my opinion, it will make him super confident. Right now, he thinks he’s untouchable.” She shrugged. “Which it seems is correct.”

As usual Jo was right and Jenna lifted her chin. “This is the reason I want to bring Stark in for questioning. You and Kane have a knack for asking questions that dig right into a person’s psyche, and maybe he’ll let down his guard.” She shrugged and swept a gaze over each of them. “Right now, I’ll take any suggestions going forward because we’re getting nowhere. Sure, we have suspects, but I could pick out ten people in the line outside the pizzeria and drag them in for questioning and chances are they’ve all had contact with both victims at one time or another. We know it’s a hangout for the younger set. It’s there, Aunt Betty’s Café, or Antlers. I’m not seeing many out at the Triple Z Bar or having the cash to splash at the Cattleman’s Hotel.” She sighed. “Unless there’s sporting events going on, the age group between leaving college and settling down has limited places to meet in town.”

“You mean since they closed the drive-in movies?” Carter popped a toothpick into his mouth and grinned. Trust me, there are plenty of meeting places in town. You see, not being single, you don’t have the need to be hunting a mate. The Turf and Surf is one. The ski resort is open even during summer on weekends. Single people go there. The showgrounds have things going on all weekend—markets, car shows, animal shows—and there’s the art show at the town hall. There are a ton of places to meet people in Black Rock Falls.”

Raising both eyebrows, Jenna stared at him. “Well, I’m sure you’d know. Have you had any downtime of late to spend in your fishing cabin?”

“Not for a while.” Carter’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “But I drop by from time to time to unwind.”

“We’ve been sitting jawing for an hour or so.” Kane stared at Carter. “I figure discussing your downtime exploits is a waste of valuable time. I’m with Jenna. We get Stark in and shake him down. I want to find out more about him. He’s acting like a creep, and from what we’ve been told, seemed to have an obsession with Freya. It’s all we have for now and I suggest we run with it.”

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