The Bone Harvest

by Stacy M Jones

  “None of that is evidence,” Michael interrupted.

  “No, you’re right,” Luke admitted. “You know what is though?”

  Michael shrugged.

  “We have a witness who saw you leaving Cristina’s body across from my parents’ house.”

  Michael watched Luke but didn’t say anything for a while. Finally, he said, “That must have been difficult for your parents, knowing that a dead girl was right across from their house. I would have liked to have seen your father’s face when he found her on his morning walk. It must have been dreadful.”

  It took everything Luke had not to leap across the table and strangle him. Sweat pooled at his lower back. He stared the man down. “How did you know my father found the body?”

  Michael waved his hand like he was swatting a fly. “Little Rock is a small town. You hear things. Kind of like hearing the victim was last seen at the bar. Your witness must be mistaken.”

  Luke reached in his pocket and pulled out Katie’s cellphone. He held it up. “What about this? The texts you made to Katie. Why did you need Cristina alone on the very night she was murdered?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Michael’s words expressed a conviction that the look on his face betrayed.

  “That’s funny because it was me you were texting with yesterday. In fact, you were texting while Riley was in your house.”

  “Riley?” Michael asked, eyebrows raised. He never even addressed what Luke had said about Katie. It didn’t seem to faze him in the least.

  “Yes, she’s a consultant with the police. She’s from here, Michael. Her family knows all about yours.”

  “There’s not much to know about me,” Michael said, looking around the room like he was bored with the conversation.

  “You laid out a pretty good case yesterday why you killed all those young women. I know it’s not just the case in Little Rock. We have investigators all over, looking into your murders. All twenty-three of them. Yeah, Michael, we found them fairly quickly, too. Cooper was in Atlanta. Riley was up here. Frank in Virginia. We’ve got you. You wanted to play a game and now you’ve lost.”

  The man said nothing so Luke pressed harder. “Do you like being called Michael Bauer? Or should I call you Michael Hayes or Hayes Bauer? Maybe instead of all of that, you’d simply like to be called The Professor. That is what you called yourself in the letters you sent me, isn’t it?” Luke sat back and appraised the man.

  Michael stopped looking around and looked Luke in the eyes. In fact, the man’s sudden and intense eye contact unnerved Luke, but he didn’t look away.

  “You can’t prove anything,” Michael said smugly, sitting back in his chair.

  CHAPTER 77

  I rested on my bed after Luke left, thumbing through a magazine my sister had tossed on my nightstand the previous day. It was a bridal magazine, which at first, I had thought was silly, but I wondered if she was trying to tell me I should get married or if she was marrying my ex-husband. Either way, it was entertaining reading material while I waited for Luke’s text.

  I had called the Masonic Lodge right after Luke left and asked if we could search the property behind them for an old root cellar. The man who answered the phone had no idea what I was talking about but gave us permission. He told me his name was Steve, and if anyone gave us trouble, just to tell them he had okayed it. He assured me they weren’t expecting anyone at the building until late that evening.

  Satisfied we’d have full access when the time came, I flipped through the pages of the magazine, taking in the gowns and flowers and thankful that even if I married Luke, I’d never have to plan another big wedding. At least I had no intention of doing so.

  I was surprised when my phone chimed nearly thirty minutes earlier than I had been expecting. It was a text from Jack, letting us know the interview was already in progress.

  I grabbed my things, yelled for Cooper and hit the sidewalk in minutes flat.

  “How far away is this?” Cooper asked as he climbed in the passenger seat.

  “We could walk there but driving is faster.” I turned out of the driveway and made a left at the end of my road to Pawling Avenue. Three minutes later, I sat at the light on Pawling and Route 2. No cars were coming so I went right on red, and not even a minute later, we pulled into the driveway of the Masonic Lodge. I debated if we should check in with Steve before we hit the woods, but I assumed we were probably safe to just start searching.

  “Where is this guy’s house?” Cooper asked, looking around him.

  I pointed down the road to the right. “It’s that white one. You can only see the side of it through the trees, but these woods run from the side of Masons all the way back behind them and Michael’s house. It looks like more ground to cover than it really is. It doesn’t go back that far. It runs up to a hill and then stops. There is a neighborhood behind us high up on the hill.”

  “Do you have any idea where the root cellar could be?” Cooper stared off into the woods. His face gave away just how daunting of a mission this would be. The woods, although not deep, were dense. The leaf-covered ground was going to make searching all the more challenging.

  “No idea. You heard about it the same time I did. There is only one way to find it. We need to start walking. I’ll go east-west and you take north-south, and we will grid search.”

  The ground crunched under my feet. In some places, the leaves and sticks were ankle-deep. I didn’t feel like I was walking over anything like doors. It was hard solid earth. Every once in a while, my path would cross with Cooper’s. “Nothing,” he’d confirm, and we’d keep walking.

  I worried we’d run out of time. I had no idea what was happening with the interview, but I was hard-pressed to believe Michael would simply confess and they’d make an arrest. A serial killer playing cat and mouse games doesn’t simply give up when they feel cornered. That’s usually when the game playing really begins. I hoped that would buy us more time.

  Nearly forty minutes of searching later, from directly behind Michael’s house, Cooper’s voice echoed through the barren trees. “Found it!”

  I wanted to run to him but was afraid of tripping over branches. I resisted the urge but was out of breath anyway from anticipation by the time I reached him. Cooper had brushed off the leaves that covered the doors.

  “Someone has been here recently. The leaves and branches were placed on top of here to hide it,” Cooper said and pointed to some fresh footprints that had been left in the dirt probably the last time it had rained and the ground was soft and muddy.

  The doors were locked, closed with heavy chains and a lock that would not be easily broken. “We need bolt cutters or something to break those.”

  Cooper looked back towards the Masonic lodge. “Since you talked to Steve, why don’t you tell him you found it and see if they have anything we can use. I’d rather stand here and wait, especially if Michael comes back. He could potentially see us from his backyard. I’d rather deal with the confrontation than you. I’ll also snap some photos of the scene with my phone, just in case we need them later.”

  I made my way back to the lodge. A few minutes later, I handed Cooper heavy bolt cutters. Steve had been more than happy to help and frankly a little annoyed there was something on the Mason property that was unknown to him. We had full permission to do what was needed.

  Even with the tool, the chains were tough to break. Cooper worked at it and worked at it. He cussed and sweat dripped down his forehead. Finally, as he was just about to give up, the lock broke. Cooper pulled the heavy chains off, dragging them over the wooden doors and dropping them in a heap. He yanked on the metal handle and pulled open one side. When he pulled open the other side, I saw the old wooden plank staircase that led into the root cellar.

  Cooper looked at me, wiping the sweat off his brow. “Flashlight?”

  I pulled one out of the pocket of my hoodie and handed it to him. Cooper went first. I followed right behind, holding on to the back of
his shirt. As we hit the bottom dirt floor, I took in what was illuminated by the flashlight. There were shelves on all sides of us. The walls behind them looked like packed dirt. It felt like being in a tomb.

  Cooper flashed the light on the shelves. It bounced from one area to the other. The shelves were filled with women’s clothing and other items. There was a bright purple wool scarf, a gold chain with a locket attached, and right in the middle of it all, a pink mask with a flower on one side. I was sure of it – these were the items I had seen in the basement through the back windows.

  Cooper flashed the light to the other side. We both took a step back horrified at what we saw. The flashlight beam bounced off mason jars filled with bones. Small finger bones to be exact. Each jar labeled with a date.

  I grabbed Cooper’s hand. He squeezed mine in response. Neither of us said a word. There was nothing we could say. We were looking at years of trophies from a serial killer. As Cooper turned to face me, the light brightened the back of the root cellar for mere seconds, but it was enough.

  “Cooper, what’s back there?” I stammered, thinking that there was no way I saw what I had.

  “Where?” Cooper asked, turning, moving the flashlight all around.

  I took the flashlight from his hands and pointed it at the spot. In an old rocking chair, painted a vibrant green, sat a skeleton dressed in women’s clothing. A long dark-haired wig sat on the skull. The hair flowed over the shoulder bones and down its spine. A woman’s scooped neck shirt and flower-patterned skirt covered the skeleton’s torso and thigh bones.

  I took a step towards it, thinking at first it had to be fake. The closer I came, the more I knew it was real. The remains of a woman who had once been as alive as I was at that moment. I shined the light on the hand, the left hand, which rested on the arm of the chair. There affixed on the ring finger was an antique engagement ring.

  I shined the light back on Cooper. His eyes were transfixed on the scene. “We have to get out of here and call Luke and the police now.” Even though I said the words, neither of us moved our feet. We were planted in a spot of absolute horror.

  CHAPTER 78

  Michael was right. Luke knew that the evidence they had gave them nothing more than a circumstantial case. During a silent stalemate between the men, Riley’s name flashed on his phone screen. Luke hesitated taking it because he didn’t want Michael to get up and leave so the call went to voicemail.

  Luke pressed Michael again and again, trying every investigative trick and angle he knew to spark the man, make him angry, push and pull him emotionally. Michael didn’t bite. The verbal sparring continued for several more minutes until Jack forcefully shoved open the pocket doors and demanded Luke’s attention. He held a phone out to Luke. “You need to take this now.”

  Luke took the phone and stepped out of the room. “What is it?”

  Riley detailed everything that she and Cooper had found. Detectives with the Troy Police Department were already on their way. The management of the Masonic Lodge gave full permission for anything the police needed to do on their land.

  “You are absolutely certain this land and the root cellar belongs to the Masons?” Luke asked, cautiously.

  “I had Steve dig up his latest land deed documents, and the land survey clearly puts it on his property. There isn’t even wiggle room for debate,” Riley assured.

  “Is there anything down there that ties directly to Michael Bauer?”

  “Nothing with his name stamped on it, no. The mason jars correspond to each date of the murders. We have no idea who the skeleton belongs to or all the women’s items. Would you know your sister’s mask?”

  Luke wasn’t sure. It’d been a long time. “We’d be better off if we took a photo and sent it to my mother.”

  “You can do that when you come here. Are you getting anything with Michael?”

  “Other than some slip-ups, no. Although he did readily admit to being in Little Rock and seeing the victim the night she disappeared. My guess is he assumed we had witnesses who saw him there. It was better to admit than deny.”

  “Is there enough to make an arrest?”

  “No,” Luke said, running through every scenario in his head of how they might even hold Michael until they processed the scene. Given the root cellar was on the Mason’s property it was a double-edged sword – good for accessibility, bad because of Michael’s deniability. They would have to wait for a complete review of what they found and fingerprint analysis.

  They’d have to let him go. Luke ended the call with Riley and called Jack into the main dining room. “Can you and Frank do some surveillance on him until we process the scene and get a warrant to search his house or make an arrest?”

  Jack readily agreed and left. Luke wasn’t sure what to do – push Michael harder or wait until they processed the evidence. Luke knew for sure now his sister’s killer sat mere feet away. He was alone with him now. Luke could take out any revenge he wanted. There was no one in the upstairs of the pub with them. Several scenarios ran through Luke’s mind. None of them ended with Michael walking out of the building alive.

  Luke thought of Riley and then his parents. He couldn’t leave them. His parents would never understand. They’d have lost both their children. Once he got his emotions under control, Luke walked back to the room. Once inside he looked at Michael, sitting comfortably across the table. “Let’s talk for a few more minutes.”

  “We are going to have to hurry, I have things to do,” Michael said, looking at his phone.

  “Why’d you do it?” Luke asked. “I just want to know why you killed all those girls. What did they ever do to you?”

  Michael set the phone down. “I didn’t kill anyone. You can try all your little cop tricks, but I’m never going to tell you I did something I didn’t do.”

  “We have you at each university when a girl was abducted and murdered. We’ve tied you to each location. We have witnesses in Little Rock, in Atlanta and here. They will testify against you. We may not convict you on all the cases, but we will get you on enough.”

  “That’s it?” Michael laughed. “You have me teaching at some universities when girls disappear. What about all the ones I’ve been teaching at and no one is harmed? How do you account for that? You may have witnesses, but what did they really see? Because if they saw me killing someone, I’d already be arrested. You have no DNA connecting me to any cases. You have no murder weapon.”

  “We are building our case.”

  Michael studied Luke’s face. “Are we done here?” He stood to leave.

  Luke stood and looked him in the eyes. “With your little trophy room we just found, we will get you, Michael, rest assured. Troy PD is playing with all your trophies right now. They have the bones. They have the clothing and keepsakes. They’ve got it all.”

  Michael kicked his chair back into the wall. Luke put his hand on his gun.

  “You don’t even have all the bodies!” Michael yelled.

  Michael’s face flushed. He looked to the floor. Both men knew his mistake.

  Calmly, Luke asked, “If you have nothing to do with these murders, how do you know what remains were found? How do you know so much?”

  Michael left, shoving past Luke on the way out. Luke texted Jack to tell him the man was leaving. Luke waited a few minutes and practically ran down the steps and out to his car. The drive back up the hill and out of downtown Troy took forever. Luke hit every light. When he pulled up to the Masonic Lodge, Luke was overcome with emotion. The police presence blanketed the entire area. Everyone had come out to help, and Luke couldn’t be happier.

  CHAPTER 79

  Luke stood with one foot in the Masonic Lodge driveway and the other in the grass. One of the big spotlights that law enforcement had brought in to illuminate the area shined right on him. He was awash in light. I waded through the sea of cops to reach him.

  Luke wrapped me in his arms and nuzzled my ear. His hand rubbed a sensitive spot on the back of my neck under my
hair. “I can’t believe you got everyone out here.”

  “The tech pulled prints off the handle and from the mason jars. They took our prints just to rule them out. Troy PD is working with the university right now to see if the prints match. Michael is not in the system otherwise. One of the cops said that Russell Sage would have put Michael through an extensive background check including taking his prints so they will have them.”

  We released each other. Luke looked down at me, his smile fading. “I wasn’t able to get him to confess. I don’t have any doubt it’s him. There were things he said that indicated he knew more, things he couldn’t have known otherwise. I’m worried about getting a conviction.” Luke looked around seeming to search for something.

  “What?” I asked, looking in the same direction.

  “The FBI comes out now once we gather all the evidence? Let me guess, they are going to do a press conference on their find.” Luke laughed and scratched at his chin. “I need a shave.”

  I stood on tiptoes and kissed his stubble. “Isn’t that typical of the FBI? The locals do the grunt work and they swoop in for the credit. They are good for some things though.”

  “What is that?” a man’s voice said from behind me.

  I turned away from Luke. A man with blond hair and piercing blue eyes flanked my side. He stood about Luke’s height and wore a dark windbreaker with yellow writing on it indicating he was with the FBI.

  He extended his hand to Luke. “I don’t know what field office you talked to, but I just spent an hour with Cooper who detailed the entire case for me from start to finish. I’m sorry about your sister. We should have paid attention.”

  “What’s going to happen now?” Luke asked, his voice strained. “I have a murder case in Little Rock to wrap up. Are you taking over?”