by Hood, D. K.
“Me? No!” Brad’s eyes flashed with anger. “It’s just everyone around me seems to die.”
Another strange response. Jenna waited a beat for him to collect himself. “How did you get that scratch on your face?”
“This?” Brad touched his chin. “In the forest, why?”
“Ruby has skin under her fingernails.”
“It isn’t mine.” Brad straightened. “You’d need to prove it with a DNA test, wouldn’t you?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, that’s the usual way.”
“Well, she didn’t scratch me.” Brad’s eyes bore into her. “I’ll take a test.”
Relieved, Jenna nodded to Kane, and he went to collect a sample kit from his truck. “It’s the best thing to do, then there is no doubt.”
“I can walk with my head held high, Sheriff.” Brad stared at his boots then slowly looked at her. “Do you think after seeing my pa beat my mom to death with a shovel, I could hurt anyone?”
Jenna swallowed hard. “I don’t have an opinion on this murder, Brad. I’m hunting down a list of people who last saw Ruby alive. If everyone is as helpful as you, we’ll soon catch her killer.” She pulled out her notebook. “Where were you Thursday night?”
“Here.” Brad glanced back at the funeral parlor. “I’m making sure my mom remains here and she isn’t hauled off as some exhibition for a forensic anthropology class.”
“Can anyone verify that?” Jenna looked up at him. “Did you make any calls? Talk to anyone?”
“I picked up Chinese takeout around eight, I guess.” Brad rubbed his chin. “I used the restrooms in the park, changed my clothes, and then came back here.”
“Okay.” Jenna made notes. “What about Monday night and Wednesday morning?”
“Hunting down my mother’s remains or staying with them in the forest, I guess. I camped in the forest most times, and apart from Atohi dropping by, I can’t prove I was there.” He looked back at Kane. “Do you need to take blood for the test?”
She glanced around as Kane walked back wearing surgical gloves and carrying a DNA test kit. Turning back to Brad, she smiled. “No. It’s pretty simple, just a swab from the inside of your mouth.”
“How long before you know?” Brad opened his mouth for Kane to take the swab.
Jenna shrugged. “Not long. Wolfe has a superfast lab in the ME’s office, with all the latest equipment.”
“That’s good. I don’t like being a suspect.” Brad wiped the back of his hand over his lips. “Is that all?”
“Not really.” Kane looked at him. “Did you know about the plans for the Old Mitcham Ranch?”
“Yeah, Atohi mentioned some clown is turning it into an amusement park or something.” Brad shrugged. “It might be okay for tourists, but no one in his right mind from around here will go there.”
“So you know the history of the place?” Kane wasn’t looking at him but writing out the paperwork for the swab.
“Yeah, everyone does, and I heard on the news about the murders. The place should be burned to the ground.” Brad frowned. “Why?”
Jenna glanced at Kane, hoping her expression would prevent him from questioning Brad. She needed his signature on the paperwork.
“Ah, can you sign the consent form?” Kane rested it on the hood of Brad’s truck.
As Brad scribbled his name and the date, Jenna pushed a little harder. “Have you been by there lately?”
“The Old Mitcham Ranch? No, not since I came home.” Brad straightened. “I did go there once with a bunch of kids in high school one Halloween—never again. Why?”
Jenna rested one hand on her weapon in a casual stance. “That’s where we found Ruby.”
“Well, the test will prove I had nothing to do with hurting her.” Brad glared at them. “I gotta go.” He turned away and went to sit in his vehicle.
Jenna followed Kane back to his truck and they climbed inside. “What do you think?”
“He signed the paperwork with his right hand, which is a problem as we’re looking for a left-handed killer.” Kane stared out the window. “Dammit, he fits the profile in so many ways.” He turned slowly to look at her. “Unless he has dissociative personality disorder and if so, he’s hiding it well. We’d have to see the personality change to be sure.”
“It’s only a possibility the killer is left-handed. We’re going on a hunch, based on Mrs. Robinson’s statement. She could have been wrong about the time it took to kill her husband, and if you think about it, Ruby would’ve been dead and not struggling.” Jenna shrugged. “The killer could’ve grabbed her by the hair with his right hand and cut with the left. If he’s as smart as you think, he might have done that on purpose to confuse the investigation.”
“Maybe, and if he is involved, he knows darn well, Ruby didn’t scratch him.” Kane started the engine. “We should drop the sample by Wolfe’s office and then go see the other suspects.”
“Sure.” Jenna leaned back in her seat. “You know, we’re only assuming the killer took Ruby to the Old Mitcham Ranch to use as bait. We haven’t considered that maybe one of the guys working there met Ruby at Aunt Betty’s and took her out there. Do we know if any of them have scratches?” She glanced at Kane. “Had she been sexually active? Maybe it was a rape gone wrong?”
“Then there would’ve been five men involved.” Kane parked outside the ME’s office. “Someone had to tie them up and shoot them.” He shrugged. “I didn’t see any evidence of a fifth man living in the trailers.”
Jenna nodded. “I’ll ask Wolfe about the scratches while we’re here, and we’ll look at the bodies of the men again.” She sighed. “Right now, I feel like whoever is doing this is slipping through our fingers.”
Forty-Three
Surprised to see Jenna and Kane, Wolfe turned off his microphone and peered at them over his face mask. He’d finished the preliminary examinations on all the victims and was in the middle of the autopsy on Trevor Wilson. “Please don’t tell me we have another murder victim?”
“Nope.” Kane held up a sealed plastic bag. “I collected a DNA sample from Brad Kelly. We thought you’d like it right away. I’m not optimistic—he’s right-handed.”
Wolfe stepped away from the corpse pulling off his gloves and apron. “There goes that theory, but you never know what a killer will do to throw us off his scent. Bring it to the lab. He turned to Webber and Emily. “Prepare slides of the samples I’ve taken while I’m gone.” He looked over at Jo. “I figure Jenna will want to speak to you as well.”
“Sure.” Jo smiled at him and followed him from the room.
Wolfe grabbed new scrubs from a closet in the hallway, tossed his into a laundry basket, and pulled on the new ones as he walked, hopping on one foot. “The new technology I have here now will often give me a result in ninety minutes.” He smiled at them. “The lab-on-a-chip is excellent for determining trace evidence at a crime scene but I prefer the Rapid DNA machine.” He pulled on fresh gloves and plucked the bag from Kane’s hand. “If you’ll wait in there.” He pointed into the lab. “We can speak while I process the sample. You can’t come into the sterile area or the sample may be contaminated.”
“Okay.” Jenna smiled at him and led Kane and Jo through the door.
Inside the sterile room, Wolfe opened the bag and took out the sealed tube containing the sample collected from Brad Kelly. As he prepared the machine, he heard Jenna’s voice come through the speaker overhead.
“Have you noticed any scratches on any of the other victims?” Jenna peered at him through the glass partition.
“Not anything notable on initial examination, but I wasn’t looking for scratches.” Wolfe finished preparing the sample and placed it into the machine. “If there are, I don’t think they’re of any consequence. I’m glad you’re here because I wanted you to view Ruby Evans again so I can explain.” He headed for the door and met them in the hallway. “I’ve also found a few inconsistencies with the guy you refer to as victim number one—Wilson.”
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“How so?” Jenna took face masks and gloves from the counter outside the morgue and handed a set to Kane.
“It’s better if I explain when we’re viewing the body.” Wolfe pushed open the door to the morgue and approached the stainless-steel cabinet. “I took the temperature of all the victims at the scene and made notes on their state of rigor. The results are conflicting. Most mass murders happen within a few minutes of each other unless it’s a hostage situation.” He went to the drawers lining the morgue and pulled out Ruby. “What do you know about Ruby Evans’ movements immediately prior to her death?”
“We have Susie Hartwig’s account and the bus driver’s.” Kane scrolled through the files on his phone. “Rowley spoke to Susie and she said Ruby left at nine and caught the bus to Stanton Road. She said she usually walks along a trail through a wooded area to get to Elk Creek. The bus driver recalls her getting off the bus at around nine twenty.”
Wolfe pulled on the fresh apron Emily handed him and pulled back the sheet on Ruby Evans. “This is where it gets confusing.” He indicated to the bruises on Ruby’s wrists. “This would normally indicate she was fighting to get away but she has no defense wounds.”
“Are you saying her killer didn’t hit her or attack her from the front?” Kane frowned. “The killer likely tied her up for the trip to the Old Mitcham Ranch. Could the injuries be due to struggling?”
Wolfe nodded. “Some of them at least.” He picked up Ruby’s right hand. “This is where I found the skin under her nails. Well, one nail to be exact.”
“Yet her nails aren’t broken.” Jo held up the other hand. “She gave a swipe in protest and then was subdued.”
“Yes, and if you add this to the mud I discovered on the backs of the heels of her shoes, I’d say the killer pounced on her in the alleyway and she struck out in fright. It’s hard to tell from the damage, but if you look at the bruising on her neck, see here above the laceration,” he pointed to two distinct thumbprints each side of her neck, “we can see the bruising clearly, made from two hands above the laceration. I think the killer subdued her by strangulation after she fainted. I believe if you go and look at that cut-through from Stanton to Elk Creek, you’ll find drag marks made by her heels.”
“Do you believe the marks on her wrists came from struggling when she was in the chair, not from being tied previously?” Jenna peered at the body.
Wolfe nodded. “Yeah. They’re consistent with the damage caused by the tape. Here’s where it gets interesting. She died first and maybe an hour or so before victim number one, Wilson. He died at least two hours before the other two.”
“Which means the killer was with them for a minimum of three hours?” Kane raised both eyebrows in question. “We’ve assumed the killer kidnapped Ruby, took her to the ranch, set her up on the porch, and then brought her round. Her screaming alerted the sleeping men, who came to help, and the killer was waiting for them.”
Wolfe looked from one to the other. “It’s the only explanation I can offer you.” He glanced at Jenna. “I’ve taken DNA samples for comparison against the men at the scene; none of them match the sample from Ruby. They all have a few scrapes, from working, but she didn’t scratch any of them.”
“Was she sexually assaulted?” Jenna pulled the sheet up and over Ruby’s body.
“No.” Wolfe pushed Ruby back into the body storage locker.
“I don’t think she meant much to the killer. I agree, she was used as bait.” Jo looked at Jenna. “He cut her throat post-mortem to shock the men; they probably believed she was still alive.”
Wolfe nodded. “From the results I have now, it went down like this: The men came out, he made an example of Wilson, maybe because he was carrying a weapon, and shot him in the knee. From the prints on the gun, Wilson unloaded it and tossed it aside, so we can assume the killer was holding a weapon on him. He got the other men to tie each other to the chairs using the gaffer tape. I found corresponding prints on each man’s tape to prove this beyond doubt.”
“Who removed the hands?” Jenna looked confused.
Wolfe met her gaze. “The killer. There are no prints on the ax. He made the last man bind his own legs to the chair and one of his hands. The tape on one of his hands is clean, so our killer was wearing leather gloves, not latex or similar because they stick hard and would’ve left residue.”
“What would induce a man to tie up his friends and then himself?” Jenna looked horrified.
“Fear.” Jo walked to the body of Wilson. “The killer made an example of this man. Wolfe made the determination that someone removed his hand post-mortem. Think about the situation: a man has a gun on them. He shoots the boss in the knee and orders one of the men to tie him up, so he does it. Maybe one of the men mouthed off, so he shot Wilson. Now the others are terrified. He tells the third man, Taylor, to tie up Kenny and Skinner and then removes the dead man’s hand. After that he removes Kenny’s hand and so on.”
“It’s a power trip.” Kane looked at Jenna. “He was controlling them, bending them to his will.”
“All the while feeding off their pain and misery.” Jo looked at Jenna. “He enjoys killing; seeing people suffer and die is like a drug to him.”
“This is all the proof we need to confirm the killer planned this out.” Jenna leaned against the counter. “I think he had a beef with Wilson and this is payback.” She shook her head slowly. “Wilson is an out-of-towner. What the hell did he do to the killer to make him track him here, and how does this tie in with the three other homicides?”
“We’ve been discussing multiple personality disorder as a factor in this case.” Jo leaned against the counter beside Jenna. “The mass murder could’ve been committed by one of several personalities.”
“Yeah.” Kane pulled off his gloves and mask. “This is the psychopath, leader of the pack. He is the avenger. If someone caused one of the other personalities a problem, he comes out and fixes it.”
“The problem with this, Jenna.” Jo raised both eyebrows. “If we’re correct, we’re dealing with a cold contract killer personality, responsible for Robinson and likely the Stanton Forest murders.” She waved a hand toward the refrigerated cabinets. “That personality is calm and cool. He might be a really nice guy. I don’t think we’ve met him yet because none of the men you’ve interviewed have been calm or cool.” She looked at Kane. “How was Brad Kelly when you interviewed him today?”
“Cooperative and he denied being involved.” Kane frowned. “He appeared to be quite offended that we thought he might be involved. He brought up the fact he’d seen his father kill his mother as an excuse.”
“Hmm.” Jo walked up and down for a few moments. “If he’s our killer, he could be the personality who can handle the stress.” She looked at Jenna. “The angry young man we met could’ve been a totally different personality.”
Wolfe cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. “Whatever personality we have committing murder, as a medical examiner, the only clues I’ve found to indicate the murders at the Old Mitcham Ranch were committed by the same person are the black feather and the assumption he is left-handed.”
“It wouldn’t be unusual for a person with dissociative identity disorder to change from right- to left-handed during a switch.” Jo sighed. “In fact, anything is possible. Not all are violent, some self-harm, and most have no idea the other personalities exist. If so, and Brad Kelly is our killer, he’d pass a lie detector test.”
Wolfe took a breath. “One thing is for sure and that’s we have a psychopath out there, and I suggest you try and stop him before he murders someone else.”
Forty-Four
It was going to be one of those awful days when they took one step forward and three back in an investigation, Jenna just knew it. The information from Jo and Kane had stymied her usual way of thinking through a case. Any of her suspects could be suffering from dissociative identity disorder and hiding a psychopath. Right now, she considered at least two of the suspects had
a motive for murder. The faces of Kyler Hall and Cliff Young dropped into her mind. She pulled out her phone as she followed Kane back to his truck and contacted the site manager at the ski resort. “Hi there, it’s Sheriff Alton, can you tell me if Kyler Hall and Cliff Young are working today?”
“They were here this morning, but when they dropped by the office, they mentioned heading out to the Triple Z Bar.”
“Okay, thanks.” She disconnected and then stopped walking when Jo called her name.
“Can I come with you?” Jo hurried to her side. “Wolfe has finished the preliminary reports, and from what I can see, the cause of death of each man is obvious. I’d like to observe the behavior of the suspects if that’s okay?”
Jenna nodded. “Observing is all we’ll be doing. I’m looking to see if they have any visible scratches; if so, it’s reasonable cause to get a court order to have them DNA-tested against the sample taken from under Ruby’s nails.”
“Do you want to visit the Stanton Forest crime scene? We’ll be driving by it in a few minutes.” Kane looked at Jo and then started the engine and they headed to Stanton Road.
“No thanks, the images were fine and your description of the crime scene summed it up well.” Jo turned to look out the window. “This part of the world is incredibly beautiful; the scents and fresh air really surprised me. I’d forgotten places like this still existed. Snakeskin Gully sounded like the end of the earth, but it’s much the same. It will be a good place to raise Jaime.”
Jenna nodded in agreement. “There’s something special about small-town life. The camaraderie is second to none and you’ll both do fine. Black Rock Falls is a special place too and it’s a shame we’ve become Psychopath Central of late.”
“Hmm, I think the killers all believe they can outsmart you.” Jo smiled at her. “I have an awful feeling they’ll keep coming until you let one get away. One unsolved crime and they have nothing to prove.”
