“What do you have?” Corey asked.
“Male, dead for sure. A bench to one side with a cooking stove, gas lamp.” The guy reeled off what he could see.
“Is she there?” I asked.
“There’s no one else here,” came the reply.
“There’s a door leading to a corridor,” he said and we watched him open it.
We followed him on the monitor as he slowly walked along it, keeping his back to the wall and his gun raised in front of him.
“Fuck!” I heard, as his camera picked up a second set of concrete steps leading to another hatch, which wasn’t locked and not fully shut either.
The relief I’d felt just seconds earlier dissipated, frustration, anger, and sadness, washed over me. I collapsed into a chair, placed my elbows on my knees and cupped my face in my hands. I heard vehicle engines being started, headlights cut through the dark, picking out the trees in front of us, searching.
“Fuck!” Corey said, echoing the sentiment. He slammed his fist down on the counter in the unit.
“He’s always one fucking step ahead of us,” I mumbled.
“Why did we not know about the second hatch?” Corey shouted through his mic.
A breathless reply came back, “We didn’t exactly have a great deal of time to scout the area properly, sir.”
I could see part of the team fan out toward the woods. Thomas would have Eddie; that had to slow him down but then it depended on how much of a head start he’d had.
“How warm is the body?” I asked.
“Not warm enough,” came a reply, coupled with a sigh.
“Can we get some dogs in?”
Before anyone could reply I heard more shouts. “The house!”
Corey and I jumped from the unit and looked toward the house, a light shone through one window. There was an immediate rush to the cars, I’d only just gotten my hand on the door to close it before we fishtailed away, the wheels having no purchase on the ground as we sped toward it.
“You stay in the car, Mich,” Corey said, his tone of voice gave no opportunity for argument.
We pulled to a halt at the same time as three other vehicles. I climbed from the car and stood by the door, watching the team fan out around the house. The front door was kicked in and I could hear shouts of ‘police’ to identify themselves. I paced, clenching and unclenching my fists. Eventually I heard shouts. For a moment I froze.
I ran to the house. I was stopped at the door by a huge son of a bitch who wrapped his arms around me.
“Mich, don’t fuck this up,” he said.
“Eddie!” I shouted. A laugh echoed back at me.
I was being held to one side when Thomas, with his hands cuffed behind his back, was escorted out.
“Hi, brother,” he said, as he passed me. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Where is she?”
The only reply I got was a laugh.
“Where the fuck is she, you prick?” I shouted after him.
“She’s not here,” Corey said, as he left the house.
Thomas was bundled into the back of a vehicle and I watched it drive away.
“He wanted to be caught, why?” I said.
“That’s what we need to find out. I’ve got helicopters coming in with heat sensors to scan the woods, and dogs. If she’s here, we’ll find her, Mich.”
By the time we got back to the station Thomas had been arrested and processed. He was placed in a cell, after having removed his clothing and dressing in police issued pants and t-shirt. We were told a doctor had taken a look at his arm, cleaned and dressed it, now he was waiting for questioning.
“Did he say anything?” I asked the officer who had brought him in.
“Not a thing, sat there with a smile on his face.”
We watched him on a monitor. He sat on the edge of the bunk with his legs crossed and his hands placed in his lap. Although he didn’t stare at the camera, he kept the smile on his face.
“What the fuck are you up to?” I whispered.
“Fucking with your head, that’s what,” Corey answered. “If he didn’t have Eddie somewhere, I’d leave him to stew for a while. He has us by the balls and he knows it.”
‘He knew we were at that bunker, how?” I asked.
“That’s another thing we need to find out. Now, go to the viewing room and let me bring him out.”
I left Corey and made my way to the area attached to the interrogation room with one-way glass. The chief was already standing with a mug of coffee in his hand. He offered it to me. I shook my head.
“You doing okay?” he asked.
“Running on adrenalin right now,” I said. I hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours.
“You understand why you can’t be involved, don’t you?”
“Yes, although I have a feeling he’ll want to speak to me.”
“I don’t doubt that, but we have to get as much information as we can from him first.”
It took a few minutes before Thomas was escorted into the room. His hands were released from the cuffs but then one was recuffed to the chair that was bolted to the floor. He was offered a drink, which he politely declined. The officer stood at the back of the room and Thomas looked directly at the tinted glass panel in the wall. He smiled. It wasn’t a smirk, but a genuine smile as if he hadn’t a care in the world. The guy was fucking nuts.
Corey made him wait another five minutes before he and Dean joined him. The temperature had been set specifically to not allow Thomas to get too comfortable. The room was laid out to maximize discomfort and disorientation. Corey took the chair to the side of Thomas, he swiveled it so he was face on and Dean sat opposite.
“I understand you’ve declined your right to an attorney?” Corey asked, after introducing himself and smiling at Thomas.
“That’s correct.”
“Can I ask why?”
“You can.”
“Why did you decline your right to an attorney?” Corey asked, I wondered how he’d kept the frustration out of his voice.
“Because I don’t need one.”
“Okay.”
Corey started asking Thomas some basic questions: name, date of birth, place of birth, that kind of thing, wanting to gauge his reaction. He asked questions that would require the use of memory, monitoring his body language as he responded. It was all very textbook, and I wanted to bang on the glass. Thomas was anything but textbook.
“Do you know the whereabouts of Eddie Cole?” Corey asked.
“Yes.”
“Can you tell me if she is safe and unharmed?”
“She is safe. Define unharmed,” he replied.
“He’s fucking playing with us,” I said, through gritted teeth.
“Have you harmed her in any way? You know exactly what I mean by that,” Corey asked.
Thomas slowly turned his head to face the tinted panel in the wall to his side.
“I fucked her, but I think she liked that,” he said, grinning.
Before I could react, the chief had his arms wrapped around my chest. I wanted to smash through the fucking glass and rip his throat out.
“He’s goading you, Mich,” Chief said.
“Did she give consent, Thomas?” Corey asked.
“She could hardly say no, but you know women, they’re up for it no matter what,” Thomas replied.
“Does she have access to water?”
Thomas thought for a moment. “Mmm, that’s a funny one. She does, but she’ll have to work hard to get at it, I would imagine.”
Corey opened the file on the desk. He pulled out some photographs.
“Can you tell me about these?” he said, spreading them out.
“What do you need to know?” Thomas asked.
“Why these kids, would be a good start.”
“You know what? I think I’d like to speak to Mich.”
Thomas sat back in his chair and, once again, stared at the glass. “I know you're there, watching me, listening to m
e.”
“Mich isn’t available right now, Thomas.”
“Then I guess our interview is over.”
“Okay. Interview terminated at…” Corey consulted his watch and formally ended the interview. He gathered up the photographs and slid them back into the folder. He stood and nodded to Dean. Without another word, both walked from the room.
Thomas’ arm was released from the chair and he was pulled to a standing position. His wrists were cuffed behind him and he was marched back to his cell. So far, Thomas hadn’t done anything we hadn’t already expected.
Chief and I left the viewing room and met Corey in the incident room. He was watching the video recording of the ‘non-interview’ on a laptop. I knew exactly what he was doing. He was watching his body language, studying him, gaining the knowledge he needed when the ‘real’ interview started.
“You need to think out of the box on this one,” I said.
“I know. But I still need to see how he reacts. As much as we’re being textbook, Mich, so is he.”
Thomas’ eyes moved in the direction we anticipated when he had to recall something from memory, when he was telling the truth. No matter how great a criminal, the body’s instinctive responses were often hard to disguise. But none of it made any difference if he didn’t give the answers we needed. The second stage of the interview would be for Corey to delve into his past, find the reasons, and in doing so, we’d hope he’d involuntary give up some locations.
Thomas was brought back from his cell twice more. Each time, he was asked new questions. He answered some, but was vague. The purpose was to wear him down, without violating his rights. He was offered food and a drink, both of which he refused. That pleased me. At some point his natural survival instincts would kick in. He’d become hungry, thirsty; he’d start to become a little desperate. Toward the end of the second interview, Corey brought the conversation back around to the kids.
“We were intrigued with the words you left, Thomas. Obviously we connected them to the seven deadly sins, but what did we miss?” Corey asked.
“Whose interpretation of the sins were they? Did you figure that out?”
“Dante’s, obviously. It was a clever move.”
Thomas’ smile grew boarder. I knew what Corey was doing; he was giving Thomas a little credit, hoping to build a rapport.
“Let’s talk about Casey Long. Why her?” Corey added.
“Ah, lust. She was an obvious candidate. Do you know how many times I watched her fuck men?”
“Was that at Perry Street?” Corey asked, not looking at Thomas as he did.
“She fucked anywhere. In my classroom once, and when I walked in, the whore just stared at me, smirking, mocking me.”
“So you killed her?”
“She was a sinner, Mr. Lowe, she needed to be punished.”
“But did you need to kill her?”
“Of course, all sinners have to be punished.”
I made a mental fist pump, that was our first confession. Corey didn’t react but continued with the conversation.
“How well did you know her, Thomas?” Corey asked.
Thomas frowned, as if deliberating on the answer. “Well enough, why?”
“Did you party with her? Maybe do a little coke together.”
Thomas laughed. “Party with her! Oh, that’s so funny. I don’t do drugs, Mr. Lowe. Nasty stuff. Of course I gave her a little to…remove her anxiety, I guess. That was nice of me, don’t you think?”
“Where?”
Thomas sighed. “Those kids came to my house, regularly. They abused my space. They got scared by a noise, dumb fucks. All ran, except her. Maybe she was too doped up already.”
“Your house? Do you mean Perry Street?”
“Well, technically not my house. Yes, Perry Street.”
“Can we talk about your wall at Perry Street. It seems you’ve been tracking Mich for a while,” Corey said. He was taking Thomas back and forth between murders, events, and time frames.
“Ah, Mich. Did you know we are brothers?”
“Half-brothers,” Corey corrected.
“Whatever, but here’s the thing, I will answer any questions you want on those kids, but as for Mich, or the delicious Eddie, you’ll need to get Mr. Unavailable Right Now in here.”
“Okay, so what was the deal with Dale Stewart?” Corey asked, ignoring Thomas’ request.
“He threatened to out me, so I stopped that, quite simple really.”
“Out you?”
“Those kids knew about my attic. That house should have been mine; did you know that? I was the first born bastard but I was overlooked by them all.”
“You’ll need to explain, Thomas.”
“My father owned that house, gave it to another product of an affair. I wonder if my father was a serial affairer? Is that a word? Can we look it up?”
“Adulterer,” Dean corrected.
Thomas laughed. “Caroline got that house, Mich got the mother; I got nothing but abuse.”
“So, Dale?” Corey asked, bringing Thomas back on track.
“He was late for work, I guess, didn’t anticipate the scythe that he ran into. So, was that an accident? Or murder?”
“Did you swing the scythe into Dale as he ran toward you?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’d suggest that was murder.” Our second confession. “Where was this, Thomas?”
“He’d just snuck out of Kay’s bedroom. Did you know they were fucking? It’s shocking, everyone was fucking everyone!” He slowly shook his head as if the thought disgusted him.
“I’m tired now, I think I’d like something to eat, a coffee perhaps, and a break,” Thomas said.
I sighed; we had no option but to grant his wishes.
Thomas was led back to his cell and I checked my watch. It was closing on midnight and we were no closer to finding Eddie.
Corey Lowe thought I was an idiot, I was sure. I understood exactly what he was doing. I’d studied interrogation techniques for weeks. But I had decided to tell the truth, I had nothing to hide, and like I’d said, it was time.
I sat in the cell with a stale cheese sandwich, wrapped in cellophane, and a polystyrene cup of lukewarm, weak coffee. I took my time to nibble at the sandwich and sip the coffee. I smiled and wondered how long it would be before I’d be sitting beside Mich. I felt my cock twitch at the thought. Would they let me pleasure myself while he asked his questions? I chuckled.
So they had two confessions from me, they’d get the others. They’d get everything other than the whereabouts of Eddie. It was all part of the plan, you see. There was no point in just being assumed as the killer, I wanted the fame, the glory. I wanted to see my image all over the media. I got a kick out of that. I was being feted, CNN ran a daily update with ‘professionals’ talking, analyzing me. I wondered if the police had released my name yet?
The uppers I’d taken just before capture were keeping me going, but I was also aware they’d wear off at some point. Maybe I should get a little sleep. I lay down on the bunk and closed my eyes, pretending.
Thoughts of Mich ran through my mind, how was he faring? He had to be exhausted; maybe I needed to let him have a break as well. I didn’t want him overemotional when we finally met. I’d been building up to this day for years. Telling him the truth, having him recognize me as a brother, it’s all I ever wanted.
I wondered how long they’d leave me before they came for me again. I knew the drill, wake me up, interrogate, let me rest, wake me, and so on until I cracked. Except I knew I never would. I’d give them all that they wanted except one thing.
I had my head resting on my arms on one of the desks in the incident room. It was quiet, save for the clacking of fingers over keyboards as reports were written up in readiness for the federal prosecutor. I wanted to close my eyes and sleep, but I didn’t. My last memories of Eddie were ones of anger, of angst, and frustration. When I thought of her having a heart condition, that anger intensified. I�
�d put her resistance to a relationship down to being our age difference, but was it? Was it more because her life span was shorter? I didn't want to think anymore, I just wanted her found.
There were helicopters scanning the woods, dogs tracing her scent, men on foot searching each inch of the undergrowth, and yet, so far, there had been no sign of her. I pictured Thomas in my mind, he wasn’t the biggest of guys; how had he manhandled her?
“Fuck! Fuck!” I shouted, as I raised my head from my arms.
Dean looked over, “What?”
“You know we said he wasn’t acting alone? We thought Dan was his partner, he isn’t. Dan’s involved, somehow, but it isn’t him.”
Corey walked over to me. “Think about it. How the fuck did he get out of that bunker with her? He isn’t big enough to haul her through fucking woods. He has someone else working with him. Someone other than Dan.”
Corey scrubbed his hand over his face; the tiredness he felt was starting to show. Between us we’d been catching a few hours sleep on a cot in one of the offices, and I guessed we were both desperate for a good night’s sleep. I had offered him my house to go shower, but he’d opted to use the station’s facilities. His shirt was crumpled, he’d lost the tie he’d arrived in some time ago and his pants were creased. Corey had always been the immaculate one. We were starting to come apart at the seams and it showed.
“Why don’t you go freshen up?” I said to him.
“I might, I could do with a proper hot shower. You need to, as well.”
After letting Dean know we’d be an hour tops, we headed out and to my car.
“How are you holding up?” Corey asked, when we were alone.
I sighed. “This reminds me of our last case, always chasing our fucking tails,” I said.
“Yeah. Have you spoken to Gabriel lately?”
“A while ago, I give him an update every now and again. Well, a non-update because nothing changes. He’s doing okay, built himself a new house but spends his life looking over his shoulder and protecting his daughter.”
The Gabriel case was one that I would never stop working on. Although I’d never voiced my pledge to Gabriel, I wanted to find the people ultimately responsible for the death of his wife. It had been a complicated case, with so many people involved; it had been hard to get to the truth. A cult had destroyed his life, and for the rest of it, he’d live in fear of their return. Of all the victims of the crimes I’d investigated, Gabriel, and he was a victim, was one that settled in my gut and stayed there. His bravery and refusal to give up, to move on with life without knowing who had killed his wife, had resonated within me. I hoped I had the same resolve.
A Deadly Sin: An epic dark thriller that will have you wanting to leave the lights on. Page 19
