“ ‘Bout twenty- five minutes. Before we leave, I wanted to show you this.” He shuffled through the piles of paperwork on his desk and handed me a thin green file. “I checked with the owner of the trailer that Daniel Griffin is renting to see if he could give me any information. Apparently, he rented the trailer under the name Roger Jacox. I decided to run the name through NCIC and that was what it hit on.” He nodded at the file I was holding.
I opened it and looked, not surprised in the least. According to the National Crime Information Center, Roger Jacox was wanted for questioning in the disappearance of two women in Virginia three years ago. I handed the file to Naomi, who shook her head when she read it.
“I guess you were right on the money, CeeCee.”
“Maybe. Nothing’s concrete yet.”
I handed the file back to Lt. Cahill, who suggested we get started.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Naomi and I rode with him since we hadn’t a clue where we were going. We were out of Savannah quickly and began to travel down desolate back roads. I admired the scenery and remembered how much I loved the South. The Spanish moss hanging from the thick, over-grown trees that lined the roads was beautiful.
We turned onto a narrow dirt lane, which had thick crabgrass running up the middle and went toward the small blue, run-down trailer that sat at the end of it. A small black hatchback car with Ohio license plates was parked in front of it.
“Here we are, ladies…Southern paradise.”
We hadn’t even stopped before I could see the front door to the trailer was slightly ajar.
“Looks like he might be expecting us,” I mumbled as I got out of the car.
Lt. Cahill nodded toward the back of the trailer and started walking that way in case there was a back door that Daniel could try to escape through. Naomi stepped off to the side, out of sight, while I approached the door with my gun drawn. I could see partially inside the trailer through the crack in the door, and it looked completely empty.
I knocked on the door hard enough that it swung open while I shouted, “Daniel Griffin? Police!”
Now with a full view of the inside, I could see what little contents were in the trailer, none of which was Daniel Griffin. There was only one large room with a soiled, bare mattress off to the side and a small kitchenette against the farthest wall. However, the contents troubled me.
Before I went in, I told Naomi it was clear. While she yelled out to Lt. Cahill, I walked directly to the old mattress and the papers that lay next to it. There were Mansfield newspapers focusing on Meghan Dearth’s death, her obituary and stories of the murders. Next to them were the remnants of melted black candles and freehand sketches of the pine tree at Mary Jane’s Grave. Daniel Griffin was plainly gone, and I didn’t think he would be coming back.
“I guess he knew we were coming,” Naomi said softly from behind me, looking over the papers as well. “I’ll call the prosecutor’s and have a warrant issued immediately.”
“Wait, Naomi.” I continued to look over the scene in front of me. “This is too obvious.”
“What do you mean?”
Lt. Cahill came in behind me. “I mean exactly what I said. If Daniel Griffin knew we were coming, why would he leave this shit? He wouldn’t. This is all laid out too perfectly, I’m afraid. I agree that you need to issue the warrant—we still have to question him—but something doesn’t seem right here.”
“You might be right, Sergeant,” Cahill said. “That car out there came back stolen. Wasn’t entered as of yesterday when we ran a check on it, but it was today. Whoever took it only took it within the last twenty- four hours or so. According to our information, Daniel Griffin, or Roger Jacox, has been here for over two weeks now, and he was driving a silver pickup truck.”
“Who’s the owner of the stolen vehicle?” I asked.
“The owner lives in Mansfield. I think they said Kagle or Koogle Road.”
Naomi and I looked at each other. This didn’t make sense. Daniel Griffin drove his own truck down here and somehow got back to Mansfield to steal a car? Maybe it was possible, but the odds were very slim. If Daniel wanted a different vehicle, he would’ve stolen one here in Georgia, or in a surrounding state. If he thought we were looking for him, stealing a car from his former apartment complex in Ohio would do nothing but make it easier for the cops to find him. I was mystified.
Naomi was already on the phone with Coop, sending him over to the apartments to reinterview the owner of the stolen car, specifically to see if there was any connection to Daniel Griffin. I had already checked to see if Daniel had any living family members, but it appeared there were none. Then I directed my attention to Lt. Cahill.
“I need to find some direct evidence to the murders. This stuff is great and it’s probably pointing us in the right direction, but as of right now it’s just circumstantial.” I gestured to the papers and drawings. “Do you guys have a crime scene investigation unit or lab that I can use to process this trailer?”
“I’ll get ‘em out here in about thirty minutes,” Lt. Cahill said as he dialed his phone.
At the very least, I could get Daniel’s fingerprints and DNA on file in case we needed them for a possible match. Of course, there was nothing found at any of the crime scenes to match them to, but if there were any further crimes at the grave, we could be certain.
After Lt. Cahill called his crime lab, the Evidence Collection Unit, he called his Communications Center to put other local agencies on the alert for Daniel Griffin and his silver truck. There wasn’t a warrant issued yet, but he could still be stopped and held for a reasonable amount of time for questioning.
I couldn’t help feeling uneasy about our findings. Unfortunately, I had found out the hard way in the past that when things appear simple, they are usually Anything but.
I stood by while the Savannah Police processed the trailer and car for evidence. When they were almost finished, I called Michael. He agreed with me.
“Definitely not your norm, Cee. This killer has been a step ahead of law enforcement the entire time. Daniel Griffin didn’t go through the trouble of covering up all of these murders, twenty years apart no less, to allow himself to get caught by leaving such blatant items for you to see. I’d say you need to find him. And quickly.”
“Why?”
Before Michael could answer, I heard someone calling his name in the background. He hung up with a promise of calling me back as soon as he could.
By the time we were getting ready to leave, Naomi had heard back from Coop, who had spoken with the owner of the stolen vehicle.
She looked dismayed. “Nothing. The gal who owned the car said she parked it there at ten P.M. before going in her apartment. When she went to leave for work at six
A.M. it was gone.”
I tried to figure out the drive time. “So that would mean the car was most likely taken before three A.M., since Savannah had an undercover car watching this place by three P.M., and the car was here. Did the girl sound on the up and up?”
Naomi nodded. “Single mother, full- time job, no record. Coop said he had no reason to believe she wasn’t telling the truth. And before you ask, she doesn’t know Daniel Griffin. She lives two buildings behind his former one.”
I sighed. “I feel like this trip was a waste of time.”
“We’re covering all potential suspects in a murder case. Nothing can ever be considered wasted.” She paused. “I know you didn’t want me to do this now, but, considering what we have, I called the prosecutor’s office and they’re getting a warrant issued for Daniel Griffin.”
“No, you’re right. Everything’s pointing to him, and we need to get him picked up. I just can’t shake this feeling I have about those newspapers and crap in there. It’s just too perfect.”
Naomi was silent for a few moments. “Look, there’s nothing more we can do here. Savannah will forward all the evidence to our lab. Let’s go check out of our hotel and get the hell out of here. They’ll let us k
now if they find him.”
I was in total agreement. It had been only two days but I missed Michael terribly. We went back to the police department with Lt. Cahill and wrapped things up, mainly for their paperwork. Then we gave them our sincere gratitude and said our good- byes.
As the sun began to set, Naomi and I set forth on our long trip home with a strong feeling of disappointment, not knowing what awaited us there.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
We arrived in Mansfield in the early morning hours. Knowing Michael was sleeping soundly in our bed made me particularly eager to get home quickly. I had told him I might be another day or so, so he was quite surprised when I crawled into bed and wrapped my arms around him. With his eyes still closed, he pulled me tightly to his chest.
“You’re home, baby. I missed you.” His voice was groggy with sleep.
“Hey, how did you know I wasn’t a burglar?” I whispered.
“A burglar doesn’t smell this good.” He nuzzled his face against my neck and promptly fell back asleep.
My own sleep came shortly after, ending late the next morning when I jerked myself awake, as I often did when I was scared I would oversleep. Michael had already left for work. I was in no hurry to get to the office since Naomi already told me I could come in when I wanted. I got there around lunchtime. I found Naomi in her office with Coop, giving him the details of our trip.
“Afternoon, CeeCee. You get any sleep?” Naomi asked.
“I slept well. I can’t say you look like you got much sleep, though. Is everything all right?”
She smiled bashfully. “It’s fine, and no, I didn’t sleep, thanks to this one here.” She nodded at Coop. “Two days without me and I was pretty much sexually assaulted when I walked through the door.”
“Hey, I’m only human,” Coop mused. “Naomi was telling me what you guys found in the trailer. Sounds like he’s the one.”
“Most likely. Have we heard anything from Savannah yet, Naomi?”
She shook her head. “No, they said they’d call as soon as they had something. What’s on your agenda for today?”
“I’m going to write up everything from Savannah. That should take the rest of my day. I’d like to run down to the grave again and look around. I want to see how accurate, and recent, Daniel’s drawings of the tree are. There have been changes to it over the years, according to the photographs I’ve seen. People trying to set it on fire and chop it down, for one. I can’t really tell from the pictures I have if he drew those twenty years ago or recently.”
“Let me know when you leave. I’ll go with you,” Naomi said before answering her ringing phone.
Writing up our trip to Savannah did, in fact, take up the rest of my day. It was early evening by the time I was attaching the paperwork to each of the files. As I grabbed my purse and car keys, I saw Naomi walk past my door.
“I’m going to run down to the grave now. You still want to go?” I called to her.
She poked her head into my doorway. “Okay, let’s make it quick, though. Coop and I have dinner reservations.”
It was near dusk as we turned onto the dirt road that led back to the grave. There was still some daylight, but it had a creepy orange glow. The dense trees lining the road made it seem like we were driving through a tunnel.
“No matter how many times I come back here, I’m always freaked out,” Naomi said.
I simply nodded. It wasn’t the darkness of the road or the grave itself, it was the feeling people got there. It was hard to describe, a combination of eeriness, foreboding and sadness would come close.
Pulling to the gate, I saw that most of the leaves from the trees had fallen. A kaleidoscope of orange, red and brown covered the graves. With the sun setting, it actually proved quite beautiful.
I grabbed the copies of the drawings we’d found in Daniel’s camper and walked to the pine tree, Naomi in tow. I held one of the drawings up to make a comparison.
“What do you think?” Naomi was leaning over my shoulder trying to get a glimpse.
“I think this drawing was definitely recent. See the white marks from where those kids from the robbery tried to chop it down? See how detailed they are in the picture?” I pointed to the small, wispy lines in the drawing. “This was drawn within the last couple of years at least. Those weren’t there twenty years ago.”
“So what does that mean?”
“It confirms Daniel Griffin has been here in the last several years, but it doesn’t give us enough to say exactly when.”
She took the drawing from me to examine it closer. “It’s better than nothi—”
Naomi was interrupted by a loud shriek that came from the woods to our right. My first thought was that it was a crow, but when I heard the familiar snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves, I didn’t know what to think.
“Did you hear that?” Naomi whispered.
“I heard it,” I whispered back, removing my gun from my holster.
I started toward the noise. It was getting darker, and it was hard for me to see anything. I walked slowly and carefully, mostly so I wouldn’t trip and fall over a broken tombstone with my gun in hand. The area where the noise came from was completely darkened by shadows and the setting sun. When another twig snapped, I stopped. I was hoping whoever was in the woods wasn’t looking at me, so I could walk up on him quietly. I was still a good twenty yards away when Naomi yelled from behind me.
“Police officers! Don’t move!”
The sound of running began and didn’t stop until it faded into the dense woods. I was furious at Naomi. If there was the slight chance I could’ve gotten close enough to the person I would’ve at least given a good chase. Now I was too far away and the person was gone.
“Goddamn it, Naomi! Why’d you do that? Now I can’t catch him!” I put my gun back in its holster. “What? You think he was just gonna stand still with his arms in the air because you yelled police?”
“Well I had to do something, CeeCee! Besides, it was probably a deer anyway,” she said, though she sounded unconvinced as she scanned the woods.
“I doubt it. I think Mr. Griffin has found his way back to Mary Jane’s Grave. We need to search these woods, front to back and side to side, which is going to take a very large group of officers.” I looked up at the old, abandoned house before turning to walk back to the SUV.
I had taken no more than five steps when the vehicle blared to life. Its headlights came on and the radio roared: “ …There is magic all around you, if I do say so myself…”
I was now jogging toward the car to shut off the deafening music. But as quickly as it came on, it stopped again. I opened the driver’s side door and looked at my keys, which still hung in the ignition, turned to off, and tried to find a rational explanation.
“What the hell?” Naomi said nervously from behind me.
“I don’t know. Could’ve been a power surge or problem with the electrical system.” I mumbled.
“Do cars have those? Power surges, I mean? Doesn’t the damn thing have to be on first?” Naomi almost seemed panicked.
“Naomi, relax, for Christ’s sake! I’m sure there’s a rational explanation, but I really don’t want to discuss it right now. Let’s just get the fuck out of here.”
She didn’t argue and seemed more than happy to get into the passenger seat. I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until the tires of my car rolled onto asphalt and off the dirt road. As hard as I was trying to think of an explanation for what happened, I wasn’t having much luck in finding one. Naomi interrupted my thoughts.
“Fitting, wasn’t it?”
“What was?”
“The song…about magic and all. Funny, it was a Stevie Nicks song. Remember back when there was the rumor that she was a witch?”
“Kind of, it was about as true as the Mary Jane- was-a-witch story. No truth to it whatsoever.” I turned into the department parking lot to drop off Naomi at her car.
“I just thought it was kind of weird
is all.” She opened her door and got out. “I’ll get with the sheriff in the morning about searching the woods and let you know. See you tomorrow.”
I thought the entire incident was strange too, but I was doing my best not to admit it. I was more concerned about who, or what, was in the woods. I didn’t think the sheriff was going to go for a full-scale search that would require numerous hours of overtime. Not that he wouldn’t agree with it, it’s just that he has to answer to the county commissioners, the ones in charge of the money.
Michael was waiting for me with take-out Chinese food on the table. I was famished. I hadn’t realized how little I had eaten today. During dinner, I told Michael about my car at the grave. He seemed a little amused.
“Maybe the woman in white started it. Did you see her in the driver’s seat?” He wiped his smiling mouth with a napkin.
“I certainly didn’t see her or hear her offer to be my chauffer for the night, Michael, and I’m being serious. The headlights and radio really did come on by themselves. Ask Naomi.”
He pushed his plate forward. “Really, CeeCee, there’s a ton of reasons that could’ve happened. I’m not a mechanic, but it was probably something with the car’s computer system. If you’re that worried about it, take it to your department’s body shop and have them check it out.”
“I’m not that worried about it. It was just strange, that’s all.” I began clearing the table.
“I’ll get this. Why don’t you go open a bottle of wine?” Michael took over.
He joined me in the living room, grabbing the glass of pinot noir that I had waiting for him. I was already on my second round.
“The only thing I can tell you is you probably need to up your search for Daniel Griffin. I would say it was a good chance he was in the woods to night, which concerns me. No matter how many times I say it, you need to be more careful.”
I had a thought. “How would he know we were coming, Michael? I mean, I just decided to go down there this morning. Also, he’s coming in from the woods somewhere, not the road. Those woods are thick, unless he was coming from the campground area.”
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