Promises in the Dark

by D. K. Hood

  “No, I’m fine.” Emily glanced at the stainless-steel wall of drawers. “She doesn’t look too bad but I’ll do what I can to make her look asleep for when her parents come to view her.” She looked at him. “Do you want me stay back to fix her up and conduct the viewing? It will save time if we get a positive ID.”

  Pleased Emily was taking more responsibility, he nodded. “That would be a great help. Don’t answer any questions about cause of death. Just say it’s undetermined at this time.”

  “I know the drill, Dad.” She patted him on the arm. “Go, I’ll be fine.”

  Wolfe turned to Webber. “What about you? Need a break?”

  “No, I’m good to go.” Webber shook his head. “Although seeing these young women murdered doesn’t get any easier.”

  Wolfe slapped him on the back. “Without compassion we might as well walk away. It’s the drive we all need to find the answers. Remember we speak for the dead. We tell their stories and the truth will find their killers.”

  Fifty

  The house smelled of wet burned newspaper mingled with the stomach-turning odor of a recent cookout. The odor of fire still lingered in the air, and scattered swirls of smoke, filtered through Kane’s mask in an acrid aftertaste. He stared at the gutted ruins of a once beautiful old ranch house. Only a few of the structural beams had survived, the explosion and fire had rendered the residence into a pile of wet ashes. He waited outside, with Jenna and Jo staring at Wolfe’s meticulous gathering of evidence. With a fire, the less people inside the better until the scene had been documented, photographs and samples taken. Carter worked alongside the fire chief, Matt Thompson, sifting through ashes for parts of the explosive devices, and they walked out, gloved hands blackened to the wrists.

  Kane took in the evidence bags in Carter’s hand. “Find anything?”

  “Yeah, I’ll need to work in Wolfe’s lab to piece it together.” Carter handed over the evidence bags to Jenna. “I’ve taken scrapings from what’s left of the stove. There’s residue of an accelerant I’m not familiar with and I figure he used it in the cruiser bombing as well.”

  “Do you recognize the substance, Matt?” Jenna looked at the fire chief. “It’s in your field of expertise.”

  “Structural damage, and fire management and cause are more my field.” Thompson removed his gloves. “On the surface this looks like a gas explosion and I would say the propane tank exploding would have caused the damage and flare up. I’m not convinced this was a bombing at all. I don’t see any signs of an explosive device. What Carter has found could be the remnants of cellphones or TV remotes.”

  “I see.” Jenna didn’t look convinced. “So, a difference of opinion?”

  “I stick by my conclusions.” Thompson shrugged.

  “That’s why I’m on the job. I’m an explosives expert and I find what you clowns miss.” Carter snorted and turned to Jenna. “Will you make sure this evidence is under lock and key while I clean up? It might be what we need to nail this guy.”

  “Sure.” Jenna held out her hand to Kane. “Keys. I’ll get it squared away. You go inside the house. I’ve seen enough and Wolfe will bring us up to date later.” She looked at Jo. “Coming?”

  “Yeah. I’ve spoken to all the witnesses.” Jo turned to follow her. “There’s nothing more for me to do here.”

  Kane handed her his keys and watched Duke follow her back to his truck. He waited for a smart comeback from Thompson from Carter’s insult but he said nothing. “Will you send us a copy of your report?”

  “Sure.” Thompson stared after Jenna. “I don’t want your boss telling everyone I’m not doing my job.” He stomped off toward his truck.

  “I think he’s a jerk. He is more of an insurance assessor than a fire chief. He misses evidence and should know a fire that intense wasn’t just caused by a propane tank exploding.” Carter glanced at Kane. “Did you see how he backed down when I insulted him? How many guys do that?”

  Kane bit back a laugh. “Tons. He can’t deal with you or me, so he figures he’ll come down hard on Jenna.” He grinned behind his mask. “Oh boy, has he picked the wrong person. She’ll eat him for breakfast.”

  “Yeah, that I know.” Carter clicked his fingers and Zorro ran to his side. “I’m done here. I’ll clean up and we’ll wait for you at the café.”

  Kane nodded. “Sure. Take Duke with you or he’ll end up getting his paws cut on all the broken glass around here. He’s over at my truck with Jenna.” He headed into the building.

  Taking slow steps, he scanned the area. He took in the direction of the burn marks. The intensity of the fire was in three different locations. The house had literally blown apart in three directions. He’d seen similar results from grenade attacks on buildings during his tour of duty. He stepped with care over the floor and made his way to Wolfe. “This is different from the first fire. More intense.”

  “It got away from the firefighters.” Wolfe’s gaze narrowed over his facemask. “In Louan they acted swiftly and extinguished the fire. Here it was well ablaze and they were more concerned about stopping it spreading to the other ranches. I guess it’s a call they had to make. Whoever was inside couldn’t have survived the blast so they made the call to let it burn.” He sighed. “Which means we have zip to go on in the way of evidence. The marble tabletop is what protected the lower half of the body of one of the victims. It’s female, so I assume it’s the sheriff’s wife. He’s that curled charcoal smudge on the floor there where I’ve marked it.”

  Kane winced. “It doesn’t even resemble a body.”

  “Nope. We’ll have to sweep it up and bag what we can find. Ashes mostly.” Wolfe indicated toward a body bag. “The other remains are in there. The zip-ties are intact.”

  “Do you need any help?” Kane dragged his attention away from the bag.

  “Nope. You didn’t need to see the bodies, Dave, Carter has it covered. I know working this case is hell for you.” Wolfe’s eyes showed compassion.

  Kane shook his head slowly. “I need to be involved if I’m going to find the killer and you know I’d go rogue if Jenna pulled me off the case, plus how could we explain my absence to Jo and Carter?”

  “Then I guess it’s for the best.” Wolfe straightened. “If you went rogue, I’ll be the one hunting you down and that’s never going to happen.”

  Relieved, Kane slapped him on the back. “Good to know. Anything else I should know?”

  “Em called just before. The parents of Pamela Stuart have made a formal ID. I’ll be conducting the autopsy this afternoon around four. It’s going to be another long day.” Wolfe sighed.

  Kane could feel his reluctance. “I guess you wanted to spend time with the girls this weekend?”

  “I always treasure my time with the girls but Emily was planning on going out with friends and Julie is babysitting.” Wolfe shrugged. “I might get home in time to read Anna a bedtime story but then it’s just me and the TV. The girls are growing up so fast, it’s as if my life is stuck on fast forward.”

  Kane nodded. “I know how you feel.” He slapped him on the back. “I’ll see you at four.”

  He ambled out of the ruins and headed down to the café but the idea of eating didn’t appeal to him. He just wanted to go home and wash the stink of fire and death away. Sometimes knowledge could be a bad thing. He’d always believed his past actions had caused the death of his wife but discovering sweet, innocent Annie had been the target of a deranged maniac was unconscionable. The anger raging inside him since seeing the image of her in the wreckage, her beautiful eyes fixed in death hadn’t abated. Yeah, he’d fought to keep control and would do his duty but no one could ever know that under his professional mask, revenge was riding on his shoulder like an evil twin.

  Fifty-One

  Inside his cellar, his secret cellar, well hidden under the floor of a closet, he made the final touches to the explosives he’d designed. Without his drone, he had no choice but to deliver them to the house of the magistrate per
sonally. Abe Coleman, the new Black Rock Falls magistrate, and his wife Pearl, had moved to the area the previous year. It had been a surprise to see the man’s face in the local newspaper at a charity function with his wife. They had kids, too young for his taste, a baby boy and a daughter that looked around five or six, but the wife was pretty. He connected the last wire and leaned back in his chair. He’d have his revenge on the self-righteous magistrate by watching his house and family burn. After a couple of weeks of seeing the FBI run around in circles, he would move on and find a distraction elsewhere in Montana.

  He’d wait until nightfall and then steal a vehicle, not a sedan this time, but an old pickup, something easy without all the technology and alarms most had these days. The one thing about Black Rock Falls was that they had a good supply of old pickups. He placed the explosives inside a backpack he’d purchased at a garage sale in Blackwater, and carried it upstairs. It was as safe as houses, only dialing a burner phone, would trigger the detonator. He smiled to himself. “You’re good.”

  Inside his home office, he slid the bag under the desk and checked out his computer. He’d spent some time scanning the town using a Google app, going all over town looking at ways to cover his tracks and used the maps to view the houses. The easiest place to park, how to get inside without being noticed. Everything he needed to see was available online. He’d taken all contingencies into consideration, even taking a bait to put down a dog if necessary. He leaned back in his chair, searched for a few more houses for sale and looked at them just to have an excuse for searching the area. These days cops could find out anything from a computer even if the history was deleted, they had their ways and he was too smart to fall into a trap.

  He opened his social media page and thought for a beat and then smiled as he wrote his post.

  There’s something special about a Saturday night. A date with a good-looking woman and spending time gazing into a log fire. I can’t wait.

  He’d take a long shower and then he had a few things left to do in town before he finalized his plans. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling just enjoying his thoughts. Today another cycle of his life would end and very soon, he’d enjoy the freedom of choosing what happened next. He’d find a job in a town far away and discover what entertainment satisfied his new urges. He stood and laughed, enjoying the shifting of the heavy burden from his shoulders. Something inside him had changed when he’d taken Sophie. He’d liked the girls, so soft and compliant, maybe they’d be the first of many. They’d been so easy to take and they understood the danger of non-compliance from the get-go. He wondered briefly why he felt nothing when they’d died but then he’d mourned the death of his son with outrage, not tears. He shrugged it off. Surely, it was a normal reaction not to worry about something he had no longer use for? The girls had made him feel something, power maybe but he’d enjoyed it. People would rant and rave and complain about their lost daughters but no one would suspect him, not ever, and as sure as hell no one would ever stop him.

  Fifty-Two

  It suddenly made sense to Jenna, why Wolfe had designed the morgue into sections divided into airlocks, with doors that needed a card to access. As they paraded into the reception area, the air was cool but not cold, clean and had the soothing aroma of lavender wafting from an infuser. The capsulated foyer, with a corridor on the left led to a similarly sanitized area comprising of three rooms. One, a non-denominational chapel for grieving relatives was something Wolfe had insisted on including. Another comfortable room he used as a waiting room or to sign documents. It had sofas set around a table, a coffee machine, and refreshments. The third room was the viewing room and every attempt was made to avoid the shock of seeing a loved one dead. The body, carefully cloaked and arranged, could be viewed through a small window or by a video feed, the latter designed to make the reality seem more remote.

  Not so, through the airlock. Goosebumps rose on the exposed flesh on Jenna’s arms as she entered the sterile passageway. The noise from Kane and Carter’s boots sounded irreverently loud on the pristine white tiles that graced the floors and walls. There were four similar thick glass double doors and a red light over an entrance indicated an autopsy was in progress. They suited up in the alcove outside an examination room in silent dread of standing witness to the product of a deranged murderer. Jenna looked at the eyes peering over the top of the masks. This would be a day none of them would forget for a long time. “Ready?”

  At the nods from her team, she scanned her card. The doors whooshed open and they moved inside in single file. Inside, the temperature had dropped and it was as if she’d stepped into a refrigerator, which was a good description of the morgue with its walls of stainless-steel drawers, and shelves. As they walked, the antiseptic tang in the air gave way to the repulsive smell of burned and rotting flesh. It hung in the air like an oily patch on a pristine lake waiting to cling to anything that passed its way.

  “Right on time.” Wolfe carefully removed a white sheet from the charred remains of a pair of legs. “From the DNA comparison taken from her daughter, this is all that remains of Cathy Elizabeth Stuart. Please note the zip-ties around the ankles. Buzz Stuart’s body has been carbonized but I was able to extract DNA to make a match. I have ruled the deaths of Buzz Stuart and his wife as homicide, the cause of death undetermined.”

  “They died in the fire, surely?” Jo moved closer to the gurney and shook her head. “The poor woman, she must have been terrified.”

  “I wish my job were that simple, Jo.” Wolfe covered the remains and indicated to Webber to replace them back inside the drawers. “There is no evidence to support a cause of death. If I assume the fire killed them, they could have been shot, stabbed, suffocated, poisoned or any number of causes. If I had bones, I would search for damage to indicate possible cause but we have nothing, so the cause remains open.”

  “I understand.” Jo nodded.

  Jenna straightened as Pamela Stuart was removed from the drawers. Her stomach gave a twist of regret for not finding this girl. The sheet rolled back but the staring eyes had closed and although pale, she could have almost been asleep. She looked at Emily. “You did a good job, Em. Although nothing would ease the pain of losing a daughter, seeing her like this would make it less traumatic.”

  “That was the plan.” Emily stood opposite Wolfe and Webber at the head of the gurney. “They’re devastated. It was more difficult than performing an autopsy but I guess it’s part of the job.” She looked at Jenna and her eyes filled with tears. “There was really nothing I could do to help them.”

  “You are helping them.” Wolfe pulled down the microphone. “You’re going to tell her story through the findings of an autopsy. We’ll find evidence to bring her killer to justice.”

  A bell sounded in another room and Emily hurried out the door. Jenna stared after her. “Is there something wrong?”

  “No, we took samples from under the victim’s fingernails on arrival. That’s the DNA sequencer I set up when we got back from the fire scene.” Wolfe shrugged. “She had cells under her nails but they could have been her own.”

  Holding her breath waiting for Emily to come back through the door, Jenna stared into space as Wolfe described the body of Pamela Stuart, her height, weight, and age. She was small for her age but in good physical condition. The door buzzed open and Emily came in and handed an iPad to Wolfe. Jenna exhaled and waited in anticipation.

  “We have foreign DNA.” Wolfe handed her the tablet. “I ran a match against her own. She could have scratched her killer.”

  Behind her, Carter sprang into action. He was on his phone making a call. Jenna looked at him. “Can the call wait until we’re finished here?”

  “Nope.” He looked at Wolfe. “I have Kalo standing by, can you send him the data? He’ll run the DNA through all databases, it will take hours or maybe days but if this guy is in the system or has had his DNA tested to discover his family tree, we’ll find him.”

  “You can email str
aight from the tablet.” Wolfe looked at Jenna. “Are you ready to proceed?”

  Jenna watched Carter head for the hallway and nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

  “In my preliminary examination, I noted hemorrhages in the eyes and a mark on her cheek consistent with an imprint of a man’s hand. She, as you can see, has superficial injuries. Scratches and marks on her thighs consistent with the removal of her clothes by force. She has deep contusions embedded with soil on her knees. There is evidence of tape residue on her wrists and face but the residue has debris in it so it was removed before she died. The search for her, discovered a school backpack but no fibers or remnants of her clothes or tape have been discovered at this time. The X-rays taken before you arrived show no indication of blunt force trauma, or strangulation.”

  “Someone disturbed him.” Kane stood arms folded across his chest. “She made a noise and he smothered her to keep her quiet. He must have been somewhere secluded, a safe place for him. The injuries to her knees are significant, they go with the torn clothing. He forced her to her knees and raped her in the forest, didn’t he, the lowlife?”

  “If you’ll permit me to continue, I’ll examine her.” Wolfe’s eyebrows raised. “Maybe you need to take a break?”

  “Yeah.” Kane’s eyes flashed with rage and he headed for the door.

  Dismayed, Jenna stared after him. She could hear his boots pacing on the tile outside the door. She forced her mind to concentrate on the autopsy. “Do you have a time of death?”

  “The heat of the trunk confuses the body temperature reading.” Emily looked at her. “From the state of rigor, she was dead inside the trunk at least overnight. Which would mean he kept her alive for at least the first night she went missing. We estimate the time of death to be sometime on Friday morning.”