An Eye for an Eye

by Caroline Fardig

  Nodding, he said, “Right. Sheriff and I thought the same thing. But there are no staff members named Derek at this school. We checked.”

  “But I’m sure there are plenty of Dereks in the greater Indianapolis area, if that is his real name.”

  “I’m betting it isn’t, but we’re still going to pursue that angle. Anyway, the cyber investigators should be able to find out where the phone was when she sent the last text, which might give us another clue. And although she made no more texts or calls after six, if she opened an app that used any data, they should be able to at least determine what area she was in based on which cell tower her signal went through.”

  I let out a sigh. “At least that’s something.”

  As we trudged back to the Ashmore Student Center, I could feel the tension wasn’t gone between us. I hated it. Baxter was a good guy, but I hadn’t found it in me to forgive him yet.

  My estranged mother’s murder case was the reason I quit the department and took up teaching. She was a Jane Doe case, her body parts scattered around the county and found over the course of a month, too degraded to be identified until I (the head criminalist at the time) noticed her one-of-a-kind earrings. Only Jayne knew that the victim we’d been examining the pieces of was my mother, and she’d kept it a secret from the rest of the department at my request.

  I’d finally broken down and trusted Baxter with the information, only to have him delve into the case behind my back when I had expressly asked him to leave it alone. Rachel’s crazy father had killed our mother, I was certain, and I didn’t want him to think someone was tracking him for fear he might assume it was Rachel and come after her. She’d even changed her name to make sure he never found her. More than that, neither of us wanted to open up that old wound again.

  Once we got to the dining hall, Baxter and I went our separate ways. He went to confer with a couple of deputies while I approached Jayne.

  She gave me a weary smile. “No luck, huh?”

  “No. I wish I didn’t have to keep reporting to you that I failed.”

  “I didn’t expect you to find anything.”

  “What can I do now to help?”

  “Take a stack of flyers and start canvassing an area. I think that’s our best bet.”

  I nodded. “You got it.” After grabbing a handful of flyers, I headed outside and called Rachel.

  “Hey, do you have any new information?” she asked.

  “Sorry, but no. Baxter and I went through Jenna’s room, but found nothing.”

  “I’ve been asking everyone about her mentioning a guy named Derek, but no one’s ever heard of him.”

  I stifled a sigh. “Where are you?”

  “Going door to door in Schroeder Hall.”

  “Care if I join you?”

  Her voice hitched. “That would be great. Sis?”

  “Yes?”

  “Will you bring some hot chocolate when you come?”

  “You got it,” I replied, my heart breaking a little. From when she was Nate’s age, if anything upset her, hot chocolate could fix it. It wasn’t going to fix her current problem, but I was willing to get her anything that would give her a measure of comfort.

  After making a pit stop at the campus Starbucks, I arrived at Schroeder Hall and met Rachel in the lobby. The poor thing was haggard and drawn, nothing like her usual vivacious self. I enveloped her in a hug, but (like I often did) she pulled away before too much empathy caused her strong façade to crack. We might have had two different fathers, but in many ways we were exactly alike.

  She took a sip from her hot chocolate and sighed heavily. “Miranda and Chelsea are working on the top two floors here, and I’m ready to move on. Want to tackle the music building with me? Should be plenty of band geeks in the practice rooms right about now.”

  I smiled. “Sure.”

  As we walked toward the music building, she said, “Tell me straight—what are the odds that we’re going to find out anything useful about where Jenna disappeared to?”

  “Pretty good, actually. If we can find someone who saw her leave campus, then we can start piecing together who she was with and where they went.”

  “Do you find it suspicious that this guy she was seeing made a big deal about keeping their relationship a secret? I mean, was he planning to abduct her all along?”

  This was dangerous territory. I couldn’t tell Rachel the department’s theory on the connection between Jenna’s disappearance and Amy Donovan’s murder.

  “Yes, I think it could be a possibility. He could have spun the secrecy thing as being romantic and exciting.”

  A tear ran down her cheek. “And he turned out to be a monster.”

  I stopped her and gripped her shoulders. “We don’t know that anything bad has happened to her.”

  She sobbed, “I can tell from the look on Jayne’s face that she thinks the worst.”

  I held Rachel close to me, stroking her back in an attempt to soothe her. I had recognized that look, too. Jayne had seen too much to hold out hope that situations like this ever ended any way but badly. After a few minutes, Rachel pulled away and wiped her tears with her jacket sleeve.

  “This isn’t helping Jenna,” she said, her voice trembling. “Let’s go.”

  Rachel and I scoured every inch of the music building, asking every person we found if they’d seen Jenna on Saturday night. We got the same answer from everyone: no. Dejected, we headed back to the Ashmore Student Center to get more flyers.

  Jayne was looking even worse for wear, so I had Rachel pair back up with Miranda and Chelsea while I tried to talk Jayne into taking a break.

  “Can I buy you a coffee?” I asked.

  She didn’t look up from her phone. “You can buy a coffee and bring it to me.”

  I put my hand on hers. “Jayne. You need a break. For your sanity. Have you eaten?”

  “I can’t eat.”

  “Bathroom break?”

  “I don’t need to.”

  “It’s after eleven-thirty. Are you planning to stay all night?”

  Jayne finally flicked angry eyes up at me. “As long as it takes to find my niece.”

  “Then you’ll need caffeine. Come with me. Ten minutes max.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Okay.”

  The Starbucks in the lower level of the building had stayed open later than usual to provide drinks for people helping with the search. They were getting ready to close, but we managed to get our coffees before they stopped serving. I talked Jayne into sitting at a table in the adjacent food court instead of going straight back to her post.

  She collapsed into a chair and rubbed her eyes. “This is all my fault.”

  I placed my hand on her shoulder. “No, it’s not. You can’t think like that.”

  “There’s something you don’t know.”

  “I saw the note that was found in Amy’s mouth.”

  Blowing out a breath, she said, “So you do know. This is bad.”

  We sat there in silence, sipping our coffees, until Jayne got a call.

  “Sheriff Walsh.” She listened for a moment, then her face drained of color. “You found… No… Are you positive?” Her hand fluttered to her mouth, and tears began pouring from her eyes. She managed to croak out, “Call Baxter and Sterling. I’m on my way.”

  “Jayne, what is it?” I breathed.

  “My niece is dead.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  As Jayne got up, I caught her in a crushing hug. She allowed herself to sob for only a moment before pulling herself together and taking a step back from me. I tried to hold back my tears for her sake, but watching this strong woman break down was more than I could bear. We both wiped our eyes, unable to look at each other.

  “Jayne, I’m so sorry. What can I do for you? Name it.”

  She swallowed. “I want you to work the scene with Amanda Carmack. Can you handle it?”

  Work the death scene of a girl who was like family to me? I didn’t know how I was going to do
it, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn Jayne down after what had just happened. I would have to disconnect and wait until later to break down. I believed I could manage that, but I was certain it would wreak havoc on my mind and my heart.

  “Yes, I can,” I replied, my voice sounding more confident than I felt.

  I followed her up to the main dining area. Baxter was on his phone, his face ashen. He locked eyes with me and began walking my way. Jayne hurried ahead and began conferring with two of her deputies.

  Baxter ended his call and stopped in front of me. “You okay?”

  I nodded. “Jayne asked me to work the scene with Amanda.”

  “I’m headed there. Ride over with me, and I’ll bring you up to speed on the Amy Donovan case.”

  “Okay, thanks.” We exited the building and hurried toward his vehicle. As I had a thought, I stopped dead in my tracks. “Wait…Rachel…and Jenna’s other friends. I don’t want them hearing about this on the news or through campus gossip…” I ran my hands through my hair, my heart breaking for those girls.

  He stopped and said patiently, “The college is assigning counselors to speak with the students. There’s protocol in place to take particular care with deceased students’ roommates and close friends.”

  Still not feeling right about this, I said, “But shouldn’t I be there for my sister?”

  “I think the Sheriff needs you more. There’s not a lot you can do for Rachel right now, but we can start making headway on getting justice for Jenna.”

  I swallowed hard and nodded.

  “Come on.”

  He put his hand on my shoulder and steered me toward the parking lot. Once we got to his SUV, he opened the passenger door for me and then went and got in the driver’s seat. I knew I had to lock down my emotions. I was way too close to the situation, and I had to find a way to detach. I’d always been fairly good at setting aside my feelings in order to do my job, but I was out of practice.

  To keep my mind off it, I said, “Okay, tell me what I need to know about Amy Donovan.”

  Baxter said, “As you’ve heard, a neighbor found her in her backyard Saturday night. But she was killed days before, most likely on Wednesday. They’re basing that on a receipt for a half-eaten container of take-out on her kitchen counter and the coroner’s best estimation. Her body was partially frozen, so it was difficult to pinpoint an exact time of death.”

  I shook my head. “It’s sad that no one went looking for her before that.”

  He shrugged. “She lived alone. She was scheduled off work from Thursday until Sunday. No one missed her.”

  I shivered at the thought. “Jayne said she sustained blunt force trauma to the head and was strangled. That sounds like a crime of passion. How do the cryptic note and the…eye thing fit with that? Leaving a calling card—especially a creepy-ass poem that someone clearly spent time writing—implies premeditation.”

  Giving me a nod, he said, “Excellent observation. I thought the same thing.” His face clouded over. “And with this second death, I have a feeling we’re going to get another piece of the puzzle.”

  Another shiver ran through me.

  He continued, “We found no real evidence at the Donovan scene. No footprints because of the snow. There was a broken light bulb in her patio light and a mangled latch on her fence gate, but neither of them yielded any prints. We have nothing to go on aside from the note, which isn’t much.”

  He pulled into Richards Park, a new park that had been constructed between Carmel and Fishers in honor of the retired judge Walter Richards. Judge Richards had been a well-respected Hamilton County superior court judge for over thirty years, and the county recognized him last year by building this park.

  There were already several emergency vehicles here, including the coroner’s van and the criminalists’ SUV. Baxter and I got out, and I put on a clean jumpsuit and one of Baxter’s ever-present baseball caps I found in the back of his SUV. On the way into the park, we met Amanda, who was struggling to carry two kits toward the scene.

  “Thanks,” she breathed as Baxter relieved her of the cases and went ahead of us. To me she said, “I can’t even imagine what you’re feeling right now. I’m gutted, and I barely knew Jenna.”

  Having successfully gotten hold of my emotions on the way over here, I was finally able to discuss Jenna’s death without breaking down. “Yes, this won’t be easy. But the Sheriff asked me to do this for her, and I want to nail whoever killed Jenna to the wall.”

  “Agreed.”

  My phone rang, and I had to fumble in my pocket to get it. It was Rachel. I said to Amanda, “I need to take this,” and hung back to talk to my sister in private. “Hey, Rach.”

  She was sobbing into the phone. “Jenna’s dead. She’s dead.”

  I clenched my jaw hard, hating the fact that I wasn’t able to console my sister in person. “I know. I’m so sorry I can’t be there for you.”

  “Why did this happen?” she wailed.

  “I have no idea, but I’m going to help find out who did it. Look, Rachel, I won’t be home tonight. Jayne asked me to process the scene, and I agreed. I feel awful that I’m not there for you, but—”

  “No, don’t worry about me.” Her tone got an edge to it. “You do your job and find the bastard who took Jenna from us. Promise me you’ll find him.”

  “I’ll do everything I can. Do you have somewhere to go so you won’t be alone?”

  “I’m staying with Miranda. She needs me.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, she does. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

  “I love you, Ellie.”

  I was doing fine until then. I choked out, “I love you, too.”

  I stashed my phone back in my pocket and shook off the emotion I was feeling. I had a job to do, and nothing could get in the way of that.

  ***

  I signed the crime scene entry log at the entrance to the park. The outer perimeter had been set up at the fence across the front of the small park, and the surrounding trees made a natural perimeter around the sides and back. It was a fairly secluded location, so it made sense that the killer had chosen it.

  An inner perimeter was set up around a wrought iron gazebo that was the centerpiece of the park. Portable floodlights had been brought in to illuminate the darkness. When I got closer, I saw a person sitting on a bench inside the gazebo and wondered momentarily why anyone was allowing that to happen. Then I noticed the person wasn’t moving. My stomach lurched as I realized it was Jenna.

  Seated on a bench like she was enjoying an evening in the park, Jenna held a bouquet of daisies and a piece of paper in her hands. She looked peaceful. Her legs were crossed and her head was up, although her eyes were closed. When I got closer, I could see the glint of a web of fishing line holding her body in place, tied to the intricate wrought iron work of the gazebo.

  Before I let myself think too much about that, I went and found Amanda, who was standing with Baxter and his arrogant partner, Detective Jason Sterling. Sterling was the second worse thing I’d have to contend with tonight, aside from death itself. We didn’t get along well at all.

  “Hey, Matthews,” he said as I joined their group. I steeled myself for a nasty comment, but instead he said, “Sorry about your friend. Looks like we have a long night ahead of us.”

  I stared at him, not knowing how to respond to him being nice to me. “Um, yeah. Thanks, Sterling.”

  This had to be Amanda’s doing. The two of them had been dating on and off for the past few months. Maybe she’d been able to beat some manners into him.

  The coroner, Dr. Everett Berg, and his assistant, Kenny Strange, were examining the body. They were no doubt wondering how in the hell they were going to get her cut away from the endless tangle of fishing line holding her lifeless body in an upright position. Dr. Berg beckoned us over. The four of us stopped to put on booties and gloves before entering the inner perimeter of the scene.

  “Good evening, all,” Dr. Berg said.
His eyes registered pain. As a friend of Jayne’s, he’d watched Jenna grow up. “As you can see, the victim has been posed. She’s been dead for approximately six hours, maybe more. And considering I believe she died from exsanguination and there’s no sign of blood around here…”

  Baxter finished his thought. “This is not our primary crime scene.”

  Sterling swore under his breath. I felt the same way. We wouldn’t find a murder weapon or much else here to point us toward the killer.

  Dr. Berg gestured toward a deep cut on Jenna’s neck. “I believe this laceration severed a jugular vein, but I’ll of course know the complete extent of her injuries once the autopsy is completed. Now if you’d like to take photos and study the scene, we’ll leave you for a few moments while we gather our equipment.”

  On his way past me, Dr. Berg gave me a pat on the shoulder. Kenny gave me an encouraging but sad smile.

  Sterling said to Baxter, “You need to read the note.”

  Baxter walked closer to the body and crouched down, taking care not to touch anything. He read aloud:

  An innocent man went to jail that night

  Because you decided what was wrong and right.

  You thought you knew. You were so sure.

  She died; he died. How much must a child have to endure?

  A tooth for a tooth. Are you catching on?

  It won’t be long before the next one’s gone.

  After taking a picture of the note with his phone, he stood and turned to us. “This poem is as bad as the first one. ‘It won’t be long before the next one’s gone.’ Is he saying he’s going after more Walsh and Donovan family members or does he have more law enforcement vendettas to settle?”

  “Hell if I know, but I do know we’re dealing with one sick son of a bitch here,” Sterling replied. He chin-nodded at us. “Get to it, girls.”

  The two detectives left the gazebo to go confer privately.