Of Blood and Water: Campground Murders (Virgil McLendon Thrillers Book 1)

by catt dahman

  “Thank you, Sheriff.”

  Vivian noted that Virgil’s honesty and manners relaxed the family just a tiny bit.

  “Tell me about last night in your own words.”

  The story was simple. The girls went to bed at ten o’clock the night before in a small, but roomy tent while the parents slept in a small trailer nearby. They said the girls were tired, yet both were excited about sleeping out in the tent and swimming the next day, but they were ready to sleep.

  The family was from several states away and had planned to camp there for several nights, but with the tragedy with the scouts, decided one night would be enough and were set to leave this morning.

  William Berger had not gotten all the details but heard there was a murder in a camp not far away, and he figured the culprit was long gone but didn’t want his children to hear the stories and be afraid.

  Virgil smiled at Jillian’s sister, “Were you tired?”

  “We both were tired from traveling, and swimming and hiking, and we fell asleep. We didn’t even talk. I woke up sometime in the night because I kind of had to use the restroom, but the air was chilly, and I didn’t want to go in the dark by myself or wake Jilly. I…ummm….” She blushed.

  Virgil smiled, “I bet you went to a nearby tree like I would have, Rose.”

  The fourteen year old blushed and said, “Yes, Sir, I did. I know it’s silly….”

  Virgil kept smiling at her, “Nothing is silly. Tell me anything at all.”

  “When I was outside, I felt the hairs on my neck stand up straight as if someone were watching me and standing close. I didn’t see anyone, but I could just feel it. It creeped me out, and I hurried back to the tent.”

  “Was your sister there?”

  “Yes, Sir. She mumbled and turned over.”

  “Did you hear anything?”

  “No, Sir. Well, far away, someone was singing, I think, and some bugs or maybe they were crickets…making noise, but not when I was outside the tent. It was really quiet then, too quiet. I got scared a little.”

  “And did you awaken again before daybreak?” Virgil asked.

  Rose nodded, “Yes. I woke up and was freezing cold. It was a little chilly before when we went to bed, but it was really cold in the tent when I woke up. I wondered if I had left the door unzipped and glanced, and it was shut. I was sleepy and snuggled down in my sleeping bag and went back to sleep.”

  “You are doing a great job. Those details help me a lot. I was going to ask about everything you just told me. So it was a lot colder? Was there a breeze?”

  “I think. Maybe. It was something because that’s why I looked at the door to see if I had zipped it. I was sleepy though and didn’t look around.”

  “And did you see your sister then?”

  “I didn’t notice. Is this my fault?” she asked, looking stricken.

  “Not at all,” Virgil said, “and was Jillian upset or angry? Did she argue with you or your mom or dad? Was anything bothering her that she said or that you thought about? Did she look upset at bedtime?”

  “No, she was fine. Sleepy. We had a good day and were talking about swimming this morning. Jilly wanted to float on an inner tube and was excited because Daddy said we could do that.”

  “Has she ever run away or anything?”

  “Never,” Connie Berger said.

  “He was watching. He could have gotten me,” Rose leaned into her mother and sobbed.

  “Who, Rose?”

  “The person who took Jilly. I know he was watching. I felt it. I’m not making it up, either.”

  “I believe you. I know you are telling me exactly how it was, and I appreciate your sharing everything with me,” Virgil said. He asked Connie and William, “When did you find Jillian missing?”

  “This morning. Rosie woke and found….” Connie Berger pointed.

  “And she called for you?”

  “She came screaming to the door. She woke everyone around by beating on the door and yelling; she was so upset she didn’t think to turn the handle on the door and open it. We ran out in pajamas and began looking, hoping it was something else, but we’d heard….” William Berger shook his head. “Can you just find her? Please?”

  “One more question for Rose. You ran and were screaming and banging on the door. Your mother said you were too upset to even think to open the door. Help me understand why. You woke and looked for Jilly? But why were you that upset so quickly? What were you thinking or seeing that scared you so much?”

  Rose concentrated and said, “I saw her empty bag. I didn’t think about where she went because I saw that huge hole cut right next to where her head was. I thought it was like a bear reached in after making a hole and yanked her out fast. That’s how it looked.”

  “A bear?”

  “I didn’t think bear. I thought someone yanked her out,” Rose said, “I knew all at once. Like in a half of a second, I knew. I thought the other side would rip open, and then someone would yank me out. I don’t know; I ran; I don’t know what I was thinking then; I just ran.”

  “Can you just find her?” William begged. Rose’s description had drained his face of color, and he had tears in his eyes.

  The rock of the family, Connie, went pale and bit her lip as she held Rose.

  “We’re working on it, Sir.” Virgil walked around the tent with Vivian following, still writing notes for him. He told her to make a note that the man who yanked Jillian out had to be physically fit enough to pull her out all at once. He would need strong arms, legs, and back.

  From face-level to the ground was a cut in the canvass. It looked exactly as the other tent, and while it was just a cut in canvass, it was somehow very frightening, and he knew why Rose had reacted so strongly.

  Virgil looked into the tent, noting Jillian’s sleeping bag was twisted up and tossed back into place, and a stuffed bear was left near the sleeping bag. The other bag was neat, and other than a flashlight and a few items, the tent was empty.

  Virgil wondered why the other girl was spared this time, but glad. Why hadn’t she screamed? She must have been pulled out of the tent and subdued very rapidly.

  Virgil went back to the parents, “How old is Jillian?”

  “She’s eight.”

  “We’ll want a recent picture of her and a description, please. One of my deputies will get that. This is just routine action. Hopefully we’ll find her quickly, safe, and sound.”

  The parent nodded weakly.

  Virgil paused and said, “Rose, I have one more quick question for you, Honey, if you can answer for me?”

  “Okay,” she said as she tried to look brave, wiping her face.

  Vivian felt a chill run down her spine. Of all of the questions Virgil had asked, only now had he asked for an age. That was odd. But what chilled her was the way he had a last question, and she knew it was about what they had just seen, but he hardly looked at the tent and acted as if it almost didn’t matter. What trail of thought was he following now?

  “When you went outside, did you take and use the flashlight or go without it?” Virgil asked.

  “I didn’t take it. I wanted to hurry,” Rose told him.

  Virgil nodded, “Thanks. That helps. If any of you can think of anything else, let my deputy know. Try to think if you saw someone watching you yesterday and other people you talked to. Concentrate on a young man about twenty-five or younger, intelligent, physically fit, a little quiet or shy, alone or with someone that is like that as well.”

  Vivian was impatient to ask him what he was thinking. Of all things, he asked about a flashlight? Why? She thought everyone, including Virgil himself, thought he was a small town, slow-acting, dull-thinking man just killing time working as a deputy, but he had layers upon layers of logic and thought in new ways; he had no idea he was the smartest person at the campground right now, by far. Vivian was almost intimidated.

  Tobias came over and prepared to take statements and get more information. Virgil shook hands with the pa
rents and told them that people were searching already for Jillian.

  “Sheriff, we heard a rumor that over there something happened to some girl scouts. Is that true?” William Berger looked very afraid.

  “Sir, Mr. Berger, I have not been updated about that because I came straight to you. As I said, Jillian is my top priority here. The truth is I don’t have any information about what went on over there, but yes, something did happen, and yes, we do have victims. But right now, we don’t have a reason to believe Jillian is hurt. Girls in the same area are unharmed, and we have to hope that will be the case here as well.” Virgil was honest.

  “Thank you for telling us the truth. I’ll pray for those girls and their families,” Connie Berger said.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Berger. That’s very good of you,” Vivian told her.

  Virgil walked back the other way.

  “Talk. What is going on in that big brain of yours?”

  His mind was whirling. Had Rose used the flashlight, she’d be dead right now or missing. The killer had been right there watching her, Virgil believed, and he would have killed her if she had made herself more of a target. He felt this was true, but how could he explain?

  He told Vivian his thoughts. He wanted this guy badly.

  “If she had the light, he would think maybe she saw him and would have taken her. Instead, he got the young one. So, that tells me this: he didn’t want Rose, who is fourteen. He wanted a young child.”

  “Because she would fight less?”

  Virgil shook his head, “No. He isn’t scared of a fight. He is able to subdue them fast anyway. He managed two older boys before. No, he wanted the younger one because that’s his target. He had been experimenting and building, but the goal was a little girl.”

  “You got all that from a flashlight?”

  “I think I did.”

  Vivian made a note. At the other area, people were scattered, waiting.

  “What do we have here?”

  Nick, freed from duty, led him to a tent; Virgil wished never to see tents again. Like the two others, this one was cut in a deep gash. The edges flapped, and Virgil could see inside where three bags were rather hastily left behind, yet one was tidy. The ground was a mass of overlapping footprints from searchers and deputies, and anything useful was ruined.

  He thought of what Rose said: “I didn’t think about where she went because I saw that huge hole cut right next to where her head was. I thought it was like a bear reached in after making a hole and yanked her out fast. That’s how it looked.”

  That’s what this looked like, too.

  Nick read from his own notes, “Four girls were in this tent and bedded down about nine-thirty last night. Everything was quiet all night, and this morning, one of the girls, Karen, awoke and found the other three girls gone. She thought she was late and left behind, so she quickly dressed, went out, and joined the rest. The counselors hadn’t seen the girls, and they went to the tent and looked in, wondering about it.”

  “What time?”

  “About seven o’clock. And about that same time, another counselor with another troop came running from the trail that goes up to the bathrooms. She was going up to use the facilities and brush her teeth. The trails make an X where they intersect. There on the trail were all three girls, Delane, Lisa, and Mary. Ages ten, nine, and nine.”

  “Was there a flashlight in the tent?”

  Vivian looked and reported back, “None in there.”

  “Thanks, Nick, is the girl, Karen, able to talk?”

  “A little. She’s shaky. She didn’t hear anything or see anything and slept straight through to this morning. No arguments or issues. All the girls were happy and tired, and Karen is more confused than anything. She saw the hole and thought maybe a branch had ripped it but didn’t look around.”

  “Gotcha. Can you show me the scene now?”

  “Sure. The photographer is there already, but he’s not touching anything, and the medical examiner is waiting. He has done only a preliminary look. After the counselor came running and screaming, a couple of the women went up and checked for vitals, so they were touched.”

  “Were they warm or cold?”

  “Cool, they said. Both of the women have already been transported to the emergency room but said they saw and heard nothing. One collapsed. Fainted, I guess, and hit her head. The other was having problems breathing. Asthma probably, but we sent them on.”

  “Good call,” Virgil said.

  Virgil and Vivian followed Nick. Vivian leaned in close to her older brother who gave her a one-armed hug. Nick was glad to help and knew Joey and the rest felt the same, but they were supposed to go home days ago but had stayed. He didn’t know how much longer they could stay, but leaving Virgil alone with this seemed cruel.

  Nick hadn’t spoken with his family yet, except for his father, who was supportive, but he had a plan. It was sad about Sheriff Harding, but the truth was the man was in such bad shape that it didn’t look as if he would be returning to duty. Virgil would act as sheriff until an election; he would win it unless he failed on this case. That left a position for a deputy open, and Nick had decided, after a lot of thought, that he would apply, and he figured he would be hired.

  All these years, Nick had worked under his father, and it was a given he would assume the role one day when his father retired, but Nick wanted to get more experience in a new place with new ideas before that happened. Working with a new department was a way to improve his skills and test him.

  He knew a secret as well: this department’s dispatcher was getting ready to retire within a few months. Vivian may have had her sights set on one career, but she might be good at being a dispatcher and maybe working as a deputy when needed. Nick could tell Virgil and Vivian liked one another a lot even if they didn’t know it yet. He almost grinned but then realized where he was.

  “It’s bad, Viv. Maybe you don’t want to see this,” Nick warned her. She was a tough woman, but it still would be difficult for her. It had been for him.

  “I’ll handle it. I’m making notes and need to do this.”

  The three bodies were right on the X of the trails, and the killers took advantage of the location for full shock value. The medical examiner, Harry Hunt, shook Virgil’s hand and then grimly waited as Virgil looked at the scene. “I like seeing you, Virgil, but I would prefer a gathering a little less disturbing.”

  “I hear you, Harry. It’s a shame.”

  Had Virgil and Vivian had a mirror, they could have watched their own faces drain of color and felt their knees wobble when they saw the girls. Vivian appreciated the hand Virgil put on her back and his strong arm, and before she realized it, she was leaning against him for strength. In a few seconds, she felt more secure.

  “Thanks.”

  Virgil spoke softly, letting Vivian take notes about his initial findings, “The first girl….” he said as he gulped.

  “Delane.”

  “Thank you, Harry. Jesus, give me strength,” Virgil intoned. “She is lying on her back with her arms and legs spread, and her pajama bottoms are bunched and still hanging on her right leg. Pine needles cover part of the pants. Her panties are with the pajama bottoms, and her top is pulled down normally and looks as if it were smoothed and straightened. Her hair looks as if it has been arranged off her face, maybe smoothed back, but it’s still tangled and filled with pine needles,” said Virgil while breathing slowly. In. Out. In. Out.

  He went on, “A lot of blood is on the ground, and there’s blood all over her top, and it even covers her upper arms, but not her hands. There is a wound on her neck. Harry?”

  Harry nodded, “Her throat was cut with a sharp instrument consistent with a large knife that severed the carotid artery. She bled out and died very quickly. Her head was almost removed. She was raped. Semen was evident. Marks on her thighs and lower legs were consistent with a post mortem attack. Looks as if someone clenched and gripped her legs. An autopsy will show the facts, but it is my gu
ess the rape was post mortem.”

  “He raped her when she was dead?” Vivian shivered, “my, God, what kind of animal is this?”

  “He had to be strong to do that?”

  Harry shrugged, “I would say so. He couldn’t have done all three, sheriff.” Harry wasn’t thrilled at calling anyone but Jess Harding the sheriff, but this was how it was now.

  Virgil patted Vivian’s arm. “Better dead than suffering the rape while alive.” He tilted his head. “Beside here is a pillow that she seems to be clutching with her right arm. Please note her position on the trail, Vivian. Pine needles are all over, and I don’t see footprints. The pillow is bloody, too. She bled everywhere, and someone had to get blood on him. He squatted. “A flashlight is beside her as well. I see blood and hair on it.” It was a long, heavy, silver type.

  “She shows signs of being hit in the head, Sheriff,” Harry said.

  Vivian wondered why Virgil kept noting the flashlights for everything. He was onto something else with these flashlights; she just knew it.

  The second child was Mary, who was on her side, twisted with her arms and legs spread vulgarly. She was fully nude. Unlike the other girl, her face was bruised badly: her lips were split, nose probably broken, eyes blackened, and cheek crushed. Another silver flashlight was nearby, heavy, and covered in hair and blood. Virgil figured she was beaten with the flashlight.

  Beside her legs were sticks, some thin and a few huge but all short, no more than a foot long and as round as one of the flashlights. Each was bloodied at one end and looked to have flesh clinging from it. The last time sticks were used in a death was when the sticks were sharpened and smeared with feces like in Asia. Virgil looked at the medical examiner, puzzled.

  Harry wiped his face. This was the first time in his career that he had ever wept. He tried three times before he was able to speak professionally and dispassionately in order to do his job.

  “Prelim evaluation is she was ra…raped with those sticks. The damage and the…the…blood on them and her privates indi…indicate that. It’s consistent with that, I mean.” He blew his nose loudly in his handkerchief and apologized.