The Butcher Box Set

by Sian B. Claven

  “A man has been arrested for the murders that have rocked our small community. Phillip Blackwood, travelling salesman by day and a renowned alcoholic, was taken into custody after being questioned by police following the death of a young girl in the room next door to his. Police searched his room and found a shirt covered in the young girl’s blood. Blackwood is currently in custody and awaiting trial. We tried to reach Blackwood’s estranged wife and son, but neither had any comments.”

  He watched the news with bright eyes. Not only had he gotten away with what he considered the perfect murder, but someone else was arrested for it simply because he had been too lazy to burn the shirt and tossed it in a room instead.

  This meant that all trails leading to him didn’t matter now. Someone had been found for the murders, and he had his little gifts to play with until he could find the next opportunity, or rather, victim.

  Chapter 8

  Kallista

  Although it had been years since the murder of Robyn Michaels, Kalli believed people would remember details that could aid her now. In her research Kalli had explored the ability to remember events better as an adult as opposed to when you were a child. A huge part of her thesis was that witnesses should be revisited when they were older because their brains had time to cope with the trauma and they were better able to understand and process it.

  With this in mind, she set off late one morning to find a few witnesses that still lived in the area. Her first visit was going to be to the girl’s cousin, Penny, but after trying to reach her a few times her wife finally answered, explained she wouldn’t be back until much later in the afternoon and promised to let Penny know that Kalli was looking for her.

  Rearranging her plans didn’t take long and soon she was on her way to see the host of the party himself, Jared Lipschitz. Once one of the most popular party boys in school, Kalli remembered boys just like him who were him as thethe sports-driven good looking jock all the girls, including herself, had a huge crush on. She imagined that this previous sports star he had grown into an even more handsome man who had a stunning wife on his arm.

  She was absolutely wrong.

  Jared now ran his father’s used car sales lot near the town centre. He was a balding, sweaty man, and whatever remnants of a six pack there was, was buried under layers of take-out grease, junk food and carbs. His skin was oily and he kept mopping at his face with a dirty, sodden handkerchief. Every time he smiled at Kalli, she was distracted by the discolouration on his teeth, and the garlic stench of his breath. It took all her willpower not to run away.

  It also didn’t help that he was trying to flirt with her, despite his wife being his receptionist and staring daggers at Kalli every time she glanced her way. Kalli had her Dictaphone out and kept the conversation focused on the topic.

  “So you remember seeing Robyn at the party?”

  “She was hard to miss, Kalli.” Another quick mop of the oily sweat from his head and a belch of garlic and whatever disgusting thing Jared had for lunch followed. “I mean, she walked in, skin tight clothing, those sexy rocker ankle boots and that sick face paint. Pity, really, she was going to be a make-up artist in Hollywood, you know? She was good. By the way, did I mention that I am a bit of a star now myself?”

  The discoloured smile flashed before her and she quickly held her breath.

  “I starred in a commercial for this car lot. One of the best actors the director had ever worked with.” He patted his belly. “Of course I didn’t look as good as I do in person, the camera adds ten pounds, they say,”

  Kalli forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah, I have heard. Listen, Jared, I need to know who she was hanging with, anything you can tell me could be really helpful.”

  He shrugged again. “I’m sorry; I was with Marcy-Anne most of the night, if you know what I mean.”

  The wink and slight grinding of his hips was the final straw for her. She gave him a quick thank you and before he could initiate any sort of bodily contact, even if it was just a handshake, she quickly made her way back to the pavement.

  She had opted to walk today, to soak up the bright sunshine, but also she wanted to familiarise herself with the town again to piece together her victims’ timelines and movements better.

  As she walked briskly down the road, she attempted to remove the smell and vision of Jared out of her head.

  Her next stop was Robyn’s parents’ house. Although Phillip Blackwood, Darren’s father, had been tried and convicted for Robyn’s death, Kalli thought there was more to the story than a simple drunkard taking off a girl’s head. After all, they never recovered the tongue and Phillip Blackwood maintained his innocence until the day he died, two years ago.

  Robyn’s parents, Liam and Natalie, had stayed for the trial and conviction and then couldn’t bring themselves to move away from the last place they saw their little girl. Going back to their old house filled with memories of their daughter growing up was too hard, so they opted to start fresh in this sleepy little neighbourhood. All this Kalli had gleaned from newspaper articles.

  She had made contact with Natalie earlier that morning and had gently explained what she needed. After triple checking that Natalie was in a fit state to answer her questions, and that Liam would be available, she confirmed she could see them that afternoon.

  The house they had moved into was not far from the motel where their daughter was taken from them. The front garden was manicured and beautiful with bushes sporting different coloured flowers along the edge.

  Kalli approached the door, took a deep breath and knocked lightly. The woman that greeted her was elderly, but beautiful, despite the deep lines in her face that were the tell-tale sign of trauma and misery.

  She smiled warmly. “Come in, come in.” She waved the younger woman through the door. “Take a left and find a seat. I just put out tea and homemade chocolate chip cookies.”

  Kalli smiled too. “Thank you for seeing me.” She went left and found a seat on a comfy armchair. “I appreciate your assistance with my thesis.”

  Natalie waved her off. “Not at all, it’s a pleasure to help.” She poured them each a cup of tea. “Sugar?”

  “No, thank you. Just milk.”

  Soon they both had a cup of tea and an elderly gentleman came in to sit beside Natalie. “Good afternoon,” he said quietly.

  “Hi, I’m Kalli. Thank you for seeing me.”

  He appeared standoffish, as though he wasn’t happy with what he had to do, and Kalli suffered a pang of guilt.

  “Don’t worry about Liam, dear; he’s getting grumpy in his old age.” Natalie put a loving hand on her husband’s leg and smiled at him, and he returned the smile as though her presence made it all okay. “Now,” she continued. “How can we assist you? You said you had to research our Robyn’s death for your thesis?”

  She spoke about her daughter’s death as though it was a separate thing and had happened to someone else. As though it had not wrenched a giant hole in her life and left her empty.

  “Well, as an aspiring profiler and criminologist I need to profile and link a killer to several murders.”

  “And for that you’re looking at Phillip Blackwood? Isn’t it kind of redundant, considering he’s dead?”

  Liam spoke differently, as though the death had just happened and it was still fresh in his mind. Kalli deduced that Robyn had probably been daddy’s little girl and had been closer to her father, but she could never be sure with parents. It affected each parent differently even if both loved their child the same.

  “Well, I am looking at murders that happened both before and after Blackwood was arrested.”

  She wasn’t sure how to phrase it better; perhaps the person who had died behind bars was not the one who killed their little girl.

  Liam clenched his fists and his face went red, but Natalie put a hand over his and said, “You think there was a copycat?” Her eyes never left Kalli’s face.

  “Not exactly.” Kalli felt awkward now; this wasn’t the
right thing to do to these nice people. “There were too many inaccuracies and there were murders that followed.”

  “Why would you want to open old wounds that have already healed? My shirt covered in her blood was found in his room! This is absolute rubbish.” Liam was understandably angry. “You’re telling me the closure we found when that monster was brought to justice means nothing now? What are you trying to do? Do you know what it feels like to lose someone you love to a ruthless murderer?”

  “I do,” she said. “My sister was the last victim.”

  The room fell silent and Liam’s pent up anger evaporated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

  “It’s no problem. It’s one of the reasons I picked this specific killer for my thesis. I’m not saying that Phillip Blackwood didn’t kill your daughter; I just want to make sure all options were explored because so much has changed in the time since the first murders. Like what we know about crime and investigating and the tools we have available.”

  “And if it was Phillip Blackwood?” Natalie asked before sipping her tea.

  “Then it was Phillip Blackwood. My thesis is not about exonerating one man, but exploring all the options that weren’t open to previous cases,” Kalli explained, setting her empty cup down and sitting back.

  Natalie nodded and set down her cup so it rested on her knee. “What do you need to know?”

  “Everything you know about that night, please.” Kalli put her Dictaphone on.

  Surprisingly it was Liam who spoke next. “We went out for dinner.” He gazed out the window, his eyes sorrowful. “Robyn was with her cousin Penny, who had offered to show her around town. We didn’t think there would be any harm, Penny was always a responsible young girl.” He paused, swallowing a huge lump in his throat, his Adam's apple bobbing before he took a deep breath. “We were out for most of the night, celebrating our wedding anniversary. I had made reservations for dinner and then took Natalie out to the theatre. We told Robyn not to expect us home before at least three because after the theatre we wanted to go have a quiet night cap somewhere.” He shook his head as the tears teased the corners of his eyes. “It all seems so silly now …”

  “It was a thoughtful gesture, love,” Natalie said, setting her tea aside and putting her hand over his. She continued the story. “When we came home we first saw the dark stain on the bed. We hadn’t turned the light on because we didn’t want to wake Robyn, but the bathroom light was on. When I saw the dark stain I was confused, so I turned the light on regardless. Robyn wasn’t in her bed. Our bed was a mess with a dark liquid all over it. Initially I thought that Robyn and Penny had perhaps been drinking the wine Liam got me for our anniversary and had messed it on the bed, and I was angry. That was when I saw the drag marks …”

  “Drag marks?” Kalli interrupted. “There was no mention of drag marks in the police report.”

  Natalie shrugged. “I’m not sure why, but they were clear as day. Someone had pulled something heavy from the bed, to the carpeted floor and into the bathroom. Liam went in first.” She looked at her husband and stroked his hair back from his face. “He saw her first. He nearly fainted at the sight. I wasn’t too far behind him and saw her before he could stop me. We called an ambulance, but we knew there was nothing we could do.”

  The room fell into a heavy silence and Kalli gave the couple a moment to gather themselves before she asked, “How did they figure out it was Phillip Blackwood?”

  “They did a sweep of the surrounding rooms when they arrived.”

  “They?” Kalli asked,

  “The police,” Natalie clarified. “The police knocked on each door to ask if anyone had heard anything. When they were waiting for the room next to ours to open, they saw there was something by the window, near the floor that made them suspicious. They broke down the door and found Phillip Blackwood drunk and passed out on the sofa. To his left was one of Liam’s shirts soaked in blood.”

  Kalli stopped recording. “I am really sorry for your loss.”

  Natalie nodded. “Thank you, I hope you find the answers you are looking for.”

  “If I have any more questions may I contact you?” Kalli asked, trying to be gentle.

  Liam got up and walked out, but Natalie offered her a sad smile. “Of course, you know how to reach me.”

  The conversation played over and over in her mind as she walked down the street, but Kalli couldn’t make sense of her thoughts. She was the kind of person that needed to write it all down and have it in front of her in order to sort the jumble out.

  The sound of a car horn to her left made her jump slightly and she paused, glaring at the driver. Her anger disappeared as she saw it was Detective Smith behind the wheel. He parked the car and climbed out, walking around to her side.

  “Hi, Kalli,” he greeted, leaning against his car. “You didn’t strike me as the type to enjoy an afternoon stroll.”

  Kalli offered him a small smile, still feeling awkward about their exchange at the bar that had made her so anxious. “Detective,” she greeted in return.

  Smith rubbed his hand over his neck and said, “Mike, please, and I was actually looking for you.”

  She stared at him expectantly, which just made him more nervous.

  “Uh, yeah, so I wanted to apologise for the other night at the bar.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Kalli cut him off. “You were drunk, I wasn’t feeling so great. It’s nothing to worry about, I promise.”

  “You sure?” he asked, taking a step closer to her. “Because I had this whole long apology planned.”

  Kalli couldn’t help but smile. “It’s okay; you’re off the hook this time.”

  Something wet hit her cheek and she looked up at the sky just as rain decided to pour down.

  She shivered, and yelled, “Where did that come from? I better get back home before I get sick.”

  Mike reached for his passenger door. “Let me drive you. It’s going to bucket down like this for a while.”

  Kalli glanced down the road and then at the open door Mike held for her. “Okay, thanks,” she said as she climbed in.

  Mike shut the door after her and quickly walked around the car, hopping into the driver’s side and slamming that door. “Good god, that is cold.” He turned the car’s heating on so they could warm up, put it in gear and pulled off. “So, what are you doing on this side of town anyway?”

  “Interviewing Robyn Michael’s parents,” Kalli replied, looking out the window at the rain beating against the pavement.

  “Oh, did you find anything new?”

  “Not really, yet there are a lot of holes in that investigation that need to be combed over. I have given myself a lot of work.”

  They fell into a comfortable silence the rest of the way to her house. Mike pulled in the driveway and cut the engine, reaching into his pocket and extracting a business card. “Look, if you do need any help, anything at all, my cell phone number is on this card. Just give me a ring and I will be here, okay?”

  Kalli took the card and offered him a small smile. “Thank you; I really appreciate that, Mike, as well as the ride.”

  “Anytime.”

  She climbed out and shut the door, running up to the porch where she would be safe from the rain. She watched Mike pull out and couldn’t help another small smile playing on her lips.

  Kalli went straight upstairs and put the Dictaphone on her table. Pressing play, she listened to the two conversations she managed to have today and made notes on her boards. Listening to the interviews, she wondered if the killer had not been at the party at Jared’s house. Considering the fact that it was possibly a teenager who murdered Kyle White and considering also Robyn’s age, it seemed more likely she would admit someone closer to her age than an older man, especially when taking into account there was no sign of a forced entry.

  From the crime scene photos it looked as though Robyn was tied up voluntarily prior to her death; the way she was tied up was more sexual in nature than a forced bi
nding. Kalli did much research and had noted that Phillip Blackwood was out of town for the other murders. Although she told Natalie and Liam otherwise, she believed Phillip had been innocent.

  Kalli stretched and decided it was time for a nice cup of hot coffee and a break from the board for a few minutes so she could clear her head.

  She went downstairs and switched the kettle on, locating the necessary items she needed to make strong coffee. While she waited for the boiling to stop, she tried not to think about the case. She really needed to go back in with a clear head if she was going to do this right.

  Once she had her brew, she went back upstairs, but only made it halfway. Standing at the top of the stairs was Robyn, or her spectral hallucination.

  Kalli had had enough. She was not going to let her own issues and trauma stop her from solving this case. She marched upstairs and through Robyn. As she did, she felt as though she had walked through a sudden cold pocket, and shivered slightly. She shook it off quickly and entered her office. Not really sure why, she paused at the door, and noticed the moving shadow of a person.

  She held her piping hot coffee as a weapon and shouted, “Don’t move! I am armed!”

  Kalli pushed the door fully open and stepped into the room in the direction she thought the person would be, but as she did so there was a high pitched shriek and all the glass in the room shattered, including the cup she was holding. She dropped the handle quickly and put her arms over her head to protect herself.

  When she was sure nothing else was breaking, she gradually lowered her arms. Every window, every light bulb, everything constructed of glass had shattered. She wasn’t sure how the intruder did it, but it had been a big enough distraction to allow him, or her, to escape.

  She whipped her cell phone out and pulled Mike’s card from her pocket. She dialled his number quickly. He answered on the fourth ring, sounding like he had been asleep. She apologised profusely and quickly explained the situation, asking him to come to the house and help her. After he acknowledged that he would be there with back up, she hung up and looked up at the window, her body tensing in fright.