He gave Raven a rundown of everything that had happened earlier. In no time, they had kitted themselves out, gathered all the necessary equipment they needed, and using the coordinates that Beth had supplied, headed into the forest. There was no one around, and with four experienced people attaching the cameras, the job was done without delay. Before climbing down from a tall pine, Kane scanned the fire road. There was no sign of any movement whatsoever. He climbed down and met the others in the forest. “We’re not far from the cabin. I’d like to take a look. I want to make sure the perp hasn’t taken a victim there to be murdered.”
They all agreed, and using the coordinates Beth had given them, he led the way along the path to the cabin. As they got closer, the familiar smell of death wafted toward them. Kane stopped walking and, keeping his voice just above a whisper, turned to the others. “That smells like we might be too late.”
“Is this a hunting area?” Styles wrinkled his nose. “That smells like a gut pile to me.”
“Nope.” Raven looked both ways, scanning the forest. “This area is for recreation, swimming, and fishing.”
Nodding, Kane turned slowly. “Spread out and circle the cabin. Watch your backs.”
They moved out slowly, gliding through the forests like shadows. Kane edged his way toward the cabin, constantly scanning the area. The pungent smell had seeped through the bandana he’d tied around his mouth and crawled up his nose. In his peripheral vision he made out Carter and Styles and signaled to them that he was going in. Treading with care to keep his approach silent, he moved to one side of the window beside the back door and turkey-peeked around the frame. The scene inside hadn’t changed from the photographs that Beth had taken earlier. No one was inside. Using hand gestures, he waved the men away and followed, using the shadows of the trees as cover. He noticed Raven pointing to something in the forest. They all increased their speed toward him, slowing as what he’d discovered became evident.
Death was always nasty but nothing prepared Kane for carnage. He stared at the body spread out on the ground. Wildlife had eaten most of the soft parts, leaving a gaping red hole where the man’s stomach should have been. Flesh and intestines spilled onto the forest floor and flies rose in a black cloud as they drew closer. The face was untouched. It was difficult to see if this was a murder or an animal attack. He looked at Raven. “Bear?”
“I doubt it. From the look of the body, he wasn’t attacked by an animal.” Raven bent closer. “There’re no defensive wounds and this man is carrying a knife. He’d have drawn it if something had attacked him. Cats usually go for the neck, but I figure whatever did this made a meal out of him once he was down. I’m not seeing advanced decomposition, and surely Beth would have mentioned it if she’d smelled anything while she was here. Whatever happened to this man happened after she left.”
“It’s a homicide.” Carter pulled a pair of examination gloves from his jacket pocket and pulled them on. “I figure you need to take a few images of this.” He pointed to something close by. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s a tarot card.”
Rubbing his chin, Kane stared at the card. How did he know—when we didn’t know?
“This isn’t the guy from the cabin. This one is older.” Styles scrolled through his phone, searching the images. “He’s wearing different clothes and boots. I don’t see a cowboy hat anywhere around. I figure this is Wade Cutter.” He held out his phone. “See, in the AI pictures Beth created from the ones she discovered from twenty years ago, he looks just the same. How did the Tarot Killer find him? And how did he get here before us?”
“How does he know anything?” Carter waited for Kane to take a photograph of the tarot card in situ and then carefully slid it into the evidence bag Raven had produced from his pocket.
Constantly on guard, Kane meticulously took photos of the corpse and everything in the area. He captured it on video as well, moving very slowly to encompass a wide area. “We can’t call Wolfe. It will blow our case. If the killer sees a forensics team wandering around, he’ll run for the hills. We can’t leave the body here either.” He turned to Raven. “You wouldn’t by any chance have a body bag in the back of your truck, would you?”
“I never leave home without one.” Raven turned away and headed back through the forest.
“I’ve searched the area all around the body.” Carter shook his head slowly. “There are a few broken branches and some of the underbrush has been disturbed. There was a struggle, but someone has gone through and meticulously removed any evidence. When I bent down near to the body I could smell bleach. It wasn’t enough to prevent the animals. They tend to dig into a corpse, to find the fresh meat underneath. This is why they didn’t touch the rest of him.”
“I’m sure gonna let Beth know how close she came to being this guy’s next victim.” Styles shook his head. “I figured at last she’d settled down and stopped doing these crazy things. I often wonder if she has a death wish. Dammit, she came this close to coming face-to-face with the Tarot Killer.” He held his thumb and finger an inch apart. “You do know she would have tried to bring him in? That’s Beth. She reminds me of a K-9—and I’m not being disrespectful. I mean the way she singles out her prey and doesn’t give up until she’s caught it.”
They all gloved up and, when Raven returned, maneuvered the body of Wade Cutter into the body bag and were soon on their way back into town. When he called to give Jenna the update, she had the phone on speaker.
“Okay, we’ll discuss this when you get back.” Jenna cleared her throat. “Wolfe wants a word.”
“You moved the body in a homicide?” Wolfe’s agitated voice came through the speaker. “Did y’all collect any evidence from the scene?”
Kane winced. “I grabbed a few handfuls of soil and captured the scene. We needed to be out of there fast, in case the second perpetrator arrived. It’s best he doesn’t know that we have discovered his kill room. Right now, if anyone walked into the cabin, we have absolutely nothing to link him to any of the murders. He could say he’s been using this cabin for years for fishing. Apart from the chair being attached to the floor, there’s nothing in there I could say was used to murder Marie Reyes.” He sighed. “In fact, I know that to be the case because Beth witnessed the other guy purchasing it from the convenience store just hours ago. We’ll have trackers on anyone leaving the ranch in one of Lawson’s trucks and we’ll catch him. Trust me, Shane, this was the best outcome. I had two choices: Leave the body for the wildlife or bring it with us intact. I chose the latter. We’re ten minutes out. I’ll talk later.” He disconnected.
“That’s Wolfe—by the book.” Carter leaned back in his seat frowning. “I’m sure glad the Tarot Killer only takes out the bad guys. We were sitting ducks out there and that guy is a frickin’ ghost.”
Forty-Four
Friday
It had been difficult withholding information from Rhett, but Jenna wanted to make sure the man they found in the forest was Wade Cutter before she called him. The moment the team had gotten the body back to the morgue, Wolfe had collected DNA and run it through the sequencer to see if he could get a match. He’d done a provisional examination and would conduct a full autopsy in the morning. Evidence of human remains in the pigpens had been enough evidence for the DA to keep the Larkins in custody. They would now remain there, pending forensic evidence against them. Right now, the charges would range from illegal disposal of a body to multiple counts of murder. Jenna wanted the chance to interview them again, now she had plausible evidence against them, and made the arrangements. She’d notified Sam Cross, the Larkins’ lawyer, and to expedite the case she had taken him along with them when they flew to the helipad on top of the county prison. Jenna gave Sam Cross the current evidence they had against the Cutters and he’d read through it on the chopper. While they spoke to the warden, Cross discussed the evidence with his clients. By the time Jenna made her way to the interview with Kane and Carter, Cross was ready to proceed. The interview room was typical of what she expected to find in a prison—a metal table and chairs attached to the floor. The suspect was chained to loops in the table and floor. Guards were positioned outside a glass partition. She wanted to pull on a mask rather than inhale the strong body odor encapsulated inside the humid room. They spoke to Bill Larkin first. “As I’m sure Mr. Cross has advised you, we found human remains in your pigpens, and as you attempted to drag one of my deputies into the pigpen to feed to your pigs, it leaves us little doubt that you’ve been doing this for a time. However, you could buy yourself some credits with the judge if you give us information about Wade Cutter’s involvement.”
“Wade is dead. Has been for twenty years.” Larkin gave them a smile. “You’ve seen his ghost or something?”
Jenna met his gaze, chin up and unafraid. “No, but I did look at his corpse yesterday. We found him outside a cabin he’d prepared as a kill room. You do understand that if you don’t give us information on Wade, who we believe is responsible for murdering a number of young women, usually seasonal from Lawson’s Ridge, your charges of unlawful disposal of bodies will be increased to murder one. We have a pigpen filled with the remains of young women and there is a man there as well, and our evidence points toward you and your wife being responsible. The evidence we’ve collected is enough to convict you. I figure you need to think about that for a while and then decide if you want to take the blame. Trust me, Wade Cutter isn’t gonna come for you.” She opened a folder and slid out a photograph Kane had taken of Cutter’s body. “See for yourself.”
“Did you find him in the forest?” The color drained from Larkin’s face.
“Yeah.” Kane leaned forward. “Anything you want to tell us, Larkin?”
“He’ll give you information if he can cut a plea deal.” Sam Cross made notes on a legal pad and lifted his gaze to Jenna.
Amazed that Cross would bring up a plea deal when he knew that it would be up to the DA to make any deals, all she could do was to present him with evidence. “I can listen to what he has to say. If he’s telling the truth, I’ll give the information to the district attorney. It will be up to him how he proceeds.” She turned her attention to Larkin. “So you better make it good.”
