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“Okay, but there’s a million ways out of Stanton Forest. Just to cover every angle. Rowley, get a list and images of all the male students around twenty to, say, twenty-eight, and we’ll take a look.” Jenna sighed, pushed to her feet, and indicated to the whiteboard. “We’ve no hard evidence to prove Stein or Jones were involved in any of the possible homicides. Sure, they had reasons to pick a fight with Lyons on the mountain, but from the images Rowley took on the day, neither of them wore jeans, so that rules them out, and none of us saw Lowe on the mountain.” She looked around the faces before her. “Can anyone give me a solid reason why any of these men could be responsible? Everything we have is circumstantial at best.”
“Suspicions aren’t enough for an arrest warrant.” Kane sighed. “Which brings us back to Lyons.”
“He wasn’t so brave without his friends around him.” Emily rubbed her hip and grimaced. “I saw his face. Whoever that man was, he scared the hell out of him.” She shuddered. “Seth was running for his life.”
Jenna’s phone rang and she returned to her desk to take the call. “Yes? Okay, I’ll be right out.” She held up a hand to halt the buzz of conversation. “Livi Johnson, Chrissie’s roommate, is outside. I’ll go and talk to her.”
In the reception area, Jenna smiled at the young woman. “Yes, what can I do for you, Livi?”
“It’s just I found this when we were cleaning the noticeboard in my dorm.” Livi handed her a newspaper cutting containing an image of the football team. “See, some of the faces of the players have circles around them? I figured it was a bit spooky as three of them are dead now.” She handed the paper to Jenna. “See here at the bottom of the page? Chrissie wrote that—she always added an emoji and her initials to messages. I figure
those were the animals who raped her.”
Jenna swallowed hard at the emoji of a sad face and the initials “CL.” Chrissie Lowe had reached out from the grave to tell the world who’d raped her. How had her team missed this vital piece of evidence? “It was on the noticeboard?” She frowned. “Where is that in relation to your room?”
“She would’ve had to walk right by it on her way. It’s in the hallway.” Livi shook her head. “It was covered with a sign-up list. It went up the day I found her. Someone must have posted it real early. This was underneath it.”
Jenna squeezed Livi’s shoulder. “It must have been a shock for you to find this.”
“Strange that three of them died in accidents, isn’t it?” Livi’s eyes searched her face. “It’s as if she had an avenging angel.”
Jenna stared at her for a beat. Of course, Wolfe hadn’t released the causes of death to the press but rumors and gossip spread like wildfire across a college campus. He wouldn’t issue a statement until he’d made a determination in each individual case. She nodded. “It is strange, isn’t it?” She led Livi to the door. “Thank you for bringing this in.”
Saddened by the simple emoji, Jenna stared at the newspaper cutting and then pushed a hand through her hair. She gathered her composure, walked back into her office, and handed the clipping to Kane. “A voice from the dead. This was pinned to the noticeboard in Chrissie Lowe’s dorm. How did you miss it?”
“I searched for notes.” Wolfe frowned. “I gave the noticeboard a cursory scan but it was packed with information. I honestly didn’t see a newspaper cutting. It must have been covered by something else.” He pulled out his phone and scanned the files. “Here’s an image of the board I took that morning. See, no newspaper cutting.”
“I looked at the noticeboard as well.” Rowley frowned. “I took a copy of the college newspaper she had in her room with an article about Seth Lyons in it. It’s in a bag in the evidence room but she hadn’t written on it.”
Jenna took Wolfe’s phone and zoomed in all over the board. She found the sign-up sheet, and peeking from behind it was the edge of the newspaper. “Livi said she found it under a sign-up sheet and here it is.”
She dropped into her seat, suddenly aware of every bruise on her battered body. “Right now, we have no other alternative but to hunt down the mystery man on the mountain. I want to know why he picked a fight with Lyons and why Lyons was so afraid of him.” She sighed. “Get me a name, Rowley.”
Her phone rang again. She answered. “Okay, Maggie, send in the DA.”
The door opened and the DA walked in and looked around the crowded room. Jenna smiled at him. “We’re going over the evidence.”
“I’ve spoken to the lawyer representing Seth Lyons and he is aware of the evidence we have against his client.” The DA looked pleased with himself. “With the account from Josh Stevens and the witnesses piling up against him, the lawyer’s going to encourage Lyons to plead guilty.”
Jenna smiled. “That is good news.”
“Do you have anything to tie him in with the deaths?” The DA looked hopeful.
“So far all we have is circumstantial evidence on all our possible suspects.” Jenna sighed. “Everything points to Lyons being involved but we have no proof.”
“I asked his lawyer if Lyons would disclose the name of the mystery man and he refused, saying the fight was personal and had nothing to do with anything else.” The DA smiled. “If Lyons is responsible for the deaths in some way, proving it will be impossible. He had the motive and the smarts to kill without leaving evidence. He also would’ve been able to get close to his victims without causing suspicion.” He shrugged. “We may never prove he killed them, but with twenty-five rape charges against him, and blackmail, during sentencing I’ll be stating a precedent in a recent case in Billings of twenty consecutive life sentences given to a serial rapist. I doubt either of them will ever be released from jail.”
Jenna stood and shook his hand. “That’s great news! Kane and I will go and speak to Chrissie’s parents this afternoon. I’m sure it will give them a small amount of closure. Thanks for coming by.”
“My pleasure. Have a good day, Sheriff, Deputies.” The DA headed for the door.
Jenna glanced around at the faces staring back at her. “I wish we had more proof.”
“I know you want to find the answers, Jenna, but sometimes there’s not enough evidence to support homicide.” Wolfe looked at her and shrugged.
“Yes, I know.” Jenna sighed. “We’ve solved the rape of Chrissie Lowe and charged two suspects with serial rape and blackmail. We’ve caught the man responsible for the armed hold-up at the showgrounds and returned the money. It’s a good week’s work but we still have four unsolved deaths.”
“Make that one death by unknown causes, one accident, and two suicides.” Wolfe narrowed his gaze. “As I mentioned before, I’ve made a determination on each case based on the evidence.” He looked at his notes. “As I mentioned before, Chrissie Lowe committed suicide. I wasn’t convinced until I examined the cuts to her wrists under a microscope, and the angle suggests she cut herself.”
