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“Hmm.” Jo peered into a bag. “It depends on many factors. Remember, they’d just lost their parents. They were emotionally traumatized before they went there and then something significant made them leave. You’ll need to investigate their circumstances a little closer. Some people only require a small trigger to set them off on a path of destruction.” She glanced at Jenna. “I’ve come to the conclusion that coincidences don’t happen in Black Rock Falls. What links has Mrs. Darvish to the other victim?”
Kane opened his mouth to reply, but Jenna touched his arm. He exchanged a look with her, noting how her face had drained of color since this morning. “Jenna has that info in front of her.”
“Thanks, well they’re both elderly, live alone, and belong to the quilting circle. The women in the town are very involved in everything, so there could be more crossovers.” Jenna pushed both hands through her hair. “What’s the deal with someone scrawling a note on our door? Did the killer of Agnes Wagner want us to find her?”
“She’s the one they mutilated, right?” Jo nibbled at a burger. “Face and eyes and then dragged into a closet?”
“Yeah, what’s that all about?” Jenna reached for her coffee and sipped. “How could that possibly be the same person who pushed Mrs. Darvish into a ravine? The MOs are completely different.”
Wanting to jump in, Kane looked from one to the other. “That’s because our minds want to put things in neat packages. You only need to look at some of the most notorious serial killers to know that not all of them kill in the same way. Agreed, some follow a pattern, but it seems to me the more we deal with these people, the more diversity we encounter.”
“I have to agree with Kane.” Jo smiled. “You mentioned Mrs. Wagner was attacked from behind, as if she was trying to get away from her assailant?”
“Yeah, same as Mrs. Darvish.” Jenna snapped her fingers. “Fear. The killer wants to inflict fear but again… why the note?”
“Yeah, fear seems to be the common denominator.” Jo put down her burger and paused a beat. “I figure the reason they left the note on the glass door was to direct you to the crime. Mrs. Wagner’s home was isolated, so it would be doubtful someone would miss her for a time.” She stared into space for long moments, and then nodded as if making up her mind. “Hmm, two reasons both juxtaposed to each other. Either they wanted to show you what they’d done or they want you to stop them from killing again.”
“We have a couple of suspects, men who have been in contact with both women.” Jenna leaned back in her chair and shrugged. “I’m waiting on Rowley to get through interviewing them. Well, two of them at least. We’ve included a plumber in the mix as a person of interest as well, mainly because he installed new furnaces in both houses recently. I haven’t been able to hunt him down yet. His phone goes to voicemail, so I’ll try and call him after hours. The other two are contractors the quilting circle use and both recently employed by the victims.”
“You have something else on your mind though, don’t you?” Jo leaned forward taking a confidential pose. “There’s someone else, apart from Cade, you believe is involved, isn’t there?”
Kane shot a look at Jenna. “Not that I know. Do you have someone, Jenna?”
“Not really, but have you noticed how distant Rio is of late?” Jenna met his gaze. “Missing from work, not finishing his shifts, not answering his phone, and then we find him parked up the mountain almost hidden in the bushes, waiting for his brother to pass by.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that look, Dave. Rio was unaccounted for the night Mrs. Wagner died and then he’s up the mountain, by his own admission, when Mrs. Darvish dies.” She snorted in derision. “We’ve hauled people in for questioning on less information than that and you know it. We can’t look the other way because he’s a deputy.”
Trying to get his mind around Rio and his brother having the ability to kill old ladies, he shook his head. “Zac Rio? No way. I did a psychiatric workup on him, and Bobby Kalo, the FBI whiz kid who can find out dirt on anyone alive, went through him from the ground up. There’s no way, he could have hidden psychopathic tendencies from me.” He sighed. “I’ve been one-on-one with Cade working on his truck for weeks. We talked about his time with his grandma. Yeah, he had some resentment, mainly because she made them work so hard around the place, they couldn’t keep up with schoolwork. I didn’t get the vibe from him that he’d like to murder her or anyone else.”
“What if you’re wrong, Dave?” Jenna blew out a long breath. “One thing is for sure. Something isn’t right with either of them and we need to make sure they’re not involved.”
Kane held up his hands in surrender. He’d rarely seen Jenna so
riled. “You’re the boss.” He shook his head. “I’ll see what I can do.”
TWENTY-ONE
Deputy Jake Rowley pulled up outside a house on Pine and sat awhile, regarding the man cutting back the dead branches from a bush and dropping them into a wheelbarrow. He glanced at the photo ID of Archie Bueller: a gardener, forty-five years of age, and of robust build. The man wore a woolen cap to cover his hair and a plaid shirt, which he’d rolled up to the elbows to display muscular forearms. From inside his truck, Rowley couldn’t miss long scratches on both arms running from above his work gloves to at least his elbows. He picked up his mic and called Maggie. She acted as the sheriff’s office dispatch and he checked in with her on a regular basis, especially if he was out on his own. “Hey, Maggie, I’m outside where Archie Bueller is working. He appears to have scratches on both forearms, but I’m parked some ways away from him. I’ll go and speak to him now. I’ll check in when I’m back in the truck. Out.”
“Copy that.” Maggie sounded cheerful. “Kane retrieved the body and everyone is at Wolfe’s office. I’m sure glad that’s over. When they called in Agent Carter, I started worrying. I’m sorry for Mrs. Darvish but so happy everyone has gotten down safely from the mountain. Out.”
Rowley smiled. “That’s good to know. Out.” He hung up the mic and slid from behind the wheel, grabbing a statement book from the console.
He made a point of whistling as he approached Archie Bueller. He figured any tune would do rather than walk up behind a man using a lethal pair of pruning shears. When Bueller turned and glanced at him over one shoulder, Rowley observed him for any hint of guilt. Some suspects would tense their shoulders, or even blush when a law enforcement officer approached, but Bueller just went about his work and ignored him. He stood some distance away. “Archie Bueller?”
“That’s me.” Bueller dropped the sheers to one side and raised his eyebrows in question. “You didn’t mention why you wanted to talk to me. What’s up?”
Rowley pushed back his Stetson and took a nonchalant pose. “I’m just following up on anyone who worked for Agnes Wagner out of Snowberry Way.”
“Yeah, I’ve worked for her.” Bueller wiped the end of his nose with the back of his gloved hand. “Last week. She kept hearing noises around the house.” He smiled. “Many of the old folk hear bumps in the night. I guess they feel vulnerable when they’re alone.”
Rowley tucked the statement book under one arm and opened his notebook. “So what did you do for her?”
“Pruned a few trees back away from the house is all.” Bueller shrugged. “There’s still snow in patches up there, so there’s not much for me to do right now.”
Taking a closer look at the scratches on Bueller’s arms, Rowley cleared his throat. “When was this and was it the last time you saw her?”
“Late on Sunday afternoon.” Bueller rolled his eyes. “She was in full panic mode, hearing things. She said she’d thought it was the old furnace and had Trey Duffy replace it and the noises kept on happening. So, I got up there around four and did what I could to clear the branches away from the house. I explained to her that when it’s windy the trees will brush against the walls.” He pushed the pruning shears into his leather belt and lifted his chin. “She asked me to do a walk-through with her and I did to make her feel better.”
Rowley’s ears pricked at this information. “The cellar as well?”
