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TWENTY-FOUR
The outbuildings on Sam Bright’s land sat beneath the shade of the trees like a patch of mushrooms. Joined together by dark narrow alleyways, Jenna assumed they’d been used for some type of cottage industry a time ago. Moss covered the walls of the wooden buildings and weeds tangled the long grass. The window frames still clung to a little white paint but most had peeled, leaving a confetti of paint flakes over the walkway. She peered into grime-covered windows but dust that had built up over a long time obscured any view of the interior. Locked doors prevented any chance of entry. As she moved across a small clearing to the next clutch of buildings, the smell of acrid smoke filled Jenna’s nostrils. Motioning for Duke to come to her side, she peered around the end of the shed. The information on Sam Bright was that he lived alone. So, who was out back burning garbage? On full alert, Jenna placed a hand on her weapon ready to draw. Unease crept over her as she moved forward. Kane had mentioned the possibility of an accomplice and it seemed he was correct. Moving along the wall of one of a pair of small log cabins, Jenna made out the shadowed figure of a man tossing things into a flaming fire pit.
Beside her, Duke whined and then moved past her and sat down. She stared at him, recognizing this as a sign he’d smelled formaldehyde. The man burning the garbage was an unknown quantity and she had no backup. Indicating to Duke to follow her, she edged her way back down the alleyway and made her way silently to the perimeter of the other buildings. She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Kane. He must have finished the interview with Bright, as seconds later, he came running across the long grass toward her. When he reached her side, she turned to him and dropped her voice to a whisper. “There’s a guy burning something out back of the two cabins on the other side of the old sheds, and Duke reacted to finding formaldehyde.”
“We should split up and go in on either side of those cabins.” Kane peered down the alleyway. “We’ll have the drop on him.”
Stomach churning, Jenna nodded. The idea of confronting a possible psychopath in the act of destroying evidence concerned her. Particularly one who hated women. She ran the image of the man through her mind again and looked at Kane. “I didn’t see a weapon, but it was only a brief glance as he moved between the buildings. I’ll call out and identify myself. If there is a problem, he won’t see you coming in from the other side.”
“Wait a minute. We don’t know what we’re walking into here.” Kane pulled out wireless earbuds from his pocket and pushed them into his ears. “Use your phone’s earbuds. I’ll call you and we’ll keep in contact.”
Jenna nodded and reached for her phone. She waited for Kane’s call, gave him a nod, and then headed through the alleyway. He followed behind her silently, and when they reached the perimeter of the outbuildings, he headed in the opposite direction, moving around one of the cabins and disappearing from view with Duke close behind him. Heart thundering in her chest, Jenna kept her back to the wall and eased through the shadows to the end of the building. From her position she could easily make out a man throwing handfuls of clothes into the fire. The smell of burning wool and man-made fabrics rushed toward her, searing her nostrils in a blanket of choking smoke. In the fire pit, fragments of clothes flared up in dancing flames and others smoldered, glowing red as their blackened remnants curled, falling to ashes and dancing away in the wind. “I have eyes on the suspect. He doesn’t appear to be carrying any weapons. Can you see anything hidden on him from your angle?”
“Nope. He’s not even carrying a knife sheath. I figure you’re good to go.”Kane cleared his throat. “Maybe make a noise to get his attention so you don’t creep up on him. If he’s destroying evidence, he’ll be a little jumpy, and we can’t see what’s in that bag by his feet.”
Sliding her weapon from its holster Jenna took a deep breath and moved forward into the open. “I’m going in.”
Keeping her gun alongside her body and pointed to the ground, she moved toward the man and raised her voice. “Sheriff’s Department. Keep your hands where I can see them and turn around and face me.”
The man jerked as if he’d been stung by a bee and spun around to face her, fists clenched at his sides. He glared at her, his mouth turned down. “What gives you the right to creep up on a man and then draw down on him? This is private property and I have my rights.”
“I have you covered.” Kane’s voice came through her earpiece.
It went against her training to holster her weapon, but knowing Kane had the man in his sights, she straightened her spine and walked confidently toward him. “You’re not Sam Bright, who happens to be the owner of this property, so what are you doing here?”
“I’m his cousin Derek and I don’t need your permission to burn garbage in our backyard.” He knuckled his fists at his waist and stuck out his chin. “The question is: what are you doing here, sticking your nose where it’s not wanted?”
Catching a glimpse of Kane in her periphery with his weapon aimed at the man, Jenna took a few steps closer and peered into the fire pit. “What is it you’re burning there?”
“Old clothes.” Derek shrugged and went to pull another handful out of the bag. “They stink and I wanted to get them out of the house. They belonged to our grandma. When she passed, she left the house to Sam and me. I’ve been cleaning out the rooms and getting rid of the junk.”
A shiver of apprehension slipped down Jenna’s back as her gaze slid over the bag on the ground and the handful of jeans T-shirts and sweaters in his hand. “Don’t throw anything else on the fire. I can’t speak to you with the smoke in my eyes.” She lifted her chin to observe him more closely. “How old was your grandma?”
“In her nineties, I guess. Not that that’s any business of yours, Sheriff.” Derek dropped the bundle of clothes on top of the open bag and stared her down. “Are we done here? I’ve got a ton of work to do today.”
Jenna waved Kane toward her and turned her attention back to Derek. “No, we’re not done here yet. I see there are a variety of different styles and sizes of clothes in that backpack. All of them appear to be exceptionally modern and high end. These are not what we usually see ninety-year-olds wearing in Black Rock Falls. I’d expect to see those labels on women in some of the big cities, maybe LA or New York, but not here in town. We buy more practical clothing because the weather is so changeable.” She poked the bag with her toe. “The sizes are dramatically different, and it makes me wonder why you didn’t donate these to Goodwill, rather than burn them. I’m sure many people would be able to make use of them.”
“More to the point, where did you really get them from?” Kane walked into the open holstering his weapon. “Think seriously before you answer, because what you say now will reflect on what happens next.”
“What the heck are you talking about?” Derek spun around to stare at Kane. “Like I said, I took them out of my grandma’s cellar. She had boxes piled up to the ceiling. Maybe these belonged to her when she was younger? Who knows, and who cares? I sure as hell don’t. I just want to get rid of the junk.”
“Just how much of this have you burned already?” Kane stared at the bag and then slowly back to Derek.
“I’ve been burning stuff all week, but I just started on this pile today. Why does it matter to you?” Derek pushed a hand through his hair. His eyes flashed with agitation.
“Oh, it matters.” Jenna motioned him toward the house. “We need to speak to you and Sam together. Leave this for now.” She turned to Kane. “Escort him back to the house. I’m taking Mr. Bright and his cousin in for questioning.”
“Questioning?” Derek stared at her in disbelief. “Are you arresting us? On what charges?”
Jenna pulled the phone out of her pocket. “I’m not arresting you. I’m taking you in for questioning and I’ll be holding you pending further investigations after obtaining a search warrant for this property. I have reason to believe that you’re destroying evidence from a crime.”
As Kane escorted him back to the house, Jenna took photographs of the fire pit and the bag of clothes. First, she called old Deputy Walters to come by and pick up the prisoners in his cruiser. Rowley and Rio would be heading out to the lowlands to hunt down Joshua Salmon at the meat processing plant and Big John Oats at the adhesives factory.
Her next call was to Carter. She ran through the evidence with him and forwarded the images. “I’m bringing them in. They can cool their heels while you get started on a search warrant. I know this sounds sketchy, but this is the only solid lead we’ve discovered. I figure we need to run with it.”
“Three naked victims and you find a guy destroying a bag of women’s clothes. That sure sounds like probable cause to me. I’m on it.” Carter disconnected.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Jenna headed back to the house. She might be grasping at straws with this lead, but at this point in the investigation, she would take any snippet of information and run with it. Sometimes the smallest clue gave the best reward.
