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"I've done a quick check. That number plate does appear on the traffic offense list for last night. You've got fines from several speeding cameras. At one-thirty a.m. on the way to Chestnut Hill, and at four-thirty a.m. on the way back to Hazelwood."
"I had no idea I was going that fast," Miles mumbled.
"If I were you, I'd explain to your stepdad, because if he finds out the hard way, you might end up having to call out the glazier again," Owen reprimanded him.
"I will. I will." Now Miles looked thoroughly subdued.
Immediately, May realized this cleared him, as he would not have been at the party during the window of time when Alyssa was murdered. She was now satisfied that he could not have killed Alyssa.
Unfortunately, that now left them with no new suspects, and she guessed they would need to go back to the drawing board and look at the witness reports they had so far.
But, at that moment, there was a knock on the interview room door.
May stood up quickly.
Sheriff Jack was at the door and instantly she saw from his face that something bad had happened.
He beckoned her outside.
"May, there has been another murder," he said in quiet, but hard, tones. "I don't believe this, but it’s happened. One of the other students who was at this party has just been found dead. I interviewed her early this morning, before she left. Without a doubt, we're dealing with a serial killer here."
CHAPTER NINE
May simply could not believe this bombshell, as she and Owen sped along the road, following Sheriff Jack's cruiser as he rushed to the crime scene.
Another murder. May felt utterly shocked that this had happened again. It changed the landscape of the entire investigation. The thoughts were whirling round and round in her mind. Who was doing this and why?
Was there a connection with the prom that the students had all attended? What was the motive?
"What's going on, May?" Owen said, sounding as confused as she felt.
"I wish I knew," May replied.
"Could it be someone who got mad at both these girls at the prom?" Owen suggested in mystified tones.
"We need to look for any connection. Any relationship we can find now will help us," May agreed.
Jack was heading out to a remote part of the lake shore, more than ten miles from the previous crime scene, May saw. He veered onto a dirt road and followed it a few hundred yards out to where the scenic lake and the woods converged.
Her heart plummeted as she saw the two police cars and the coroner's van parked by the side of the road, gleaming in the early afternoon sun. She pulled up beside them and climbed out.
A policeman was waiting at the trail head, looking anxious and alarmed.
"The scene is down this trail. Just follow it for a minute or two, and you'll get there. I'm staying here to redirect any walkers or hikers to an alternative route."
"Thank you," May said.
As fast as possible, she strode into the shadowy woods, desperately trying to figure out how, and why, another crime could have occurred here.
It would only be a matter of hours before the lakeside communities learned of this new murder, and the situation exploded in panic.
One murder was bad enough. But at a prom, with people drunk and high and out of control, there was the likelihood it had been a crime of passion and it was easier to explain without a general fear infecting the population.
Now, in the light of afternoon, a second killing meant the opposite. May knew people would feel unsafe. They needed to catch the killer before fingers were pointed at the police by terrified and furious citizens.
Here was the scene ahead. A policeman was standing beside a man with two dogs. The elderly man was sitting on a tree stump near the edge of the trail. The dogs were sitting in front of him, quiet and obedient.
"Afternoon, Deputy Moore," the policeman said. "The gentleman here, walking his dogs, called this crime in half an hour ago. We asked him to stay in case you have any questions."
