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“Lisa Clayborne,” I say. “When I went to speak with her in the hospital, one thing she was adamant about is that she thinks it was Mike, the camp director. She said she was suspicious because he was in his office and didn’t interact with any of them all day, then when she ran into him before leaving camp, he told her he had sent Holden and Anthony to get the police, but they hadn’t come back to the camp yet. Which made her think he must have beenresponsible.”
“But the reason the police hadn’t come yet was because of the truck crashing,” Garrison says. “She knows that because she went to that house and used the radio to get to the police. So, she knows that he really did send those two boys to the police, and had every reason to believe they got to town and would be back at the camp as soon as theycould.”
“Unless she believes he sent them as a cover-up. She absolutely knows now that he did send them. The truck crashed, Anthony was killed, and Holden was hurt. That happened. But Holden described crashing because of a masked man jumping out into the path of the truck. He and Anthony ran in different directions, which had to be when Anthony was killed. Is it possible Mike did something with Miranda, then went back to his office to wait for somebody to find the blood in her cabin and come to him for help? He could then send them away, deflecting attention from himself. Only planning to stop them so they didn’t actually gethelp.”
“That seems like a lot of very specific things that needed to fall into place to work out for him,” Sam points out. “And it would mean someone else would have to know what was going on so that he could tell them that he sent someone for help. He wouldn’t actually have to send anybody for help if he was just going to tell people hedid.”
“Unless he knew he was only planning on killing specific people,” I say. “If he knew there were going to be survivors who would hear him say he’d sent people for help, he would have to make sure there actually were peoplesent.”
“And he would kill them off to make sure they never actually got to help and to further deflect. Why would he send people for help and then kill them? It makes enough sense to not make sense, and doesn’t make sense enough to make sense,” Samoffers.
“You said something about him planning on killing specific people,” Garrison pipes up. “Do you think it could all be a cover-up to just get those specificones?”
“Yes. Think about what we were saying about the witness statements. Some people actually witnessed other campers getting killed. But they survived. The killer could have just as easily taken them out, too, but he didn’t. He moved on. Why did the other three girls in that art cabin all get killed, but he didn’t try to attack Lisa as she ran past him? And why did Anthony get murdered in the woods, but Holden survived to get back to camp?
“Another camper said he was running with two of his cabin mates and they met up with another group of guys from the cabin next door. They tried to hide in the bathhouse, but the killer came in and killed two of them, and the others escaped. The killer had already shown he was capable of killing several people in a very short amount of time, especially in a small space. He could easily have killed all of them. But he was beingselective.”
“But why?” Sam asks. “What was it about those specific people that made him go afterthem?”
I shake my head. “I don’tknow.”
“We’re going to have to examine each of the victims and find the link,” Garrisonsays.
“Don’t forget the couple killed in the house where Lisa called for help,” I say. “What do they have to do with this? Were they the parents or grandparents of one of the campers or counselors?”
“Not as far as we can tell right now. We’re still trying to find any association. At the moment it seems like a situation of the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s the nearest house to the camp in that direction. There are houses beyond the bounds of the camp to the back and others much further in the other direction, but that is the most accessible one. Anyone from around here would know which way to go if they were looking for people to ask for help. Since Lisa was on foot, it would be much too far for her to get all the way to town. She’d first think about going to a house to use the phone. And if the killer cut the phone lines at the camp, he probably also killed the couple to prevent anyone calling from there, too.”
“Which means the killer is likely from this area,” I say. “If he would be able to predict the thought patterns of a local so he would prepare for the possibility of someone escaping and getting to the house for help by killing the people there, it means he is likely from thisarea.”
“Like Mike,” Sam offers. “He grew up here. He apparently has some fixation on the camp despite his own sister being one of the original victims. Isn’t that weird to you?”
I nod and look at my notes again. “I just don’t know. Something isn’t sitting right about it being him. We can’t rule it out, obviously, but I don’t have enough to say I think it was him. I interviewed him. I listened to him talk about the last massacre and his sister’s death. I saw him get emotional about the victims. Not that emotion is always genuine or that there haven’t been prolific killers who are able to cry and bemoan their victims right up until they’re strapped in the electric chair. There was just something about the way he was talking about it. There’s more to it. I just don’t know what itis.”
An hour later we’re still going through the notes, trying to make connections and find anything that could tell us where to go from here.
“Are any of the victims the children of previous campers?” one of the detectivesasks.
“Two of them are. But that’s all we’ve been able to confirm so far. We think another of them might be a cousin or a sibling, but a couple of the others are confirmed to have no relation to previous campers,”Garrison tellshim.
“So, that’s not the link,” I say. “It would have made a lot of sense. A copycat killer would probably really appreciate the poetic nature of killing the nextgeneration.”
“Especially since their parents would have been the survivors. It would almost be like going back and finishing the job of the first killer,” Samadds.
“It still wouldn’t explain the neighbor couple. Unless the explanation really is as simple as the killer anticipated someone getting to that house and trying to ask for help,” Isay.
“I don’t know if I would really call that a simple explanation,” Garrison says. “That seems like a pretty extremestep.”
“You’re talking about someone who slaughtered more than a dozen people,” I point out. “Most of them technically children. How does two grown adults tip it over into the extremecategory?”
“Emma,” Sam says.
It’s the voice he uses when I’m getting too intense or have temporarily lost control of my people-friendliness. It happens more often when I’m tired and hungry, both of which are very much happening right now. The adrenaline of the initial stages of the investigation is wearing off, and my body is reminding me that getting shocked out of bed after only a couple of hours of sleep is not exactly an idealsituation.
“I’m sorry,” I say, propping my elbow on the table and rubbing the bridge of my nose between my squeezed-closed eyes.
“Don’t apologize. We’re all under a lot of stress. As opposed to my young colleague, I am very aware of your expertise and your skill, and I am very grateful for any insights you can offer. Right now, though, I think you need to go get some rest. All of usdo.”
“I don’t need rest,” I protest. “We have to find who did this before they can hurt anyoneelse.”
