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“Good memories,” Brogan ceded. “I didn’t know that.”
“Not many people do. Megan and I were here visiting one summer—our last summer together. Megan had just turned seventeen. She was a typical teenage girl with boys flocking around her like flies. Anyway, I was the younger brother. At fifteen, I felt pretty good about life. But things were about to change. That August, something horrific happened that would haunt me for decades. My sister went missing, just disappeared one night, and never returned home.”
Brogan’s mouth fell open. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry. That’s eerily similar to Gidget. What happened?”
“For years, no one knew. It wasn’t until I came back here determined to get answers that I discovered Megan had fallen victim to a serial killer named Carl Knudsen. He had help during most of his crimes—a younger brother Mark, and an older man named Kent Springer. Mark and Kent died. Carl was the only one who paid for his crimes. He’s in prison. I bring this up because some people around here will invariably blame Carl Knudsen for Gidget’s death. I’ve heard the rumors circulating for years. But Gidget died in 1978. And Carl, whose family owned the drug store here, didn’t begin killing until the mid-1980s. I know this for a fact because I’ve dug into Carl’s movements, his brother’s, and Kent Springer’s, trying to turn up more victims. I tracked their whereabouts in August 1978, as a group and individually, and was able to eliminate all three men as a suspect. I shared the results with Brent Cody when he became Chief of Police. I can say with absolute certainty that none of these men murdered Gidget Jane Doe.”
“I’m impressed that you found out what happened to Megan,” Brogan said, looking wide-eyed. “As to those three men, no one’s mentioned their names to us.”
“They will. You’re just getting started. Give it time. Don’t waste your energy thinking Knudsen or Springer is responsible for Gidget. No matter what you hear, they’re wrong. Oldtimers will try and convince you. Don’t believe it. That’s why I’m bringing it up now.”
“Okay. Thanks for that. Do you mind if I ask how many victims these guys had?”
“That’s a difficult question to answer. Do you ever really know the full extent of what a serial killer does? Probably not. Knudsen killed his brother Mark, Kent Springer, and Kent’s girlfriend Sissy Carr. He also murdered a girl named Gina Purvis. The other innocent victims, though, that’s up for debate. We found twelve sets of remains buried in the field north of the lighthouse and one in the cellar at the keeper’s cottage, supposedly his first victim.”
“Wow. By my calculation, that’s eighteen people. Where is Knudsen now?”
“Locked away, hopefully rotting in an eight by eight cell inside San Quentin.”
“I’m so sorry, Logan. I had no idea. Thank you for telling me. It couldn’t have been easy.”
Logan lifted a shoulder. “Kinsey’s helped me become the man I always wanted to be.”
Kinsey reached out to take her husband’s hand. They locked fingers. “When all this came to light, Knudsen had been killing for twenty-five years. That means it started sometime in the mid-1980s. Logan’s done his homework on the guy. He even interviewed him in prison. Gidget’s murder occurred before Knudsen began his killing spree. Knudsen wasn’t in Pelican Pointe in 1978. His parents had sent him away to a military-style boarding school back east. He was thirteen at the time and spent an entire year there. That’s where he met Kent Springer. There’s no way Knudsen or Kent killed Gidget Jane Doe in August of 1978.”
Brogan blew out a breath. “When I walked in here today, I didn’t expect that kind of information. Thanks. I’m wondering if it’s worth our time to check out Vera Lockhart’s house.”
“It’s never a waste of time to eliminate someone,” Logan stated. “What if we do this? What if I contact Cord and get into the house to look around for you and Lucien? My being there won’t send up any red flags. All the neighbors know I have a crew that does renovations. I take out my measuring tape, and no one suspects I’m there for any other reason than to measure cabinets or doorways.”
“That’s brilliant,” Brogan stated. “And it would save time. Even in a holding pattern till the exhumation, Lucien and I have devised a list of people we need to talk to.”
“I see now why Brent tasked you guys with this case,” Logan said. “You’re on a winning streak. After solving the Dolworth double homicide and getting their son back on American soil, I’d say you’re both cut out for this type of work.”
Brogan smiled. “That’s nice of you. But some days, I feel like we’re spinning our wheels at best.”
“We all feel overwhelmed sometimes,” Kinsey noted. “Dealing with murder is way beyond what I could handle. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Some days, it takes on a life of its own—the investigation—that is. I don’t know how you guys handle having twins and work. It would drive me crazy.”
Kinsey laughed. “At the height of dealing with two of everything, I think about my poor single mom who managed to parent all by herself, and I have a newfound respect for everything she went through. Logan and I make a good team.”
“A great team,” Logan corrected.
“Murphy says you’re one of the two men who should be mayor.”
Logan shook his head. “No way. No matter how much they paid me to do it, I wouldn't touch that job. Murphy is well-suited for the political arena. Not me. I’d tell everybody what they could do with their opinion in two minutes or less. And it wouldn’t be pretty.”
“Logan’s not cut out for politics,” Kinsey said with a laugh. “It wouldn’t take long for him to start tongues wagging or start a riot.”
Brogan sputtered with laughter. “If you find me something in Vera’s house that connects back to Gidget, I’ll start enough ugly rumors that totally eliminate the possibility you’ll get drafted into becoming mayor. And I know who to contact in the paparazzi to get photographs.”
“Who says I haven’t started those ugly rumors myself?” Logan offered with a wink. “Don’t tell Nick, but I’ve already started the petition to draft him for the job when Murphy retires.”
“Jordan will personally kill you,” Kinsey teased. “Every time the subject comes up about Nick replacing Murphy, she knocks down the idea with a dozen reasons why it shouldn’t happen.”
“Maybe Lucien would do it,” Logan suggested.
That wiped the smile off Brogan’s face. “Oh, no, you don’t. That’s not happening. I see now why Murphy has been mayor all this time. He wasn’t kidding around when he said no one wants the job.”
