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“We checked local murder cases and cross-referenced them with Briarwood House. Marlon’s was the oldest one,” Eddie tells me.
I lean back and frown. “Did you investigate suicides?”
“No, I don’t think we did.” Cyril reaches for another file and looks through it.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Nathan says.
“Len Smith was found hanging. A classic case of suicide. According to this file, Marlon had his wrists sliced open. It’s only because you knew about Briarwood House and Sono-d that they were linked to the Lullaby Killer. But if you go back, before Marlon, how many suicides were reported? How many of them weren’t cross-referenced for links to Briarwood House or tested for Sono-d because they were already ruled a suicide and buried?”
“Son of a bitch,” Eddie curses, turning to one of the computers behind him. He logs in and starts typing away.
We all watch until he sits back. “In the last five years, there have been twenty-five thousand suicides in the area, which, believe it or not, is actually pretty low for a city this size.”
“How many of the victims had links to Briarwood House?” I ask as he turns to type that in.
“None. But Briarwood sits just outside the city limits and closed its doors seven years ago.”
“Alright, take the timeframe out and run suicides against Briarwood House.”
He types it in and whistles. “One hundred and twenty thousand suicides were recorded over the sixty years Briarwood House was open.”
“Fuck me,” Cyril curses. “That’s like two thousand a year.”
“That can’t be right,” Lance says.
I look at Nathan. His face is pale as he looks at me, the implications clear.
“That’s not normal. Even in a facility for people with mental health issues, that’s beyond extreme. How was this not flagged?” Nathan shakes his head.
“It was a privately funded recovery center on paper for the rich and famous, all of whom demanded privacy.” Eddie keeps typing as he talks. “There aren’t even any patient photos or names to go with the files, in case the press got hold of it. Everything was beyond confidential. The only photos are of staff members.”
“Too much time has passed now for us to test any of the bodies. Decomposition would be too far gone to pick up any traces of Sono-d, and I don’t want to upset the families for nothing.” Nathan crosses his arms over his chest.
“The families might be able to shine some light on what went down at that place. Someone somewhere knows something.”
“Well, if they do, they’ve been keeping quiet. I checked the reports myself, and no formal complaints were made. Except for one,” Nathan says as he looks at me.
“I wanted to see if there were any disgruntled employees. Instead, I found a former patient who filed a complaint that was dismissed due to the person’s history of crying wolf.”
I wince because even I know that’s bullshit. A person could lie ninety-nine times, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not telling the truth the one hundredth.
“The complaint should still have been investigated. Who filed it?” Lance asks.
Nathan’s eyes come to mine. “Valen Ward.”
“What?”
“Ward made the complaint. Claimed the place was rife with physical, psychological, and sexual abuse.”
“And nobody investigated it?”
“Do you know why Ward was in there? He broke up his father’s marriage by having an affair with his stepmother. She was a wreck, thanks to him. We all knew what Ward was like back then. He could have, and did have, any girl he wanted. He seduced everything in a skirt and was pissed that his stepmother had no interest in leaving his father for him. He revealed the affair as a way to break up the marriage out of spite. His father sent him to Briarwood, which was like a retreat for these idiots, to get his head straight.”
I stand up, feeling pissed off all over again. “First of all, my sister killed herself in that place, so I doubt it’s the fun getaway you’re implying. Secondly, Valen wasn’t trying to break up his father’s marriage, and he wasn’t pissed that his stepmother wouldn’t leave his father for him. Valen was a kid when his stepmother raped him, and when he told his father, his step-mother lied about it. His father tossed in Briarwood House, showing just who’s side he was on. The problem with that is that Valen was telling the truth.”
“Rape?” he scoffs, and I clench my fists.
“You don’t think a woman can rape a man?”
