Ashes to ashes, p.12
Ashes to Ashes, page 12
Derek took a sip of his own coffee, then pulled out a sheet of paper. “Shelby Yates, sixteen, of Savannah, Georgia, was found in a bed of greenery with store-bought daisies scattered around her at around six in the morning last Sunday. She’s the youngest victim we’ve identified so far, and while the killer did his usual manicure and bleach flush, Shelby was more creative in her fighting. She bit his head and swallowed some of his hair. We found hair follicles with the root bulb still attached, in her throat. We got DNA off of that and it came back as a match for Matteus Chase – which we know is impossible. I had them run it again. Same results.”
“Eww,” Evan said and shuddered. “But damn, good for her for fighting so hard. Poor kid.”
“The florist shop where the daisies were purchased said they had a cash order for a hundred white and yellow daisies that was picked up by a courier service. The courier service, DeliverYes, said the order was called in and it was dropped off at the Hamilton Suites on Saturday evening,” Derek said.
“A cash order but they don’t know who placed it?” Max asked.
“They said a kid came in with a wad of cash and placed the order and said that the courier would be by to pick it up in an hour. We haven’t found the kid yet, but the local PD is looking. We’re waiting for the hotel camera recordings to see if the person that collected the daisies can be identified. They were being rather particular about a warrant,” Derek said.
Rudy had been silent while they typed away on their laptop. “I think I found something.”
Everyone turned to look at Rudy as they tapped a couple of keys. “Glen Rollins was a guest at the Hamilton a week before the murder. He checked out on Saturday evening, the fourth, and the flowers were delivered on Saturday evening, the eleventh. They were to be held for room two-fifteen which had been Rollins’ room when he was there the week prior.”
“That screams coincidence,” Rachel said. “But we all know that there is no such thing as coincidence. Keep digging, Rudy. That’s not enough to bring before a judge, but it is enough to bring Rollins in for questioning.”
“There’s been a BOLO out on him for months with no results,” Derek said.
“It was in the northeast region, though,” Max said. “Georgia wouldn’t have known about it unless we brought it to their attention.”
“True,” Derek said. “Where is Rollins now?”
“No idea, but I can’t find him on any hotel registries in Georgia or South Carolina, so far,” Rudy said.
“Has his employer given us his schedule yet?” Rachel asked.
“No, they’re fighting the subpoena, claiming it’s a violation of their company privacy and trust laws. That by knowing where the trainer has been or is going, it could damage the ability of the company to set up new locations without blowback from competitors,” Evan said.
“Now, that’s something I can bring to Michaels to get some pushback on. You four keep working, I’ll go see if I can get this going. Also, Evan and Max? Thank you for coming to DC. I think it’s important we all meet in person at least once on a case. Some of the best brainstorming happens face to face. I appreciate you both taking the time,” Rachel said.
“You’re welcome, ma’am,” Evan and Max both said.
“Okay, Evan, you want to whiteboard this for us?” Derek said.
“Sure.” Evan got to her feet and walked over to the wall-length whiteboard and picked up a marker. “Let’s start with a timeline…”
Once it was all laid out in front of them, they took a moment to process what they were seeing. Over approximately thirteen years, there had been forty-one murders.
They couldn’t say for sure if all eleven bodies on the Chase property had been killed by the Huntsman. Considering Agnes Chase had been stored in the freezer and Noah Chase had lived there, it was probable that Noah had killed some of the victims buried on his property. They had determined that Noah was responsible for Agnes’ death, but they couldn’t confirm his involvement in any of the others.
The only DNA, besides Noah’s, that they’d found on any of the bodies matched Matteus Chase – and Matteus Chase had been dead for the past six years.
“So, who’s been killing for the past six years?” Evan muttered.
“That’s the answer we need to find,” Max said. “Let’s take the DNA out of the equation and go back to basics. Let’s find out what the common denominator is between all of these cases and who was around the victims during the time of their deaths. I feel like I’ve been focused too much on the DNA and not on the bigger picture.”
“Yeah, I think that’s been my problem, too,” Evan replied.
“Agreed,” said Derek. “I want to know where Rollins was for each of these murders. When I was in Rock Beach, everyone I spoke to said that Rollins and Chase were as close as brothers. Closer, even. Rollins came from an upper-middle-class family with parents that both worked, so he spent a lot of time at the Chase house, until Noah Chase lost his job and started to drink. Then both boys spent most of their time at Rollins’ place to avoid the abuse Noah liked to dish out. Malea was in and out of the ER for various cuts and broken bones – prime examples of domestic abuse by her father. Her mother would bring her in and say she fell, or tripped, or ran into a door. No one was surprised when Malea supposedly ran away. Now we know she was dead and buried in her own back yard.”
“How long had Agnes been dead?” Max asked.
“Hard to say, but from what they’ve been able to piece together, she’s likely been dead about five years,” Rudy said. “Freezing the body messes with the tests, so they had to guess and use information from when people remembered last seeing her around.”
“Any information on who started the fire?” Evan asked.
“No, and they’ve left it inconclusive. They can’t tell if it was arson or accidental. Noah was doused in enough lighter fluid to make it look like arson, but his blood alcohol level was 0.15 so if he was trying to fill his lighter, he could’ve done that to himself. That’s the scenario the arson investigators are leaning towards, but with the bodies in the yard? They wanted to give everything a chance to shake out a bit,” Rudy said.
“Now I see why you want to talk to Glen Lyle Rollins,” Evan said. “He has to know something. Let’s find him – and let’s do what Max suggested and go back to the basics. Derek? You take Georgia, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Rudy? You work on New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Max and I will work on Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Let’s catch this asshole before we have more states on this list, and more bodies in our morgue.”
Chapter seventeen
Shelby and I had a connection. I know we did. I saw her kneeling during Mass and she glowed as if God was pointing her out to me and me alone. She was so bright and beautiful, and she loved daisies. That’s why I made a special effort to get those for her when I released her.
It’s a good thing I like hats. She hurt me physically as much as she did emotionally. I need time to heal and decide what I’m going to do about my inability to find the perfect mate. I had hoped that with Shelby’s youth and piety, she would be more amenable to my plans. Not so much.
They say that doing the same thing, over and over again, and expecting a different result is insanity. I’m not insane. I change things up. Different places, different ages, different races – even different types of flowers. But maybe it’s time for a totally different approach.
I watch the news. I saw the reports on my family cemetery back in Rock Beach. They’re so confused – and I find that amusing. That FBI agent in charge of this case, Wylder? She’s beautiful and smart. I remember seeing her in Haven with two blossoms of her own. I bet her precious petals are well-behaved and know how to take orders. Maybe I need to head back north.
Maybe it’s time.
Chapter eighteen
April in New England is full of mud, crocuses and daffodils. Evan watched the yard come alive as the weather shifted towards warmth.
“Your moms planted all of these bulbs?” Evan asked Harper as they walked around the side yard towards the back.
“We all did. Mama loved hyacinths and tulips and Mum was all about the daffodils and crocuses,” Harper said. “I planted some kitchen herbs and Hayden wanted the foxglove and morning glory.”
Evan snorted a laugh. “Why does that not surprise me?” She paused and crouched down to brush some dead leaves away from a cluster of crocus shoots. “I’ll call the landscaping guys to come clean up the yard near the end of the month.”
“Ask them to leave the herb garden alone, would you? I like taking care of that myself,” Harper said.
“Sure, whatever you want. How are the college applications going?” Evan asked.
“I haven’t done any,” Harper said. “I don’t know what I want to do yet. Hayden has four she wants to send out and they’re almost done.”
“That’s kind of what college is for, though. To figure out what you want to do. Do a year of liberal arts studies and see what makes your heart happy.”
“I don’t even know if I want to go to college. I really like cooking. A lot. I think I’d like to go to a culinary school. Hayden wants to be a journalist and travel the world. I want to travel, too – and learn how to cook food from different countries.”
“Well, there are culinary schools that offer degrees. Like the Culinary Institute of America? There’s one in New York, near Poughkeepsie. Hyde Park, I think? Why don’t you look into that?”
“You don’t mind?” Harper asked as she stared at Evan.
“Why would I mind? If it’s what you want to do, go for it. If you decide it’s not what you imagined, change things. I started at Harvard with a poli-sci program and switched to criminal justice. Figure out what you want as you go and change if it’s not right. Life is all about change, Harper. Learning how to adapt and grow doesn’t stop when you’re a kid, either. I’m still figuring it out.”
“I don’t know if that’s comforting or terrifying,” Harper said with a laugh. “But thank you. I’m going to go look up schools now and see what I have to do to apply.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” Evan said.
“I will,” Harper replied as she ran into the house, hair flying behind her.
Evan wandered through the yard a little longer, then headed back around to the front to get something out of her car. She grabbed her sweater she’d forgotten earlier and turned to lock the car when she spotted a shiny black sedan parked in front of Mrs. Macomber’s house. She knew the elderly lady was on a cruise with her book club right now, and Harper had been going over to feed the cats and water the plants, so no one else should be there.
The windows were tinted so she couldn’t see in from the side, but she could feel eyes on her, so she made sure to look up and down the street before she headed back inside.
Phone in hand, Evan called Max. “Hey, could you have an unmarked drive by Mrs. Macomber’s place? There’s a newer black sedan out in front of her place and the tinted windows mean I can’t see inside – but I’ve got a feeling.”
“I know how accurate your feelings are. I’m on the road anyway, I’ll swing by and take a look,” Max said.
“I appreciate it. Come over after and I’ll fix you a coffee to go,” Evan said.
“See you in ten.”
The call disconnected and Evan peered out through the peephole in the front door, but the car was just out of range, so she went to her laptop and brought up the security system. She armed it, then used the outside cameras to watch the car. She sat back in the desk chair and sipped her coffee while she kept an eye on things.
Max pulled up in his SUV and left it running as he, she assumed, ran the plates. A minute later, he got out and walked up to the driver’s door and tapped on the window. He waited, then tapped again – still no response.
Evan watched as he leaned over to look through the clear windshield, his body within an inch or two of the driver’s window. He jerked once, twice, then stumbled back, his hands clutched at his side. The driver’s side window was shattered and the car barely missed Max as it tore out of the parking spot and down the street.
Evan was on her feet and racing towards the front of the house, not bothering with the alarm as she ran across the front yard towards where Max lay in the street. She checked him over and saw two holes in his shirt, only one of which had blood oozing out.
“Max, Max…talk to me.”
“Fuuuckkk…” Max wheezed.
Evan grabbed the radio where it was clipped to his shoulder and pressed the button. “This is Agent Wylder of the FBI. Officer down…” she gave the address and then ripped Max’s shirt open. One bullet was flattened in his vest, the other had gone in through the gap in the vest at the side and was bleeding profusely.
“Stay down, Max. The vest caught one, but the other is bleeding. I need to put pressure on it. It’s gonna suck,” Evan said as she balled up a part of his shirt in her hand to press against the wound.
The alarm started to blare at the house and the twins came running out, with Hayden taking the time to shut the alarm off first.
“What happened?” Harper yelled.
“Get me a couple of clean towels, fast!” Evan yelled back.
Neighbors came out of their homes to see what was going on.
Evan watched Max’s face as he grew pale.
Harper ran over to Evan with a handful of clean linen dishtowels. “These are better. No fuzzies,” she said.
“Thanks,” Evan replied as she balled up the towels and pulled the shirt away to press the clean towels to the wound. “Get me my shoes, keys, and wallet. I’m going to go with Max in the ambulance. You and Hayden lock the door and call Maggie, okay?”
Harper gave a nod and looked at Max. “We love you. Don’t die on us,” then she turned and ran towards the house.
Hayden was already coming out with Evan’s jacket and shoes and she laid them beside Evan, out of the puddle of blood. “I got your wallet and keys and was already coming out when you told Harper to get them. I figured you’d be going with him.” Then she turned to Max. “You fucking die on us and I’ll bring you back and kick your ass. You hear me?”
Max gave her a weak smile before Hayden raced back to the house and slammed the door.
“They’re right. You die on us, on me, and I’ll be pissed. So stay with me, Max. I love you.”
“Love…you…” Max wheezed, then coughed. Blood splattered his lips and chin as his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.
The screaming sirens of the ambulance and two police cars filled the air as they finally got to the scene. Evan pulled her hands out of the way as the paramedics took over. She pulled on her shoes and coat, then turned to one of the officers. “I’m going with him in the ambulance. You want to ask me questions, you can do that at the hospital. One of you can move his SUV into my driveway over there if you want and give the keys to my nieces inside. I have a video of the whole thing, but that’ll wait until I’m back home. Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am, Agent Wylder,” the officer said.
Evan jogged beside the gurney as they moved to put Max inside and she climbed in after the medic.
They took Max to the trauma unit right away and Evan used the wipes the nurse gave her to clean most of the blood off of her hands. The officer finally came in to speak with her and she sat down. He handed her a cup of coffee from Books & Beans and she thanked him before she took a sip.
“I’m Officer Monroe, and I thought you could use better coffee than you can get here. We have the dashcam from Lieutenant Prescott’s vehicle, and we have the plate from when he called it in. It was registered to a leasing company, not an individual. We have a BOLO out on the vehicle and hopefully we’ll catch him.”
“Thank you, Officer Monroe. I watched the whole thing through my security cameras. I called in the suspicious vehicle to Max, er, Lieutenant Prescott, because I couldn’t see inside and I had a gut feeling about it. He said he was already out and about, and would come by and check.” She filled him in on the rest of the events as they happened.
“Yeah, we got most of that from the dashcams,” Monroe said.
“I raced out of the house to get to Max and I saw that he’d caught one bullet in the vest, but the other had gone in through the side gap. I called in the officer down and you know the rest,” Evan said.
“What have they said about the lieutenant?”
“Nothing yet. He’s in surgery. The bullet in the vest looked like a .45 caliber,” Evan said.
“The force is out looking for the shooter and his car, but a few folks are downstairs, waiting until we’re done talking. They want to come up and be here as support.”
“That’s kind of them, but I’m good. I’m more worried about my nieces, right now. I know they’d want to be here, but I didn’t want to leave Max.”
“I can have someone go pick them up and bring them here if you’d like?”
“That’s really sweet, but I’m going to call them and give them an update, then see if Maggie Dennehy can take them for the night. She’s a friend and the girls stay with her often.”
“You go ahead and make your call. I’m going to finish up this report and send it in, then I’ll go down and give everyone an update. We’re all pulling for him,” Monroe said.
“Thank you, Officer. I appreciate it all, I do,” Evan replied and pulled out her phone. She updated the girls and then had Hayden hand her phone to Maggie.
“I’ve got the girls. I’m going to stay at your place with them. Greg has Alanna and Liam out at basketball game. How are you doing?” Maggie said.
“I’m numb. It’s bad, Mags. He lost so much blood. I’m going to stay here until they let me see him, then I don’t know. I can’t leave him.”
“What about his parents?”
“I don’t want to worry them until we know something conclusive. I’ll call them when we see how things are after surgery. They’re older and hours away. No point in calling them right now when I have no information to share.”
