Page 53 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

FORTY-NINE

Katie and McGaven followed Devin to his cabin and the big barn where he had organized his tools to almost perfection. The young man ran into the cabin. His energy level was not winding down anytime soon. His enthusiasm was almost childlike.

“Do you think he’s…” said McGaven breathing hard.

“No, he’s not the killer. Eccentric. Maybe a little bit hyperactive. And even obsessive-compulsive, sure.”

“Okay, I get your point,” he said.

“Let’s see what and who he has on video.”

The detectives stepped inside the small cabin.

When they had visited the property before they couldn’t see every part of the home, but now they saw in one spot he had little boxes neatly stacked from floor to ceiling with perfectly printed lettering labeling each one.

There were also even more decorative crystals like the ones that Theresa had.

“What’s in the boxes?” said McGaven.

“Oh, I like to collect articles,” said Devin.

“What kind of articles?” said Katie .

“Anything, but mostly crime. I thought I recognized your name, Detective Scott, and so I read some articles about you and Detective McGaven.”

Katie hadn’t expected that.

“You’ve solved all your cases. Do you know how unusual that is?” he said. “I mean, percentage-wise.”

“I don’t know…” she said. “Are you interested in serial killers?”

“Not really, but there’s always something interesting about them revealed after they’re caught.”

“Like…?”

“Why they did it. So many blame someone else for their killing. Stuff like that.”

Katie looked at McGaven, who gave her a raised-eyebrow expression.

“You know there was a serial killer here once,” said Devin.

“When?”

“It was before I was born, but there was a guy who killed women and would leave weird stuff at the scene.”

Katie studied Devin and recognized his enthusiasm for killers. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, but it did raise some questions.

“I can find the articles if you like.”

“Devin,” said Katie. “Does ‘the Woodsman’ mean anything to you?”

“The Woodsman?”

“Yes.”

He laughed. “Every kid in town was told the story of the Woodsman. It’s been handed down forever.”

“Why?”

“It was a way to scare kids to not go into the forest at night or without a buddy. It’s stupid, but some kids believe it’s real.”

Katie thought about TJ’s reaction to Theresa’s murder scene and that made some sense. “So it’s just a story to keep kids from going out alone in the forest?”

“Pretty much. I think I can find some stuff on it.”

“Thanks, Devin, but we really need to get everything about the videos.”

“Sure. Oh, by the way, I’m sorry that I ran from you.”

“It’s okay, Devin,” said McGaven.

Devin pulled out a laptop with an accessory on it that Katie had never seen before.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a type of booster that helps with cell signal. Haven’t you noticed how bad the cell phone signal is…”

“Totally,” said McGaven.

Katie shot him a look of amusement. She was impressed by Devin; she had misjudged him because he was quite the bundle of surprises—intelligent but in an unusual way. Those perfectly organized tools in the garage began to make more sense.

“Did you ever find those things you said came up missing?” she said.

“No. It’s still an unsolved mystery.” Devin keyed up twenty-four hours previous on the footage and then let it run from three different video cameras.

“You can run it faster,” said Katie.

The detectives and Devin watched the videos on fast-forward.

They saw quite a bit of wildlife; even though there had been a snowstorm there were still animals both small and large foraging for food. There were deer, rabbits, birds, wild hogs, and other small creatures.

“There,” said Devin.

Two hunters neither of the detectives recognized appeared.

The footage was taken around eight-thirty this morning and it was breezy and cold.

As they patiently waited to see Dr. Jack and John again, they finally came to the timeframe around 3a.m., and there they were walking north through the snow, but the view was from a different angle to what they had seen before.

John walked slowly and Jack pushed him with the end of the rifle.

Katie watched the body language of Jack and he seemed different.

It was the way he carried himself, his stride was shorter even though there was snow, and his posture appeared more forward, like he was in hunting mode.

It was as if they were watching a completely different person from the veterinarian who had allowed them to set up for the investigation in the lodge.

“It’s…” began Katie. The images made her stomach churn seeing John being victimized.

“It’s like watching two people who aren’t them,” said McGaven. “Does that make sense?”

Katie turned to Devin. “Do you know Dr. Jack Thomas?”

He shrugged. “Not really. I mean, I’ve seen him around town and at the Sunrise Café.”

“Can you show me the property blueprints?” she said.

Devin went to his filings system, rummaging around for a bit until he found them.

Katie and McGaven studied the plans. There were two small houses.

Barns. And on this set of plans she could decipher more of the notations she had seen earlier.

There were old farming areas, drainage areas, and wells.

The more Katie thought about it, the more she realized they needed to search the entire property.

There could be old buildings and drainage that might not be seen due to being buried.

“We need to search the area now,” she said. Her anxiety rose exponentially.

“What are you thinking?” said McGaven.

“Play that video again,” she said. “If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t think that was Dr. Jack. But it is…”

After Katie watched the video, she was sure Jack had taken John somewhere. And she thought that the chief had been taken somewhere, but why? “John and the chief are somewhere on the property.”

“Why?” said McGaven.

“I think the chief knows what’s going on and Jack wanted to silence him,” she said. “Remember what he said in the phone call, asking us to come to the hospital? I think he was trying to warn us, not kill us.”

“You think Jack is the killer?”

“I’m not sure, but everything points to him. I just can’t help but think there’s still a big piece we’re not seeing.”

Devin listened to the detectives carefully and seemed to be taking everything in.

“You think the chief is dead?”

“I don’t know, but if we don’t find the chief and John soon, there’s no question, they will both be dead.”

Three down…more to go…