Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
H ANNA STARED AT M ANDY IN SHOCK at this revelation, but it was Nathan who spoke up.
“Diego? Someone she met online—like a date?” Nathan asked.
Mandy gave a sharp shake of her head. “Someone she felt sorry for at first. He claimed to have substance abuse issues and that Edda’s connection with him was saving him from suicide.” Mandy told Nathan what she knew.
The frown on Nathan’s face deepened.
“What is it?” Hanna asked.
“The other two victims, they were both involved with online relationships. But they were dating relationships. Obviously, catfishing scams, at least on the surface.” He stopped and looked at Mandy. “What do you mean at first ?”
“She didn’t tell me everything. She just said she thought he was pretending.”
“Pretending about what?”
Mandy shrugged. “I just told Hanna I was afraid she was looking for Bobby’s dealer. Maybe he gave her a fake name. I don’t know.”
“Edda sent me an e-mail, asking about something with legal ramifications, I think,” Hanna said. “She wanted to talk to me, and I didn’t get back to her. I just got busy.”
Hanna looked at Mandy. She’d shed some tears and wiped them away. But mama bear was emerging now.
“Have you been to her house yet?” Mandy asked.
“Next stop is to meet my partner there.”
“Edda had a dog, Gizmo, her baby. He’ll need someone to take care of him now. You won’t take him to animal control, will you?”
Nathan hesitated.
“He’s not dead too, is he?” Hanna loved dogs, longed to have one, but her life was too crazy.
“I honestly don’t know. Until I get to Edda’s house, I won’t know.”
“Can I take him?” Mandy asked.
“If she doesn’t have some kind of will giving him to someone, I don’t have a problem with that.”
“I’ll join you at her house,” Hanna said to Nathan. “If the dog is there, I’ll get him for Mandy.”
Mandy hugged her arms to her chest. “I can’t believe this is happening. No one in the world was sweeter than Edda. Catch the monster who did this.”
“I plan to,” Nathan said.
Hanna and Mandy hurried home. They parted at Hanna’s house with a hug.
“I’m so sorry, Mandy. I wish I—”
“Don’t, Hanna, don’t blame yourself. I won’t take any blame either. The only person to blame is the animal who did this.”
Hanna hurried to shower and change, chilled to the bone by a murder hitting so close to home. Murder overshadowed the tragic accidental overdose of Edda’s son, Bobby. He’d struggled so many years with chemical dependency, his death was inevitable. Edda’s murder was shockingly unexpected.
Hanna called dispatch and put herself on duty. Once in the car, she paused to pray. Oh, Lord, this hurts. This is so hard to understand. Please help us catch the man, please. No more life lost in this fashion. Amen.
In short order she was on her way to meet Nathan at Edda’s house. He’d said he’d wait for her unless there was some indication that he needed to make entry to the house right away.
Edda’s small home was at the edge of town. It backed up to forest. When she got there, Nathan was not alone. And she recognized the SUV behind his county car.
He was in a heated discussion with Marcus Marshall.
“The people need to know there’s a dangerous killer roaming free. Why won’t you admit that three women were killed by the same person?”
“We’re in the middle of an investigation. I can’t say that definitively. I won’t jump the gun and compromise the investigation. Making people panic won’t help us find this guy.”
“You’re not helping either, Marcus.”
Marcus swung around to face her. “Well, this is serious if you’re here. Keeping tabs on these detectives, are you?”
“That’s not what I’m doing. They’re very good at their jobs, which right now you are keeping them from. The sheriff’s department issues clear press releases. Why don’t you wait for that?”
“I don’t need a press release to tell me that we have a serial killer in the county. Three dead women in as many months. You need to tell folks what the common denominators are if there are any, so they can be more careful. The Green River Killer kept killing because information wasn’t shared and broadcast.”
“Let us do our jobs.” Nathan was at the end of his patience, Hanna could tell.
“Are you going to leave, Marcus, or do I have to waste more resources and have someone remove you?”
He threw his hands up. “I think the sheriff’s department is in over its head. They should ask for help. This is going up on my podcast. I care about public safety.” Marcus stalked down the driveway and got into his car.
“Who tipped him off?” Hanna asked as she and Nathan watched him drive away.
“There was a news crew at the scene last night. And Marcus has his own scanner. Do you ever listen to his podcast?”
“No.”
“I don’t regularly, but when I have listened, I’ve heard him give people tips on personal safety. Last month he warned people about connecting with strangers online.” He shrugged. “He’s got an active imagination, that’s for sure. It always goes to the worst possible outcome. He’s convinced that our body count could reach the Green River Killer status.”
“What does he think you’re withholding?”
“Connections between the three victims. He wants to broadcast that we have a serial killer. I can’t help but think he’s hoping for a book opportunity that will launch him into stardom.”
“Scott’s fiancée thought that he was writing a book about the Buckleys.”
“Really? I bet Scott was not happy about that. Marshall’s style is early American. Well, he earned his nickname Muckraker.”
“I can testify to that.”
Nathan turned and gave her a warm half smile. “You sure can. Let’s get inside the house.” He turned and Hanna followed.
“Wait, where is Edda’s car?” She remembered reading in the reports that the cars of the first two victims had also been missing when the bodies were found.
“We haven’t found it. DMV records told us that she has a red VW Bug.”
“Yeah, it’s a cute car. It fit Edda. Did you find the first two victims’ cars? I don’t remember the updates.”
“Not right away. The first victim’s car was found in a ditch near Oakdale, and the second victim’s car was found in a park-and-ride lot outside of San Francisco. So we expect Edda’s car will turn up sooner or later. There is a BOLO in the system.”
Hanna knew that none of the victims had any personal effects on them when they were found. No phones, purses, watches. All the info they had on the probable suspect came from computers and phone records.
They were able to get into Edda’s house because she kept a key under the back doormat. Her pup, Gizmo, a little Jack Russell terrier mix, was happy to see them. He needed to go out, so Hanna kept an eye on him while Nathan went in.
Gizmo ran around the yard for a few minutes, did his business, and then looked at Hanna expectantly. She took him back into the house, sticking just her head inside the door first.
“Clear to come in?” she called out to Nathan.
“Yes. Place is neat as a pin. There’s no crime scene here. She met the guy somewhere else.”
Hanna entered and went in search of dog food. She found the dog bowl and not much farther away was the food. She filled the bowl and watched the little dog attack it with gusto.
She looked around the little house. It was old and small; she’d grown up in a similar-type house. Two small bedrooms, one bath, small kitchen cut off from the rest of the house. While not many original structures from the gold rush period survived to the twenty-first century, the basic footprint of them had. This little house was designed like an old mining cabin. Edda rented from Everett Buckley, which was a normal situation in Dry Oaks.
Everything was neat and homey. Pictures of her son throughout his life were everywhere. So were crochet pieces. Over the back of the sofa hung a beautiful blue, green, and gray crocheted blanket. Edda was known for the blankets she crocheted. Hanna had one of different shades of pink that was her favorite bedspread. Edda also made small blankets for newborns. She’d slowed down a bit after her son died. Hanna had assumed it was grief and that Edda would eventually recover.
Not now.
“Lord, help us find the man responsible for this, please,” Hanna prayed.
The dog finished eating and curled up on her foot. Chuckling, she bent down and picked him up. He snuggled into the crook of her arm.
“Looks like you found a friend.” Nathan held an evidence bag with Edda’s laptop in it under his arm.
“Yeah, I’d better be careful, or I’ll be fighting Mandy for this dog.”
“Maybe you should keep him.”
“Aren’t I always complaining about how busy my life is?”
He patted the dog’s head. “Doesn’t look like he’ll take up too much time or space.”
“Hmm.” The little guy certainly wasn’t very heavy. “Just the laptop?”
“Yeah, I’m looking for a journal. She has a whole row of journals in her room, dated, but the current month is missing.”
“Hmm.” For a few minutes, Hanna helped him search the small room. No journal to be found.
“Maybe it’s in her car or purse.”
Nathan nodded. “Possible. I’ve done all I can here. I need to get this laptop to the techies. I’ll wait outside for Manny.”
Together they walked out the front door.
“Have you thought any more about Joe?” he asked.
“I talked to Mandy about him.”
“What did she say?”
“She wants me to say yes, she wants to talk to Joe, see if he’ll finally come clean about where her parents are.”
“It’s not just her parents,” Nathan said. “People will want to know about Gilly as well.”
“He was never rigidly tied to that case.”
“While that may be true, Gilly was investigating Joe and targeting meth labs. Joe might still have helpful information. He has nothing to lose now. It’s time to come completely clean about what happened back then.”
Manny arrived with a lab tech.
“I’ll let you get back to work,” Hanna said. “We’ll catch up Monday morning. Doesn’t look like you’ll make it to church tomorrow.”
“Probably not. I’ll update you as soon as I can.”
Hanna left with Gizmo. She took his bowl and food, and he curled up in a cute ball on the front seat. How on earth was she going to give him to Mandy?