Chapter 10 #2
Callie and McKenzie were first on scene.
Then the forensic team out of Ray Brook.
Then county deputies. Then more state vehicles than Noah could count, pulling into the trailhead lot one after another until the gravel was full and they were lining up along Gabriel’s Road in both directions.
By nine o'clock the trail looked like a parade route that had gone horribly wrong.
The final count was six. Six bodies in the bog within a hundred-yard stretch of the two channels near the bridge.
Some submerged. Some partially surfaced.
All preserved by the tannic acid in the water to varying degrees.
The crime scene techs worked in chest waders, moving through the muck in a grid pattern, planting numbered flags where the remains appeared.
Ozzy Westborough arrived last, stepping out of his vehicle with a coffee in one hand and a look on his face that said he'd expected a quiet weekend.
McKenzie found Noah near the trailhead gate and got in his face about it. "How did you find this place? You're on leave. You're not supposed to be anywhere near an active investigation."
Noah didn't answer him. He watched as Ray's truck pulled into the lot and his brother climbed out in full uniform, buttoning his jacket against the morning chill, Noah walked straight to him.
He held up the sketch.
"This was in Luke's box. In Dad's basement.
Carter Lyle's case file." He kept his voice low.
"An artist named Seraphine Maddox drew this five years ago.
I matched it with a larger painting in her studio in Saranac Lake and recognized the landscape.
The bridge, the Y-fork, the tamarack, Whiteface. It's this place."
Ray studied the sketch for a long moment. His face gave nothing away. Then he nodded once.
"See you back at the station," Ray said, and walked past him down the trail.
Noah turned and watched him go. Behind them, crime scene techs in white suits moved through the bog like ghosts.
The briefing room at High Peaks Police Station was standing room only.
Officers from both the town department and the county sheriff's office lined the walls and filled the chairs, the room buzzing with the low, controlled energy of people who had seen something that morning that had changed the shape of their week.
Ray stood at the front with his arms crossed, waiting for the room to settle. When it did, he spoke.
"At approximately six-fifteen this morning, human remains were discovered in the Bloomingdale Bog area near the trail that runs along the abandoned bed of the Chateaugay Railroad.
For those who don't know it, that's a multi-use trail accessed off Route 86 near Saranac Lake.
Popular with hikers, snowshoers, snowmobilers.
A common area that anyone could access without drawing attention.
" He paused and let that sink in. "Forensics is working the scene as we speak.
County coroner and the M.E. are on site.
As of right now, the count is six. Six sets of remains. All appear to be young females."
The room was quiet. Not the polite quiet of people listening. The heavy quiet of people recalculating.
"We are working to establish whether there are additional dump sites and whether this is connected to the recent Brooke Danvers case.
Which means we could be looking at an active serial killer operating in this region.
" Ray's voice stayed professional. "Based on early assessment, the remains have been there for some time.
Years, possibly. Whoever is behind this has been targeting young women, college age.
We need to identify these victims. We don't know if they're from this state or others, so we'll be running checks against the national database for missing women in that age range.
" He scanned the room. "Be careful who you speak to.
We do not need this leaking to press before we have facts. "
Callie spoke up from the second row. "We've learned that another young woman has gone missing. Fiona Spence. She's eighteen. A friend reported it yesterday. Her car was found abandoned on Route 73. Could be linked."
Noah sat near the back of the room and felt the name hit him before the context did.
Fiona. Ethan's Fiona. The girlfriend he'd only just learned about two days ago on the mountain, the girl his son had grinned about in the truck, the one who was supposed to have a modeling shoot.
He glanced at Callie. She caught his eye briefly and then turned back to Ray.
Ray nodded. "So we'll look into it." He made a note on the whiteboard behind him.
A deputy near the window raised his hand. "How did we find these bodies?"
"A tip," Ray said. He glanced at Noah for a fraction of a second. "That's all you need to know for now." He capped his marker. "That's it. Assignments are posted. Let's get to work."
Chairs scraped. People stood. The room began to empty. Noah stayed seated until the crowd had thinned, then got up and followed Ray down the corridor to his office.
He closed the door behind them.
"A tip?" Noah said. "Why didn't you tell them about Seraphine?"
Ray dropped into the chair behind his desk and rubbed his eyes. "For the same reason Luke didn't back in the day."
"So you knew about that sketch."
"Of course I knew. She was sixteen when she came forward claiming to have had some kind of vision about Kara Ellison.
All she had was that sketch. That's it." He leaned back.
"You didn't know that place until you connected it to another image.
It was vague. There are hundreds of bridges around here.
And every time someone goes missing, every psychic and palm reader in the county comes out of the woodwork.
We had one saying Kara was in Mexico. Another saying she'd made it to Europe.
Others swearing she was buried in someone's basement.
Rabbit holes, Noah. We would have been lost for days.
We stayed focused on Carter Lyle and it paid off.
Seraphine was nothing. Just an unstable kid from a cult. "
"A cult?"
"Three Pillars Community." Ray groaned and leaned against the desk. "Look, I appreciate what you did. The lead. Following your instincts. But stay in your lane. You are not supposed to be involved in this case."
"So you're going to speak to her?"
"Why would I? She might have just gotten lucky. For all we know Kara Ellison might not be among the six."
"But she could be. They've been there a while."
"Until forensics tells us how long, we don't know what 'a while' means.
" Ray paused. "Besides, Carter Lyle is up for execution in under two weeks.
The last thing the Ellison family needs is to think that the person who killed their daughter is going to get a stay of execution. This needs to end cleanly."
"Cleanly? But he might not be guilty."
"Are we back to that again? Didn't anything I told you about the knife, Kara's blood, the GPS, the jury, the judge stick?"
"People see what they want to see."
"Yeah, they do. And maybe you're wanting to bend the evidence to fit your narrative."
Noah stood by the window and stared out at the parking lot for a moment. Then he turned back.
"The coat and ID from the Brooke Danvers scene. If we test the DNA from the jacket and ID and match it against the blood from the knife, that would at least give us a clearer picture."
"Of what, Noah?"
"If it's a match, then whoever killed Brooke Danvers might have killed Kara. And since Brooke only went missing two weeks ago, that would mean Carter Lyle is not responsible."
"Unless he had someone working with him and they continued killing."
"Lyle's brother? The one who turned the knife in?"
"No. He's been dead for years. Cancer."
"So that leaves it possibly being someone else entirely."
Ray ran a hand around the back of his neck and turned to the window, then turned back. "Do you really want to open Pandora's box on this?"
Noah scrutinized him. "We're talking about a man's life."
"That man is not innocent. Trust me on that. You want to question his conviction, go speak to the Walter family."
"The who?"
"Jenny Walters. She was Carter Lyle's girlfriend the year before Kara went missing. She was murdered."
"And?"
"Everyone knows he did it. He just never went down for it.
" Ray stood and planted both hands on the desk.
"Look, Noah. I know you mean well. But Luke and I gave this case our due diligence and put the guy away four years ago.
You might doubt my ability to do my job because of the debt I ran into at the Ashford Royale Casino. Fine. But Luke too?"
Noah dropped his head for a second, then met his brother's eyes. "Ray."
"If you want County or State to talk to Seraphine, go ahead.
But I am not going to give Lyle a reason to appeal based on a sketch from a disturbed teenager five years ago.
The Ellison family deserves to see justice.
" He paused. “By the way, have you spoken with Savannah?
Does she know you're here? Because the last thing I need is her on my back about you getting involved when you are supposed to be on mental health leave. "
"It's fine."
"Is it? Because the time off looks like it's been helping you. Don't shoot yourself in the foot in the last stretch."
"I visited Lyle in prison."
Ray stared at him. "Geez, Noah. When were you going to tell me that?"
"I'm telling you now. He said there was a reason Luke was ambushed on Route 73. That's the same road Kara went missing on."
"He wants to mess with you."
"He's spoken with Roberts."
"Of course he has. And you put Roberts behind bars.
They get to watch the news in there. They hear things.
They have visitors. Roberts has been trying to get back at you since you stripped him of his sheriff's position, exposed the corruption, and put him away.
He's bound to be whispering in Lyle's ear.
Carter Lyle is a violent, pathological liar who will say anything and do anything if he thinks it will get him out of that cell.
" Ray walked around the desk and opened the office door.
"Now, if you are going to be involved in this case, you will need to clear it with your lieutenant. "
Noah stood in the doorway, watching his brother. Ray held the door, his expression set. The conversation was over.
Noah walked out.