Chapter 44
Forty-Four
Friday
It had been difficult withholding information from Rhett, but Jenna wanted to make sure the man they found in the forest was Wade Cutter before she called him.
The moment the team had gotten the body back to the morgue, Wolfe had collected DNA and run it through the sequencer to see if he could get a match.
He’d done a provisional examination and would conduct a full autopsy in the morning.
Evidence of human remains in the pigpens had been enough evidence for the DA to keep the Larkins in custody.
They would now remain there, pending forensic evidence against them.
Right now, the charges would range from illegal disposal of a body to multiple counts of murder.
Jenna wanted the chance to interview them again, now she had plausible evidence against them, and made the arrangements.
She’d notified Sam Cross, the Larkins’ lawyer, and to expedite the case she had taken him along with them when they flew to the helipad on top of the county prison.
Jenna gave Sam Cross the current evidence they had against the Cutters and he’d read through it on the chopper.
While they spoke to the warden, Cross discussed the evidence with his clients.
By the time Jenna made her way to the interview with Kane and Carter, Cross was ready to proceed.
The interview room was typical of what she expected to find in a prison—a metal table and chairs attached to the floor.
The suspect was chained to loops in the table and floor.
Guards were positioned outside a glass partition.
She wanted to pull on a mask rather than inhale the strong body odor encapsulated inside the humid room.
They spoke to Bill Larkin first. “As I’m sure Mr. Cross has advised you, we found human remains in your pigpens, and as you attempted to drag one of my deputies into the pigpen to feed to your pigs, it leaves us little doubt that you’ve been doing this for a time.
However, you could buy yourself some credits with the judge if you give us information about Wade Cutter’s involvement. ”
“Wade is dead. Has been for twenty years.” Larkin gave them a smile. “You’ve seen his ghost or something?”
Jenna met his gaze, chin up and unafraid.
“No, but I did look at his corpse yesterday. We found him outside a cabin he’d prepared as a kill room.
You do understand that if you don’t give us information on Wade, who we believe is responsible for murdering a number of young women, usually seasonal from Lawson’s Ridge, your charges of unlawful disposal of bodies will be increased to murder one.
We have a pigpen filled with the remains of young women and there is a man there as well, and our evidence points toward you and your wife being responsible.
The evidence we’ve collected is enough to convict you.
I figure you need to think about that for a while and then decide if you want to take the blame.
Trust me, Wade Cutter isn’t gonna come for you.
” She opened a folder and slid out a photograph Kane had taken of Cutter’s body. “See for yourself.”
“Did you find him in the forest?” The color drained from Larkin’s face.
“Yeah.” Kane leaned forward. “Anything you want to tell us, Larkin?”
“He’ll give you information if he can cut a plea deal.” Sam Cross made notes on a legal pad and lifted his gaze to Jenna.
Amazed that Cross would bring up a plea deal when he knew that it would be up to the DA to make any deals, all she could do was to present him with evidence.
“I can listen to what he has to say. If he’s telling the truth, I’ll give the information to the district attorney.
It will be up to him how he proceeds.” She turned her attention to Larkin. “So you better make it good.”
“We didn’t kill no one.” Larkin’s hands trembled, making the chains on the table rattle.
“We were afraid, so we did what we were told. The pigs don’t care what we feed them—but you know it takes a sick mind to stand there and watch them chew up a body.
We never knew when it would be the two of us.
I’ll speak to my wife if I’m allowed, and we’ll plead guilty to the disposal of bodies and the assault of Deputy Raven. ”
“May I have a moment with my client, please?” Cross waited for Jenna, Kane, and Carter to walk outside.
Through the glass, Jenna noticed the surprised expression on the lawyer’s face. He nodded slowly, looked across the room at Jenna, and waved her inside. She led the way and they took their seats again. “Okay, what decision have you come to?”
“I will prepare a statement for my clients, agreeing to plead guilty to what we discussed.” Cross stood. “I’ll give you a copy and send one to the DA. I hope he’ll be lenient with my clients for their cooperation.”
With no further need to interview Mrs. Larkin, Jenna led the way outside the interview room. She turned to Cross. “I honestly can’t believe that went so easily. It’s as if he wanted to go to jail.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” Cross shrugged.
“I can’t figure out why, as he knows that Wade Cutter is deceased.
He acted as if you had a knife to his throat.
In truth, you have nothing apart from the unwarranted attack on your deputy.
There is no proof that they fed bodies to their pigs.
Someone could have done that while they were sleeping.
The evidence is circumstantial at best.”
“Can you get everything done in the next half hour?” Carter tipped back his cowboy hat and looked at Cross. “I need to refuel the bird before we head back to Black Rock Falls.”
“Not a problem.” Cross smiled. “Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Anytime.” Carter smiled and looked at Jenna. “Are you good to go?”
Jenna nodded and followed the guard back to the warden’s office. “We’ll be waiting in the warden’s office. I’ll use the time to upload some files to the server.”
As Cross and Carter followed other guards to different areas of the prison, she turned to Kane. “I know why Larkin wants to spend time in prison.”
“He’s frightened—anyone can see that.” Kane walked beside her. “It’s as if he knows who murdered Cutter.”
An icy chill slithered down Jenna’s spine. “Yeah, and now he’s in fear of his life. The man we figured was an accomplice must be a bigger threat than Wade Cutter.”