Chapter 20 #2
“I know, plus that was a lot of work.”
“And what a mess,” she added. “So, there is that aspect too. At least I presume they didn’t stick around to clean up the murder mess. … There was no attempt to clean up, right? They were all just butchered in place?”
“Yes, they were all … just butchered in place.”
“Look, I’m not—” she stammered.
“It’s fine, Dev. It’s just that I’ve spent all day dealing with that file, and there’s nothing nice about it.”
“No, of course not,” she muttered. And then she sighed. “I’m really not trying to—”
“It’s fine,” he broke in. “I told you to just spit out whatever, and that’s what you’re doing.
None of that makes me happy because, for one, they aren’t necessarily things I had considered, and maybe I should have,” he shared.
“Also, it implies that something major was overlooked, whether deliberately or accidentally. And that is always something that none of us as cops and detectives really want to face.”
“Of course not,” she agreed. “But you and I both know that, regardless of motivation, things happen, and, in this case, it feels very much like things that happened may have happened so somebody could walk away from something that’s pretty bad.
And did you guys consider that maybe it was more than one person? ”
“I didn’t see anything in the report that would suggest it. Why are you thinking that?”
“Six people, … butchered in peace and quiet? How did they stop them from screaming? Did they hit them all over the head within a few minutes and then finish the job? I mean, you would have to take out the father first because he’s the one who’ll be your biggest fight, and then God-only-knows who you consider next.
The mother, I suppose, but I’m guessing in the minds of the killer or killers, the fight put up by women and children would be minor. ”
Camden didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then he slowly nodded. “Two people is definitely within the realm of possibility, especially considering how much was done.”
“That’s what I mean. That was a lot of victims, and that just means you have to be suspicious in terms of how does one person handle six victims, especially when they were all still alive?
” Then she sighed. “And if somebody did get away with murder, I’m back to the point of why the butchering,” she repeated.
“I mean, he had to have been exhausted at the end of it, so then how is it that nobody knew?”
“Lots of good questions,” Camden muttered. “I don’t know what kind of mental state the disabled cop is in. I don’t know anything about him at all, but I will go talk to him tomorrow.”
“Good,” she replied. “And I know you probably don’t get a whole lot of time for a case like this. But—”
“Like none at all,” he interrupted, “but I also won’t walk away from it. So, we’ll do whatever we can to get to the bottom of it.”
And, with that, she had to be satisfied.
Just then his phone rang. He snorted and announced, “That’s Stefan now.”
“He really is a precog, isn’t he?”
“I don’t know that for certain, but he sure as hell knows whenever we’re talking about him.” He answered the phone. “Stefan, I’m putting you on Speakerphone. Devon is here with me.”
Stefan, his voice quiet, obviously fatigued, replied, “Sorry for the silence. We’ve been trying to sort through whatever is going on in your corner. I’ve contacted several of the people in my world who generally are capable of dealing with some of this.”
“And?”
“And the answers are definitely a little thin on the ground.”
“Do you have any answers?”
“No, outside of the fact that your residential area has been a questionable energetic space for quite a while,” he shared. “And that won’t help you at all, I know. I’m sorry because that seems to be more of an excuse than an answer.”
Devon mentioned, “I was just wondering whether the killer dismembering his victims had more to do with occult beliefs or fears than anything else.”
“That’s a good point,” Stefan noted, his voice perking up at that.
“Actually, that’s a very good point. I don’t know how many people believe that dismembering bodies is a good way to stop them from walking dead again.
But, if anybody in that family had been practicing in the occult, or in any way was scared of somebody professing that thinking,” he noted, “I could see somebody pulling a trick like that.”
“Yes, but to kill and dismember everybody? All six family members?” Camden stepped in. “Is that really feasible?”
“If the whole family was involved in some satanic cult—real or imagined—and if this person had religious ideas that went counter to that, thinking the entire family was involved, then yes, it’s quite likely,” he said. “Unfortunately, that is not uncommon in our cases.”
“I also wondered,” she added, “if more than one killer was involved. Apparently only one other neighbor lived on this road at the time, so, therefore, any of the victims’ screams may not have been easily heard. Yet it does make it feel like an inside job for sure.”
“An inside job is pretty easy to see,” Stefan confirmed, “but we’re not getting anything on an energy hit.
Although I’m not against any of the theories you’ve just brought up because, given the mentality of lots of people when it comes to the dead, it’s certainly possible,” he acknowledged.
“The question is whether we know of anybody who knew the family back then. I would wonder if they were playing with Ouija boards or something along that line that would have given somebody the heebie-jeebies about all this,” he added.
Devon looked shocked and asked, “Would someone just turn around and kill people because of that? You would think it would have to be an awful lot more than that.”
“You would think,” Stefan concurred. “Still, it was fifty years ago. So, there is that to consider. Camden, you need to dig into the other people who were around the area at the time,” he suggested.
“I’ll be looking for more people who are still alive from that time, so people in their seventies or older would have known the family, would have worked with them.
I’ll go see the cop who did the wellness check tomorrow morning.
Again, I’m not sure what shape he’s in now, but the word is, according to Marjorie, he’s not been the same ever since, which makes a whole lot of sense in many ways. ”
“Sure does,” Stefan noted, “but do check it out. And I will continue on my end to monitor anything moving in the ethers and see if anything’s happening at all.”
“Can you tell—” she interrupted, then stopped.
“I just feel like I’m in a waiting pattern and that something is about to happen.
And I don’t know when or how, but it involves me.
And I think, to a certain extent, it involves Camden as well.
It just feels as if I have no control over it, but it’s coming toward me.
” Then she stopped. “Let me rephrase that. It feels as if something is building.”
After a moment of deep silence, Stefan snorted. “I agree with that,” he muttered. “But I can’t tell you where it’s coming from, but it seems to be centered very much around where you are.”
“And if I were to leave?”
“I’m not sure it would change anything,” he admitted, his tone grave. Then he pondered it and shared, “I suspect it won’t change anything, but, if you did want to leave, then you probably should do it now.”
She glanced back at the house and asked, “What do I do about the kids then?”
“That’s part of the problem,” he noted. “I’m not sure how much the kids are involved in this. I see other people’s energy in their space, and I suspect that’s from their mother brainwashing them that she could return. And that they needed to do their part for her.”
“Also,” Devon muttered, “she has the same family name on her mother’s side as the family who was murdered in my house fifty years ago.”
A shocked silence came from Stefan. “Pardon?” And she repeated what she said. He declared, “That changes things intensely.”
“Why?” she asked. “I mean, what could possibly change?”
“A lot,” he muttered. “Look. I have to go. Just stay where you are. Stay safe. But more than anything,” he added, “stay alert.” And, with that, he was gone.
She stared over at Camden. “That was not helpful.”
“No, that certainly didn’t help. I will give you that,” he muttered.
She wrapped her arms around her chest, feeling a chill settle in.
He looked over at her. “I’m sorry. That had more of a scary fear-factor level, didn’t it?”
“It’s left me feeling even more terrified,” she muttered, as she glanced around. “How the hell does that even work? And yet he tells me to stay put.”
“Yes, he did. But he also didn’t like learning that Tabitha’s mother’s side had the same last name as the dismembered family.”
“Do you think it has something to do with prior generations?”
“I wonder, but I don’t think any of us know exactly what that means.”
“No, and that’s partly what I’m concerned about right now.
If these things are all related, then Tabitha has connected to, or somehow had contact with her mother, with these entities, or even with the murdered people way back when.
What if Tabitha somehow managed to have their energies combine or come together just to help her?
” He stared at her, and she sighed. “I know it all makes me sound like I’m losing it. ”
“No,” he disagreed, “not necessarily. But, if Tabitha has connected with these souls, they didn’t ever find peace. So maybe they are the ones looking for somebody who could help them.”
“And what? Tabitha is the one they found?” she asked, frowning at him.
“I don’t know,” he muttered, “but, if you think about it, she was in the hospital for a very long time.”
“Many times. Constantly, unfortunately. She was there. She was out. Then she was back. I mean, I drove her there many times.”
“And did you ever see anything when you were there?”
“See anything? What do you mean?”
“Ghosts,” he stated. “Did you see any energies that would have given you some idea that something off?”