Chapter 31
It was past ten o’clock when Colly and Brenda drove up the juniper-lined drive and parked in front of the ranch house. Lights shone in most of the ground-floor windows, though the upper story was dark. Expecting to walk into chaos, Colly was surprised when Iris answered the door seemingly at ease in a rose-colored dressing gown and slippers.
“The children finally settled down.” She led them to the den, where the stoic housekeeper was gathering playthings into a laundry basket. “I tried calling to tell you, but both your phones went to voicemail.”
“What happened?” Brenda demanded. “The kids usually get along great.”
A shadow crossed Iris’s face. She turned to the housekeeper. “Nadine, where did you put it?”
“Garage, ma’am.”
“Bring it in, please.”
The housekeeper set down the basket and limped from the room, returning with a cardboard shoebox, which she laid on the coffee table.
Without waiting for Iris’s explanation, Brenda seized it and opened the lid.
“Oh, no.” She sank onto the sofa and held out the box to Colly.
A tan-and-white hamster lay curled on a bed of folded newspaper. Except for a smear of dried blood on its nose, it looked asleep.
Colly sat down beside Brenda. “How did this happen?”
Iris pursed her lips. She hadn’t seen it, she said. The children had all told slightly different stories. Minnie’s hamster had been rolling around the den in its little plastic ball. While Iris was in the kitchen with Nadine, Satchel and Logan had gotten into a fight, though neither would tell her what it was about.
“I heard shouts, then a crash and a scream. When I got in here, the ball was smashed and the hamster was dead on the floor. Logan said Satchel got mad and kicked the ball against the fireplace. Minnie was wailing, and Satchel was huddled in the corner with his fingers in his ears, banging his head on the wall. That’s when I called you.” Iris threw up her hands in a gesture of helplessness. “They finally exhausted themselves enough that Nadine and I were able to get them to bed.”
Colly stood. “Where’s Satchel now?”
“In the olive room. But perhaps you shouldn’t—”
Without waiting to hear the rest, Colly headed for the stairs.
The olive room, named for the color of its curtains and bedding, was at the end of the second-floor hall. The door was closed. Colly opened it partway. In the nightlight’s glow, she saw the outline of a small figure on the bed. A shock of white-blond hair glowed against the dark pillowcase.
“Satch, are you awake?”
The figure sniffled but said nothing. Colly crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey, bud, heard you had a rough night.” She stroked his hair. “Want to tell me about it?”
Satchel whimpered and drew himself into a tight ball, hiding his face in the blankets.
“That’s okay. I’ll just sit here with you for a while.”
Colly rubbed his back, humming softly until his breath became slow and even. Thinking he was asleep, she kissed the top of his head and stood to go.
“Logan says you killed Mommy and Grandpa Randy. Uncle Lowell told him.” Satchel’s voice was muffled through the bedclothes.
Colly’s throat tightened. “Is that why you kicked Minnie’s hamster?”
“I didn’t mean to. I was trying to kick Logan.”
Colly sighed and sat down again. She tried to pull the covers away from his face, but he held onto them fiercely. “You can’t kick people, Satch. No matter how mad you are.”
He was quiet for a long time. Finally, he whispered something inaudible.
“I can’t hear you, bud.”
“You didn’t kill them, did you?”
Colly hesitated. “No, sweetie. I didn’t kill them.”
“Then why’d Uncle Lowell say so?”
“Sometimes Uncle Lowell says things without thinking.”
There was another long pause. “When can we go home, Grandma?”
“To the farmhouse?”
“No, to Houston.”
“I thought you liked it here.”
Beneath the blankets, Satchel shook his head. “You’re different here. You seem mad all the time. I wanna go home.”
“Me too, bud. We will as soon as I finish this case.” She rubbed his arm. “Do you still want to stay here tonight? Or would you rather come back to town with me?”
Satchel emerged from the blankets and wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands. “I wanna stay so I can go to the Rodeo tomorrow.”
“In the morning, you’ll have to apologize to Minnie for hurting her hamster.”
He sniffled loudly. “Okay.”
Colly sat with him a while longer, singing his favorite songs until he dozed off. Downstairs, she found Brenda and Iris talking quietly. Brenda had checked on Logan and Minnie, who were both asleep.
They said goodbye to Iris and headed back to town. The drive was a quiet one. When they pulled up in front of the farmhouse, Brenda broke the silence.
“You were upstairs with Satchel a long time.”
“He was pretty worked up.” Colly told her about the conversation. “We’ll buy Minnie a new hamster, of course.” She paused. “I’m sure there’s no point asking Lowell to be more discreet. But you might have a chat with Logan about what really happened in Houston.”
“I will.”
“I’m worried about Satchel, Bren. Honestly, this case is more than I bargained for. I’ve got some lunatic stalking me, and Satchel’s falling apart. It’s not safe for him here, and I don’t want to send him back to Houston alone.”
“You could go with him.”
“You mean quit the case? I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I made a commitment.”
“You made one to Satchel, too.”
“There’s a killer on the loose, Bren. He’s got to be caught.”
“Do you have to do it?” Brenda hesitated. “I know there’s a lot at stake. But is it possible you’re pushing yourself so hard in an attempt to make up for what happened in Houston?”
Colly felt herself flush. “I had my psych eval, thanks. I don’t need you to redo it.”
“Don’t get defensive. I’ve spent a lot of time with Satchel these last few days—enough to form a pretty solid opinion about his mental state. Colly, he’s not okay.”
Colly leaned against the headrest, staring vacantly out of the window at the moon shining through the dry, brown leaves of the oak above them. She felt a deep weariness settling over her like a fog. “I can’t think about this now, Bren. If you’re concerned about Satchel being around your kids, he doesn’t have to go with you to the Rattlesnake Rodeo tomorrow.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Brenda sounded hurt. “I’m just trying to help.”
“I know.” Colly exhaled wearily and unfastened her seatbelt. “See you tomorrow.”
It was nearly midnight when Colly said goodbye and went inside. Despite the new locks, she checked and cleared the house before she felt relaxed enough to undress. It wasn’t until she emptied the pockets of her jeans that she discovered her phone was missing. She picked up her purse and dug through it.
“Are you kidding me?” she muttered.
Closing her eyes, she worked back through the evening. She’d answered Iris’s call in Niall’s fly-tying shed. Had she used it since then? She checked the tracking app on her laptop, which showed that her phone was thirty miles northwest of town. Niall’s place. There was nothing to be done until morning.
The bed was still stripped from the previous day’s break-in, and Colly was too tired to make it. She pulled on her pajamas and stretched out once again on the living room sofa. But despite her exhaustion, she lay awake for a long time, staring at the dappled confusion of moon-cast shadows on the ceiling. Maybe Brenda was right. Colly had vowed never again to put her family at risk for the sake of her work. She couldn’t afford to let history repeat itself. Satchel deserved better. She would call Russ in the morning and tell him she was quitting the case.
Colly woke up to sunlight in the room and lay blinking for a moment, wondering why she was on the sofa and why the preset alarm on her phone had not gone off. She sat up, disoriented, but the sight of the disconnected charger cable on the floor brought back her memory, and she cursed as she kicked off the blankets. Retrieving her phone from Niall’s place would kill half the morning. But there was one crumb of comfort, she reflected, climbing the stairs to the bathroom. Without a phone, she’d have to put off the call to Russ. A night’s sleep had not altered her determination to quit the investigation, but she dreaded breaking the news to him.
She showered quickly and brushed her hair. In the bathroom mirror, her expression was tired and defiant. She’d come to Crescent Bluff to make amends to the Newlands, but instead she’d uncovered their ugliest secrets. What would Randy have wanted her to do now? Would he expect her to close ranks with his brothers, or expose them?
Wait till tomorrow , came the sudden thought. It was hardly fair to tell Russ she was quitting now, while he was absorbed in overseeing the Rattlesnake Rodeo. She’d give it one more day. Maybe, by then, she’d see some way forward. With a sense of relief, she dressed hurriedly, grabbed her holstered sidearm, and headed for the car.
The dashboard clock read eight a.m. as she pulled out of the carport—too early to show up unannounced on Niall Shaw’s doorstep on a Saturday morning. She considered going by Brenda’s house and using her phone to call him, but decided against it. Brenda would insist on driving to Niall’s with her and would want to continue the previous night’s discussion. Colly wasn’t in the mood. What was the point of more talk?
Wondering if Avery had tried to contact her, she drove by the police station and saw the girl’s shabby Volkswagen in the parking lot. Colly parked near the door and went inside. The place seemed almost deserted. Everyone was out policing the Rattlesnake Rodeo, the office manager said.
Colly found Avery in Russ’s office, hunched over a laptop. She looked up, bleary-eyed. “Where’ve you been? I texted you like five times.”
“Misplaced my phone. Anything to report?”
Avery leaned back in the chair and rubbed her eyes. “Not yet. Yesterday, I drove up to Colorado City, like you said. Stopped in every dinky little shop and gas station along the route. But nobody remembered anything. Most places didn’t have security footage that far back, but I got what I could.” She nodded at the laptop. “Slow going, though. I’m glad you’re here to help.”
“Sorry, can’t stay. I’ve got to run out to Shaw’s.” Colly explained the situation.
“Get anything useful from him last night?”
“I found out Denny was a psychopath.”
Avery’s eyebrows rose. “For real?”
“According to the brain scan. Jace was telling the truth about that.”
“Think it’s relevant?”
“No idea. It’s interesting, though.”
“Maybe the killer’s a psycho who hunts psychos.”
“As good a theory as any, right now.” Colly turned towards the door. “Keep checking that footage—I’ll help when I get back.”
Colly bought a half-dozen donuts on the way out of town and by nine-thirty was driving up the long, narrow road towards Niall Shaw’s place. Relieved to see that his Jeep was still parked where it had been the night before, she made her way down the path to his house and knocked on the door. He answered, barefoot and wearing shorts and a white t-shirt.
Colly quickly explained her errand. “I think my phone must be in your shed. Here’s a peace offering for crashing your morning.” She held out the bag of donuts.
“What a nice surprise.” Niall grinned, waving her inside. “I’m on a video call with my co-author, but we’re nearly done.”
Colly followed him through the living room and into the kitchen. The table was once again strewn with brain scans, papers, and books, as well as an open laptop.
Niall pulled a mug from a cupboard and handed it to her. “Make yourself at home.” He sat down at the table and addressed the laptop screen. “Okay, Gary, I’m back.”
Colly poured herself some coffee and, not liking to eavesdrop, wandered back into the living room. She was perusing the bookshelves ten minutes later when she became suddenly aware that the drone of voices from the other room had stopped. She turned quickly. Niall was leaning against the doorframe, watching her.
“Sorry to startle you,” he said. “Finished my call. Come help me eat those donuts.”
But Colly politely declined. She needed to get her phone and head back to town.
“No rest for the weary, eh? Let me grab some shoes. I’ll walk you out to the shed.”
He disappeared down a hallway and returned a minute later carrying socks and sneakers. He sat on the Chesterfield and began to pull on his socks. “How’d everything go at your mother-in-law’s last night?”
Colly briefly recounted the events at the ranch the evening before. “The kids seemed fine by the time we got there, but it rattled Iris. Me too, honestly.”
“Sounds like a run-of-the-mill kids’ squabble, if you ask me.” Niall laid a shoe on his knees and worked to unknot the laces.
Colly eyed him nervously. “Brenda says fire-starting, bed-wetting, and hurting animals are all signs a kid might be a psychopath.”
Niall set aside the shoe and waved Colly to a seat. “The hamster was an accident, right?”
“According to Satchel.”
“You said you believed him.”
“Even if it’s true, he still lashed out and tried to kick Logan.”
“If every little boy who got into a fight was a psychopath, there’d be more prisons in this country than Starbucks.” Niall chuckled.
“Brenda wasn’t laughing. She thinks something’s seriously wrong with him. I can tell.”
Niall studied Colly’s face. “Look, Brenda’s going to be a great clinician. But she’s new at this.”
“Meaning?”
“She’s got a touch of New Therapist Syndrome—lots of head-knowledge, but not much clinical experience, yet. The real world doesn’t always match what it says in the textbooks.”
“Satchel has the same symptoms Denny had. You said yourself that Den—”
“Denny tried to burn down a school, and he got his kicks bullying younger kids and torturing small animals. That’s very different from a child who inflicts minor burns on himself and accidentally kills his cousin’s hamster.”
Colly looked doubtful but said nothing.
“Satchel’s a sensitive kid who’s experienced major trauma. He’s got a loving family. He’s getting the help he needs. He’ll be fine.” Niall picked up the sneaker again and bent to put it on. “For the record, I don’t think Denny was beyond hope, either. No kid’s hereditarily doomed to be a monster, no matter what their PET scan shows. If I thought they were, I wouldn’t be in this line of work.” He straightened and gave Colly a penetrating look. “Did Satchel say what the fight was about?”
Colly felt suddenly hot. “Logan repeated something he heard—about me.”
“About how your husband and daughter died?”
“Of course you’ve heard about it.”
“Brenda never said anything, in case you’re wondering. But yeah, rumors fly in a small town.”
“I didn’t hire anyone to kill my husband and daughter for the insurance money, if that’s what you heard.”
Niall laughed as he tied the second shoe. “I did hear that, as a matter of fact. And I dismissed it out of hand.” He sat up and cocked his head, studying her face. “What’s the real story? Can I ask?”
“Why not? The truth’s not as bad as the rumors.” Colly ran her fingers distractedly through her hair. “Abridged version—I made a mistake in an investigation, and my family got killed because of it.”
“And the unabridged version?”
Colly sighed. “A few years ago in Houston, we had a series of strangling-murders of young women and girls.” She spoke slowly, staring into space. “The victims were mostly prostitutes, drug addicts—people who don’t always get reported missing right away, which complicated things. For months, we had nothing. Then finally, we got a lead on a suspect, but the guy was very slick about covering his tracks. He lived with his elderly mother. She had dementia and never went out, but she had a storage unit that the son visited a lot. That seemed strange. I thought if we searched it, we were bound to find something. But no judge would give us a warrant. Called it a fishing expedition.”
Colly stopped. Niall was sitting with his legs crossed and one arm along the back of the sofa, his face registering nothing but friendly interest. He nodded encouragingly.
“One day, a sixteen-year-old vanished while walking home from a babysitting gig. Janie Krause was her name. She didn’t really fit the victim profile, but the MO was similar. And unlike the rest, she was reported missing the night she disappeared, which gave us an edge. We knew the others had been held somewhere for a few days before they were killed, so I thought there was a chance our suspect might have her tied up in that storage unit. I talked the manager of the place into giving me access. I figured a search was justified as an exigent circumstance. If the girl was in there, she could be dead by the time I got a warrant.”
“Did you find her?”
Colly met his eyes. “Not then. Hunters stumbled on her remains three months later. But we found other things—a trove of evidence. Including proof the guy was already stalking another victim.”
“You saved a life—maybe a lot of lives. How’s that a screwup?”
“Judge didn’t see it that way. He was a real hard-liner. When it came to trial, he wouldn’t let us use any of the storage-unit evidence, even though other judges had ruled similar searches legal in the past. So the bad guy walked. You should’ve seen him smirk. All the victims’ families were extremely upset, of course. Most blamed the judge. But Janie Krause’s dad blamed me—went out of his mind. He wanted me to know...” Colly’s throat contracted. She looked away.
“He wanted you to know how it felt to lose someone you loved?” Niall asked gently.
Colly nodded. “Victoria and Satchel were living with us then, while she finished community college. She and Randy were at the house alone that afternoon—I’d taken Satchel with me to the store. When we got home, the door inside the garage was standing open. Before I could stop him, Satchel ran inside. He saw them first.”
“That’s horrible. Poor kid.”
Colly rubbed her palms on her knees. “The cops found Krause dead in his garage an hour later. Shotgun under the chin. He left a letter addressed to me.” She winced. “That was two years ago. After that, I resigned from the force. Couldn’t do it anymore. Since then, I’ve just been taking care of Satchel and trying to figure out my next move.”
“Crescent Bluff blames you for everything, eh?” Niall said. “What about the Newlands?”
“Russ and Brenda have been kind. Iris and Lowell, so-so. I dread the day Satchel finds out the details.”
“Aren’t you being a little hard on yourself? You made a judgment call in a high-stakes situation, and it backfired through no fault of your own. Most people—” Niall was interrupted by a ringtone. He pulled out his phone and checked the screen. “I’m so sorry, I’ve got to take this. I’m on call this weekend.”
Colly stood up. “I need to get back to town, anyway. Mind if I go look for the phone myself?”
“Remember where the key is?”
Colly nodded. As Niall answered the call, she walked back to the kitchen and exited through French doors into the bright morning light.