Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Emotions jumbled through Jenna’s mind as she climbed from the Beast. How could she have been so wrong about Ellie?
Another thought flashed through her mind.
What if Ellie had an accomplice and he or she turned on her?
It would make perfect sense for Ellie to go to the boiler room to speak to them in a place no one ever went to.
However, the reason she would pretend to be kidnapped still caused havoc in her mind.
If she had been the second or third person to be injured after a series of murders, Jenna would have considered that Ellie did it to take the heat off her accomplice, but being the first one posed questions she didn’t have the answers to.
Confusion surrounded her as she slipped her way through the parking lot and to the front doors of the school.
The foyer opened up to the administration desk, concealed behind a wall of glass with only a small service counter peephole for anyone walking through the front door.
She noticed the entrance into the school went via metal detectors with cameras above them.
These led along a short corridor to a set of automatic doors.
She guessed that if someone tried to get through without authorization they would be stopped in the middle corridor.
She recalled the plan to have the security at all the schools in the area upgraded but hadn’t read through all the changes.
Not knowing who the next threat would be in Serial Killer Central, the council upgraded many of the local institutions to ensure the safety of the townsfolk.
The principal waited for them just inside the front door.
He wore a thick winter coat over track pants.
It looked as if he’d rushed to the school right away.
Jenna nodded to him as she walked through the door.
The principal showed them through a side door using his card and handed them both visitor lanyards.
“Thanks.” Jenna slipped it over her head. “Where are my deputies?”
“They’re waiting in the hallway just through the next door.” The principal led the way. He opened the door and waved them through. “The paramedics came and left. They confirmed she was dead and told me to keep away and wait for you.”
Jenna’s attention went immediately to her three deputies moving in and out of the classrooms and clearing each room as they went.
She turned to the principal. “The medical examiner, Dr. Shane Wolfe, will be here shortly to take over. Have someone take him directly to the boiler room. He’ll have a large team with him, so there will be four or five people carrying equipment. ”
“Stop people coming into the building while we are here and don’t allow anyone to leave.” Kane moved to Jenna’s side and looked at principal. “Anyone we find will be treated as a suspect and likely arrested. Once we have seen the body, we’ll come back to the office and interview Jesse Holland.”
As her deputies came out of the classrooms, Jenna motioned to Rowley. “I gather you went to school here. Do you know where the boiler room is?”
“I sure do.” Rowley indicated over his shoulder with his thumb. “It’s at the other end of the school in the maintenance area.”
Turning back to the principal, Jenna met the man’s worried gaze.
He appeared to have taken the death of one of his teachers badly.
His graying hair stuck up all over and his coat sat uneven, with the buttons mismatched as if fastened in haste.
“Why don’t you go back to the office, have something hot to drink, while we do our job?
We’ll come and speak to you when we’re done.
” She kept her tone calm and even. “I know this has been a terrible shock for you. You can be assured my department will be doing everything possible to discover who murdered Ellie.”
“Okay, thank you.” The principal let out a long sigh.
“Ms. McBride has been working here for seven years or more. She is one of our most respected teachers. She goes out of her way to help the students. I can’t imagine why anyone would have chosen her as a victim.
It makes no sense at all. The world has lost a very beautiful, kindhearted person today. ”
“Murder never makes sense.” Kane led him back to the door. “We’ll be along shortly.”
Raven and Rio walked up to Jenna and waited for her to give them orders.
She looked from one to the other. “We have no idea if the perpetrator is still in the building. Rowley is going to lead the way to the boiler room, so spread out and keep your eyes peeled for anyone moving around. There are only three people that we know of in the building at the moment apart from us. They should all be in the office. Detain anyone else you come across and be on your guard. We may be dealing with a serial killer.”
Jenna and Kane followed Rowley as he headed along the hallway.
Walking to see a murder victim always caused a little rush of panic.
If the killer still lurked in the building, they could be walking into a trap.
Taking a deep breath and blowing it out to slow her racing heart, Jenna pushed her mind to another place.
The smell of the school brought back memories of her childhood.
Unsure how the smell of books, sweat, and gym shoes had triggered memories, she could clearly remember her teachers right from first grade through to when she graduated from high school.
She’d been lucky and school had been a place she enjoyed.
Many of the teachers had time to spare for the students.
She’d been inquisitive and all her questions had been answered, which she believed helped her to get a scholarship to college and later join the DEA.
As she scanned the classrooms, she noticed many things had changed since she’d been at school.
She recalled rigid lines of tables and a blackboard, with choking white dust from the erasers, not the interactive screens and whiteboards that they had now.
It seemed that they made school days much more interesting.
Her sons’ time at school would be an adventure in learning.
“It’s just through that walkway.” Rowley used his lanyard to open the door to a short open space between the buildings.
Freezing air buffeted them as they stepped out into the cold ice-filled wind. Snow had blown across the covered walkway. “Wait!”
“What is it?” Rowley stopped midstride and turned to look at her.
Jenna paused at the open door and stared at the footprints. “Take photographs of the footprints before they’re covered in snow. We’ll need to get images of anyone’s shoes who we know was walking through here earlier.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley pulled out his phone and took a number of photographs moving slowly from one area to the other. “I’ve got them. Are you ready to move forward?”
“Yeah.” Kane nodded. “Stay alert, we don’t want to miss any evidence along the way.”
“Copy that.” Rowley continued along the walkway and used his card to swipe them into the maintenance area.
They walked past a few locked doors with signs on the outside giving various warnings until they came to the boiler room.
The door stood wide open and the smell of death seeped into the hallway on a wave of heated air.
Jenna glanced at Kane, who had already pulled a mask and gloves from his pocket.
She turned to the other deputies. “Rio, Rowley, clear the area. I’ll go inside with Kane.
Raven, watch our backs but remain outside.
We don’t want everyone inside contaminating the crime scene. ”
After putting on a mask and pulling on examination gloves, Jenna waited for Kane to find the light switches.
The boiler room burst into light, the overhead strip lighting buzzed and flashed for a few seconds.
Jenna’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of Ellie McBride.
She’d seen many people murdered during her time in Black Rock Falls and they’d all shocked her.
There had been other strangulations, and although she’d seen stabbings and terrible mutilations, often the faces of the victims remained untouched and didn’t show the fear they’d suffered prior to their death.
A victim of strangulation usually looked horrific.
The faces of the victims often stayed with Jenna in a parade of terrifyingly gruesome images.
Ellie McBride didn’t remotely resemble the woman that she’d met previously.
A wave of remorse washed over her and she reached out and touched Kane’s arm.
“I’ve let her down. This is my fault. I should have believed her. ”
“You followed procedure and went through the evidence—or lack of it.” Kane’s arm slid around her shoulder and pulled her against him.
“You did everything possible to keep her safe. The person to blame is the killer. The only thing you owe her is what we owe any victim of crime in our county, and that is to find out who did this.” He turned her to face him.
“You’re the smartest woman I know. You’ll figure it out. You always do.”
Nodding, Jenna pulled her professional cloak around her, took out her flashlight, and circled the body.
Evidence would be everywhere, she just needed to recognize it.
The cord ends at the back of the neck told her that Ellie had suffered strangulation from behind, the same as Laney Prescott.
The cord, the type purchased everywhere, had been made into a garrote, left on the body, and tightened by using a small piece of wood, in this case a pencil broken in half and secured to each end.
She glanced at Kane, who crouched beside the body examining the hands.
She touched his shoulder. “The garrote is his signature.”