Partial transcript from ‘After the Carver’ Episode 1 #2
Then my mother finally burst into my room. She’d woken up from my screaming and assumed I’d had a nightmare, so at first she was trying to calm me down, saying things like, ‘ It’s okay, you’ve just had a bad dream, honey ’ while trying to pull me away from the window.
FREYA :
That’s when she finally saw what was happening, right?
KENNEDY :
Yes. She looked over my shoulder and saw my father being dragged away, leaving a trail of blood behind. By that stage, he was almost all the way across the street.
FREYA :
What did she do?
KENNEDY :
She ran out of my room and went downstairs to my father’s study. He kept two guns in a safe there. She knew the code, so she grabbed one and charged outside as fast as she could.
But… even though it only took her two minutes to do that, that was enough time for the Carver to get away.
By the time my mom made it out to the front yard, he’d already shoved my father in the back seat of his car and gotten into the driver’s seat.
Mom fired the gun twice, but neither bullet even came close to hitting the car.
He sped away… and that was that.
That was the last time either of us saw my dad.
FREYA :
What a nightmare.
KENNEDY :
It really was. My mom called the police immediately. The investigation started. And then the riddle arrived at the station.
FREYA :
The very first one.
KENNEDY :
Yeah. No one knew how to interpret it at the time.
I don’t think anyone even realized it was a riddle until the next disappearance.
It took the police ten days to figure out what the message meant, and by then, when they finally searched the right area of the woods, they found blood.
A lot of it. And scraps of my dad’s clothing.
But no body.
His remains had presumably been taken and scattered by animals, because of how long it took to find the site.
FREYA :
And he was one of five early victims whose bodies were never recovered?
KENNEDY :
That’s right. Five people, all taken in those early months, before law enforcement got used to deciphering the riddles.
The killer always gave them just enough time to almost catch up.
But not quite. Sometimes it took days. By the time anyone got there, the trail was cold, and all that was left was scant evidence. Blood. Clothing scraps. Hair.
FREYA :
But they eventually got accustomed to the riddles, right? And they got faster?
KENNEDY :
Yes. They were able to get to the correct locations within one or two days after the next eight victims vanished, so their bodies were still there. Dissected and stacked in piles around the area.
FREYA :
And that’s where the Carver got his name: from the way he so neatly butchered the bodies.
KENNEDY :
That’s right.
FREYA :
So, back to your dad’s case. Did you ever see the riddle the Carver sent about him?
KENNEDY :
No. None of the Carver riddles were ever made public. Not even the families were allowed to see them. So all we know about them is that they had a very particular structure and a unique signature line.
FREYA :
I’ve always thought it was super weird that no one was allowed to see them. Do you know why?
KENNEDY :
Yes. The police kept them out of the public eye for one main reason: because the Carver was never caught, and copycat cases can happen. So they were worried someone would start sending in fake Carver riddles to get attention. Or worse, to commit murders and try to pin them on him.
So, because of that, they figured it was best to keep them hidden. That way, if a copycat tried, they’d know it wasn’t a real Carver riddle.
FREYA :
Ah, that makes sense. But it must’ve really frustrated you back in the day, right? Even now?
KENNEDY :
Yeah, I’ll admit, I’ve always been very curious about the riddles. Especially the one about my dad. I used to wonder if it had clues that could’ve helped us save him, if only someone had figured it out sooner.
FREYA :
That kind of not-knowing must’ve been torture. I mean… the riddle, the wait, the search. And then they only found blood in the end.
[Brief, contemplative beat]
On that note… because your father’s body was never recovered, has that made things harder for you in terms of getting closure?
KENNEDY :
That’s a good question. A lot of people say that not having a body makes it harder. That it leaves them unable to process the grief properly. I can totally understand that, but for me, the lack of a body actually helped, in a weird way.
FREYA :
Really?
KENNEDY :
Yeah. For a long time, I held onto the idea that maybe he was still out there. That maybe he was injured badly but got away somehow, and then he just forgot who he was because the attack damaged his brain and caused some sort of amnesia.
I used to imagine him wandering through different towns, not knowing he had a family waiting for him, and I hoped that one day he’d suddenly remember and come home.
It sounds so ridiculous now. But I was just a kid, and you know what imaginations are like at that age. And that belief gave me something to hold on to.
FREYA :
A kind of hope.
KENNEDY :
Exactly. It delayed the grief in a way that made it more bearable. Of course, as I got older, reality set in. I knew he was really dead. That he was never coming back. But those couple of years in between… they gave me time to adjust. It softened the blow.
FREYA :
Ah, I see. [Brief pause] How did it affect the rest of your family?
KENNEDY :
It didn’t hit my sister so hard, because she was really young at the time. But I know it’s always bothered her that she remembers so little of my father. She’s doing okay, though. She’s out in California, just about to start her first year of college.
As for my mom… she was in a really dark place for a few years. But eventually, she found her footing again. She even found love again.
FREYA :
With your neighbor, right?
KENNEDY :
Yes. Honestly, I think he always had a bit of a crush on her, but he never acted on it while Dad was around. Not even for years after Dad disappeared. Out of respect, I guess. Eventually, he worked up the courage to ask her out, and the rest is history. They’ve been married for six years now.
FREYA :
Just quickly: while we’re on the subject of your stepdad… he was actually a Carver suspect at one point, wasn’t he?
KENNEDY :
Yes. In the court of public opinion, anyway. And we’ll get into that, along with the other early suspects, in Episode 3.
[Brief transition music begins to swell]
FREYA :
For now, we’re going to move on to the first mistake the police made in their investigation of Mark Campbell’s abduction.
KENNEDY :
And how the city of Corwin Bay started to change—because nothing was safe anymore.
[End of partial transcript]