Chapter 25 Reyna #2
One right after another, the wild goose chase continues. I take a snack break before clicking into the next one. I don’t know how lawyers can do this for a living. This is killing me. I’m bored out of my mind.
I get comfortable, cozying up beneath the blankets until I’m practically lying on my back. My brows hike when I realize I’m reading a case about a serial killer from nine years ago. That has me sitting back up.
Seven victims. All sliced and diced and found around the city.
Korbin Mitchell Lewis’s DNA was found on a piece of fabric that was on one of the victims, and he was seen around the same place as another victim the day they went missing.
But according to the police, none of the people who died seemed to have much in common beyond the way their bodies were mutilated.
He claimed not guilty, and pleaded insanity as his defense.
When the police first took Lewis into custody, he insisted he was being framed by bee people.
My forehead wrinkles as I read the line again.
It says in quotes, “The defendant alleged the murders were carried out by who he described at the time as the ‘bee people.’ He later claimed he was set up by ‘the people who keep bees.’ Lewis became aggressive with the police when they rejected his claim.”
Beekeepers.
I scroll through the case until I find mention of Cresswell.
“When giving evidence at trial, Lewis echoed the sentiments given to the police during the investigation. He refused to answer the questions asked, and stated that the ‘bee people’ earlier mentioned had framed him so the mayor could be elected. When I asked who they were, he claimed they’re a secret group of people living beneath Cresswell. ”
I reread the paragraph several times until there are stabbing pains behind my eye. The decision never elaborates on who or what Cresswell supposedly is, and maybe I’m concussed or dramatic, but he must be referring to the university.
All of the body parts were found in New York. This case was heard in New York.
New York’s most prestigious university used to have a beekeeping society that even politicians joined.
The serial killer, Maddox Shaw, professor and alumnus of Cresswell University, has a string of murders where the victims all have ties to the same university.
Every puzzle piece is creating the same picture.
Am I seriously about to believe that the honeycomb emblem is connected to a secret society because of the claims from someone who doctors strongly suggested should be institutionalized? Is this the concussion speaking? Then again, it’s too big to be a giant coincidence.
My dad is linked to it somehow; I just don’t know how it fits yet. Maybe… Maybe he was a member of this bee society? Or maybe he got caught up in it somehow.
But how would Maddox fit? Is he targeting people from the society? Does he work for them? Does he have some kind of vendetta against them?
I debate calling him to ask, but if this society is the type to murder someone like it’s just another Tuesday, I’m not sure that’s something I want to talk about over the phone. I need to know more about this case first.
I go through the decision front to back, then do it one more time in case I missed anything. There’s nothing else about Lewis’s claims beyond the judge’s deep dive into the many mental health reports and expert opinions.
Anxiety works my stomach as I do an internet search of the people he allegedly killed.
It was so long ago that most of them didn’t have much of an online presence, and if they did, it’s gone now.
There are far too many search results for his name.
I have to wade through the pages before finding him on the sixth one, and I only find a single article by a random indie print I’ve never heard of.
KORBIN MITCHELL LEWIS DIED
SIX DAYS FOLLOWING A UNANIMOUS
GUILTY VERDICT BY THE JURY
Prickles skate over my skin. Lewis is dead?
Cold sweat trickles down my spine. I check the date of the decision against the article. They line up. The court document was published at a later date, but it doesn’t mention anywhere that Lewis died or that there was no more need for a sentencing date.
The prosecution’s case was weak at best, and it was clear he was mentally unwell. He probably wasn’t even fit for trial. There… couldn’t have been foul play.
Except Lewis claimed he was being framed for murders he didn’t commit.
He was found to be fit for trial, and the jury convicted him despite testimony from the forensic specialists and evidence of his slew of health issues.
A week later, he died… And for there to be no news coverage of this beyond this one article?
If a serial killer who allegedly chopped up seven people and scattered their remains around the city was found guilty for it, then died in what was likely police custody, I’d expect the local newspaper to have covered it.
My hunch says he was killed. It’d make sense.
Blame it on the person who can’t properly defend themselves, then get rid of them once they’ve gone down for it because they’ve been opening their mouth and spilling secrets they shouldn’t.
And Lawrence, he… he knew what the hexagon ceiling meant. He must have known that a society or an organization of some sort was involved. Hence why he told me to stay the hell away from it.
Everything points to two things: Cresswell and fucking bees.
I’m going to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I believe Lewis. I think I’m looking into a secret society, and if my theory is correct and I’m not careful, I’m going to be in a world of danger.
And maybe that danger found my father.