Chapter 43
Forty-Three
Friday
The moment Kitteridge climbed into the bus to take him to County, a great weight had lifted from Jenna’s shoulders.
She’d slept well for the first time since the nightmare had started and spent time with her boys before leaving for work.
The manager of the Haunted House had called earlier and had a job waiting for Marty Flynn, the boy from the Old Mitcham Ranch.
It would give the honest young man a shot at his dreams. Everything had come out okay.
As they traveled along Main, Jenna took the time to enjoy the displays.
The mist still swirled and the mountain breeze jiggled the hanging jack-o’-lanterns but somehow after the horror, the fun had returned to town.
People smiled and waved as they passed by.
The media release Rio had sent out late last night informing everyone they’d caught the Axman had created an immediate effect—it was as if the town had stopped holding its breath.
Even Aunt Betty’s Café had a half-price special on pumpkin pie to celebrate.
Wishing she could take an hour to walk through town and see all the displays, Jenna reminded herself that as Halloween fell on Saturday night, and everyone wanted to go trick-or-treating, she needed to get her team into action and send all the evidence they’d collected to the DA’s office ASAP.
Kitteridge would face a hearing in the afternoon where, Sam Cross informed them, he would plead guilty.
She’d messaged Wolfe earlier and checked the server for any updates. “I have an update from Wolfe.”
“Good.” Kane leaned back in his chair, making it moan under his weight. “What does he say?”
Jenna scanned the screen. “It says he has formally identified the last victim as Caleb Durnell.” She scrolled down and glanced up at him.
“The ax, if you remember, has a slight chip in the blade? Well, that is concurrent throughout all the victims. There’s no doubt the ax we found on scene last night was the murder weapon.
” She turned back to the screen. “He also says Kitteridge’s height matches up to the height of the killer from the blood spatter, and if he hadn’t confessed, we had him on evidence anyway. ”
“That’s good to know, but as we arrived seconds after he’d committed the crime, I figure that would have been enough evidence.
” Kane wiped a hand down his face and leaned back to stare at the ceiling.
He slowly lowered his gaze to Jenna. “I’m appalled that he murdered six people before Durnell, but I can see how a burning revenge from something so traumatic as a child could trigger a psychopath who might have lived a normal life if that hadn’t happened.
” He gave his head a shake. “I feel sorry for him in a way—well, the child he was anyway—not the killer. Not having anyone believe him about something so terrible and then being beaten for lying, it’s tragic.
If his father had supported him and got justice, six people needn’t have died. ”
Jenna nodded slowly. “Yeah, abuse causes so much damage.” She ran her fingers along the top of the file on her desk. “You said six people, and seven people died, Dave.”
“Durnell? Hmm. I’ve been wondering how long that predator has gotten away with abusing kids.
” Kane drummed his fingers on the table.
“He took kids out into the forest for nature walks or whatever. Do you recall the person at the Haunted House mentioning how he was such a nice guy and all? Maybe Kitteridge cut the head off of a snake?”
Jenna nodded. “Maybe.” She pushed a strand of hair behind one ear. “I wish I’d been able to ask Kitteridge about the phone we left in his vehicle but it wasn’t something I needed to explain to the DA.”
“Well, he found it and tossed it in the trash.” Kane scratched his chin. “Kalo traced it easily enough. We have the others too.”
After sending all the documents she needed for her report to the printer, Jenna turned to see Kane looking at her. She smiled. “What? Surprised I bent the rules in an attempt to save lives?”
“Well, technically it wasn’t you.” Kane shook his head slowly. “If he hadn’t confessed and mentioned the phone, it would have cost us the case.”
Understanding the implications, Jenna rubbed her temple and stared at him.
“I figure it was an act of desperation, but I’ll speak to the team and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
You’re right, we can’t go cutting corners.
In truth, we didn’t use any information from the phones, did we?
We didn’t need them after all. One tip from an observant local and we caught the killer on our own. ”
After compiling all the reports, Jenna called Rowley to deliver them to the DA.
As she watched him leave the office, she hoped life would return to normal for a time.
When Rhett Lawson and Julie Wolfe appeared at the office door, she waved them in.
“Hi there, come in and take a seat. Do you have news on Jill Marsden?”
“Yeah.” Rhett frowned and dropped into a chair in front of Jenna’s desk.
“First the good news. She is in your care. The court is happy with the arrangements for her until we can get the situation sorted, and if not, she’ll be placed in the system.
I know that’s not what you want, but I can assure you we’ll be making sure she’ll be happy. ” He placed the paperwork on the desk.
Understanding how the system worked, Jenna nodded. “Maybe we can find a relative?”
“Maybe not.” Julie pulled her gloves off one finger at a time and met Jenna’s gaze. “We’ve been hunting down the foster parents and they don’t seem to exist.”
“What?” Kane stood and walked to the counter and leaned against it, staring at them in disbelief. “How could this happen?”
“We contacted Agents Katz and Styles as you suggested.” Rhett pulled a file from his briefcase and placed it on the table.
“Beth was able to trace Jill and her sister back to Butte and an accident where the parents died after falling into an old mineshaft. They were all taken to the local hospital. The kids were checked out and left to wait.” Rhett tapped the folder.
“This is where it gets skewed. The kids went missing from the hospital. When the hospital’s social services advisor went to find them, they were gone.
She contacted the local police, who filed a missing persons report.
The cops didn’t follow up. The FBI wasn’t called. ”
“Beth can’t find an investigation.” Julie’s bleak expression said volumes. “They didn’t even search for them.”
“So are Beth and Styles taking the case?” Kane folded his arms across his chest.
“Styles will get back to us soon, but it’s what they do best—well, apart from you.” Rhett gave his head a shake. “As we don’t have an address for the supposed foster carer, he mentioned taking Jill back to where she escaped from and asking her to point out the house.”
“You could do that with a drone.” Kane exchanged a meaningful look with Jenna.
“I don’t believe taking her back there is a good thing.
” He stared at Rhett. “The Axman killed seven people because of being abused as a kid. He took one look at his abuser and it triggered him. I figure she’s been through enough.
Each time she’s asked for help, the cops have taken her back to her abuser. That’s never happening again.”
“No, no—I agree with you.” Rhett cleared his throat. “Jill will need time to recover, mentally and physically. If this means at Her Broken Wings, well, I’ll fight to keep her there as long as she’s happy.”
“That’s good to know.” Kane nodded slowly. “Finding her sister would help. For all we know, she might be with a good family.”
“After speaking with Beth, I believe that’s highly unlikely.” Julie picked at her fingers. “She is very blunt. I really hope she is on the case. Between all of us, we might find some answers.”
Jenna pushed both hands through her hair and sat, elbows on the desk staring at the folders.
“I’ve spoken to Beth about this case too.
I’m sure she’ll take it, and if necessary, we can be sworn in as her deputies.
I’d need to inform the local sheriff, but I doubt very much they’d stand in our way.
” She lifted her head. “Jill doesn’t know her address. I wonder if she’s ever been to school?”
“These are things we’ll speak to her about, but we need to take it slowly.
” Julie leaned back in her chair. “She puts on a brave face but has never mentioned the abuse.” She looked at Jenna.
“I would very much like to keep working with her to extract information, and if Beth and Styles get involved and can hunt down the foster parents, and of course her sister, we can start investigating.”
Concern rolled over Jenna. She wanted to jump in, boots and all, but she’d need to wait. For now, Jill was safe and that was her first priority. She picked up her phone. “I’ll call Beth.” She placed her phone on speaker.
“Jenna. Somehow, I expected your call.” Beth sounded amused.
“The answer to your question is that we’re on the case.
Leave it with me. I’ll keep you in the loop and the moment we discover anything, we’ll come by and get you both in the chopper.
I do have one piece of information for you.
The family didn’t live in Butte; they came from Great Falls. ”
Nodding, Jenna glanced at the others. “That’s interesting. Why were they out with two kids alone near the old mines, and why did they warn Jill not to trust cops, and only the sheriff?”
“This is what I mean to find out.” Beth cleared her throat. “Leave it with me and take some downtime over Halloween. I’ll get back to you.” She disconnected.
Jenna stared at the screen for a moment. There was so much more she wanted to discuss with Beth, but she had her own way of dealing with predators. She turned to Rhett. “She’s like a dog with a bone. She’ll get the information we need.”
“So now we wait?” Rhett blew out a long sigh.
Nodding, Jenna leaned back in her chair and stared into space. “Yeah, now we wait.”