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“I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Bit muttered when he realized that Erika had brought them Chinese food. “Where did you get this from, Erika?”
“There’s a Chinese restaurant about three miles from here,” she said with a smile. “I figured you’d be sick and tired of bar food, and even the diner only has so many meals on the menu.”
Erika’s smile began to gradually fade when she caught sight of the monitor. Theo and Bit hadn’t noticed since they were busy removing the white containers from the bags, but Brook attempted to gauge which of the three names on the board bothered her so much. Brook didn’t have to wait long before the answer was revealed, exposing another problem.
“Why is Allen Brixton’s name on the board?” Erika asked cautiously as she pulled at the collar of her uniform. “You can’t possibly think that he murdered Luna Breen.”
“About that,” Brook said after taking a sip of her coffee. “Luna Breen wasn’t the only victim. Helen Beckham was murdered in that abandoned cabin that Sylvie and Riggs discovered last week. We’re still waiting for the other trace evidence from both crime scenes.”
“That means that there is a good chance another cabin or structure is somewhere in the mountains that contains Carissa Norman’s blood.” Erika raised a hand to her mouth as if she could lessen her nausea. “Where are the other two bodies? What is the killer doing with their remains?”
“Burying them. What’s left of them,” Brook amended as she attempted to fill in the profile. “I believe that the unsub left their bodies in the cabins with resentment that they couldn’t give the answer or answers to what he was asking of them. A week or two later, remorse settled in. Whether that’s because the unsub went back to his regular life and the memories of what he’d done was too much or merely to hide the result of such an impulsive action isn’t clear.”
“But I thought you said this was premeditated?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.” Brook reached for the remote. She then pressed a few buttons so that a crime scene picture of Luna Breen appeared in the top righthand corner of the screen. “Whatever it is the unsub wants to know from these women becomes an obsession over the years. He constantly thinks about torturing someone who he believes can supply him with some type of response. So much so, that he was able to pick which locations that he would apply the torture. Considering all the victims were brunette and in their twenties, I can only assume that the sight of them triggered his urge. The compulsion to follow through with his thoughts overcame his sense of right and wrong. Only when he returned back home did repentance become heavy enough to cause his need to bury them.”
“Could the unsub have properly buried his other victims?” Theo asked as he picked up a set of chopsticks. Erika seemed repulsed that Theo and Bit could eat lunch after what had just been discussed, but that was only because she typically wasn’t used to handling these types of investigations. “Do you think we could attempt to find a burial ground with actual headstones?”
“In theory, yes,” Brook answered as she reached for her tablet. She quickly inserted some additional notes into the profile so that the team had access to them. “Although I doubt that he would have left a marker large enough for anyone to know what they truly stood for. That last piece of the puzzle brings us as close to a full profile as possible. The unsub could be single, married, divorced, children, no children. He’ll be someone who the town knows well, which is why you need to accept that even Allen Brixton could be a person of interest.”
“Allen can’t even kill a spider,” Erika said in defense of the man. The disbelief in her voice came through with a nervous laugh. “He’d be devastated to know that his name was even mentioned with this case.”
“I take it that you’re involved with him?”
“No.” Erika finally released her collar. “Allen Brixton is my future brother-in-law.”
Chapter Sixteen
Theo Neville
October 2023
Monday — 3:23pm
Billowingcloudshadgatheredand were slowly rolling in from the west, their shadows drifting across the main thoroughfare of Moonshine Valley. The temperature had already dropped a few degrees, and there was nothing subtle about the chill that had settled into the air. With it came the familiar scent of petrichor.
“It’s going to rain,” Theo said after he and Erika had exited the bar. Their intended destination was an outdoor outfitter shop two blocks down. Allen Brixton happened to own the storefront, which just so happened to sell hiking equipment. “Or maybe a mixture of rain and snow. Once we finish speaking with Brixton, we’ll drive to Wayne Uriel’s residence.”
The shift in weather wasn’t lost on Theo. It was almost as if Mother Nature was letting them know they were running out of time. Brook had mentioned to Sylvie that it could take them months or longer to apprehend the unsub. With winter approaching, searching for a burial ground or even another abandoned structure where the killer had taken another victim would be impossible.
“We shouldn’t be wasting our time like this,” Erika muttered as she pulled the zipper a little higher on her jacket so that the collar protected her neck. “Like I said, Allen can’t even kill a spider.”
The wind had picked up a bit as the cold front began to move into the area. Dead leaves swirled on the sidewalk up ahead as if to lead them to their destination. While there were a couple of vehicles in sight, a news van stood out the most. It wouldn’t be too long before more reporters showed up to cover the latest news about another woman’s disappearance.
Brook would have no choice but to make a statement. She’d been hoping that the sheriff would be able to contain the situation, but it was clear that someone had tipped off a local reporter. Theo could only imagine the chaotic scene at the bed and breakfast, but he needed to focus on the task at hand.
Allen Brixton hadn’t been mentioned in Erika’s background information. She’d informed them that Allen had just proposed to her sister. The connection would have eventually come to light with Bit’s software program. The way his application could search through online sites was incredible, but the manner in which he could then utilize said information to garner additional correlations between suspects and victims was simply astonishing.
“What do the victims all have in common beyond physical features and age?” Theo asked as they crossed the street. “I’ll answer for you. Hiker’s Haven.”
“Right,” Erika said in agreement as she shoved her hands into her pockets. “Mauve’s bed and breakfast. Plus, we know that Kirk Sampson was personally involved with Carissa Norman. Shouldn’t our focus be on Hiker’s Haven and Kirk?”
“We need to look beyond that, because we also know that Sampson couldn’t have murdered all three victims.”
“What if there is more than one killer?”
“The profile doesn’t suggest that there is more than one unsub, which means we need to find another connection. Whether that connection lies with the victims or Hiker’s Haven remains to be seen, but we don’t stop looking just because we don’t like where the investigation is headed.”
