Bring Me Flowers (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Forty-Six

Jenna stood in the Foxes’ hallway, enclosed in a shroud of dread. It took every ounce of her strength not to break down at the sight of the faces contorted with grief in front of her. Aimee’s parents had returned from date night and, seeing their daughter’s door closed, had tiptoed to their bedroom without checking on her. Arriving at their front door at eight forty-five on a Friday morning, they stared at her in disbelief after discovering a monster had murdered their daughter.

“It can’t be true.” Mrs. Fox turned around and ran up the stairs. Moments later a scream of anguish echoed through the house. “She’s not here and hasn’t slept in her bed. Oh my God.” She stared down from the top of the stairs, her face pale and eyes wide with shock.

“Are you sure it’s Aimee?” Mr. Fox ran a shaking hand down his face.

Jenna laid one hand on his arm and guided him into the family room. “I’m sure. Please take a seat.”

“What happened to her?” Mrs. Fox stumbled into the room and collapsed on the sofa beside her husband. “I need to know. You have to tell me.” She burst into uncontrollable sobbing.

Wanting to be compassionate, Jenna pushed the images of mutilation to the back of her mind and fell back on the usual answer. “Cause of death is yet to be determined, although the M.E. at the scene has determined it is homicide. I am so sorry for your loss.”

“Who would kill Aimee?” Mr. Fox stared at her with a blank, unseeing expression. “I can’t understand why she left the house. I thought Lucas was coming to keep her company. I told them not to leave the house, not after the girls went missing.”

Jenna cleared her throat. “I take it you missed the news last night? We believe the same killer murdered Felicity, Kate, and Joanne Blunt.”

Two sheet-white faces stared at her in disbelief. She needed information and had to ask the questions. “When did you last see Aimee?”

“When we went out for dinner around six last night.” Mr. Fox looked at her bleakly. “We ate early then caught a movie. We dropped into Aunt Betty’s Café for coffee and cake around ten then came home close to eleven, I guess.”

“What was she doing at the time?”

“Online with the new girl, what’s her name?” Mr. Fox wiped at the tear streaming down his cheeks and glanced at his distraught wife.

“Emily, the new deputy’s daughter.” Mrs. Fox pleated her skirt with trembling fingers. “You should call Lucas, he might have asked her to meet him somewhere.”

Assuming Chad would have informed his best friend about finding Kate’s body after the news story aired, Jenna shook her head. “I doubt he would risk asking her to leave home alone. He is a friend of Chad, isn’t he? Kate’s boyfriend?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?” Mr. Fox gave her a puzzled look then reached for a cellphone on the coffee table. “I’m calling Lucas now.” He leaned back on the sofa. “Lucas, this is Mr. Fox. Did you drop by to see Aimee last night? No? Oh, she mentioned you planned to keep her company.” He stared into space, listening. “Okay, thanks.” He disconnected and met Jenna’s eyes. “He received a bonus game card and played online until way past midnight. He forgot about calling Aimee to tell her he wouldn’t be coming, and asked me to tell her he’d call her later.”

“Would Emily have asked her to come over?” Mrs. Fox wiped her wet cheeks with a tissue then straightened.

Jenna pushed to her feet. “No, she is aware of the danger but I’ll go and speak to her now. The M.E. will contact you if you wish to see Aimee. Is there anyone I can call?”

“No, no thank you.” Mr. Fox pushed unsteadily to his feet. “I’ll contact our family. When will we be able to see her? She is all alone, we should be there.”

“Later today, perhaps tomorrow morning.” Jenna walked with him to the front door. “She is in safe hands, Mr. Fox. I promise I will find the person who did this and bring him to justice.”

* * *

Out in the open, Jenna took in a few deep breaths to steady her nerves then walked toward Kane’s SUV and reached inside her pocket for the keys. The idea of returning to the crime scene churned her guts. She fired up the engine, swung the powerful SUV around, and headed back to the crime scene. The K-9 team had left by the time she arrived and paramedics were loading the bodies into the back of two ambulances. She pulled to the curb and met Kane

walking out of the forest. “Find any evidence at all?”

“Yeah, a few fibers and a couple of hairs.” A trickle of sweat ran down Kane’s face. He appeared hot and exhausted. Mud caked his coveralls. “It looks like Mrs. Rogers was hit over the head then strangled.” He pulled off the booties, unzipped the coveralls, and rolled them into a ball. “Wolfe is convinced we are dealing with two different killers.”

Unease slid over her. “Dammit, two killers and we let one walk right out of the door yesterday.” She walked around in circles. “We look like incompetent fools. I don’t suppose Rogers is waiting at home for us to arrest him again either?”

“Nope. I sent Rowley to his house to look. Steve Rogers is on the run. His car is in the garage but we have to assume his wife’s car is missing, and it looks like he left in a hurry. He must have hidden her car close by but we have the license plate. I’ve contacted the state police and put out a BOLO plus told Maggie to give his photograph to the media and inform them he is wanted on suspicion of murder.” He gave her a long, compassionate look. “It’s not our fault. At the time, we had no evidence to keep him in custody. Think about the evidence. We didn’t have a missing person, only blood smears and a missing carpet. No judge is going to allow us to keep a suspect under arrest without proof of a crime.” He squeezed her shoulder in his large palm. “If it makes you feel any better, I doubt he’ll murder again. I think by the number of blows he inflicted, it was a crime of passion. Nothing like what happened to the other victims.”

Her stomach rolled and she stared up at him. “What about Aimee? Did she suffer like Kate?”

“Wolfe will be able to tell us more after the autopsy. Her murder was close to the street and he would worry about someone hearing her screams. The blow to the back of her head would have knocked her out cold. It looks like the killer uses the same method to subdue his victims each time. He attacks from behind, stuns the victims with a blunt object, then rapes them.” Kane’s mouth turned down in a grimace. “It seems too much of a coincidence he stumbled over Mrs. Rogers’ grave as he was killing Aimee. I’ve been wondering if he was hiding in the forest after killing Kate and saw Rogers bury his wife.”

Trying hard to concentrate, Jenna rubbed her temples. “Going on what we know, Rogers was in the forest at the time of Kate’s death, and it’s more than likely Kate’s killer was as well, so it’s possible. Why uncover Mrs. Rogers’ face? It seems so macabre.”

“Not if you look into the mind of a psychopath.” Kane removed his hat and massaged his head as if he had a headache. “When he knocked Aimee out, he didn’t have the thrill of the fight, so I think he uncovered Mrs. Rogers’ face to watch him.”