I felt sick to my stomach. Good god, who were these people? What the hell had they been doing to the boy? They barely fed him enough for a growing boy. One week, his weight was over a hundred pounds. After that, his diet became even more drastic, more strict, mostly dried nuts, fruit, and vegetable broth.
No wonder he’d wolfed down the sticky buns.
They’d controlled his food intake. What else had they controlled?
“Neely, it’s him.” I spun around to Knight, who entered the bedroom, a triumphant smile on his face. How could he be smiling? There was nothing here to smile about. These monsters had shaped an innocent boy’s life.
“What did you find?”
“Boxes of handkerchiefs, the same we found on the victims’ bodies.” He still had that smug grin on his face. “They’re definitely the ones behind the Handkerchief Murders. I only wish we’d nabbed the sick bastard before he offed himself. He got the easy way out.”
But would Cosmo?
“Something tells me there are a lot more secrets in this house, Knight. I don’t like what I’m finding. These people are sick and twisted. Take a look at this.”
He took the book from me and flipped the pages. “What is this?”
“They had him on a diet. Every time he weighed more than a hundred pounds, they cut back his already meager portions.”
“For what purpose?”
I shrugged. “No idea, but I intend to find out.”
“The wife’s missing.”
“Maybe after we’ve turned this place upside down, we’ll have some clue about her whereabouts.”
“Let’s hope so. We need answers, and the body in the living room isn’t going to give them.”