Her Shallow Grave (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“Yeah.” Kane pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. He looked up at her. “I’ve transferred all the images I took at the house to the files. It will be easier to explain, if we go through them one at a time.”

After setting down her cup, Jenna accessed the file and turned her computer screen so everyone could view it. “Okay, the first series seems to be a kitchen.”

“Yeah. Everything we found verifies Ava’s account of what happened there.” Kane motioned with a sandwich to the image. “The kitchen table with the TV opposite, where Brock made her watch as he strangled Isabella. Can you make out the metal rings on the table where he handcuffed her? If you flick through, you’ll see the ones he has on the floor too. Moving on to the next frame, there’s the dumbwaiter and if you scan the images, you’ll see the gap inside the wall, where Ava escaped only to be caught and taken back. It’s all as she detailed.”

Dumfounded Jenna stared at the hundred or so images as Kane explained. She looked at him. “And the truck?”

“Before I go onto the truck, open the file marked, ‘physical evidence.’” Kane narrowed his gaze. “Our killer took trophies. There’s over fifty. Wolfe will examine them all but they tally with the images we found on his computer and phone.”

Jenna stared at the strands of hair carefully arranged and labeled on coat hangers. “Fifty?”

“At least.” Kane pointed to the screen. “They’re not labels, they’re IDs of one sort or another and the hair was pulled out, not cut. This is the reason we took so long, every strand of hair had to be processed separately. I’ve sent a list of the names on the IDs to Carter. The FBI will take it from here and track down the victims’ families. He’ll send you a full report when it’s done but it may take months.”

Astonished, Jenna sat back in her chair trying to grasp the enormity of the crimes the quiet, helpful, Josiah Brock had committed. She shook her head. “How did he do this under our noses?”

“Beats me.” Kane flicked through his phone. “Before I forget, he kept their clothes as well and shoes. Ava’s story checks out. He kept women prisoner in his cellar. It’s impossible to know how long this went on. He was very smart and chose hitchhikers from other states, brought them here and stored them until he needed to kill them. Ava mentioned three of them at once, so he was collecting women to kill.”

Jenna pushed her sandwich away, no longer hungry. “If he was keeping the women holed up in his cabin and dispersing them in other states why suddenly start leaving bodies all over town?”

“Ah, I have a theory. Well, Wolfe and me came up with a theory after examining his truck. I’ll explain.” Kane took a bite of pie, chewed, and swallowed. “Brock has a refrigerated section in his truck, it was well hidden behind a blocked off section with a door. I guess he made it look like an extra sleeping area in case he was pulled over and inspected. We also found body bags and Carter has been running his credit card purchases and Brock regularly purchased dry ice. We figure he picked up women on the road, killed some, and stored them in his truck. He used the dry ice to quick freeze them. He dumped them in other states, weeks and sometimes years after.” He sipped his drink. “Those he killed here, he transported to another state and left the bodies in unusual places, all posed and eyes wide open.”

“He must have had a place to keep them frozen here?” Jenna swallowed hard. Her head ached with all the information. “We know about the meat locker but that would only work in winter.”

“He had that covered.” Kane eyed her over his cup. “In the basement, he had the section where he kept the women and what could only be described as a kill room. Plastic draped walls and a row of industrial sized freezers. He had five or six chainsaws, a bench for dismembering them, knives, everything.” He frowned. “There’s more. We found a hard drive, packed with video footage of him strangling and dismembering his victims in that room.”

Jenna stared at him dumbfounded. “Are you saying he kept his victims frozen until he had a delivery in another state, and as the women were from all over and homeless, nothing tied him to Black Rock Falls?”

“Exactly.” Kane finished his pie.

Jenna frowned at him. “That doesn’t explain why he started dumping bodies here?”

“We figured after he’d collected three girls, he needed the space, and the urge to kill was escalating, so he had to dispose of the bodies fast.” Kane shrugged. “His usual disposal methods included waiting until the temperature dropped to freezing. His victims were always found at the beginning of winter. This way, he avoided any chance of decomposition and the accompanying smell.” He cleared his throat. “We might have found a trigger.”

Jenna sighed. “Do tell.”

“Carter discovered Brock had a problem with intimacy all his life. He’d seen many doctors about being impotent. Jo figures this is the reason he never raped any of his victims. It’s obvious by the images he took of them in a drugged state, he was attracted to them. If Delores discovered his condition and used it to taunt him after being bullied for so long at school it could have pushed him over the edge.”

An overwhelming sorrow flooded Jenna, both for the victims and Josiah Brock. After the cruel bullying he’d endured, he had lashed out to remove all the Deloreses from existence. The poor women, murdered for no fault other than resembling his tormenter. She looked at Kane, confusion tearing her apart. “If we hadn’t taken him down, could he have ever been rehabilitated?”

“After fifty murders? Jenna, rehabilitation would have been off the table at once and if he’d gone to trial, states would be lining up to execute him.” Kane leaned back in his chair and regarded her for long minutes. “Brock told everyone his name was Preacher. Do you recall Emily’s flat tire, the one Wolfe was convinced was slashed? The guy who offered to give her a ride said he was a minister. I’d bet my last dollar that was him. Would you be feeling so compassionate toward him if he’d murdered Emily?”

Cold tingled down Jenna’s spine at the thought. “No, I guess not.”

“I’m glad after dealing with so many murderers, you still have compassion but having doubts about killing Josiah Brock is unfounded. You were under fire and it came down to you or him. I don’t know what went through your mind, when you pulled the trigger but as I lined up my shot, all I could think of was how much Isabella Bennet suffered before she died by his hand. We gave him the best possible option. Unlike his victims, he didn’t feel a thing.”

Epilogue

Monday, Week 3

A knock came at Jenna’s office door and Rowley appeared.

“Do you have a minute?”

She waved him inside. “I do. Problem?”

“No.” Rowley grinned broadly and pulled Sandy into the room. His girlfriend’s cheeks had flushed an attractive shade of pink and she looked embarrassed. “We have an announcement. We’re engaged.” He swung Sandy around and then placed her carefully back on her feet.

“He asked me over lunch.” Sandy grinned at her and wiggled her fingers displaying a beautiful engagement ring. “It was his great-grandma’s ring and it fits like a glove.”