Page 112 of Pink Ink

My bright idea was to narrow down the search to only criminal cases in the past ten years. There are still several hundred, but it’s substantially more manageable than the initial figure.

I click the case I was attempting to read before bed last night to pick up where I left off. I skim over the legal crap to see if any details are dropped that might lead me somewhere.

Like the previous ten pages, it is a waste of time.

The next one only mentions Cresswell because the expert witness studied there.

The one after had a fight break out on campus.

In the next, the defendant went to the Cresswell gym—I didn’t even know we had one—straight after murdering someone.

One right after another, the wild goose chase continues. I take a snack break before clicking into the next one. I don’t know how lawyers can do this for a living. This is killing me. I’m bored out of my mind.

I get comfortable, cozying up beneath the blankets until I’m practically lying on my back. My brows hike when I realize I’m reading a case about a serial killer from nine years ago. That has me sitting back up.

Seven victims. All sliced and diced and found around the city.

Korbin Mitchell Lewis’s DNA was found on a piece of fabric that was on one of the victims, and he was seen around the same place as another victim the day they went missing. But according to the police, none of the people who died seemed to have much in common beyond the way their bodies were mutilated.

He claimed not guilty, and pleaded insanity as his defense.

When the police first took Lewis into custody, he insisted he was being framed by bee people.

My forehead wrinkles as I read the line again. It says in quotes, “The defendant alleged the murders were carried out by who he described at the time as the ‘bee people.’ He later claimed he was set up by ‘the people who keep bees.’ Lewis became aggressive with the police when they rejected his claim.”

Beekeepers.

I scroll through the case until I find mention of Cresswell.

“When giving evidence at trial, Lewis echoed the sentiments given to the police during the investigation. He refused to answer the questionsasked, and stated that the ‘bee people’ earlier mentioned had framed him so the mayor could be elected. When I asked who they were, he claimed they’re a secret group of people living beneath Cresswell.”

I reread the paragraph several times until there are stabbing pains behind my eye. The decision never elaborates on who or what Cresswell supposedly is, and maybe I’m concussed or dramatic, but he must be referring to the university.

All of the body parts were found in New York. This case was heard in New York.

New York’s most prestigious university used to have a beekeeping society that even politicians joined.

The serial killer, Maddox Shaw, professor and alumnus of Cresswell University, has a string of murders where the victims all have ties to the same university.

Every puzzle piece is creating the same picture.

Am I seriously about to believe that the honeycomb emblem is connected to a secret society because of the claims from someone who doctors strongly suggested should be institutionalized? Is this the concussion speaking? Then again, it’s too big to be a giant coincidence.

My dad is linked to it somehow; I just don’t know how it fits yet. Maybe… Maybe he was a member of this bee society? Or maybe he got caught up in it somehow.

But how would Maddox fit? Is he targeting people from the society? Does he work for them? Does he have some kind of vendetta against them?

I debate calling him to ask, but if this society is the type to murder someone like it’s just another Tuesday, I’m not sure that’s something I want to talk about over the phone. I need to know more about this case first.

I go through the decision front to back, then do it one more time in case I missed anything. There’s nothing else about Lewis’s claims beyond the judge’s deep dive into the many mental health reports and expert opinions.

Anxiety works my stomach as I do an internet search of the people he allegedly killed. It was so long ago that most of them didn’t have much of an online presence, and if they did, it’s gone now. There are far too many search results for his name. I have to wade through the pages before finding him on the sixth one, and I only find a single article by a random indie print I’ve never heard of.

KORBINMITCHELLLEWISDIED

SIXDAYSFOLLOWING AUNANIMOUS

GUILTYVERDICT BY THEJURY