Page 33 of Dark Angel
“Yeah, I was just asking the sheriff to forward us the statements from the first on scene.” Beth nodded to the sheriff. “I think we’ve seen everything we need for now. Wolfe will send us the images of the scene and his reports. I figure we should head on home and start interviewing suspects.”
Styles shrugged. “Yeah, I’m happy to do that but I want to follow the trail back to the fire road and look for evidence. I know the deputies walked the area, but we notice things they miss. It won’t take us more than half an hour, and we’ll be back in Rattlesnake Creek by lunchtime. That will give us plenty of time to hunt down the suspects this afternoon.” He gave her a long considering stare. “He’s not going to kill again today. He’ll likely be spending most of his time relocating that girl. I figure he flips them almost immediately.”
“Okay, lead the way.” Beth pointed to a trail leading off to the left. “The sheriff said it was down that way.”
Styles looked around. “We need that shoe. I’ve been training Bear to track scent, and he might be able to pick something up.”
“I would say it’s over there.” Beth pointed to a pile of evidence bags resting on a tree stump.
After opening the bag to allow Bear to sniff the contents, Styles followed him when he ran along the trail Beth had indicated. “That’s a good sign.” He hurried after Bear with Beth on his heels.
Feeling as if he’d been trapped in a reoccurring nightmare, Styles followed Bear through the forest. Bear stopped and barked at the marker where the shoe had been left proudly displayed on an upturned log. The dog continued on weaving through the trees and stopped abruptly at the fire road and walked around in circles for a time before sitting down. They found no signs of a vehicle on the tightly packed dirt road. Again, they found a few strands of hair, caught in the branches of a pine tree. “This indicates he was carrying her, look how high the hair is snagged. He was carrying her over one shoulder. If I take this as an estimate, I would say the Pied Piper is approximately five-ten.”
“Well, let’s go and get him.” Beth turned a full circle and went back to his side. “I’m convinced the Pied Piper is close by. I can feel it in my bones.”
THIRTY-THREE
The scenic ride back to Rattlesnake Creek helped to remove the graphic crime scene images from Beth’s head, but her mind was working overtime. She considered the problem from every angle and came to the conclusion that the Pied Piper wouldn’t risk being seen, and as an organized psychopathic killer, the Pied Piper must be grooming his victims over time. First up, he would need access to the girls over a period of time to secure their trust. From Ryder’s investigation, she’d discovered that no one was seen lurking around when the girls went missing, so either he went undetected because he was so familiar to the townsfolk or he was hiding somewhere in a prearranged meeting place. The only feasible way he could make this happen was that he used an inducement to encourage them to meet him somewhere in the forest. She turned to Styles and activated her headphones. “Is there a place you can land in Spring Grove?”
“Yeah, but why do you want to go there now? Won’t that be showing our hand?”
Shaking her head, Beth looked at him. “Not today, maybe tomorrow. I’m convinced the Pied Piper is grooming the girls and I’m considering going straight to the source for information. If I can arrange it with the local school, we might be able to get clues from the kids. I know the legal ramifications of interviewing juveniles, but I was thinking about approaching it as a talk. As in, we speak to the principal and explain what’s going on, but ask him if we can talk to the kids not in a one-on-one situation but by addressing the class. I could talk about the different ways predators can come at them. Maybe we can get some of them to speak up. What do you say?”
“You’d need to be very careful what you say. We’re talking about children, and if they go home terrified of everything around them, we won’t be very popular.” Styles glanced at her. “I assume you have some idea of how you’re going to approach the subject?”
Wrinkling her nose in thought, Beth shrugged. “I’ll have something ready by the time we get there. I don’t have a problem speaking in public and I know how to deal with kids. I won’t say anything to upset anyone. I guess we can call the principal and tell him that it’s Stranger Awareness Week, and mention that as there have been two murders in surrounding counties, we are just making the children aware of the dangers of speaking to people they don’t know.”
“I could do that.” Styles’ attention was fixed on flying the chopper. “People are used to seeing me around, so they’ll assume that we’re doing this as a community service.”
Glad he’d come on board with her plan, Beth nodded. “Thanks.”
When they landed in Rattlesnake Creek, they went straight to Tommy Joe’s Bar and Grill for lunch. They ordered at the counter and went to sit in a secluded booth at the back to discuss the three suspects on the list. After stripping off her coat, Beth sat down and placed her iPad on the table. “Before, when we were looking at suspects, I hunted down various employment agencies and discovered a travel nurse agency situated in Black Rock Falls. It’s a walk-in and online agency, and I figure Ainsley Rice and Emerson Green are registered there. As neither of them is working in one of the local hospitals for long periods of time, they seem to be on call to fill in when others are sick or on vacation.”
“So, we give the agency a call and explain we need to contact them on a private matter, they can call us back on the FBI line if necessary to verify our identity.” Styles leaned back in his chair making it groan under his weight. “Once we find out where our suspects are working, we’ll pay them a visit. It will be easier that way. It will be harder for them to avoid us when they’re at work.”
Nodding, Beth chewed on her bottom lip. “Lawrence Dawson, the courier driver, is going to be a little more difficult to find. As he runs his own business and is out on the road most times, I’m not sure how we can hunt him down.”
“I know.” Styles smiled and rubbed his belly. “There is a small diner in Black Rock Falls, which sends pies out the same day, using Dawson’s courier service. He just happens to be there on Sundays. I made a note when I was hunting him down. We order some cherry pies and get him to deliver them to us. When he arrives, we’ll ask him a few general questions and feel him out. If he is willing to talk, we could move on to when he delivers to certain towns as we often need urgent courier services.”
Beth grinned. “That sounds like a plan. As soon as we’ve eaten, we’ll head back to the office and wait for him.”
When Tommy Joe arrived at the table with their meals it was obvious he had something on his mind. Beth looked up at him, waiting for him to say something. When he just placed the meals on the table and smiled at her, she narrowed her gaze at him. “Is there a problem?”
“I was just told about the young kids going missing.” Tommy Joe frowned at her. “I’m trying to figure out how he knew the girls were in the forest.”
“That’s exactly what we’re trying to figure out too.” Styles refilled his cup from a pot on the table. “We haven’t any idea whatsoever.”
“I have two nieces around that age and they have always got their heads bent over their iPads.” Tommy Joe shrugged. “The internet isn’t safe these days. Do you think he’s getting at them through a webpage or a game?”
Beth smiled at him. “We’ll look into that. Thank you for the suggestion.”
“Not a problem.” Tommy Joe smiled at them. “I’ll bring you a fresh pot of coffee.” He picked up the empty pot from the table and walked away.
“What do you think?” Styles picked up his burger and examined it.
The idea had crossed Beth’s mind, but she had no idea how involved the local children were in social media in this remote area. “I can take a look and see if there are any games or chat lines that kids are accessing locally. It’s difficult unless we have a device that one of the kids has been using.”
“I could ask Ryder if he collected Brooklyn Daniels’ computer or whatever for evidence.” Styles frowned. “As it’s his first murder, he may have overlooked it. It wasn’t an angle I was pursuing at the time either. I had no idea kids of that age were into online games or social media. I figured all that started around the time they went to high school.” He pulled out his phone and made a call. He handed an earbud to Beth. “Hey, Cash, did you by any chance take any media devices or phone from the Daniels home?”
