Prologue
Zoe Moore had had a good day. Freshly graduated, she was about to move out of her parent’s house and had spent the day packing boxes. Now it was time for a night out on the town with friends before a last goodbye. She drove to the bar on her motorcycle. She was going to leave it behind at her parent’s house for the time being and was sad to be riding it for the last time in a long while.
It was already dark out. Despite it being summer, the night was overcast. Still warm, but grey and dark. There was no sun and no moon to light her way tonight but having grown up in Camden, she knew where to go. The bar was across town, on the bay. She always loved the sound of the water. Unfortunately, where she was moving it was going to be hot and dry all the time.
Zoe pulled up to the bar, eager to see her friends. They were waiting inside for her, drinks ready and with the music turned up. The party lasted long into the night and into the early morning. Zoe was surprisingly more sober than her friends at the end of it all. She was still a bit tipsy though and decided that it might be a good idea to call a cab to take her home.
Walking outside, she said goodbye to her friends. When everyone had gone, she pulled out her phone, but it was dead. The bar was closed and there was no one around. It was against her better judgment, but she climbed onto her motorcycle and slowly rode off.
The wind was sharp against her face, refreshing her, waking her up. She sped up a bit, getting confident, even cocky. Bright headlights came toward her as she turned in
the road. She squinted her eyes and leaned her bike toward the side of the road, narrowly avoiding them.
She heaved a big sigh and continued on through the night. It was less than a minute later that the bright lights came up behind her. Zoe turned around and once again squinted her eyes. It looked like the same car that had almost hit her. She leaned to the side of the road, hoping it would pass her, but it did no such thing. Instead, it sped up and came right behind her, gaining on her! Putting her foot on the gas, Zoe sped up. A feeling of dread filled her stomach as the car began to match her speed. They definitely weren’t being rude drivers. They were out to get her!
Zoe liked to think of herself as a skilled rider, even when she was not entirely sober. The road was getting increasingly twisty, but she didn’t slow down to take the curves. In fact, she sped up. She maneuvered the turns expertly. Unfortunately, so did the car. In spite of her best efforts, it was gaining on her and gaining fast.
Before she could do anything, the car bumped into her back tire, shoving Zoe down the road. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she struggled to remain balanced. The car sped up and rammed into her again, harder this time. She felt her bike lose control underneath her. The back tire pulled the rest of the bike to the side, and she swerved around, facing the car as it hit her.
Zoe was thrown across the road, several bones broken, and bleeding from her head. In the back of everything, she could hear a car door open. Soon enough, a figure was looming over her. She tried not to cry, but it was no use. Tears were falling down her cheeks.
“Please,” she whispered to the figure above her.
“Don’t worry,” they replied, “can’t have you dying just yet. That’s not my job.”
That wasn’t the end for Zoe Moore, but it was close enough.
Chapter One
Jade walked into the station on a hot, humid, cloudy day. She was in a good mood. She’d just gotten permission the day before to join the Quelicin case, as she was calling it. She had gone directly to Chief Knight. He was a tough man to confront, but Jade had won over his respect several months ago by solving some high-profile cases, and he knew she was a great asset to the department. Now it was time to get to work.
The Quelicin case was made up of six different murders so far over the last eight months. Almost every person had been attacked first, but not enough to die. They died later at the hospital somehow by an overdose of succinylcholine, a neuromuscular depressant, also known as Quelicin. There was one victim, Terri Snyder, who was killed at the courthouse with an immediate injection of Quelicin. Truly a horrible way to go, Jade thought.
She walked inside and down to the morgue where she liked to do most of her work. The morgue was where her boyfriend, Mark Foley, worked as the coroner. Like too many other days, he was standing over a dead body, but such was the nature of his job.
“Who’s that?” Jade asked.
“Zoe Moore, twenty-five. Died early this morning from a heart attack.”
“Another one?”
“I haven’t run the test yet, but I’m guessing that yes, this is from Quelicin as well.”
“Does Detective Green know?” Jade asked.
Detective Green was the officer originally assigned to the cases. He and Jade didn’t exactly see eye to eye. It wasn’t that he was a bad detective. It was just that he was overlooking simple things in this case. He thought it was strictly a mix-up in the hospital, that some doctor may have gone rogue. But Jade thought it was so much larger than that. She wasn’t sure how yet, but she just knew deep in her gut that this case was going to be big.
“Detective Green has not been informed yet, because I don’t know yet. I’ll run the test in a few minutes. I’m reviewing the body for now,” Mark said.
“Anything interesting to note? It looks like she’s been through it.”
“She has several broken bones, road rash, minor burns, and minor skull fractures. But she was killed by a heart attack after being at the hospital for a few hours.”
“Road rash? She must’ve been on some kind of open vehicle then? A bike or motorcycle of some kind.”
“And she wasn’t wearing a helmet. Rather stupid of her.”
“I used to ride without a helmet,” Jade said, speaking up.
“With your driving, it’s a miracle you’re still alive.”
Jade swatted him lightly across the back of the head and sighed. Her driving wasn’t that bad. Ever since a near
accident where she’d been run off the road, she’d gotten a lot more careful.
Jade grew silent, lost in her thoughts. The murders were getting together. The killer was getting confident. That meant they could be getting sloppy. The hospital was the first place she should look. It had to be a doctor or nurse that was actually doing the killing. They’d be the only people with access to the Quelicin. She also wanted to look more into victims. Surely, it couldn’t all just be random killing. Especially Terri Snyder, who was killed directly at the courthouse. She was definitely targeted.
“It’s official,” Mark said. “Another death by Quelicin.” He set down his brown pH paper and washed his hands before rubbing his eyes. “The deaths are coming in faster,” Mark added. “If you don’t catch this person quickly, the morgue is going to be full.”
“Then I’d better get off to work.”
“Don’t
forget to include Detective Green.”
Jade sighed. She really didn’t want to work with someone else. She didn’t mind working with Mark or Head Detective Edna Mann. They both knew her well and understood how she operated. But working with someone like Detective Green was going to be difficult.
She gathered herself together and walked upstairs. Passing Edna’s desk, she found Detective Green working hard at his desk, staring intently at his computer. She waited for him to notice her, but after a minute of waiting, she knocked lightly on his desk. He looked up at her and glared a little. Not enough for anyone else to notice, but
Jade could see it clearly. It looked like he wasn’t excited about working with her either.
“We’ve got another death by Quelicin down in the morgue,” Jade said.
“I just read the email from Mr. Foley. His involvement with this case won’t be a problem for you, will it?” Detective Green asked in a mocking tone.
“If you mean that I would get distracted because he’s my boyfriend, no. I happen to be quite proficient at my job. So much so that it seems the chief wants me on your team. Or maybe it would be better if I took the case entirely off your hands,” Jade suggested. She was almost hoping he would take her up on her rude offer, but she knew well enough that he wouldn’t.
“Hmph,” Detective Green said and then continued, “I’ve reviewed the schedules of all the doctors and nurses at the hospital with access to Quelicin. None of them could’ve committed all the murders.”
“So, it’s more than one person. It’s a team. Do you have any suspects? Any doctors or nurses with criminal backgrounds? Grudges? Anything like that?”
“The hospital has a clear record. They don’t hire any professionals with criminal backgrounds.”
“Then maybe something went overlooked,” Jade said. “Or maybe it’s not a doctor or nurse. Maybe it’s someone coming in from the outside.”
“It’s terribly expensive to get large doses of Quelicin without being in the hospital. If it is someone from outside,
they’d have to get into the hospital, administer the Quelicin, and get out without being seen by the cameras.”
“You’ve checked the cameras?”
“Of course I’ve checked the cameras,” scoffed Detective Green. “I’ve been working hard on this case.”
Jade rolled her eyes and thought to herself, Then how come it isn’t solved yet?
Jade really couldn’t blame him though. She’d been on long cases before. Just last year she’d been on a case that lasted for months, all the way to the end of the year. It’d been a nightmare, but so worth it.
“If we’re looking for a team, maybe we should split up?” Jade suggested. “I can look into the accidents that happened before the murders, the accidents that put these people into the hospital. And you can look into the hospital deaths some more. There must be something there we’re missing.”
“I assure you I haven’t missed anything.”
“You must’ve. They didn’t give themselves the Quelicin,” Jade said, shutting up Detective Green for a moment.
The pair glared at each other, both deep in thought.
“Fine. We’ll split up. I’ll check out the hospital and you check out the accidents that occurred before the murders,” Detective Green said, holding together his composure.
“Good. We can call later today if either of us has found anything,” Jade replied.
Detective Green nodded.
Jade turned on her heel and took her leave, right out the front of the police station.
Chapter Two
Jade quickly found her car. She got inside and took out her notebook that she carried with her, most of the time. She’d taken the liberty yesterday to write down all the important information regarding the case; she’d even stuffed some printed papers into it as well. Flipping through them, she decided it would be best to start with the first murder, Jeannette Stone.
She’d been found outside of her house, stabbed three times in her back. But that wasn’t the worst of it. All of her teeth had been ripped out. That wasn’t what killed her, though. It was the overdose of Quelicin given to her at the hospital just hours later. Jade thought it was awful. To be found in a horrible condition, practically rescued, and then just killed in the one place you’re always supposed to feel safe. She had to solve this case.
Jade plugged in Jeannette’s address into her phone’s GPS and took off across town. It was still cloudy out, but the heat was intense, almost unbearable. She was thankful she lived in a town on the ocean. At least it was a little cooler by the bay where she was headed.
There was a nice community of big houses with rich owners by the bay. Apparently, Jeannette Stone had been one of those people. Pulling up to her house, Jade saw the for-sale sign still posted. No one wanted to move into a house where an attack had taken place.
Going through her notes, she recalled that Jeannette lived alone, but had one son in the town next over. Jade pulled out a printed paper with some photographs of the crime scene. Walking out of her car and into the humidity, she took the photographs with her. The report had said that
Jeannette had been found on the steps of her house, laying on her stomach. Her head was facing the house.
Jade looked up and down the few small steps, turning back and forth, thinking hard. She finally came to the end of her thinking and set down her notes on the ground next to her. She went through the motions of stabbing someone with an imaginary knife in her hands.
That wasn’t good enough. She traded places with herself and now played the victim. Pretending to get stabbed, she tumbled as lifelessly as she could down onto the steps. The pain was immense as she fell onto the hard stone, but that was all a part of detective work.
She fell down onto the steps fourteen times before coming to her conclusion. Jeannette must’ve been facing the house, ready to go in when she’d been stabbed. The next question was a gross one. Were her teeth taken out before or after she’d been stabbed?
Jade looked at the pictures again. There wasn’t that much blood on the ground. Only a small pool where she’d been stabbed, but nothing by her head. Either someone had done a careful job of taking out the teeth, or it hadn’t happened here at all. But why would someone take the time to remove her teeth and then let her get away? Only to stab her later again later on? Unless maybe Jeannette had escaped from her captors. It was a good explanation.
But that still left her with questions, like why didn’t she go to the police or to the hospital? Why did she try to come home? There were too many questions for Jade’s liking. She had some of her answers at least. Jeannette had to have been arriving home, facing the house when she’d been killed. And her teeth were probably taken out before
she was even at her home. And the best reason that she would be here is that she had escaped from her captors. Which meant one thing. There must be a secondary location, and Jade was going to find it.
Jade decided that she needed to call Mark. Maybe there’d be some evidence on Jeannette’s body to give a clue as to where this second location was.
“This is Mark,” he said, picking up the phone.
“Mark, it’s Jade. Do you still have Jeannette Stone’s body? Or has it been buried again?”
“The family actually decided to have her cremated once the body was released back to them. Please tell me you don’t need it.”
“I might need it.”
“Jade, all I can give you is a pile of ashes and even then, I think I’ve bothered that family well enough.”
“I understand. Do you at least have the report on the body still? Is there anything in there about spore samples or dirt not from this area?”
“I can look. Give me a moment.”
The rhythmic sound of a computer mouse clicking came over the phone. Jade couldn’t help thinking to herself that it was the worst elevator music she’d ever heard, which made her laugh just a little.
“I’ve got the report. It says that the only thing the lab found was traces of old dried-out paint easily from the
seventies. It was under her fingernails. I remember the color from when I sent it to the lab for analysis. It was a sickly orange color. Definitely something too disgusting to come from this day and age,” Mark said.
“Great, so now I just have to check every home within a hundred-mile radius to see if they have ugly orange walls,” Jade said, slightly upset. It wasn’t the clue she’d been hoping for.
“Sorry I can’t be of more help,” Mark said.
“It’s alright. I’m going to head over to the next crime scene, Gabriela Levine’s.”
“I remember her too. Her hospital report was not normal, to say the least. She’d been in an accident at her home, fallen out the window. When they found her, she was barely conscious. Couldn’t speak at all. Then she died of a heart attack,” Mark said.
“Which turned out to be a Quelicin overdose,” Jade added.
“Exactly. If you need any files on her from the lab, I can look them up,” Mark offered.
“I might later, but for now I’m just going to head over to the house and look things over. I’ll check in with you later,” Jade said her goodbyes and hung up. Picking up her notes from the ground, she found the address of the accident. Plugging it into her phone’s GPS, she climbed into her car and prepared to drive to the outskirts of town.
The day had grown cloudier with the sky turning a dark grey. It was threatening to rain, which would make Jade’s job harder. She hoped she could reach the house
before the rain came. She didn’t have any plans of throwing herself out the window to test her theory, but she did want to see all the angles, including the ones from outside.
With the first attack, they’d almost made it home; at least, that was Jade’s theory. Maybe they were going after Gabriela Levine in her home to make sure that an escape wouldn’t happen again. Pulling up to Gabriela’s house, Jade realized that there weren’t any neighbors within view. She’d been hoping to interview them and ask if they’d seen or heard anything, but clearly, that wasn’t going to get her anywhere. All that was around her were lots of trees swaying in the hot wind.
Jade walked up to the house. A car sat in the open garage. She looked through her notebook. It said that Gabriela’s widower, James Levine, still lived here. Maybe he could be of some help.
Jade walked up to the front door, taking in the house. It was an older house, at least thirty years old. It looked sturdy enough. It could use a paint job and the gutters needed cleaning out, but overall it was an average home set in the woods. With her notes ready, Jade knocked on the front door.
“I’m not buying anything,” a tired man said, opening the door. He was dressed in his robe and his hair was wet. Clearly, he’d just gotten out of the shower. He had dark bags under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. This was clearly Gabriela’s widower, James.
“Mr. Levine. I’m Jade Pearson. I’m working with the police. We’re looking into the death of Gabriela. May I ask you some questions?”
“I guess. Come inside.” He left the door open and sauntered back into the house.
Jade stepped inside. The place was a mess. Dirty clothes were piled at the bottom of the stairs. Empty beer cans lay about everywhere. There were stains of what looked like old dried-up vomit on the couch and chairs. The whole place reeked.
As if sensing that she was disgusted, James picked up a can of air freshener and sprayed it heavily in the room. Jade tried her best not to cough from choking on the mixed smells of Hawaiian breeze and filth.
“Don’t suppose you’d care to sit down?” he asked.
“I’ll stand, thank you.”
“Can I get you anything? A drink? Cigarette?”
“I’m good, thank you. I’d really just like some answers to some difficult questions.”
“I’ll try and be as much help as I can, but as you can plainly see, I haven’t exactly been right since Gabby died.”
“Were you here on the day that she fell out of the window?” Jade asked.
“No. I was out getting groceries. It was supposed to be a quick run. We were out of milk, so I just went out to get some. I didn’t expect to find her like that on the ground.”
“I’ve got to ask, was she lying face up or face down?”
“She was on her back. The doctors said it was the only way she survived the fall. Not that that did her much good. She died from an accidental overdose in the hospital. The insurance payout was good, but it didn’t bring her back.”
“We’re looking into the possibility that it wasn’t an accident,” Jade said hesitantly.
“What? You can’t mean it was murder!”
“It’s a possibility, but there’s nothing conclusive yet.” She hated to say that. She really had a hunch and while there wasn’t a lot of physical evidence, there was no way that six deaths were a coincidence. But she knew that the best move now was to settle Mr. Levine and keep him calm. His hands were shaking slightly. Before she could say much more, he pulled out a cigarette. He didn’t light it, but just put it in his mouth, moving it from side to side with his tongue.
“May I see the window where she fell?” Jade asked.
The man nodded as if he hadn’t really heard her.
She was about to repeat the question when he pointed up at the stairs. She thanked him and walked up the stairs, past the dirty clothes, to the little balcony that overlooked the living area.
On the far side of the balcony was a wide window that brought in lots of light. It was decorative, not meant for seeing through. Jade looked around the window. It had been recently installed, of course, to replace the one that was broken by Gabriela. Or had it been Gabriela? Jade pulled out her notebook. Looking through it, she found a
picture of the scene after Gabriela had been taken away to the hospital. There was a lot of glass left scattered across the brown grass. There were small patches of snow still melting with blotches of blood thrown on them. There was no good way to tell if she had fallen or been pushed.
But James had said that Gabriela had been found on her back. Wouldn’t a person who had tripped and crashed through the window fall face forward? There wasn’t enough height for her to have turned around. Unless she tripped backward through the window? But what could she have tripped on?
“Do you need anything?” James called up to Jade.
“Would you happen to know what she tripped on when she fell?” Jade asked, leaning over the balcony to see James below, the cigarette still hanging loosely in his mouth. In one of his hands was a bottle of wine.
“I don’t really know. Whatever it was, it was gone when I got back home. I figured the police took it with them, as evidence or something. You’re gonna find out who did this, right?” he asked, looking like he might cry.
“I will do everything I can to solve this case,” Jade said. She began to walk down the stairs.
James plopped on the couch.
Jade was about to show herself out when she noticed a planner next to the door. It was still written out with the month of Gabriela’s death. Jade paused to read it over. At the end of the month was when Gabriela had died. There was nothing notable in the days before her death, but near the start of the month, there were a few days with “jury
duty” noted. Jade tucked that thought away in the back of her mind for now and took her leave.
Chapter Three
It was nearing midday and Jade was getting hungry. She figured now might be a good time to check in with her partner on this case, Detective Green. She didn’t really want to, but it was the right thing to do. She could also find Mark and get an update from him. She decided she’d bring him lunch and they could discuss their work.
It began to rain lightly as she drove through town. She stopped, picking up food from their favorite Chinese place, and then headed to the station. The rain wasn’t refreshing at all. If anything, it made it seem hotter. The air was thick. Jade was happy to get inside the station and into the air conditioning. She was just heading down to the morgue when she ran into her partner, Detective Green.
“Ms. Pearson. Any updates?” he asked firmly as if he was in charge.
“I’ve got nothing conclusive yet, but I don’t think Gabriela Levine’s death was an accident. And whoever was after Jeannette Stone had her in a secondary location. There’s no way her teeth were taken out at her home.”
“As you said, nothing solid,” Detective Green said.
“But it’s a good start. I know where I need to look next,” Jade said. “Any new leads on your end?”
“There has been a series of criminals coming to the hospital for surgeries over the last months. Some of the days line up with the deaths. If someone on the inside was paying these people to kill, then maybe that’s our solution. I’m going to check out the Maine State Prison this afternoon and have a talk with the warden.”
Jade stifled a laugh. She’d worked with the warden before. He was a tough man himself. Arrogant and rude. He obviously hated the police and hated anyone who could have authority over him. Come to think of it, Detective Green and the warden would get along just fine.
Jade left Detective Green and headed down to the morgue. She was sure the food in her bag was getting cold by now. When she walked in, Mark was standing over a body, like he usually was.
“Who’s that?” Jade asked.
“Otto Fisher. Fifty-six. Found by the bay this morning. Nearly drowned.”
“Nearly?”
“Yeah, he lived. Made it to the hospital and then died.”
“Sound familiar?”
“I was just about to run the test. If it is a death by Quelicin, your killer is getting faster, upping their game.”
“Either that or they’re getting desperate. They know we’re onto them. Desperate killers make mistakes. That should help,” Jade remarked.
“This makes two murders in one day from this killer. How long can we wait for them to make a mistake? Until there are more bodies in here?” Mark asked.
“No. Of course not. I’m looking into it. I’ve got a lead from Gabriela Levine’s home. She had jury duty a few
weeks before her death. It’s the last big event she had in her life. I think it may be a part of it,” Jade said. Thinking hard, she continued, “It actually makes sense with Green’s theory. If someone went to prison for something that would keep them there a long time, then maybe they’d want to get retribution on those who put them there. I’ve gotta look into the court case that Levine was on.”
“Aren’t we going to eat first?” Mark asked, pointing to the bags of food.
“Right. First, we eat, then I go to the courthouse.”
Mark stepped away from the body and washed up while Jade set their food out. She dug in and tried to focus. But there were a lot of questions running through her head.
“Have you found any more information on your end?” Jade asked.
“Not much. I’ve been busy with two bodies this morning…” Mark paused. “Oh look, Otto Fisher’s test is done. Well…It’s Quelicin again. Your killer has officially started a spree. I think it’s time we alert the Chief.”
Jade knew he was right. There was a serial killer out there, and it was time people knew.
The best thing to do was tell the Chief. Then let him decide what to do next. Most likely, they’d try to keep quiet. Camden had had a panic before with an arsonist running around. That had been a very stressful few days. No one wanted to take the chance that they might be next. The press had hounded Edna for days on end. While she was the Head Detective, she couldn’t be much help to them when she was stuck answering their questions and not out on the
case. She’d been very grateful when Jade agreed to come on. Jade only hoped that if the word of this new killer got out, that Edna wouldn’t have to take the brunt of it.
Jade finished eating and left Mark in the morgue. She tried calling Detective Green, but he didn’t answer. She decided it was best to talk to the Chief directly now. After knocking on his office door, she entered. He looked up from his desk.
“Pearson. Here to make a report already?” he asked.
“We’ve got two bodies today from the hospital. Both have been in accidents, and then killed at the hospital by an overdose of Quelicin. This makes eight bodies over several months. Three in the last weeks. Two in one day. This is no longer a case of accidental death. This is most definitely murder and the killer is acting faster. They’re on a spree.”
“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. This town doesn’t need another killer. The arsonist was enough to give everyone a fright. We keep this tightly locked up. No unnecessary personnel on this case. If this gets to the presses, we’re gonna be in hot water.”
“I understand that. I’ll alert Detective Green as soon as I can reach him.”
The Chief nodded and Jade left.
So, it was a hush-hush operation from here on out. Her next step was to head to the courthouse.
Jade left the station well-fed, but more than a little upset. She tried reaching Detective Green again, but to no avail. Where could he be that she couldn’t get a hold of
him? This was important. He was probably just leaving the jail about now. Unless he was still talking to the warden, she should be able to reach him. She decided she’d try calling him again once she got to the courthouse, but until then it wasn’t her problem.
The rain was pounding harder now. The sky had lost its summer glow and looked more like November. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean that the heat had gone away. Jade drove slower than she usually would to get to the courthouse, which wasn’t that far from the police station. The rain made her slightly anxious like she used to be when driving. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and pulled up in front of the courthouse.
Hunching over her notebook to protect it from the rain, she dashed inside. Her hair clung to her face, having gotten wet enough in the short run up the courthouse steps. Jade stepped in front of the security guard. She put her notebook stuffed with papers into the security bin, along with her car keys and wallet. She then walked through the metal detector. For a brief moment, Jade was worried that it might go off, even though it had no reason to. She stepped through to the other side, collected her things, and walked down to the records room where Terri Snyder had been killed.
Terri Snyder had helped Jade on a case a few weeks ago. The same day that she had helped solve the case, she was brought to the morgue. She was the only one of the Quelicin deaths that didn’t have an accident ahead of time. This made her stand out and Jade needed to look into everything she was doing before her death.
Remembering her partner, she tried to reach him before entering the records room. He still didn’t answer.
This was getting to be ridiculous. There was no way he was still at the jail now. She thought about trying his work phone but decided against it. If he was at the station, the Chief would’ve filled him in on the update already.
Jade walked into the records room and found a man sitting at a desk off to the side. The room itself was huge, which was probably why it was in the basement. The shelves were stacked high with boxes labeled A-Z, each with a date on it. The room smelled of old paper and wornout ink. Surely, there were records on the computers, but things always get overlooked, no matter what profession a person is in. So Jade had come straight here, where Terri Snyder worked, not only to see the crime scene but to dig into the records herself.
The man at the desk yawned, before noticing Jade was there. He stood up and walked over to her. He seemed glad to have some company. Jade could imagine it would get quite boring down here.
“Who are you?” he asked as if he hadn’t spoken to someone in a long time.
“Jade Pearson. I’m working with the police on the murder of Terri Snyder. I’ve come to see the crime scene and look into some records.”
“I’m not sure I can give you any records.”
“I’m working with the police and can get a court order just by going upstairs, but that won’t be necessary, because according to the Freedom of Information Act, I am allowed to see those records.”
“I’ll try to be of help, then,” he said. “I’ve only just started working here a few weeks ago. As you know, Mrs. Snyder was here when she died. I was hired shortly after that.”
“So you don’t know exactly where she died?”
“I do. There was a stain on the carpet from where she threw up. We couldn’t get the stain out, so that square over there had to be replaced,” he said, pointing to the floor between shelves.
Jade headed toward the spot. It was easy to spot the new carpet against the old when she got closer. The new carpet was much cleaner.
Jade looked up and around. There were no cameras in sight. Whoever had killed Terri had either known that about the lack of cameras or hadn’t cared about being caught on film. If it was the latter, they were either so caught up in emotions that they weren’t thinking clearly or an even worse idea. They had someone on the inside of the courthouse who wouldn’t care about seeing them murder on film. Jade hoped it wasn’t the latter. Cases involving security personnel gone bad never ended well. That included courthouse workers, doctors, firefighters, and policemen. People who were given authority and who go on to mistreat it never went quietly.
Jade looked at the boxes on the shelves around her. She was in the “M” s, dating back to the start of the year. Maybe something in these boxes would be useful to her. She called over the desk worker and got his help to carry several boxes to a table in the back. She thanked him and sat down, ready to dig in and start reading.
The first case was from June second. The case file read Mitchell vs. Reed. Jade opened it. It was a civil case between a divorcing husband and wife. The judge was Dean McAvoy, one of the two judges in town. It wasn’t a case that called for a jury. so Jade set it aside.
The next case was Morrison vs. State. Jade opened up the file. It was a criminal case. Nash Morrison had killed two people in a drunk driving accident. The man had only gone to jail for three months. According to the records, there was a witness testimony that saved him from doing more time. Jade searched through the papers. The witness was listed as J. Stone. That had to be Jeannette, the first victim.
That actually made a lot of sense. It was her testimony that kept Morrison out of jail for a long time. Maybe someone was upset that Morrison hadn’t gone to prison. So upset that they were willing to do something about it, something deadly. Jade flipped through more of the papers. There were other names listed. G. Levine, M. Timmer, Z. Cornwall, E. Miller, Z. Moore, and O. Fisher. That was only half of the list. All of these people had been on the jury that had decided to let Morrison off the hook.
There were six other names. K. Bauer, B. Flores, M. Davidson, S. Garrison, C. Grant, and M. Pittman. All of these people were in danger. Jade pulled out her phone and called Detective Green, hoping that he was reachable for once in the day. She waited anxiously as the phone rang. She quietly swore to herself when he didn’t pick up. She tried calling him again, but once more, there came no answer.
Jade thought quickly and decided to bring her best friend Edna into this case. She was Head Detective after all.
