Mariah Stewart - Cold Truth

“Then you think that he believed that my mother wanted to have sex with him?” Cass asked, indignation on the rise.

“I think he did believe that, yes. Which is no reflection on your mother. Please keep in mind, we’re talking about a delusional personality here.” Annie opened the Styrofoam container that held her ice cream, and almost unconsciously began to swipe off small bites with the plastic spoon. “Assuming that we’ve discovered the why, we still need to discover the who.”

She licked at the spoon, a faraway look on her face.

“Who would she have been in contact with… someone young, inexperienced…”

“The department secretary and I have been going through yearbooks, trying to compile a list of who would have been around back then, who’s back in town now. Within a certain age limit, of course.” Denver explained to Annie that a large multiclass reunion was occurring that week. “We’re trying to pin down some likely suspects, but our list is only partially complete.”

“What criteria are you using to cut the list?”

“Well, since we got word that there were other identical killings, in different states-even different countries-over the years, we figured someone whose job required them to move around a lot. Or someone in the military, perhaps,” Denver said.

“Peyton is going to put the names into the Bureau’s computer, see what spills out, once the list is complete,” Rick said.

Denver remained skeptical. “I’m still not sold one hundred percent on your theory that the Burkes were killed by the same man, Dr. McCall. How do you explain the fact that Jenny wasn’t raped and all the others were?”

“Jenny Burke’s clothes were ripped, according to the report you sent me, Chief. He didn’t rape her, because he was interrupted. Which probably infuriated him. Bad enough that he hadn’t expected her husband to be there, bad enough that he had to kill him. Which must have rattled him big-time. He would have panicked when he found that she wasn’t alone in the house.” Annie appeared to be speaking to herself. “That would have thrown him off completely.”

Rick nodded. “I’m following you. He comes into the house, expecting it to be empty, except for Jenny, who he might even think is expecting him, that she wants him to come to her. He sees Bob in the kitchen, and maybe acts impulsively, sees the knife and uses it. Then he goes upstairs, probably covered in Bob’s blood…”

Rick stole a glance at Cass. She was white, but holding her own. Trying to be professional, even while the details of her parents’ deaths are being discussed, he thought.

Denver told them, “Jenny’s clothes had blots of Bob’s blood. We thought she was surprised upstairs, and tried to fight him off…”

“Which would have confused and incensed him,” Cass added a comment for the first time.

“It’s likely that you and your sister arrived home at right about that time,” Annie said. “And then he really panicked. Your mother would have tried to warn you.”

“So he panicked again and strangled her. When Trish came up the steps, he was probably in a rage.” Cass squeezed her eyes closed. “And when I came in…”

“He would have been completely out of control by then. Totally out of his league. He panicked and ran out of the house…” Rick paused. “Why didn’t anyone see him?”

“What?” Cass opened her eyes.

“Why didn’t anyone see him leave the house? Your aunt was out front, right? She would have seen him if he’d gone out the front door.” Rick started piecing it together. “Your aunt said that when she came into the house, she went right into the kitchen. That someone was there in the kitchen, covered in blood.”

“Wayne Fulmer,” Denver supplied the name.

“Did he ever say that he saw someone else in the house?” Rick asked the chief. “Did he say that someone ran past him?”

“No. He never said anything about seeing anyone else. He testified that he came up the back steps and knocked, and when no one answered, he peeked through the screen door and saw Bob on the floor, so he came in, thinking that maybe Bob had fallen, but then he saw all the blood on the floor. He said he tried to pick him up, claims that’s when he got Bob’s blood on his clothes, then he heard commotion, and the next thing he knew, Cass’s aunt was standing there screaming her head off.”

“I read the reports. His story never seems to have changed,” Rick noted.

“No, it never did.” Denver seemed pensive.

“So we’re back to the question of how this guy got out of the house if no one saw him,” Annie said. “If someone other than Fulmer committed the murders, why didn’t anyone see this second guy?”

“He could have gone out through the basement door,” Cass told them.

“Where is that, in relation to the rest of the house?” Rick asked.

“The door to the basement is behind the main stairwell in the house,” she told him. “There’s a walk-out into the backyard from the basement.”

“Cass, you said you thought Lucy was in the backyard.”

“I thought… she said she was going…” Cass frowned. “But that would mean that she would have seen him.”

Cass looked up at the chief. “Did she say anything about seeing anyone come out of the basement?”

“We didn’t ask her what she saw,” he said softly. “It never occurred to us to ask.”

“She’s never said anything to you, all these years, about seeing someone in the yard?” Rick asked Cass.

“No. Not a word.”

“She may have blocked it out. She may not want to remember who-or what-she saw,” Rick told her.

Annie touched her arm. “Cass, do you think your cousin will agree to being hypnotized?”

“No. No way. You can’t ask her to do that.” Cass shook her head vehemently. “She is in no shape for that. She’s been through a lot this week, her larynx is damaged, she can barely speak… no, we can’t do that to her.”

“Cass, she may remember something, something that might help identify the man who was there that day. There wasn’t anyone else there,” Annie reminded her.

Cass shook her head. “Maybe if she wants to, when she gets out of the hospital, but not now.”

“Well, I guess that leaves us back to the yearbooks and at the mercy of Peyton’s computer skills. Excellent though they may be,” Annie said to Rick.

“Okay. Chief, could you check with Phyl and see if we can have whatever list she’s compiled so far? I think we should at least start with-”

“You’re wrong,” Cass said to Annie. “There was someone else there.”

Annie tilted her head slightly to the left.

“I was there. Maybe if Lucy’s buried something… well, maybe I have, too. Maybe there’s something I saw… something I don’t remember.” She frowned. “I don’t think I saw him, but I really don’t remember.”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Annie asked.

“Yes.” Cass nodded. “Absolutely. Let’s do it. Right here. Right now.”

“Are you sure? You may remember things you wished you hadn’t.”

“I’m sure,” Cass insisted.

“If you’re sure… first, let’s get you comfortable.” Annie stood.

“I’m fine,” Cass told her. “I’m okay right here.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you both to leave the room.” Annie looked apologetically from the chief to Rick, adding, “The fewer distractions, the better.”

“Okay. We’ll be looking over the list of names that Phyllis has been preparing,” Rick said as he left.

“I’ll call her into my office, we’ll work in there.” The chief paused on his way out of the room. “You sure about this, Cassie? You don’t have to…”