We backed out of the bedroom to avoid contaminating the scene. I offered to stay behind while Renz and Tommy canvassed the neighborhood to ask if anyone had seen suspicious characters or heard unusual noises last night or early that morning. I watched out the window for the police to show up. Our forensic team and either Dave Mann or a tech from the medical examiner’s office would take longer to arrive.
I paced back and forth in the living room. It was obvious that the killers of now fourteen people were all one and the same. It had to be a fairly large group in order to have someone available anytime day or night to commit the violent murders that had taken place over the last five days. That number stuck in my mind.
Why is five a common denominator in those murders? Five homeless people killed, five loved ones of people connected to the mayor killed, today is the fifth day from the initial murders, and the fifth of May was when something happened that started this shitshow in motion.
My mind flashed back to the newspaper article I saw yesterday when we were searching the archives. I hadn’t read beyond the headlines, but I remembered the article was written several days after May fifth. “Damn!”
Maybe the seventh or eighth?
It was about five siblings who’d drowned in a lake, but I hadn’t read where the drownings took place or what the victims’ names were. I needed to find that article and read it.
Dave would know. He’s the medical examiner.
I called his cell phone even though I knew he was probably driving to our location or to the attorney’s house. Thankfully, he answered right away.
“Dave Mann here.”
“Dave, it’s Jade. I have a super important question to ask you, and you’re going to have to remember back to May.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best, but can’t it wait? I’ll be at your location in ten minutes.”
“You’re coming here?”
“Yes, I thought there was a dead body there.”
“I’m sorry. Yes, there is. I didn’t know if you were coming to our location or the other one.”
“Oh, well, what do you need to know that can’t wait for, now, eight minutes?”
“Only one thing until you get here.”
“Shoot.”
“Do you remember the drowning incident of those five siblings in May, and were the bodies brought to your office?”
“Yes and yes. It was a tragic accident. They were trapped in the family vehicle, and none of them were able to escape.”
“Are you able to access those reports on the computer in your van?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Okay, that’s all I need to know until you get here. Thanks.”
That had to be it. The death of those five brothers and sisters had to be the reason for all the murders—it was revenge, retaliation, whatever one wanted to call it. The mayor must have caused the accident but only if it actually happened on the night of May fifth in that short two-mile distance between Silver Shores Resort and the mayor’s estate. I pulled up the map of the city on my phone, looked for a lake in that area, and found one. It wasn’t a large lake, but all that was necessary was for it to be deep enough to submerge a vehicle and drown everyone inside. I was about to look for the article online when two squad cars screeched to a stop in front of the house. I had to pocket my phone and address the situation at hand.
The officers banged on the front door, and I turned the knob with my sleeve and allowed them in. Gloves were plentiful in the cruiser, but I needed to remain inside until Renz and Tommy were back. I showed the officers my ID and led them to the master suite, where Julie’s body lay.
“The medical examiner and forensic team are en route. Go ahead and give the perimeter a thorough look, scour the street, and wrap the yard in tape.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I nodded a thanks, and as I watched out the window for Dave, I saw Renz and Tommy on the opposite side of the street, knocking on doors.
Minutes later, the medical examiner’s van pulled up to the curb. All I needed Dave to do was show me how to access the family’s records if he was even permitted to do that. If not, he might remember or could personally look up the date he’d written down as his best guess for a time of death.
I stood at the front door and waited while he got his supplies from the back of the van. Dave approached me with a head tip.
“She’s right this way,” I said. “Any idea when Forensics will show up?”
“They’re about ten minutes behind me.”
“Then we have a little time, right? They have to take pictures before you move the body.”
He scratched his head. “What do you need to know about those drownings, Jade?”
“Where that lake was and when you called the time of death. Also, the family’s last name.”
He sighed. “Okay, let’s go back to the van so I can look it up. I can’t let you access the records yourself, but I can email you the autopsy reports.”
“That’s all I need, and I sure appreciate it.”
I stood at the curb and kept silent while Dave logged on to his records database and looked up the information.
“Okay, here we go. It’s harder to determine TOD in drowning cases, but you know that.”
I nodded.
“I went by what the parents told me as in when the kids were expected back from church camp. They were supposed to be home on the night of May fifth, but they didn’t show. My autopsy report reflects that the TOD for the kids could fit in that two-day time frame. They were discovered on the afternoon of May seventh.”
My heart pounded harder. “And where were they discovered?”
“South of Atwater Park. There’s a large pond on the west side of the road, but it’s deep enough to completely submerge a vehicle.”
“Is there any notation of what happened to that van?”
“Those kind of records would be archived at the police department.”
I knew that to be true but wondered why I’d never heard that tragic story. I assumed I was on an out-of-state case at the time. “And the family name?”
“The parents are Jacob and Evelyn Ashton, and they live on the east side.”
“Okay, thanks, Dave.”
“Yep, and I’ve sent the reports to your email address.”
I glanced up when I heard a vehicle slow to a stop. Our forensic team had just arrived. I shielded my eyes and looked up and down the street for Renz and Tommy. I didn’t see either of them, so I called Renz’s cell phone.
“Hey, partner, why don’t you guys come back to Julie’s house? I think I’ve figured out the case.”
“You did what? Okay, we’re on our way.”