Amanda and Trent stood around the grave. The CSIs, Officer Kimbell, and Sergeant Graves were with them. Hours had passed since the initial discovery. Duffy and others in the park were questioned and sent on their way. By this point, the sun had completely disappeared, and portable lights were brought out.
No one spoke a word. Likely everyone was trying to process the discovery as Amanda came to grips with it too.
The findings, heartbreaking.
Rideout and Liam had cleared out the shallow pit just moments ago. Another mother and daughter.
Their looks were painfully similar to Jill and Charlotte Archer. Both were fully clothed in sweaters, jeans, and shoes. A stuffed rabbit was buried with them. It was about the same size as the elephant entombed with the Archers.
“Was too easy,” Amanda muttered. “The case being open and shut. We’ll need to find out if there’s any connection between them and Roy Archer.”
Trent turned to her. “And if there is, he’s more than an abusive man, he’s a psychopath.”
She simply nodded. His words said it all. And even if the killer wasn’t Roy the definition of a psychopath could still apply. “You come across any other mothers and daughters reported missing when you found the Archers?”
Trent shook his head.
The answer Amanda had expected. Surely if he had, he would have said long before now. The fact no one had reported these two hurt almost as much as seeing them lying in the ground. “How long do you think they’ve been here?”
“The earth was more packed, and given the decomp I’m seeing, they’ve been dead for weeks,” Rideout replied from where he was hunched next to the shared grave. “Three, possibly four. Maybe more.”
It felt with these two, the time-of-death window was a moving target. “Safe to say a month?”
Rideout nodded.
“They came before the Archers.” With her statement, Amanda matched eyes with Trent. His widened slightly, as hers likely did too. “Any ID?”
Liam searched the pockets and shook his head. “Nope.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Cause of death?” she asked but saw faint bruising on their faces from where she stood.
“Given the angle of their heads, I suspect the same as with the Archers. Transection of their spinal cords due to broken necks,” Rideout said.
Trent pointed at the woman’s face, indicating a black eye. “She was beaten.”
“Possible. Given coloration I’d say it predated her death by at least a week.”
“So another abusive mate, or had the killer hit her?” Amanda pushed out the question, weighing the possibilities. “Guess we need to build a timeline for her and establish when she went missing.”
“Uh-huh. I’d wager the killer either lives in the area or knows it well,” Trent suggested.
“I’d agree. To keep coming here with his victims, the location must mean something to him.”
“Roy Archer said Jill brought Charlotte here a lot,” Trent said.
“Just more reason we need to question him about these two.” Amanda’s gaze briefly dipped to the grave. Linking all the murders to Roy Archer would be convenient. Then at least they’d have their killer. “Any bankable forensic evidence?” Amanda turned to CSI Rowe.
“We had a lot of rain going back a couple of weeks ago. It’s probably what eroded the grave enough to expose the female vic’s hand, but it’s also destroyed evidence around the grave.”
Duffy had told her and Trent he didn’t regularly come through this section of the park, but it was a miracle no one else had happened on the site before now. Amanda turned to Graves. “Sarge,” she prompted, and saw that she’d pulled Graves from her thoughts. “This is the second grave. Regardless of how we make out questioning Roy Archer, I’m thinking we should bring out cadaver dogs, have the entire park searched.”
“I’ll get it arranged. At this point, they’ll likely start tomorrow, but I’ll make sure that uniforms cordon off the park until the K-9 unit is finished. Do you think that Roy Archer killed them too?” Graves pointed to the bodies, while holding eye contact with Amanda.
“It is entirely possible.” There was the posing of these bodies, their disposal, and the location… They were the same as with the Archers—an unlikely coincidence. “But there are enigmas that have bothered me from the start.” Trent stiffened beside her, but she carried on. “The fact the Archers were hugged just moments before their necks were broken doesn’t coincide with a heat-of-the-moment murder. In cases of escalated domestic violence that’s expected. And there’s the stuffed toy—an elephant. Roy Archer swore his daughter didn’t have one and told us her favorite toy was a stuffed seal. Trent and I found that under Charlotte’s bed.”
“Now we have a stuffed rabbit,” Graves said.
“Yes, about the same size as that elephant.”
“Right. So if these toys don’t belong to the children, where are they coming from? Of course, we’re making an assumption based on the first case. The rabbit could be this girl’s,” Graves pointed out.
“Fair enough.”
“Something else is weighing on you, Detective?”
“The method of the burial, with mother and daughter embracing, suggests affection on behalf of their killer. Possibly even regret or remorse.”
“We can’t ignore that Roy Archer has work boots matching a partial left next to the grave for his family. Also his handspan and finger measurements are the same as the bruising,” Trent said. “We also can’t dismiss the piece of fabric from Charlotte’s shirt being in Roy’s sedan.”
“We got an explanation for that even if it wasn’t what we wanted to hear.” Amanda was still horrified that any father would stick his own daughter in the trunk of a car as punishment.
“You two talk with Archer, see if you can get anywhere,” Graves told them. “Without an ID, it’s a little tough, but mention the discovery, gauge his reaction.”
Amanda nodded. “We’ll make it our next stop.” She might make it home in time to see Zoe off to school the next morning.
“When are you conducting the autopsies?” Graves asked Rideout.
The medical examiner glanced at his assistant and said, “It will be first thing in the morning.”
“The soonest that you can do them?” Graves pushed.
Rideout placed his hands on his hips. “I could rush it tonight, but these two deserve dignity and respect and attention to detail.”
“Very well. Tomorrow morning.” To Amanda and Trent, she said, “See you back at Central.”
Amanda hated the thought of leaving these victims behind. But they would be in Rideout’s and Liam’s capable hands.