“We didn’t say you did but we have to ask questions to piece together what happened.” Jenna gave Ella a smile. “Drink the coffee. It will keep you going until the paramedics arrive.” She gave Kane a frown. “I can take it from here.”
“Okay.” Kane slid back out into the biting wind and made his way to the wreck. He leaned in the open door of the sedan and pulled the keys out the ignition, then dropped them into his pocket. He took out the satellite phone and called the paramedics for Ella Tate. The hospital informed him unless it was a life or death situation, it would be a wait of more than two hours due to the amount of minor accidents around town. When he informed Wolfe of the situation, he agreed to transport Ella to the hospital if necessary and collect the car wreck victim.
After disconnecting, Kane scanned the interior of the vehicle and frowned. No purse or cellphone and, after examining the empty bag of takeout from the Blackwater Roadhouse, he had to assume more than one person was inside the vehicle at the time of the accident. Perturbed, he searched around and under the vehicle, climbing up packed snow piled up by the snowplow to peer beyond the car. Sleet cut into his face as he unlocked the trunk and peered inside. Three suitcases met his gaze, all with airline tags in the name of Olivia Palmer.
He called Rowley on the satellite phon
e to run the plates and discovered the vehicle belonged to Mrs. Ruby Palmer, a widow from Black Rock Falls. As usual, Maggie the Black Rock Falls Sheriff’s Department receptionist was acquainted with the family. Olivia was a third-year student, who came home for Christmas every year. Her mother would have picked her up at Sweet Water Creek airport outside of Blackwater due to the temporary closure of the Black Rock Falls runway after the blizzard.
After asking Maggie to check the ER on the chance someone had come by and taken Olivia to the hospital, he disconnected and continued his search of the wreck. If the door had opened, it was possible the impact had thrown Olivia clear, but he found no signs of blood or a body imprint anywhere in the snow. Where was she and where was Doug Paul? Right now, with no clues to three people’s disappearance, if someone suggested aliens had abducted them he might add it to his list of possibilities.
He pulled out his cellphone and took images of everything including the position of the body, the contents of the takeout bag and trunk, then went back to record the path the car had traveled from the road. He walked up and down the highway peering for any sign of braking and found none. The packed ice on the highway was marked with chains but he would expect that from the local traffic. He frowned and concluded the vehicle had taken the bend in the highway too fast, lost control in the icy conditions and slid across the road. The airbags likely deployed when the car hit the wall of compacted snow, blocking the driver’s view and denying her any chance to steer the vehicle out of trouble. Without a seatbelt to protect her, when the car slammed into the wall of the ditch Mrs. Palmer smashed through the windshield.
With feet and fingers numb with cold, he headed back to his truck and climbed inside. A wave of heat and the smell of hot soup surrounded him. He gave Jenna a rundown of his conclusions, then glanced at Ella in the back seat, sipping from a cup. His attention slid back to Jenna. “What do we have?”
“Practically nothing.” She filled a cup with soup from the Thermos and handed it to him, then pushed a bag of sandwiches within reach. “We’ll talk outside.”
Kane placed the cup in the console, grabbed a sandwich and reluctantly opened the car door and got back out into the bitterly cold wind. “Let’s make this quick, my brain is freezing.”
“Sure.” Jenna examined his face and frowned. “She recalls making plans to meet a friend out here around eleven last night and they were going to search for Sky. The shotgun was for protection in case they met up with the man with the ax. She remembers planning to leave but not getting into Doug’s vehicle.” She sighed. “That’s it. She has no memory until she woke up freezing cold in Doug’s truck. He took his keys and cellphone.”
“So we have to assume they met her friend.” Kane glanced at Ella. “It’s more than likely Doug found Olivia alive in the wreck and they took her to the hospital.”
“Maybe, but why leave Ella here to freeze to death? She could have followed in Doug’s truck.” She glanced at the wreck. “It’s not as if poor Mrs. Palmer is going anywhere. No, I don’t figure that’s what happened. The hospital would have notified us of the wreck last night.” She pushed a lock of hair inside her cap and frowned. “I’ll call Rowley to chase it down just in case someone forgot to call us.”
“Already on it. Maggie is checking now.” Kane rubbed his temple to relieve the ache. “Wolfe is on his way with Webber and as soon as he gives the all-clear, I’ll have a tow truck come out to collect the wreck.”
“Okay, I’ll give Maggie a call and see what she’s found.” Jenna took the satellite phone he offered and shivered. “If this is another axman attack, why do you figure he left Ella behind unscathed both times? He had to have a reason.”
Kane’s mind went into overdrive at the implications. “Only one I can think of: to throw us off his scent and have us chasing our tails. It doesn’t take a genius to know in any crime of this kind the last person to see a victim alive is the prime suspect until proven otherwise and the main focus of the investigation.”
“Yeah, any TV cop show would tell him that, so he figures if we believe Ella is involved it will give him time to clean up his trail.” Jenna wrinkled her nose. “Too bad for him we’ve dealt with enough psychopaths in the last couple of years not to fall into that trap.”
“I figure he probably drugged her. Having her not remembering how she arrived here would add to her apparent instability.” Kane rubbed his chin. “We’ll run it past Wolfe; it could be a reason why she is acting so disorientated.”
“That sounds like a plan. We’d better get back in the truck before we die of exposure.” Jenna offered him a small smile and reached for the passenger door. “I’ll speak to him when he’s finished with his preliminary examination of the scene.”
Kane climbed back behind the wheel, ate sandwiches and sipped soup, feeding bits of bread to Duke, while he waited for Jenna to finish her call. The shake of her head and worried expression said it all. Two more young people had disappeared along this road and they didn’t have one single clue. If Ella was telling the truth and a hatchet-wielding crazy was stalking the backroads, they needed to find him and fast. It seemed each new season in Black Rock Falls brought with it a new brand of twisted psychopath. What type of lunatic are we dealing with this time?
Twenty-Nine
As snowflakes landed on her eyelashes and ran over her cheeks, Jenna waited patiently for Wolfe to extract the grotesquely frozen body of Mrs. Palmer from the wreckage and load it into the back of the coroner’s van. The ME had taken a great deal of time examining the body in situ and had gotten Webber to measure the distance from the road to the crash site. He had painstakingly walked the blacktop with Webber and his daughter Emily to determine where Mrs. Palmer lost control of her vehicle. His detailed examination of the interior of the vehicle, and most particularly the passenger-side door, had Jenna intrigued, but it wasn’t his report she was waiting on. It was obvious that Mrs. Palmer died in a car wreck.
After speaking with Ella Tate, she couldn’t make up her mind if the confused young woman was a good liar, a psychopath or suffering memory loss. She had left her in Kane’s capable hands for further questioning, with Emily to listen in for experience. Having a young woman of the same age as support would be beneficial; Emily had incredible insight and had the ability to look at things from a different angle. As Wolfe shut the doors to his van, Jenna went to his side. “Find anything interesting?”
“Not conclusive but I’m with Kane on this one, I’m convinced someone else was in the vehicle. There are long blond hairs on the headrest and seat. The passenger-side carpet has marks on it consistent with someone sitting there recently wearing snow-covered boots, and I’m not convinced the door opened on impact.” He brushed snowflakes from his face. “This is a late model vehicle and the doors lock automatically once the car reaches ten miles per hour. The chances of them flying open during impact would be minimal. The seatbelt is across the seat as if someone lifted her from the car and there is a small spot of blood on the airbag. I’ll test it against a sample from Mrs. Palmer but it will be three days or so before I get a result.”
Three people missing in similar circumstances in less than a week spelled serial killer. Jenna winced at the implications. “So, another kidnapping or worse?”
“It’s a possibility.” Wolfe pulled his hat down over his ears. “More so as the wreck wasn’t reported. My concern is, if this is an unfortunate accident, why leave Ella out here? She had no food, no car keys. It seems a very irresponsible thing to do.” He motioned to the van. “I’ll get the body back to the morgue and thaw her out. We are only assuming the wreck was responsible for her death. Until I examine her, the cause is undetermined. She could have been shot for all we know.” He sighed in a cloud of steam. “The vehicle is ready to be taken back to the inspection lot. I’ll call the tow truck and make the arrangements. I have a satellite phone with me.”
“Thanks. Before you go, I need to ask you something.” She rubbed her hands together in an effort to preve
nt her fingers from freezing.
“Ask away.” Wolfe indicated with his chin toward Emily sitting inside Kane’s truck. “She isn’t making a nuisance of herself, is she?”
Jenna smiled at his concerned expression. “Not at all, she is an asset. Be careful or I’ll convince her to join the sheriff’s department.”