CHAPTER EIGHT

"How do you get yourself into this shit?" Franks stared at Angus after he'd explained everything that had happened the day before.

Angus set his coffee cup down harder than he should have. "It's not like I asked for it to happen. I had no way of knowing the ghost that contacted Lance was the same girl I was supposed to interview just hours later." He was so grateful that Franks knew about Lance's ability to see ghosts and he could talk this through with him. They sat in their office at the station going over autopsy reports and pictures of each scene. With the office door closed, they could discuss ghosts without anyone hearing them.

"I leave you alone for one day…" Franks muttered.

"It was two days you were in court, not one. And it's not as if having you around would have changed any of this. Now I have to find a way to investigate Gail's death as a murder since I know it wasn't a suicide. Got any great ideas?" Angus asked.

"Just do it. If anyone asks, tell the captain the truth. You told him about ghosts after the hostage situation. Now's as good a time as any to see if he's seriously going to have your back when you have a ghostly informant." Franks took a long drink of his coffee, then continued. "It's not such a far stretch to investigate Gail's death since she is so closely tied to Fiona and Elizabeth. You'd be crazy not to look into it." Franks stood and walked across the room to refill his coffee. "I say we go out and take a look at the bridge area. See if we find drag marks, or maybe a piece of torn clothing. If we wait, we risk losing evidence. As soon as Gail is reported missing, we start pulling camera feeds of her work and the bridge area."

"I'm shocked they haven't called yet to let me know she's missing. You'd think with her two best friends murdered that you'd be upset if your kid didn't come home." Angus held his cup out for Franks to fill his as well. "I thought for sure they'd call last night when she didn't get home. Now I don't know what to do."

"All you can do is wait." Franks handed the full cup back to Angus.

"And while I wait, the case grows colder." Angus took the cup. "Thanks."

"Nothing about this case is growing cold. We have Fiona and Elizabeth's cases to work on. I'm sure we're looking for the same killer for all three girls. I say we go and interview Terrance and Tom today. Our killer has to be someone who heard their conversation about ways to die. That gives us three suspects." Franks sat back at his desk. "You don't think it's Gavin?"

"No, my gut says he's telling the truth. I don't think he snuck out and killed Fiona. His parents said he was there with them, and I believe them. Besides, Gail said he's too tall. He's taller than I am. Gail swears it couldn't be any of the guys, but if not them, who? Did someone tell someone about their conversation?"

"Maybe. It's something we can ask about today. For now, call and set up interviews with Tom and Terrance this afternoon, then we'll head out to the bridge and look for evidence since we have a slight risk of rain this afternoon that could wash away any tracks. By the time we're done, hopefully Lance has Gail's autopsy done and her parents have reported her missing. Once they do that, you can let them know they have a body matching her description at the morgue. Then you'll be able to open a third murder case and add whatever we find today to the evidence."

"That doesn't look suspicious at all." Angus sighed.

"So what? You were following a hunch. Captain Marshall will back you, especially if you find anything. Drink up and let's go. We're burning daylight."

Angus rolled his eyes. "I can sure tell that you had two days out of the office."

"I had two days of sitting on my ass at the courthouse waiting to testify for less than an hour. I'm ready to get back to doing something." Franks stood. "Ready?"

With a sigh, Angus stood. He had no idea where Franks was finding the energy, but he'd feed off it. "Yeah, let's do this." He grabbed his stuff and shoved it in his pockets. "You're driving."

"Works for me." Franks walked out of the office.

Angus followed, hoping that they'd find something. He needed something to break. Just one clue to give him direction. He'd set up interviews with the boys as they drove. He wasn't sure if either Tom or Terrance had jobs, but he'd work around them. If things went right, he'd be dealing with Gail's family this afternoon because it wouldn't take long to confirm the body in the morgue was her once they reported her missing. He had no clue why they were waiting. They had to have noticed she didn't come home overnight. As they got in the car, he glanced at Franks. "Do you think I should call the Smiths and see if I can set up another time to interview Gail? They'd have to tell me she didn't come home, right? Then I could tell them I'd check the hospitals, which would include the morgue."

Franks shrugged. "Yeah, that would work."

Angus pulled out his phone and found the Smith's phone number. He hit call and waited several rings.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Detective Young. I was hoping to catch Gail. I've tried to call her phone and she isn't answering. I was hoping to set up a time to speak with her."

"Oh, Detective Young, I'm glad you called. Gail didn't come home after work last night. I'm not sure if she went to a friend's house overnight or what, but she isn't answering our calls either. I was just about to call her work to speak to her there. We went to bed early and when we got up, we realized she wasn't home. It's not like her to do that, especially when she has to know we'd worry with all these murders happening." Mrs. Smith sounded calm. "She should be at work now. She'll get off at four. I'll have her call you once I speak with her. I'm guessing her phone is dead."

Angus wanted to tell her it wasn't the phone that was dead, but that would be cruel. "That sounds good. I'll be waiting for her call." Angus thanked her before ending the call. He set his phone down. "Well, that didn't help. They think she was at a friend's place last night and is at work now. Her mother said she's calling her work to speak with her since Gail's phone appears to have a dead battery."

Franks sighed. "You'd think with her two friends murdered that the parents would be a little more concerned."

"I would be if it was my kid." Angus wouldn't have let his kid out if his group of friends were being murdered. He'd keep his child by his side until the threat had passed. He was sure he'd be the most overprotective parent there was. "All I can do now is wait. I tried to move things along, but if they aren't concerned, I can't start calling around to hospitals." He closed his eyes. "Facing those parents last night, knowing their child was already dead and not being able to tell them was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I hated myself for keeping it from them. I still do. They should know."

"One of the tough parts about having paranormal contacts," Franks told him. "You know if you said something they'd think you were crazy or involved in the murders. There's no way to play this out without letting them piece it together naturally."

"Well, I wish they'd hurry up." Angus opened his eyes and looked over at Franks. "I'm in the wrong job to be friends with people who see ghosts."

"You're in the perfect job for it. Sometimes you just have to maneuver around things differently. Look at all the good you've done because of it. This one case isn't your normal. It probably won't ever happen again. We'll get through today, then tomorrow you won't have to hold on to the secret anymore." Franks turned down the road that would take them to the bridge.

"That's what Lance said last night about today." Angus sighed. "I know you're right. I just hate it. Even now, we're out here searching for evidence. What if we find something? How do I explain us even being here?"

"We'll deal with that if we find anything." Franks parked the car on the side of the road. "Okay, if Gail was dragged to the bridge, this had to be where the person parked. There's nowhere else."

Angus got out of the car and looked around. It was a quiet road that sat between two yellowing fields of overgrown grass and weeds. The nearest home was nearly two blocks away. "No cameras in the area that I can see, but if I remember right, the city put a couple on the bridge after the kids started coming out here at night to drink."

"Has the gorge ever had water in it?" Franks asked.

"Not that I can remember. When I was in high school, the trains used to still run in this area, but when the refinery shut down, that stopped. It was a popular make-out spot for teens until the cameras went in. We still get some kids coming out here to drink, but they go below the bridge now, not on it. Mostly, it's people jogging the old trails or walking their dogs." He looked around. "If she was unconscious when he got her out of the car or truck, we should see somewhere he started to drag her once he got her out of the vehicle." He walked up and down the side of the road, looking at the long grass.

"Over here." Franks had gone the other direction. "The weeds are all pressed down. Get your phone out. We'll want pictures of this."

"Any shoe prints?" Angus asked as he walked over, switching his camera on.

"Not that I can see, but the weeds aren't as thick closer to the bridge. You said she fought him?"

Angus nodded. "Fought and tore his shirt. So if you see any black material, we'll bag it." They followed the trail of smashed weeds, careful to stay to the side of the path so they didn't disrupt any evidence. "Is that blood?" He paused, seeing something on the blades of long grass.

"Sure looks like it to me. I'll run back to the car and get a vial. We can collect a sample." Franks headed back to the car.

Angus wasn't sure what good it would do. They couldn't turn it in as evidence without there being a ton of questions. At least they'd have it safe to claim they found it later should Gail's parents ever report her missing. Even then, they'd have to prove she was murdered and not just someone upset about her friend's deaths who became suicidal. Why couldn't things be easy?

Franks kneeled, swabbing the blood off the grass and sticking it in the vial before capping it. Even with the blood dry, the swab was able to get a good sample. "I'm going to cut off some of these other areas with blood and bag them, just in case I didn't get enough on the swab." Franks cut the grass low and placed it in an evidence bag. "Would be a lot easier if we had a forensics unit out here with us."

"It looks like she might have started struggling there." Angus pointed to an area about five feet ahead of them where the grass and weeds weren't as evenly flattened. "So she fought for a good twenty feet before he got her on the bridge. Then struggled with her to lift her up over that railing. That's a good three feet high. Not easy to get someone over if they're fighting you."

"Reaffirming your thinking that it has to be a man." Franks walked ahead.

"It has to be. Even Gail said it had to be a man she fought with. I guess it could be a very in shape woman. It had to be someone who heard their conversation on dying. That's not just coincidence. There are a million ways to kill someone, and yet, each of these girls died the way they feared the most." Angus stood and looked over the edge of the bridge. "That's a long drop onto hard, rocky dirt. We've seen a lot of suicides here and I don't recall ever hearing of a survivor."

"Yeah, me neither." Franks ran his fingers through his hair. "Honestly, unless you're going to jump from the top of one of the buildings, there isn't a better place to end things. What does this girl weigh?"

"I haven't seen her, but I'm guessing not more than one-ten, one-fifteen from the pictures I saw on her parents' wall. She was maybe five-foot-four. That's a lot to lift up and over, especially if they're struggling," Angus said.

"But she was bleeding and injured. A head injury would weaken a person. She wasn't at full strength. Still, I agree with your thinking that it was a male. Probably one of the three boys." Franks stepped back. "Let's go see if Lance has any information from her autopsy, then we'll meet with the other two boys. Maybe, by then, the parents will have called her in as missing and we can move forward. You want to drive down and look at the area where she landed?"

"No, I think Lance would have glanced around. We'll backtrack later if we need to. Let's go see what the autopsy had to show." Angus tucked his phone in his pocket and headed back to the car.

Once on the road, Angus sent a quick text to Lance to let him know they were headed his way. He wasn't sure he'd get it before they arrived, but at least he tried. Gail had gone into the morgue with Lance earlier, but he wasn't sure if she'd stuck around. Knowing Jeremy, the ghost who stayed at the morgue, he was dragging her around, showing her all his favorite places. It wouldn't matter if Gail was there. He couldn't talk to her anyway and didn't really have any other questions for her at this point.

All he could do now was wait. The one thing he wasn't good at doing, but until he could tie Gail's murder in with the others, it would have to wait. He would focus on Fiona and Elizabeth, and hopefully find a break there so he wouldn't have to worry about who killed Gail. That person would already be in jail.