Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

D uke and Andi left the lake, armed with new information.

They headed to check on the rest of the team at the cabin and give them an update.

“All of these . . . all of these crimes and tragedies . . . they seem like too much of a coincidence,” Andi murmured.

“I agree,” Duke said. “Caleb was in charge of this excursion. Maybe he has more to do with this than we assumed.”

“I know. I definitely want to talk to him. It looked like he and Juniper were in a heated discussion, so I thought I’d let them talk first.”

“We still need to figure out everything this is connected to or even if it is connected.” Duke rubbed his jaw. “I’m still not quite sure about that either.”

Andi frowned. “There are definitely a lot of moving pieces.”

He tilted his head. “It seems like there always are when we work a case.”

“We do like to take on the complicated ones.”

Just as they reached their cabin, the door flew open, and Bert stormed out. His nostrils were flaring and his cheeks red.

Obviously, the talk he’d had with the gang hadn’t gone well.

“I’m going to tear this place apart!” he called behind him. “Mark my words!”

He threw on brakes when he spotted Duke and Andi standing there.

“Is there a problem?” Duke rose to full height, his shoulders broadening.

“I should have never come here.” Bert stopped and shook his head. “I had no idea you guys would accuse me of murder!”

“You’re saying you’re angry about your stay here, but you weren’t angry enough to murder someone?” Andi stared up at the man.

“Of course not.” He snorted as if she were the crazy one. “I just wanted some money.”

“Like you wanted money back from other places you stay?” Duke raised an eyebrow as he waited for the man’s response.

When the man paled, Duke continued. “Do you always find reasons to complain about the places where you stay? Maybe you even brag on social media about how to get vacations at a discount. That’s how you’re an influencer, isn’t it? You basically teach people how to scam others.”

Bert’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know anything!”

Then he stormed past them, headed toward a lone red truck parked off the side of the road.

When he disappeared, Andi turned toward Duke. “Impressive. How did you figure that one out?”

“My brother mentioned something to me about people who did stuff like that once.” Duke shrugged. “And I did a little research after I talked to Gibson.”

“With everything going on, I’m glad you thought to check out his social media content.”

“Me too.” Duke frowned and shook his head. “Bert’s not a good person. However, I don’t think he’s a killer either.”

Andi let out a long breath. “Unfortunately, I think the same thing.”

As Duke and Andi stepped inside, the gang looked up from the kitchen table where they’d gathered.

“That guy is a real treat, huh?” Mariella looked up from the table, a fluffy pink turtleneck sweater consuming her neck. A coffee mug—also pink—rested in front of her.

“He sure is,” Duke muttered. “I take it you didn’t get anything useful from him?”

“Just a lot of self-righteousness,” Simmy murmured with a roll of her eyes.

“I even found a camera on him,” Matthew said. “He was recording all of this, probably in hopes of garnering more attention for himself.”

Duke shook his head, aggravated. Some people . . .

“Did you learn anything new from Tim?” Ranger asked.

Duke exchanged a glance with Andi. Then they both took a seat around the table and updated the team on what had happened.

Just as Duke thought, from their position here, they hadn’t heard the ambulance or the commotion. They’d had no idea what had transpired on the other side of the camp. The gang looked just as surprised by everything they shared as Duke had felt when they were discovering the information.

He grabbed a couple of cashews from a bowl on the table before asking, “How about you guys? Anything new? Or did Bert consume all your time?”

“I wanted to let you all know that I talked to the family of one of the victims earlier today,” Mariella said. “Anderson Carswell. They live in Fairbanks.”

From what Duke could remember, Anderson was the fifth victim. He was fifty-four, married with one son, and he worked at a garden center.

“They’re desperate for answers and were thrilled to learn we’re looking into this,” Mariella continued. “They offered to drive out here so we could talk to them. I figured that was a good idea since it would save us the travel time. They’re coming this evening.”

“Sounds good,” Duke said.

“There was one thing I discovered I thought was really interesting.” Ranger pushed a photo toward them. “The state police sent these over, and I printed them off this morning.”

Duke winced when he saw the image. It was from one of the December Dismemberer’s crime scenes, and the details were gruesome, not something most people should see.

Several other pictures of the dead bodies were spread across the table . . . as well as the mutilations.

Andi glanced at the pictures and quickly averted her gaze. As she did, Ranger angled the pictures away from Simmy and Mariella, protecting them from seeing the horror.

“What is it about this photo in particular?” Duke looked away, giving himself a mental break from the horrific image. “Did you see something?”

“I examined all the photos from the various crime scenes,” Ranger started. “It wasn’t fun, but someone had to do it. I noticed an unusual injury on Calvin and Mary, something I didn’t see on the other victims.”

“What was that?” Ranger had Duke’s full attention now.

“This right here.” He pointed to the photo and Duke leaned closer, hoping to see something that would help them.