Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

“ T here appears to be hesitation marks on their neck.” Ranger pointed to several small cuts on Calvin and Mary’s skin. “To me, it looks like the killer started to kill them but stopped. He seemed to second-guess himself before finishing the deed.”

Duke picked up the photo and studied it more closely. Ranger was right. Barely visible cut marks stretched across their skin.

“It could be because this was the first time this guy killed two victims at once,” Andi suggested. “Maybe that threw him off his game.”

“Maybe.” Duke’s jaw tightened as he stared at the photo. “It almost looks like he changed his mind. But why would he do that?”

“Maybe the killer knew Calvin and Mary personally.” Ranger let his words linger in the air. “That could make him rethink his methods and do something less gruesome.”

Duke nodded slowly. “You may be onto something. Maybe the killer had a personal connection with Juniper’s parents.”

“Or with this place,” Simmy suggested.

“This location feels different than the others,” Duke said. “It feels more personal, as do the murders of Calvin and Mary. Plus, there’s been some strange stuff going on—mostly Pepper’s murder. We’d be foolish not to consider the idea that there’s a connection.”

“But why would the killer wait six years, striking other people and locations, only to strike here where it’s more personal?” Matthew asked.

“That’s a great question,” Andi said. “Until we figure out his motivation, we might not know.”

“So where do we go from here?” Simmy asked.

“I want to dig a little deeper into both Tim’s and Caleb’s backgrounds,” Andi said. “Caleb was actually there ice fishing when the woman fell through.”

Ranger frowned and leaned back in his seat, a thoughtful expression on his face. “If he truly is the killer—the December Dismemberer—it seems as if he would have been more careful and not been on the scene.”

“I agree with that,” Duke said. “Maybe he’s not the serial killer we’re looking for. But I wonder if he might be behind some of the incidents happening here, especially if he was on the verge of being fired right before Calvin and Mary were killed. He could have staged the murders to look like the December Dismemberer, just as Tim suggested.”

“That’s a good point.” Andi sat up straighter and nodded. “We need to talk to Caleb again.”

“I agree,” Duke said.

Right now, Caleb had risen to the top of his list of suspects.

Caleb was nowhere to be found at the moment—probably out checking on the trails, Juniper said—and Andi didn’t want to waste too much time trying to locate him. Instead, she had another idea to implement until he got back to the camp.

“I want to talk to Gibson,” Andi announced. “And I want to see if we can look inside Pepper’s residence here. He said yesterday we should stay away, but I’m hoping he might be more lenient today.”

“It can’t hurt to ask,” Duke said.

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Mariella said. “I know that Matthew and I have some things to work on here for the podcast supplements. But maybe the rest of you guys could go?”

Duke glanced at Ranger. “How about if you and I talk to Gibson, see if we can take a look at the cabin where she was staying?”

“What about me?” Andi was wondering exactly what Duke was thinking because she wanted to see Pepper’s place too.

“I was actually hoping that you and Simmy might want to talk to Juniper,” he said. “She seems pretty upset, and I still feel as if there’s something she’s hiding. Maybe you guys can get something more out of her.”

Andi glanced at Simmy and shrugged. “It seems as if it could be worth a chance.”

“Then why don’t we get busy and do that? And if anyone is getting hungry, I’m fairly certain lunch is being served sometime soon.”

With that decided, they all got moving. Duke called Gibson. He told them Pepper’s place had been released, and they were free to go inside with Juniper’s permission. Duke called Juniper, who gave them permission. She said she’d send Tim over with the key.

Meanwhile, Andi and Simmy bundled up to visit Juniper.

As soon as Andi stepped outside, she paused and glanced around.

Something didn’t feel right.

Why did she feel as if someone were watching her?

As she scanned everything around her, she didn’t see anyone except . . .

She squinted as she stared into the woods.

She’d almost thought she had seen a mound of snow moving. But that thought was ridiculous. Snow didn’t move unless it was blown by the wind.

What did she think? That the snow was alive or something? She chided herself at the thought. It was ridiculous.

She touched the top of her head as that ache formed again.

The mad scientist who’d tried to do surgery on her wasn’t here. Wasn’t hiding in the snow.

She had to remind herself of that fact entirely too much.

“You ready?” Simmy stepped outside beside her.

Andi forced herself to smile. “Of course. Let’s go find Juniper.”