7
October 10th – 10:00 AM
Sheriff Carter walked into the police station, taking off his coat and hanging it on the rack by Bethany’s desk. Standing next to the desk, talking to Bethany was Abe. He had his mailbag hanging from his shoulder and a tall stack of letters and magazines in his hands.
“Are you guys making any progress?” Abe asked. Bethany looked up seeing Carter there. Knowing she got in trouble last time for spouting off too much information, she kept her mouth shut.
“I’m not aloud to say, Abe.” Bethany said.
Abe looked up and felt uncomfortable with Carter there. He nodded at him then returned his attention to Bethany. “Alright, then. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a nice day.” Bethany said as Abe left the station. She looked at Carter. “What?”
“Nothing.”
Bethany sighed and started fingering through the mail. “Everyone from the community center is already here. They’re all separated in different rooms.”
“Thank you very much, Bethany.”
“Uh huh.”
Carter shook it off and made his way back to his office, grabbing a cup of coffee and the newspaper from the break room first. He sat at his desk and opened the paper. The headline on the front page stood out: ‘Stewart Hollow Falls Victim to The Harvest Slasher.’ Carter quickly skimmed through the story angrily.
“Son of a…” he said aloud to himself.
Deputy Reed walked in, removing his coat. He saw Carter’s disgusted look. “What’s wrong?”
Carter held up the front page of the paper. Reed looked it over.
“Now the entire town knows.”
“Do you think the killer read it?” Reed asked.
“Well, unless the killer is some drifter who has made his way into our town and already left, then I’d say yes.” Carter slammed the paper into the trashcan beside his desk.
“So are we doing these interviews now?” Reed asked.
“Yeah.” Carter said, removing his coffee mug from his lips.
“How should we split them?”
Carter fingered through the files, splitting them in half. He handed a stack to Reed. “You take these, and I’ll take these,” he said, keeping half for himself.
Reed stood up with his files and started out the door. He stopped, remembering something and turned back around. “Oh yeah, I forgot.”
Carter looked up.
“We had to let John Blankenship go,” Reed said. “His alibi was confirmed. We called his girlfriend and she said that he was home early from work that night, and they were both there until morning.”
Carter shook his head. “We better have some luck with the community center gang then.”
Sheriff Carter sat in the interrogation room. Officer Jamie Dart escorted in Ashley Penner, and sat her down in the seat across from him. Dart left, and the room was silent. Carter looked down at the files in front of him, and then back up to Ashley. She appeared nervous. Carter could tell she’d been crying as some of her make up was smudged below her eyes.
“You have nothing to be nervous about. We’re just asking questions today.” Carter said, trying to ease the tension.
She nodded.
“First I need to know where you were during the time frames that we’ve determined the murders to have taken place during. During Carly’s murder, you said you were with your boyfriend, Mark, correct?”
“Yes.”
“He can confirm this?”
“Yes.”
“What is your job over at the community center?”
“I’m on the event planning staff.”
“You were basically second in command, right? Second to Carly Simmons?”
“Yes.”
“But now your first in command, due to her death.”
“Um, yeah.” Ashley knew where Carter was heading with this. She didn’t like it. “I didn’t kill her.”
“I never said you did.” Carter paused for a moment and looked over his notes. “You guys were friends, right?”
“Since high school.”
“What kind of relationship did you have with Ms. Cook and Brady Murphy?” Carter suddenly strayed from the original question, catching her off guard.
“Um, I didn’t know Ms. Cook very well. No one really liked her much. She was always in a bad mood.”
“And Brady?”
“Brady was a friend. He was Mark’s best friend. We’ve known each other since high school.”
“Did you or anyone else ever have any kind of problems with Brady? Did he ever behave strangely?”
“None of us had any kind of problem with him. Strange? Not really. He did seem distracted once in a while though. I always got the impression he had a crush on someone, but he never spoke of her. So I don’t know who it was.”
Deputy Reed sat in another interrogation room, sitting across from Bruce Slater. Bruce sat up tall in his chair. He was ready for any kind of question.
“I understand you’re the manager over at the community center. The man in charge, right?” Reed asked.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Bruce answered calmly, yet irritated by the departments demand of him to be there.
“You personally hired and employed the three people who are now dead, correct?”
“Yeah. What are you saying here?” Bruce began getting defensive.
“Nothing, Mr. Slater. These are simply just questions. We’re doing this for everyone at the community center.”
Bruce sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, letting out a purposefully loud sigh.
“It appears that you really don’t want to be here. Is there somewhere you have to be?” Reed asked.
“I guess not. The community center is closed until we all get back there anyway, so why would I be in a rush?”
“Alright.” Reed flicked through the files in front of him. “Where were you on these dates, around these times?”
Reed pushed a piece of paper in front of Bruce, which had the dates and times of the murders.
“I can’t remember exactly where I was the first night. It was late, so I was probably home. As for the night Eleanor was killed, I had left shortly after the vigil. I told her to stay there and locate some items for the festival.”
“You instructed her to stay there that night?” Reed said, jotting down notes.
“Yes I did. But I had left. I wasn’t there when she was killed.”
“The report says that your security system and cameras were not functioning that night. How long have they been out of service?”
“For a while. I was going to get them fixed, but thought I’d wait until November so I could put more money towards the festival.” Bruce desperately explained.
“And what about the night of the 8th? Where were you?”
“I was home that night.”
“You didn’t leave for anything?”
“No. I said I was home all night.”
Sheriff Carter was now interviewing Mark Jenson.
“Mr. Jenson, I understand you were best friends with Brady Murphy?”
The mention of Brady’s name almost brought a tear to Mark’s eyes. His lips quivered. “Yes.”
“Can you confirm that on the night Carly Simmons was murdered, you were with Ashley Penner?”
“Yeah. We were home that night.”
“Where were you when Ms. Cook was killed?”
“We were all at the vigil that night. Ashley and I went home together.”
“What did you do that night?”
Mark was trying to remember. “I was watching TV, and Ashley was in her room all night crying.”
“Carly’s death really affected her, huh?”
“Yeah, they were best friends.”
“What were you watching on TV?”
“Does that matter?” Mark asked, baffled by the random question.
“Not really, I’m just curious. I watch a lot of TV myself.”
“I was watching the horror movie marathon.”
“Oh. I don’t watch much horror anymore. They are all the same.”
Mark nodded. “I watch the marathon every year. I’m a sucker for tradition.”
“So that’s why you’re involved with the festival year after year?”
“Yeah. I enjoy it. It brings the town together.”
“What is your job for the festival?”
“I’m an ice cream vendor. That’s the job I always get.”
“Oh yeah? How’s that?”
“I pay off Bruce to give me an easy job. I’m not a big fan of working, but I like to be involved.” Mark said, with a small laugh.
“I see.”
Brandon Becker sat nervously across the table from Deputy Reed. He bounced his foot up and down and tapped his fingers repeatedly on the table. Reed took instant notice of this.
“Nervous?”
“A little.” Brandon said in a shaky voice.
“I’ll just ask then. Did you kill anyone?”
The abrupt question stunned Brandon. His fingers and leg stopped moving. “No!” He exclaimed.
“Okay. It’s just that you seem really nervous. Mind telling me why?”
Brandon didn’t say anything, and appeared to start staring. Reed snapped his fingers, bringing Brandon out of his daze.
“Why are you so nervous?” Reed asked again.
Brandon glanced behind him at the two-way mirror, and then up at the security camera in the corner of the room. He looked into Reed’s eyes. “Does all of this information stay private?”
“It depends on how serious the information is. Look, you might as well come clean. Were dealing with three dead bodies and the possibility of others. What do you know?”
“I’m gay.”
“What?” Reed was surprised by the hasty confession.
“I mean, Bi. I don’t really know. I’m very confused.” Mark’s admission seemed to take a lot of pressure off him. He was able to sit back in his seat and breath a little.
“How does this information help with the murder case?”
“The night Carly was murdered, I was with my…friend. I wasn’t at the house. When you guys questioned me, I said I was home all night with my brother. I lied, and Aiden covered for me. You guys knew I was lying, didn’t you?”
“Well, we had our doubts. We’re the police – we question everything.” Reed glanced at his notes and then back up at Brandon. “So, your ‘friend’ - can he confirm your whereabouts that night?”
Brandon froze. Reed cocked his head, curious as to why Brandon was hesitant. “Brandon, who is your boyfriend?”
Brandon’s nerves were back. He stuttered out the name. “Brady Murphy.”
Reed sat back in his chair. “You originally said you had a crush on Carly Simmons.”
Brandon nodded rapidly.
“So,” Reed began, grabbing his pen and paper, “You can be romantically connected with two of the victims.”
Brandon hung his head, embarrassed.
“When was the last time you saw Brady?”
A tear formed and fell down Brandon’s cheek as he opened his mouth. “Two nights ago. Around ten.”
Reed smiled. “That’s about the time he was murdered.”
Brandon’s face turned a shade of bright red. “I didn’t kill him. Why would I have? He was helping me deal with this; all of this crap that’s rushing around in my brain.” Brandon stopped to catch his breath then continued. “He went out for a smoke break before he closed up the store. I met him there and we talked for a few minutes before I left. As far as I know, he went back in, set the alarm, locked up and went home.”
Reed wrote down every detail.
“You can’t tell my brother. He’d be heartbroken.” Brandon pleaded.
Carter sat in the other interrogation room. Officer Dart had escorted in a pretty blonde in her mid twenties. She sat down across from him as he opened up the files.
“Kristen Keller, I presume?” Carter asked, smiling at the gorgeous specimen in front of him.
“Yes, sir.” She said, smiling back. She brushed her hair away from her eyes, crossed her legs, and rested her hands on her lap. Carter could see right through the seduction attempt.
“I’ve been in this business for a while,” he said. “I know all the tricks. Don’t do anything that will make you look suspicious.”
The fake smile on Kristen’s face disappeared. “Sheriff, I didn’t do anything. I actually don’t even know why I’m here. I didn’t know Carly very well, I hated Ms. Cook with a passion and I barely ever spoke to Brady.”
“You’re kind of quick to dismiss yourself from everything.” Carter said, closing the file.
“I just don’t want you to waste your time on me when you could be looking for the real killer, Sheriff.” Kristen’s cutesy smile returned.
“Well, you might not see your importance to this case, but I do. The way I see it is that three people from your work have turned up dead. There is a killer who seems to be targeting the festival workers. So I can either consider you a suspect and you can answer my questions, or I can let you go right now, and you could be a possible future victim.” Carter said, cuffing his hands together and placing them on top of the files on the table.
Kristen’s smile disappeared for the second time. She uncrossed her legs and stood up. “I’d like to leave.”
“Excuse me?” Carter questioned.
“I feel insulted and I take your comments as a threat,” she said, getting emotional.
“A threat?”
“You basically said that if I’m not a suspect, I’m a victim. I don’t want to be either! I didn’t do anything!” Kristen began to raise her voice.
“Ms. Keller, if you are refusing to cooperate, I’m going to put you in a holding cell.” Carter said, aggravated.
Kristen’s eyes widened and arms dropped to her side.
“Are you going to answer my questions?” Carter asked one last time.
Kristen stayed strong and crossed her arms. “I don’t have to answer any of your questions.”
“Dart!” Carter called out.
Officer Dart returned to the room.
“Please put Ms. Keller in a cell, and confiscate her belongings.” Carter firmly instructed.
“Yes, Sheriff.” Dart grabbed Kristen and hand cuffed her. She looked back at a smiling Ben Carter and pouted.
“Now you’re nobody.” Carter said with a grin. Dart removed her from the room.
Deputy Allan Reed sat in the other room conducting his last interview. The pretty Laura Nelson sat before him. She was quiet for the most part, but answered his questions as completely as she could.
“Alright, let’s move on. I got your whereabouts for the times of the murders, and I will look into your alibis. Now, what is your job exactly over at the community center?” Reed asked, ready to add to the file.
“I’m basically a receptionist. Bruce and Carly tell me…I mean, Bruce and Ashley, now, tell me what to do and I do it. I take phone calls, run errands, etc.” Laura said, innocently.
“So you’re like the puppet.”
“Basically. I want to be an artist, so I don’t plan on being there much longer.”
“What kind of art?” Reed asked.
“We’ll, I’ve always been good at sketching. I’d like to do portraits someday. I was thinking of going to college in the spring.” Laura said. The mention of her future seemed to bring life to her.
“How did you get the job at the community center?” Reed asked, bringing the topic back to the important matter.
“Ashley, actually. Her and I and Kristen were friends in high school. Carly got Ashley the job, then Ashley got Kristen and I a job there.”
“And you’re involved in the festival too, correct?” Reed asked.
“Yes. I’m the judge of the pumpkin carving contest.”
“That’s fitting, I guess. You being and artist and all.” Reed wrote down the info. “Do you carve pumpkins yourself?”
“Yes. I carved a few that I’m going to display at the judging table.”
Reed nodded as he fingered through the files. He pulled out a picture of the carved pumpkin found at the scene of Carly Simmons murder. He placed it in front of her.
“Did you do this one?”
Her eyes shot open and she looked up at Reed. “Yes! That’s mine! Where did you find it? It disappeared from the office after I carved it.”
“It was found at Carly Simmons house the night she was killed.” Reed said.
“I carved five of them for my desk at work. The middle one went missing the day after I put them out. That was like, September 29th, or something.”
“Is it possible someone from your office took it?”
“Possibly. But the center is open to everyone. Plus, with the security cameras not working, anyone could have strolled in a taken it.”
Carter flipped through the files in front of him, then looked back up at his last interview – Aiden Becker.
“Aiden, as you know, we are conducting interviews with all of the employees of the community center, and more importantly, the festival.” Carter explained.
“I know, but I don’t work for the community center and I am not involved with the festival at all. I’m not a big fan of crowds or celebrating Halloween in general.” Aiden said, not completely sure why he was there to begin with.
“Well, there are a couple reasons why I wanted to interview you. First of all, we know your brother lied about where he was the night Carly Simmons was murdered. We questioned him about it at your house that next day, he lied, and you seemed to cover for him. Did you know where he was?”
“I had no clue. He was leaving the house a lot and not telling me where he was going. He became very secretive. But, um, I think I know why.” Aiden said.
“Why?”
“Brandon’s gay.” Aiden said – a depressed sigh spewing from his mouth.
Carter’s eyebrows contorted. “Brandon confessed that to us a little while ago and pleaded us not to tell you. How did you already know that?”
“Because I saw him the night Brady was killed.”
“You saw him? Where?”
“Like I said, he’d been sneaking out and keeping things from me. He wouldn’t talk to me about anything. So I followed him that night. He and Brady were outside of the store talking right before ten. I saw them kiss, and…”
“And what?”
“Well, there was someone else there. I was across the street in an alley when I saw them. Right around the building from me was a bench on the sidewalk and there was someone – a man I think – sitting there.”
“Did you see who it was?” Carter was getting interested.
“No, it was dark. I couldn’t really see. I could make out some minor details, but unless he was right in front of me again, I don’t think I could identify him.”
“Any info could help, Aiden.” Carter said, as he jotted down the minor details Aiden gave. It was nothing more than an approximate height and build, but any details were good details.
5:25 PM
The interviews were complete and the sun was beginning to make its way behind the mountains to the north. The wind was picking up, and there a sense of unnerving dread in the air.
Stacy Reed pulled up in front of the police station. She walked in and sat in an empty chair next too Bethany’s desk.
“Allan should be out any second, dear.” Bethany said, blowing out the pumpkin on the windowsill behind her.
“Not a problem.” Stacy said, checking her phone for messages. She looked across the office at a row of holding cells. Only one was occupied, and it was by Kristen Keller. She sat on a chair inside, and looked out at Stacy with a pissed off grin.
“What the heck are you staring at?” Kristen yelled. Stacy ignored her. Carter walked by the cell, putting on his coat. He banged his arm on the cell doors, startling Kristen.
“Shut up, Ms. Keller. We’ll talk in the morning.” Carter said, approaching the front of the office where he saw Stacy.
“Hey, Stacy. Giving Allan a ride home?”
“Yeah. Is he almost ready?” She asked, smiling.
“Yeah, he’s just putting some files away. How’s the job?”
“It’s great. I really love what I do.”
“That’s good to hear. I love what I do too, but not when there’s a psycho killer on the loose and our clues are limited and suspects are few and far between.”
“How’d the interviews go today?” Stacy asked.
“Not bad. We were able to talk to everyone. I’ve been reviewing the reports and files all afternoon. A couple things have caught my attention, so hopefully we can go from there.”
“Good. I hope you guys can catch this guy soon.” Stacy said, standing up as Allan approached from behind Carter. “Hey, honey, you ready?”
“Yes ma’am.” Reed said, patting Carter on the back. “Tomorrow, Carter?”
“I’ll be here.”
“Great.”
“Bye, bye!” Stacy waved to Carter and Bethany as Reed wrapped his arm around her shoulder and left.
Carter looked at Bethany as he zipped up his coat. “Have a good evening, Beth.”
“Thank you.” Bethany said. She appeared to be very tired, and Carter noticed.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m just worn out. Don’t get old, Ben.” She joked.
“I’ve heard some rumors that you might be retiring.”
Bethany looked at him, unaware there were rumors. She smiled. “We all have to sometime.”
Carter nodded. “Why don’t you take tomorrow off?”
“Oh I couldn’t. We’re just so busy.”
“I insist. Please. Rest up.”
“If you say so, Sheriff.”
Carter smiled. “Take it easy, Bethany.”
Carter left. Bethany put on her jacket and picked up her purse. She grabbed her keys from the stack of mail that had sat on her desk all day. She totally forgot about.
“Oh no.” She said glancing out the window, looking for Carter. He was already in his car and driving away. Two officers walked by the front desk and Bethany grabbed their attention.
“Hey, you guys. I’m off tomorrow, and I forgot to give the Sheriff the mail. Would one of you put it on his desk for me?” Bethany asked. It was hard to turn down a favor from a sweet old lady.
“Sure,” one of the officers said grabbing it from her. Bethany thanked them and left.
The officers walked by Carter’s office on the way to the file room. The officer with the mail leaned into the dark office and dropped the stack on his desk.
The stack of letters had shifted, revealing the bottom envelope. It had no return address and was addressed to the Stewart Hollow Sheriff’s Department. In the bottom right hand corner, was a small pumpkin sticker.