Bile rose to Ellie’s throat. “I counted eight pairs of shoes in there. But including Ruth, we’ve only identified three girls.”
“Hopefully we find DNA or prints in the truck, in the house or on those items.” Derrick shifted. “Fertilizer has definitely been hauled in the truck but the lab will have to determine how recently. We found a tiny button which I logged into evidence to be processed. I also sent a photo to the ME.”
Ellie’s pulse jumped. Maybe they were finally catching a break. “We have to work fast. He might be hunting his next victim at the moment.”
Lieutenant Williams approached them, his expression earnest. “You guys need to see what I found.”
Ellie and Derrick followed, hoping it was solid evidence to pinpoint the unsub. Williams led them to the coat closet near the kitchen and shined his light inside. The closet was empty, but he aimed the light against the side wall.
“Oh, God,” Ellie gasped. “Those look like scratch marks.” Her stomach twisted. “Someone was locked inside and tried to claw their way out.”
“The unsub may have brought his victims here and kept them for a while before actually killing them.” Derrick rubbed his chin. “There was no evidence of sexual assault though. So why keep the girls?”
“To instill fear,” Ellie said. “I found blankets upstairs that he may have used to wrap them in to carry them inside. Or someone may have been onto him and he had to lay low before dumping the bodies.”
Williams sprayed the wall with Luminol and several spots glowed a white-ish blue indicating blood. “We might get epidemiol cells off the interior of the closet from those scratch marks.”
“I don’t recall Dr. Whitefeather mentioning blood or DNA under the girls’ nails. But I’ll ask her to recheck.”
“Be thorough collecting,” Derrick told Williams. “With numerous victims, there might be multiple DNA and blood samples. And be sure to request any samples be compared to Earl Bramble’s.”
“Copy that.” Williams shot Derrick an annoyed look. “And for the record, I’m always thorough.”
Ellie stepped aside and phoned the ME. It took a minute to get patched through. “Laney, I’m at a farm where we think one or more of the victims might have been kept hostage. Forensics is collecting evidence and processing the house, and we also think we found the truck the unsub used in the abduction of Jacey Ward.”
“Sounds like progress,” Laney said.
“We found a closet bearing scratch marks on the wall where someone was obviously held. There’s signs of bloodstains as if the person locked inside clawed the wall and door to get out. Did you find DNA beneath Bonnie’s or Jacey’s nails?”
“A couple of fiber particulates but no human DNA.”
“How about wooden splinters? Even the tiniest sliver could verify they were here.”
“Let me look at my report.”
Ellie waited while Laney took a minute. Seconds later, she returned. “Not that I noted, but I can check again.”
“Thanks. Let me know if you find something.”
Adrenaline surged through Ellie. Hopefully the evidence they found here, the blood, DNA, scarves and shoes would help crack this case.
Her phone buzzed with her boss’s name on the screen so she connected. “Hey, I was about to call you.”
“I hope it’s with a lead. But right now, I need you to go to the hospital. Tilly Higgins and her brother Hayden were involved in a car crash. Rescue workers are on the scene and going to transport them to Brambletown General.”
“Are they hurt?”
“The brother is unconscious. But Tilly was semi alert.” He paused, and she heard him chomping on a mint. “She claims someone intentionally ran them off the road.”
“Will get over there ASAP.”
“I’m sending ERT to the crash site.”
“Good. I know Tilly was digging around to find the truth about her sister. She could have gotten too close to the truth and someone wanted her dead because of it.”
NINETY-SEVEN
Brambletown General Hospital
