“What happened?” Fitzgibbon asked, sounding as if he were on edge as well.
“Paul Stark was in an accident last night. While driving drunk, he smashed his car into the Roger Conant statue near the Witch Museum. Stark wasn’t wearing a seat belt. He’s in critical condition in the ICU at Salem Mercy Hospital.”
“Son of a bitch. We were so close to arresting Bash’s killer.” Ronan thumped a fist against the table. He shot off a quick text to Ten, asking him to come up to the office.
“Wait! What do you mean we’re on the verge of catching the killer?” Jude wore a confused look. “We still don’t know if he was murdered or died accidentally.”
“Actually, we do,” Ten said, coming into the room. He took the seat beside Ronan at the table.
“The news I have to tell you is why I called this meeting, but before we tell you what we learned last night, tell us where things stand with Paul Stark.” Ronan turned to Ten. “He was in an accident last night.”
Ten dipped his head. “He was going out for more beer.”
“More beer?” Cisco asked, his eyes narrowing.
“We met with Paul yesterday morning. He had some objects that belonged to his son that he was hoping I could use to speak with Bash. They worked, and his ghost appeared. He started to tell us what happened the night he died before his energy ran out and he vanished. Bash had made himself visible to his father. After Bash left, I couldn’t reestablish a connection with him, and Paul started to drink. From what I know, he had two unopened cases of Budweiser, and he’d managed to drink three cans before we left.”
“I knew I should have stayed with him,” Fitzgibbon said softly.
“He’s a grown man, Fitz,” Cisco said. “There’s nothing you could have done.”
“Is Stark going to live?” Jude asked. “I got the distinct feeling the man was waiting to die in order to be reunited with his lost son and wife.”
“I got that impression too,” Ronan said. “I was hoping that with what we learned last night, we’d be able to talk him into rehab after we arrested the killers.”
“Killers? As in plural? More thanonekiller?” Cisco’s mouth hung open. “Why the hell didn’t you call me last night? Jesus, Ronan! What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Take a breath, Cisco, before you give yourself another heart attack.” Ten wore a look that said he meant business.
Taking a deep breath, Cisco sat back in his chair. “Sorry, Ronan. It’s been one hell of a night.”
“It’s okay, Cisco.” Ronan offered his boss a placid smile. “After we finished our dinner meeting with Corny and Destiny and spoke with Carson and Cole about next steps, we picked up the kids and went home. Ten wanted to talk to Everly about Bash. I’d taken the friendship bracelet Paul left for us to use to contact his son.”
“What the hell are corny and destiny?” Cisco looked around the table.
“They’re not awhatbut a who,” Fitzgibbon explained. “Corny is Carson and Cole’s father, and Destiny, aka Martha, is his new, pregnant wife.”
“What the hell goes on when you guys are off the clock? It’s like you’ve all taken a trip to Crazytown.” Cisco shook his head.
“The story gets even better.” Fitz gave a quick recap on everything that happened with the Craig family.
“I’ll never complain about Luca’s family ever again. That’s just insanity. Poor Carson and Cole, but let’s get back to Paul Stark.” Cisco pointed to Tennyson. “You. Go.”
“Everly said Simon Westlake was jealous of Bash because he’d slept with Mandy Patterson, Simon’s girlfriend. Apparently, Mandy was used as a lure to see which of the pledges would sleep with her and which ones would not. When Bash showed up, he explained that he naively believed that Mandy and Simon had broken up. Because of that, uh, infraction, shall we say, Bash was told that he wouldn’t be admitted to the Sigma Chi fraternity.”
“But,” Ronan said, picking up the story, “if he passed one final test, Bash would become a member.”
“What was the final test?” Fitzgibbon asked.
“Bash had to lie on Simon’s bed while he knelt on Sebastian’s back. While that was going on, Mandy came into the room, and Simon forced her to do the same thing to Bash. She refused, and Simon told her if she didn’t do what he said, he would do the same thing to her. She obeyed, and while she did what Simon asked, he climbed back on Bash, adding his weight, and pushed his face into the mattress until he suffocated.”
“Sweet Jesus,” Cisco muttered.
“How did Bash’s body end up in the basement?” Fitz asked.
“Simon and some of the other members carried him and left him on the stairs, which explains why Bash’s phone was intact and why his hands didn’t have the injuries you would expect to seein a fall of that kind. There was no damage to his fingers, palms, or wrists, as well as there being no bruising.” Ronan shook his head. “I had set up a meeting with Simon for one this afternoon. I planned on bringing Jude and Fitz along in hopes we could get Simon to confess. Knowing what we know now, the next step is to find Mandy Patterson and to get the names of the guys who moved the body. I’m going to round them all up and arrest them.”
Cisco wore a gobsmacked look on his face. “So, just as the two of you were finding out what really happened to Bash, Paul Stark got into his car and drove drunk. If it weren’t for bad luck, that guy would have no luck at all.”
