Jennifer Chase Continues Series - Count Their Graves - Detective Katie Scott Book 12

 “Let’s go check out the children’s rooms—and especially Tessa’s room.” The worst part of Katie’s job was seeing murdered children. No matter how much you tried to prepare for something like this, nothing ever really prepared you for the violent death of children. It was always disturbing, causing her anger to rise, but she had to keep her head and focus on finding the killer before there was another family crime scene.

“What are we looking at here?” said McGaven. “First, the wire that was used to create these crude versions of hooks is just any wire you can buy in the electrical area of a hardware store,” he said. Katie was surprised. “We also excavated some wire near Tessa’s body that is made from a strong version of steel, high carbon, to be exact. It’s super-resilient and will last a lifetime, which is why it’s mainly used for fencing and in some tools.” He pointed to it. “Okay. The wire in the hooks looks much older,” said Katie. “At first glance, it does. But it’s a cheap stainless version that’s made to look old and is easy to manipulate.” “So you’re saying that the person who made these hooks and placed them in the mouths wanted them to look old on purpose. But why?” said McGaven. “That seems pretty extreme,” said Katie. “And a lot of trouble.” “Nothing this monster does is random,” she said as she thought about the profile she was putting together. “Fishhooks have been made of all types of things throughout history,” said John. “Bone, wood, shells, you name it. But the bottom line is that a good fishhook needs to be strong, have good surface quality, be long lasting, and inexpensive.” Katie looked over the wire samples. “So the killer chose a cheap version, which can be found in any hardware store, to make his hooks. That tells me that it’s all for show and not for craftsmanship or durability. It’s a symbol to him.” “Take a look at this,” said John. He showed the detectives one of the hooks. “You can see with a naked eye that there are indentations of something consistent with a standard pair of pliers, most likely needle-nose pliers.” Katie studied it. “It reminds me of jewelry making.” “That’s a good description.” John moved to one of the computers, where there were websites up that had several pages of fishhook history from books published both recently and as far back as sixty years ago. “When I was searching for specific types of wire used to make fishhooks, I came across some interesting facts that might be useful for your profile of the killer. I sent the list to your email, but I thought it was interesting enough to bring to your attention.” Katie and McGaven read over John’s shoulder. 

“So in some cultures the fishhook symbolizes the relationship between humans and the ocean, according to these historical articles. Catching a fish is about hope and determination,” John said. “Hope and determination seems like an unusual pairing of words,” she said. “I agree. That’s why I wanted to bring it to your attention, whether it’s helpful or not.” “The hooks in the mouths of the families obviously means something significant to the killer. But we have to find out what,” she said. “Here it also refers to the hooks as representing strength, prosperity, and good luck.” John turned to the detectives. “I thought it was interesting that there are several passages in these articles published through various historical fishery and outdoorsman sites that refer to ‘fishing for souls.’ There are also a lot of references to various religious and philosophical beliefs.” “That’s creepy,” said McGaven. “Why does that sound familiar?” Katie said. “Many famous painters through history have depicted scenes of the devil looking for souls,” said John. Katie thought more about it. It did seem to symbolize a part of the working mind of serial killers; how they fantasize and hunt for their victims. It could be the key Katie was looking for. It may have something to do with a life event or the childhood of the killer. “I can see the wheels turning,” said McGaven as he watched his partner. “I think we have stumbled on something,” she said. She looked at a diagram of a hook in one of the articles. “There’s four parts,” she said reading the screen. “The shank, the bend, the eye, and the barb.” “I never knew there was so much to know about a fishing hook and what it symbolizes as well as the physical qualities of the pieces,” said McGaven. “I thought the same thing,” said John. “Was there anything unusual about how the hooks were placed?” Katie asked. “They were fastened the easiest way, to the backs of their throats postmortem. It was just enough underneath the soft tissue to keep them from falling out.” It made Katie shudder just to think about. 

“A few other things,” said John. Katie could see his frown, which meant it wasn’t necessarily good news. “We tried everything we could think of, but as you know, the video security cameras at the Bankses’ residence were destroyed. The dress in the bag at the creek was new and there wasn’t any type of evidence left on the dress or bag.” “Okay,” she said. “Now the Sandersons’ residence yielded nothing in particular. The cleaner was a combination of standard ammonia and another common cleaner with a floral scent. These are found in every store, superstore, and even grocery markets.” He sighed. “The residue that was left at the house indicated that there had been a large amount used when the family was killed and it had been drying, evaporating for a while.” “That’s not great news,” said McGaven. “What about the foreclosed house in the Cedar District neighborhood?” “Glad you asked. Sorry I haven’t gotten the reports to you yet,” said John. He moved to a computer. “Okay, the wrappers didn’t indicate there was anything that could be tested and it wasn’t clear how long they had been there, if they had been there for a while before the man and little girl were seen. The child’s clothing in the bag was the same as the dress at the Banks’ residence. It was new, like the pajamas on the victims.” “The killer bought clothes for them all as part of controlling the scenes.” “It appears so. Trying to find out which store they came from would be difficult if not impossible. Now, the tire marks and cigarette butts yielded more evidence. We retrieved DNA off the butts, but nothing has hit in the system yet. If we have someone to compare it to—that’ll be another story.” Katie was thinking about the killer buying clothes and leaving behind biological evidence that couldn’t be matched in their database. “We have a great tire impression. It came from a late-model truck tire. Not a four-wheel drive but a standard issue.” “And there are probably a lot of those,” she said. John nodded. “But we will keep looking. You need to bring in a suspect and that will change everything.” 

Katie forced a smile. It wasn’t what she had been hoping for, but they would just have to keep pushing. “Thank you, John.” “I’ll update you more as the results come in. I know you two have a lot on your plate.” “Thanks,” said McGaven. When the detectives reached the hallway, Katie turned to her partner. “I think we need to talk to Gabby Rey and Trent Gaines again.” “I agree. There’s no such thing as a coincidence.” “Maybe that was why Samantha was able to get a teaching aid job with Gabby—she was doing research. Her qualifications were much higher than an aide. She could have had a teaching position or been a substitute teacher.” “Makes sense. I think we’re just at the brink of finding out a lot more of what the Bankses were doing with all that research.” “It’s Saturday, so they’ll most likely not be working. I think we need to check out their residences and maybe do a little bit of a stakeout,” she said. “Now you’re talking.”

 “Did you know the US is one of the worst countries for human trafficking? We’re talking 1.2 million children a year. And it happens to adults too.” Katie hadn’t checked statistics, but the thought of over a million children a year exposed to these types of situations made her deeply troubled. In her current emotional state, she could cry but she remained stoic in front of the marshal. Marshal West continued, “These children are always controlled by someone, and below that there are the handlers who carry out their orders. And these handlers move around a lot, completing tasks like finding places to store the child until they receive orders.” “You mean like at the foreclosed house, for example?” “Exactly.” “But you’re forgetting that Tessa was murdered and dumped.” Katie hated remembering that fact. “So she wasn’t taken to be exploited in that way.” “It still doesn’t change anything. There are a million reasons why she could have been murdered. Maybe the situation changed? Maybe law enforcement is getting too close and he got scared?”

Leave it to me to realize that there is a song about "fishing for men" within the Christian religion. Actually, it didn't surprise me that still another author is using a religious slant in dealing with those in the world who choose to murder... sometimes based upon religious beliefs and, sometimes, as is happening in America now, only using religion to commit acts of power, fear, and hate... 

Detective Katie Scott had discovered another gruesome crime scene. An entire family was dead. But that was only after she had found a little girl during her run that morning. Actually it was Cisco, her K9 officer and best friend, who had chosen to disobey Katie and ran off, only trying to get her to follow him. Finally, she had found Cisco gently nudging a small bundle and when she went closer, she discovered a small blond child, dressed only in her nightgown and very cold like she'd been out there most of the night. Katie came close and asked her name. Emily stumbled over her name, but answered Katie's question about how she got there. Somewhat surprised when Emily told her that her mother had brought her there...

Leaving Cisco to guard Emily, she soon saw a home and started carefully down to see what happened and why Emily had been brought this distance and left. There had been blood on Emily, although she didn't seem to be hurt, so Kate pulled her gun to be ready for anything. The door was standing open and she could see blood smears and patches as she called out, ready to enter into the silence. Moving slowly she saw that the house was orderly but then saw the bloody hammer lying on the floor. It appeared to have been dropped while moving toward the door, blood drops led her backward to look toward a nearby barn. She walked softly, but then dropped to her knees. Four bodies were side by side--a man, a woman, a boy and a girl. Like little Emily, they were all dressed in pajamas. She had seen many gruesome bodies, but this scene seemed so senseless, more devastating realizing that Emily had been saved by her mother but had not been able to prevent the murder of the remaining family members.

Katie knew what it was like losing family, having lost her parents in an accident and she still had flashes of PTSD from her service years in the army. She knew she would always have flashbacks but she had tried to learn to live with it. Now she was talking to herself, telling her to "snap out of it..." She quickly moved to return to Emily and Cisco and call in for all those who would be needed to deal with the latest event that could not be explained, but yet would be their job to find out what happened. One of the first things they learned was the family was in witness protection, which, of course, would require an entirely new possible avenue of investigation for the murders. And a U.S. Marshal would soon be there as part of the investigation and, sadly, was to be a partner with Katie as lead...

In the meantime, she and McGaven were heading back to the barn where the details of the murders were being obtained. And, it seemed that there was some level of ritual to each kill, since in the back of the throat, after strangulation, had been attached a hook, similar to that of a fisherman. But these were handmade with little precision and very crude. 

And even while they were moving as fast as they could, trying to get local information completed quickly so that when the Marshall came they would have a good handle whether it had anything to do with their being in protective custody...

Then they were notified that another family had been found just five miles away from the first, they learned that it was the same family dynamic. Except, the youngest little girl was taken, while the four family members had the same hooks attached in the back of their throats!

And in the midst of all this, Katie hears from her lover and learns that he will be moving across the nation to a new job... And she didn't even have a chance to mourn, knowing that another little girl was missing!

She got even more on edge when the U.S. Marshal chose to come to her home in the evening to begin learning about the case, rather than waiting to arrive at the office the next morning... But he didn't have much experience and was quite hyper, so she realized that she'd have to babysit while the workload had increased with two entire families attacked, with one child missing, and one still in the hospital. Plus, they had found dozens and dozens of boxes in the barn of the first family and each had to be gone through before they could confirm that this had nothing to do with the reason for the involvement of the Marshalls. Still, Katie was dealing with even more... because Emily had been kidnapped!

Jennifer Chase is one of my favorite authors. She is willing to deal with the reality of child sexual abuse and, for her, at least in fiction, the child is normally found and protected thereafter... She puts in those little phrases, like saying a little prayer for Emily, that makes her reader aware that she writes, because, of what happens to millions of children across the world... There's one bit of happiness at the end to share without giving away the ending... Cisco participates throughout this book and, in the end, is given rank as a K9 Officer, which includes his placing his paw on the Bible and barking that he will uphold our laws and constitution... Hey, we even have our animals working to retain the United States Constitution.  Please VOTE to keep freedom for all!

GABixlerReviews