"She actually took it better than I thought she would. She found out the hard way. Frank and I tried to get him to open up, but he was beside himself. It wasn’t our place to tell you."
A lull in the conversation presented itself, and Bridgette capitalized.
"Let's do something. Shane get the board games out. I'm in the mood to kick some butt."
"You're not gonna win!" said Shane, smiling as he went to the cabinet to pull down the games.
“Get the Monopoly! She sucks at that game!” Shane yelled.
“Anything but the Operation!” Liam added.
“Oww… I’m great at that game,” Bridgette said, pretending to pout.
*
"Sarge, I think we found something," the female investigator said to DiNolfo as they walked swiftly down the hallway, Jack trailing on their heels. "We were dusting for prints, and we found several unique fingerprints throughout the house." DiNolfo looked alarmed. She replied, "Show me."
The investigator went into Tristan's room and showed how on most of the surfaces the fingerprint pattern was the same. They believed this to be Tristan's fingerprint because it touched all the surfaces in the room. However, on the windowsill, there is a unique fingerprint, one they hadn't seen any of the other bedrooms. "It was here on the windowsill. It looks like the person entered through the window. We found identical prints on the doorknob to Jack's bedroom, and also on the access door to the third floor. We tried opening the door, but it is locked."
DiNolfo remained still for a moment, contemplating her next move. "Jack, we need the key to the third floor." With some hesitation, Jack agreed reluctantly, "Hold on, I'll get the key." Jack went back into his study to fetch the key, but when he looked on the wall behind his desk, it wasn't there. Panicking inside, Jack was absolutely dumbfounded.
Where the hell is the key?!
His children knew not to touch it.
"What's keeping you, Jack?" asked DiNolfo as she entered the study behind him. "The key... It was right here. It’s gone..." DiNolfo stared at Jack with a raised eyebrow as if she didn't believe him. "Hernandez!" DiNolfo yelled for one of the other investigators.
"Yes?"
"Kick that door down. Now."
Eddie Hernandez walked quickly down the hallway and up to the third floor, intent upon bringing down the door.
Chapter Thirteen
In Darkness
October 8, 1997
Before Dawn
Location Unknown
The darkness was overwhelming as Tristan opened her eyes. With little idea as to where she was, she scratched her head in confusion. The left side of her face hurt, and her right leg lay limp and badly injured. After some jostling, she was able to get to her feet, although she couldn’t bear much weight on her right ankle. Still unable to see anything, she stretched her arms out, seeing if she could feel anything before her. Tristan’s hands were scraped with splintering wood. Her hands moved quickly across the rough surface, desperate to find a door knob or a latch, but she found none. Panic intensifying with each passing moment, Tristan moved faster, her hands becoming raw from the splintering wood. Finally she found a loose board in the wall. She started to bang her hands rapidly against the wall, it gave way slightly, releasing a metallic sound from the other side. She recognized the sound immediately. A shed door with a lock on it. She didn’t know where she was, or how she got there, but she knew if she kicked hard enough, she could break down the door.
She began kicking at the door with her good leg, eventually resorting to pushing her full weight against the door. Suddenly, someone was banging on the outside with brute force. “Keep it down in there!” said a hoarse voice from the other side. “Let me out!” Tristan yelled. “Shut the hell up!” At the top of her lungs Tristan screamed, “Help!” From the other side of the door, Tristan could hear keys jingling and the metallic clang of a lock coming undone. Tristan decided. This was her chance. As soon as the door opened she would run for it and never look back. She braced herself, ready to bolt. Slowly the door creaked open, and before she had a chance to run, she was staring down the barrel of a Winchester rifle.
Chapter Fourteen
The Missing Suspect
Morrow Manor
Fox Hollow, PA
October 9, 1997