“Maybe even ghosts need rest!”
Amelia didn’t reply. She was gone. Clara tossed herself back on her bed and closed her eyes.
She really needed a little rest herself.
*
The task force meeting took place at the offices of the state police. There were dozens of officers in attendance along with representatives from every conceivable law enforcement agency and the Coast Guard.
Special Director Enfield was there, and so was Detective Brennan.
There was a fine air of determination in the room. Every officer just wanted answers, and the killer caught.
They began with what they knew about the murder of Natalie Fontaine. Natalie was last seen the evening before her death in the lobby meeting with her crew, including Amelia Carson, Becca Marle, Nate Mahoney and Thomas Marchant. She had seemed excited—according to the surviving members of her crew, it was because they had just returned from “setting” Black Bear Island for the day to come.
The call about a commotion had come at just about 5:00 a.m.—minutes after the desk clerk had briefly seen Amelia Carson on the phone in the lobby.
The only cameras at the Nordic Lights Hotel were in the lobby and at the ATM.
Every boat captain at every point was being queried about Amelia Carson; the captain who had gotten her across to the island could not be found. Speculation was that the killer did indeed have a boat and that he perhaps got her to the island, strangled her, removed her to the pine forest for bisection and then displayed her where she was found.
The medical examiner, Dr. Andropov, who had been the lead on both bodies, stated the women had been strangled and were dead before being decapitated and bisected. Before being strangled to death, they’d both been struck with a blunt object, the nature of that object unknown. The tool used on the bodies after death, he believed, had been either a custom or specialized spade or woodsman’s ax or hatchet; a broad weapon with a honed blade. He displayed various sketches of what he believed the weapon to be, emphasizing the fact that it wasn’t easy to remove a head—it required a sharp instrument and a fair amount of strength—and that it was even more difficult to cut a human being in half.
Detective Brennan reported on his interviews, a member of each forensic crew reported on their findings or lack thereof, and Thor gave a report of what they’d discovered on the island.
“Can you tell us anything else?” someone asked Dr. Andropov.
“Yeah,” he said. “This killer is one sick son of a bitch.”
“Who doesn’t like reality TV!” someone else cracked.
“Taking it to the extreme!” another officer said.
“Yeah,” Andropov said quietly. “Problem is, this guy isn’t the kind who stops. Whether reality TV triggered him or not, I’ve been around long enough to know that it’s not like shooting a pal in a bar because he changed the station on the sports screen. This kind of killer—he keeps going. Until he is caught.”
There was silence.
It was Thor’s turn to speak.
Since the ME and forensic members had done a fair job on reporting the facts, he described hearing what sounded like something falling against the house, their search in the darkness—and then their search by the light, which allowed them to discover that the killer had used “bear” snowshoes to escape the house and changed them in the pines, and that the discovery had led them at last to the small clearing where the murderer had bisected Amelia Carson.
“Naturally, our technical crews are doing their best to determine the movements of all of the people on the island when Amelia Carson’s body was found, as well. A number of law enforcement officers scoured the surrounding areas after the discovery of the body and no one was found, though that doesn’t mean someone may not still be on the island. The timing means it is possible for one killer to have murdered Natalie Fontaine, called Amelia Carson to set up a meeting, gotten out to Black Bear Island and killed her. On the other hand, it’s equally possible that we have two killers working in tandem. Therefore, it’s incredibly important that we do know where everyone involved was at any time. While we all know that eyewitness reports can be shaky at best, we need anything that we can get. The information is out—the killings were so horrendous and so many civilians were involved, the media caught hold quickly. Townspeople and tourists will be frightened. All information that we have is being shared nationwide and, of course, with our Canadian neighbors. Please, no matter how small any piece of information may seem, we need it reported. We’re keeping joint force members—police and FBI—out on the island at this time, and the Coast Guard is continuing to monitor the shores of the island.”