Friday, August 15, 2014
“This is Steven Marcus, and I first learned about Gina Mason the day after she vanished. The instant I saw her picture, I knew I would do anything I could to find her. I covered her story several times over those first few months, speaking to the cops, the search crews, and her mother. The story was so raw in those days, and I was new to reporting. I was certain no one would forget about her. But as weeks turned into months and then years, people did move on with their lives. I always cover the story the anniversary of Gina’s disappearance. I refuse to let this story disappear like Gina.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Friday, March 23, 2018; 5:00 p.m.
As Ricker stood by him, Adler knelt by the path of scraggly grass he’d spotted from the tree stand. He scooped up a handful of soil and slowly let it trickle from his fingers.
“Detective Adler. If you don’t need us anymore, we’ll take off.” The question came from one of the members of the GPR crew.
Adler wiped his hands and rose. “Before you pack up, would you scan this area?”
“Sure. I’ll get the crew right now.”
“Give me a shout if you find something,” Adler said.
“Will do, Detective,” he said.
Ricker studied the patch of ground. “Do you think it’s another one?”
“God, I hope not,” Adler said.
Dr. McGowan motioned them over. A humming generator powered the lights at the excavation site as Adler and Ricker strode across undergrowth toward the forensic van she stood beside.
“Detective, Mr. Ricker, I have news,” she said.
Quinn approached the doctor and handed her a hot cup of coffee. “Not the best cup, but it’ll warm you up.”
Dr. McGowan took a sip. “Thanks.”
Quinn shrugged. “Sure.”
“As I said earlier, I found green cloth. I really only have fragments that are clinging to a metal snap.” She handed a plastic evidence bag to Quinn.
The detective held up the bag. “There’s not much of it left, but looks like the remnants of a green dress.”
Adler searched his phone for the picture Jennifer had saved of the four girls by the river. He handed it to Dr. McGowan. “Gina is wearing the green sundress.”
The doctor studied the image. “I see design similarities between this and what I found.”
Adler tucked the phone back in his pocket. “What else have you found?”
“I have unearthed the top portion of the skull. Based on a thin brow line, I can say the victim is a young female.”
“How do you know her age?” Quinn handed the evidence bag to Ricker.
“The sagittal suture.” Dr. McGowan drew her gloved finger over the top of her head. “When we’re born there’s a soft spot in the center of our head. The bones need to be flexible so the brain can grow. But from the day we’re born, the left and right sides of our skull begin to close and create the sagittal suture, which is basically a line down the center of our skull. It continues to harden and close until we’re in our midthirties. Based on this victim’s skull, I believe she was less than twenty years old.”
“Do you know how she died?” Adler asked.
“Too early to say. I don’t see any trauma on the skull, but I have a lot more bones to excavate. I did find the hyoid bone, and it appears intact.” This horseshoe-shaped bone was located in the neck and would snap when a victim was strangled.
“Is she Gina Mason?” Ricker asked.
“My office has requested dental records, so we’ll make a comparison at the lab once I unearth the mandible. I understand Gina had several fillings on her two back molars, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Did you find anything with the bones?” Adler asked.
“Nothing yet, but we’ll be sifting all the dirt as we go.”
Adler remembered Gina’s smiling picture at Kaitlin’s lecture. “How long will it take?” he asked.
“Several hours. There’s no point in you remaining here. I’ll contact you when I’m finished.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Ricker said.
Dr. McGowan left the trio and returned to her crew.
“She’s meticulous and won’t miss a thing.” Quinn rolled her shoulders, then turned her head from side to side.
“Did you bring your yoga mat, Quinn?” Adler asked.
She laughed. “I would have if there weren’t so many cops here.”
The GPR technician called out to Adler and Quinn, “Detectives. A word?”
“I don’t like that look,” Ricker muttered.
“Me neither,” Adler said.
The detectives and Ricker moved toward the technician. The gray image on the radar screen showed a series of waves.
“A body?” Adler asked.
“Looks like it.”
“Jesus, another one?” Quinn whispered.
Adler studied the waves that rolled through the center of the gray image. He turned toward Dr. McGowan and called her over. She slowly rose and crossed the field.
“Have a look at this.”
It took her just a split second. “I’ll get a shovel.”
Without raising his gaze from the screen, Adler said to the technician, “You’re going to need a bigger scanner.”
INTERVIEW FILE #26
WHO KILLED JENNIFER AND ERIKA?
The discovery of Gina’s bones directly implicated Randy Hayward in Gina’s death. He had motive and opportunity, and most of all, he had taken the cops to her body. However, finding Gina didn’t answer the question of who killed Jennifer and Erika. Who stabbed me? Derek Blackstone and Brad Crowley had been friends of Randy Hayward’s in high school and college. They were a triple threat. They had vowed to always stick together and protect each other. And neither had ever had their DNA tested to see if their blood matched the blood on the fragment of dress found by the original crime scene.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Saturday, March 24, 2018; 8:00 a.m.
With her body healing and her mind clearing, Kaitlin could shift her attention to Derek Blackstone, who she was certain knew far more about Gina’s fate than he was letting on. She’d spent most of the night reading up on Derek, scraping together all the details she could find about him. His credentials were impressive. There was nothing that set off alarm bells.
So, when the clock struck eight, Kaitlin decided to shake the trees a little harder and see if anything new fell out. Drawing in a breath, she dialed Derek’s home number. A cleaning lady answered.
“Mr. Blackstone’s residence.”
“This is Kathryn Sommers.” She wasn’t police and therefore not bound by honesty. Lying wasn’t against the law. “I’m calling from Mr. Blackstone’s office building. Is he there?”
“No, he left a half hour ago. He should be arriving there now.”
“Oh, right. I think I see him. Thank you.”
Her next call was to his office, wondering if she’d get anyone to answer on Saturday. As the phone rang, she sat straighter when she heard a woman’s crisp voice say, “Hawthorn, Blackstone, and Myers.”
“I’m calling for Derek Blackstone. I’m a neighbor of his.” She’d thought up a dozen scenarios to get him on the phone, but in the end opted to keep it simple. “I think his house is on fire.”
A leaden silence filled the next few seconds before the woman said, “He’s out of the office today.”
“He is? I just saw him, and he said he was going to the office.”
“Not today.”
“Oh, wow. I called the fire department.” If he were in the office, this would get him to the phone. “Are you sure he’s not there?”
Phones rang in the background. “Look, I can take your name and number and track him down.”
She decided to go aggressive. “What’s your name?”
“I’m sorry?”
“What is your name? And do you have a supervisor?”
“Who is this?” the woman insisted.
She gripped the phone. This ruse wasn’t going to work. “Tell him Gina Mason called. He can call me back at this number.”
She dialed Adler’s number. It rang twice and went to voicemail. A now-familiar graveled tone hummed over her nerves. “Adler, this is Kaitlin. I’m calling about Derek Blackstone. I think his link to this case goes way deeper than attorney-client relationship.”