As he said this, Connelly stepped forward again. He pulled a snap gun out of his pocket, something Avery would have never expected. It was shaped like a small gun, a device used to open just about any pin tumbler lock. She’d used them many times before but had assumed it would be too controversial for Connelly. She watched as Connelly inserted the thin steel rod into the lock and then engaged it against all of the pins within the lock. There was a very loud click noise as the lock was disengaged.
Avery quickly drew her Glock, pushed the door open, and swung around inside the doorframe. As the other three fell in behind her, she took in her surroundings. It was a very nice house, the front door leading into a large foyer. From the foyer, there was a split to the house; left to head into what looked like a den and right, which led to a study and a hallway beyond. The study was dimly lit with a desk lamp, providing a slight glow for them to see by.
Without saying a word, protocol kicked in. Avery and Kellaway went into the study while Connelly and Finley checked the den area and the darkened spaces beyond. When Avery spotted the closed laptop on the desk, she went to it right away. She opened it up and found it locked at a password screen.
She barely had time to feel frustration at this before she saw the thin stack of papers to the right of the laptop. One was a sketch of what looked like a rough map. On one edge of it was a wobbly circle. The letters JP were in the center of it.
Beneath this sketch was a torn sheet of paper with a few words scrawled on it. Every single one sent a chill directly into her heart. “You see this?” Avery asked over her shoulder to Kellaway.
“Yeah…”
The words on the paper read: tarantula? Black widow? Funnel web (atrax robustus)? There were a few other spiders written down but they were all crossed out. There were also several company names and three websites written down. One of the websites was one that she had visited while doing her digging on Stefon Scott.
Beneath this list there was a stapled grouping of papers. They all looked to be printouts and receipts. She scanned them quickly and saw the word clown or doll pop up quite frequently.
She then looked back to the rough map. She looked at the circle labeled JP and saw several little Xs marked around the edge of it. JP, she thought. Jamaica Pond. And I bet each of those Xs is a potential dumping point…
“It’s him,” Avery said. “I don’t see anything that might pinpoint Heather Ellis, but the other three…it’s clearly him. We have to—”
She was interrupted by Connelly’s voice, a loud mutter that crept through the house. “What the actual FUCK?”
Avery ran to the den, following the direction of Connelly’s voice. Kellaway trailed behind her, having drawn her weapon. The den emptied off into a large hallway that seemed to wrap around to meet the hallway off of the study. Before that turn, though, there were several rooms. Two of these doors were open. Sounds of disgust could be heard coming from one of them as Finley came slowly stepping out. His back was turned to Avery as he continued to face inside the room. “Get out,” he said, apparently to Connelly. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What is it?” Avery asked.
Finley looked like he had seen a ghost when he turned around to face Avery. “I don’t even know. It looks like Kechner was doing some research and it got away from him.”
Avery hurried to the door and was not at all prepared for what she saw. She had to pause in the doorway for a moment to give herself time to adjust.
Connelly was standing just a few feet away from her. He, too, looked frozen. He was looking into the far corner where a glass case sat on the floor—a glass case very similar to the one she had seen in Stefon Scott’s apartment. Most of the glass had been covered by the thin filaments of spider webs. But the webs had not been contained to the case. They were on the walls as well, thin strands that led to wider and intricately woven webs in the corners up near the ceiling.
And there were spiders everywhere. Big spiders. Some were crawling along the walls while others scurried on the floor.
“You think he did this on purpose?” Connelly asked.
“I don’t know,” Avery said, slowly backing out, unable to take her eyes away from the spiders. “Maybe. Maybe he was breeding them.”
None of the spiders she saw was smaller than a penny. Some, she thought, might be able to swallow a penny. The idea that some of these may be the funnel web spiders crossed her mind and she backed out a little faster.
“Come on,” she said. “I’ve got enough proof in the study that Kechner is our guy. We need to haul ass and find him before we get a call about someone discovering Heather Ellis’s corpse.”
“Yeah, good idea,” Connelly said. Whatever fugue had overcome him seemed to slip away as he turned toward the door.
Avery waited for him to come out, wanting to bring up the rear in the event Kechner was actually home and just waiting to jump out and ambush them. And it was because she took up the rear that she saw the spider crawling up the back of Connelly’s shirt. It was a large one, but not abnormally large. The coloring was odd and looked familiar; she’d seen a spider like that recently, while doing research.
Funnel web spider…
She opened her mouth to say something but in that moment, the spider had reached the bare skin of Connelly’s neck. Feeling it there, he instinctively swatted at it. In one moment, the house was filled with the sound of Connelly slapping at his neck and the next, it was filled with him howling in pain.
It was more like a roar, actually. He slapped furiously at his neck again and fell against the wall. Avery looked to the dimly lit hallway floor and saw the spider scurrying away. Working on her own instinct, Avery lifted her foot and slammed it down on the creature. There was a satisfying crunch under her heel.
Finley went to Connelly’s side, checking the area. No longer worried about stealth, Avery flipped the nearest light switch, filling the hallway with the light. The first thing she saw was the bite on Connelly’s neck. It was already growing red and swollen. The second thing she saw was two spiders coming out of the room which they had neglected to close—not that it would have mattered, because the smaller ones could have easily crept under the closed door. It made her wonder how many were already out in the house, wandering around and within inches of her own exposed skin.
She helped Finley get Connelly to his feet while Kellaway grabbed her phone and called for an ambulance. Back out in the open air, Avery felt a bit better, no longer feeling herself freak out about potential spiders descending on her.
“How much trouble am I in?” Connelly asked through a hiss of pain as they carried him back out to the cars.
“The truth or comfort?” Avery asked.
“Truth.”
“I’m pretty sure it was a funnel web spider that got you. Several of their bites is what killed Alfred Lawnbrook. Depending on the species, you’ll be dead within an hour or just really sick for a few days.”
“Shit,” Connelly said.
“An ambulance is on the way,” Kellaway announced, pocketing her phone. “ETA eleven minutes.”
“Do you want us to just drive you?” Finley asked. “It might be faster in the long run.”
“Bad idea,” Avery said. “If there’s venom involved, he’s going to need drugs ASAP. I imagine they’ll administer them to him the moment they get here.”
“She’s right,” Connelly said. He had fallen into the passenger seat of his car. He was starting to tremble a bit and the bite itself was getting nastier by the moment.
“Black…Kellaway…go get this asshole. Do whatever you need to do. Just get him and bring his ass to the A1.”
Avery hated to leave Connelly while in this state but knew that he was in capable hands with Finley. She gave Finley a stern look, trying her best to hide her concern for what was looking to be a rather grave situation.
“Keep me posted on his status,” she said.
“You got it. Now go do what you do.”
Avery and Kellaway hurried to their car with Avery now more determined than ever. Barry Kechner was certainly not aware of it at this early hour, but he had just inadvertently hurt someone she respected and admired. Depending on how quickly Connelly got treatment, he could end up worse than just hurt.
“Pull up Heather Ellis’s address,” Avery told Kellaway. “I think that’s our next stop.”