“My God…have you heard about this story?” the mother was saying.
“Yeah,” the second woman said. “It’s like people are finding new ways to hurt one another. What kind of sick mind do you have to have to even think about something like that?”
“Looks like they still haven’t found the creep,” the mother said.
“They probably won’t,” the other woman said. “If they were going to catch this guy, they would have something by now. Jeez…can you imagine the poor guy’s family, having to see this on the news?”
Avery’s attention was snapped when the barista called her name and handed her drink over the counter. Avery took it and, now facing the television, allowed herself to watch the news for the first time in almost three months.
There had been a death on the outskirts of town one week ago, in a rundown apartment complex. Not just a death, but a pretty blatant murder. The victim had been found in his closet, covered in spiders of varying varieties. Police were working on the assumption that the act had been intentional, as half of the spiders there had been kinds that were not native to the region. Despite the abundance of spiders at the scene, only two bites were found on the body and neither had been venomous. According to the news, so far, the police were working on the assumption that the man had been killed by either strangulation or heart attack.
Those are two pretty different causes of death, Avery thought to herself as she slowly started to turn away.
She couldn’t help but wonder if this was the case Connelly had called her about three days ago. A case with a very unique twist and, so far, without any real answers. Yeah…this is probably the one, she thought.
With her drink in hand, Avery headed out the door. She had the rest of the afternoon ahead of her but she was pretty sure she knew how it would go. Whether she liked it or not, she’d probably be looking quite a bit at spiders.
***
Avery spent the rest of the afternoon getting familiar with the case. The story itself was so morbid that she didn’t have a problem finding a variety of sources. When all was said and done, she found eleven different reputable sources that told the story of what had happened to a man named Alfred Lawnbrook.
Lawnbrook’s landlord had entered his apartment after rent had been two weeks late for the umpteenth time and had known something was off right away, Reading it, Avery couldn’t help but parallel her recent experience with Rose and her landlord and, quite frankly, it creeped her right the hell out. Alfred Lawnbrook was found stuffed in his bedroom closet. He had been partially draped in at least three different spider webs, with two different bites—bites that, as the news report in the coffee shop had said, were not overly harmful.
While an actual count was not possible, an educated guess as to how many spiders had been found at the scene was somewhere between five and six hundred. A few of them were exotic and had no business being in an apartment in Boston. An arachnologist had been called in to assist and pointed out that she had seen at least three species that were not native to America, much less Massachusetts.
So there’s intention, Avery thought. And a lot of it. That much intention points to the likelihood that this guy will strike again. And if he’s going to strike again in the same way, it should be possible to trace him and take him down.
The coroner’s report stated that Lawnbrook had died of a heart attack, likely from the fear of the situation. Of course, with no one having been at the scene during the murder, there were numerous other scenarios that could have played out. No one could know for sure.
It was an interesting case…if not a little morbid. Avery did not fear much, but large spiders was certainly on the top of her list of Things She Could Do Without. And while there had been no images of the scene revealed to the public (thank God), Avery could only imagine what it had looked like.
When she was filled in, Avery stared out of the back window for quite a while. She then went into the kitchen and moved quietly, as if she was afraid she might get caught. She pulled out the bottle of bourbon for the first time in months and poured herself a shot. She took it quickly and then grabbed her phone. She pulled up Connelly’s number and pressed CALL.
He answered on the second ring—pretty quick for Connelly. Avery supposed that said a lot, all things considered.
“Black,” he said. “I honestly didn’t expect to hear from you.”
She ignored this formality and said, “So, this case you were calling me about. Was it the one involving Alfred Lawnbrook and the spiders?”
“It is,” he said. “The scene has been combed over repeatedly, the body has been scrutinized, and we just have nothing.”
“I’ll come in for it,” she said. “But just this one case. And I want to be able to do it on my terms. No over the shoulder hand-holding just because I’ve been through a rough time. Can you see to that?”
“I can do my best.”
Avery sighed, resigned to how good it felt to be needed and to know that her life would soon feel like her own again.
“Okay then,” she said. “I’ll see you at the A1 tomorrow morning.”
CHAPTER SIX
Avery wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting when she walked back into the precinct for the first time in over three months. Maybe some butterflies in her stomach or a wave of nostalgia. Maybe even a secure feeling that would make her wonder why she ever thought it had been a smart idea to quit in the first place.
What she wasn’t expecting was to feel nothing. Yet, that’s what she felt. When she walked back into the A1 the following morning, she felt nothing special. It felt almost like she hadn’t missed a day and was just churning out another day—any other old day, just like before.
Apparently, though, she was the only one in the building who felt that way. As she made her way through the building and back toward her old office, she noticed that the busy rush of the morning seemed to quiet as she passed by. It was almost like a wave of silence followed her. The receptionists on the phone went quiet, the murmur of conversation by the coffee pots fell silent. They all looked at her as if some huge celebrity had entered the building; their eyes were wide with wonder and their faces were slack. Avery wondered for a moment if Connelly had even bothered telling anyone that she was coming back.
After weaving her way through the central part of the building and to the back where the offices and conference rooms were, it felt a little more natural. Miller, a records and research guy, gave her a little wave. Denson, an older officer who had maybe two years left before retirement, gave her a smile, a wave, and a genuine: “Nice to have you back!”
Avery returned the woman’s smile, thinking: I’m not back.
But on the heels of that there was another thought. Whatever. Tell yourself that lie all you want. But this feels natural to you. It feels right.
She saw Connelly coming out of his office at the end of the hallway. The man had caused her some pain and headaches over the years but damn if she wasn’t glad to see him. The grin on his face let her know the feeling was mutual. He met her in the hallway and she could tell that the A1 captain—usually a staunch hard ass—was holding himself back from giving her a hug.
“How was it coming in?” he asked.
“Weird,” she said. “They looked at me like I was a celebrity or something. I couldn’t tell if they wanted to avert their eyes or bust out into spontaneous applause.”
“Truth be told, I was worried you’d get a standing ovation for coming in. You’ve been missed around here, Black. You…well, you and Ramirez both.”
“I appreciate that, sir.”
“Good. Because I’m about to show you something that might piss you off. You see…deep down, I had this hope that you’d come back some day. But we couldn’t just make the entire A1 stay on pause until that day came. So you don’t exactly have an office anymore.”