Three Years Earlier
The courtroom was eerily silent as the jury settled back into their seats after being gone for almost two days. I watched as the varied group of men and women looked towards the judge and nowhere else. One older man in particular seemed agitated, shifting and wringing his hands. Whatever they’d decided would alter history for several people in the room.
I watched from my seat next to Detective Jason Trent. He’d been my partner for the past year. We’d worked together in his free time to solve a decade-old set of murders, despite there already being a conviction for them.
The jury foreman walked a slip of paper over to the judge and then returned to his seat, his eyes downcast. My stomach clenched and I leaned forward in my seat. The old wood creaked and my hands grew wet as I gripped the edge of it. It didn’t look good. I watched the judge’s face as he read the paper and then sighed. Disappointment.
I’d started my research almost two years earlier, delving into everything I could find on Aaron Gadberry. I remembered the murders linked to him from when I was younger. They’d made quite the new-age boogieman tale that had forced me inside before the streetlights came on and had caused my parents to stand at the living room windows, looking out to make sure their only daughter was okay. Aaron Gadberry was the monster who haunted my dreams growing up.
After graduation, I was working for a small newspaper, and I ended up stumbling upon a book about the convicted killer. Despite his influence on my childhood, I’d never done any real research about him. It all changed that day, though. I devoured the book and anything and everything I could on him. It got under my skin and I couldn’t get it out.
Then, I was assigned a murder case in a town several miles away. At first, I figured the weird feeling I got while writing the piece was just a coincidence, because I’d been obsessing over Aaron Gadberry. As time went on and the case went unsolved, I couldn’t get the nagging feeling that I’d missed something out of my head. I’d studied the murders that Aaron committed. I knew the new one was different. It didn’t match, and yet…it felt the same.
That was when I started working with Detective Trent. He thought I was crazy at first. When he put the new murder into ViCAP to see if it brought up any similar cases, it did. It had brought up an average of one murder per year since Aaron had been put away. They were all significantly different than the murders that Aaron admitted to committing, but again, somehow the same.
The judge looked out at the courtroom and met my eyes. He winced slightly and then kept scanning the crowd. “Before reading the verdict, I’d like everyone to remain quiet after it is read. The justice system has worked in the way that it will and we should all respect that.
“We have sat here for nearly twelve weeks, listening to the cases that the defense attorney and the prosecutor have put forth. We have heard their arguments. Our court had to prove, without a reasonable doubt, that Thomas Gadberry, cousin to Aaron Gadberry, is guilty. The jury has decided that there is reasonable doubt. On all charges of murder in the first degree, the court finds Thomas Gadberry not guilty.”
Despite the judge’s pleas, the courtroom erupted in chaos. The victims’ families cried out in outrage. I sat, numb, and watched as the jury was quickly ushered out of the room. The judge banged his gavel over and over again, but it was barely heard over the shouts.
Thomas Gadberry sat next to his lawyer, looking pleased with himself. He’d just gotten away with over twenty murders. He’d served absolutely no jail time. He’d suffered absolutely nothing.
Detective Trent put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me back against the seat. “We tried.”
I looked up and met the red-rimmed eyes of Jody Slight’s mother. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed in her new husband’s arms. Her first marriage, to Jody’s father, had ended in divorce. She collapsed against him and a ragged cry came from her mouth.
“We didn’t do enough.”
Trent squeezed my shoulder. “There’s still Aaron’s trial for perjury and obstruction of justice. We missed Thomas, but we can still get Aaron.”
I stood up and shook my head. “All we did was get Aaron freed from prison and more airtime. These families had peace, thinking that their daughters’ murderer was locked away. Now they know he’s free.”
“Order in the court!” the judge was still shouting, but no one cared.
“Ten women have been murdered since Aaron went to prison. That’s ten families who had no clue what happened to their daughters that now know.”
I set my jaw and stepped out of the row. “This can’t be how it ends. This isn’t justice.”
“What are you going to do?”
I looked over my shoulder at Thomas. “I don’t know yet, but I won’t stop until they’re both run so far underground that no one will ever find them again.”
Thomas looked back at me in that moment, his eyes finding mine through the crowd of people attempting to comfort each other. He gave me a slow smile and winked before turning back to his lawyer.
Trent saw it and stood up. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here. I think you’ve worn out your welcome.”
I lifted my chin in defiance and crossed my arms. “I’m just getting started.”