Chapter Nine
While Elliot piloted the small plane toward Richmond, Virginia, Cade sat with Jerah in the body of the plane. They were going over the forensic files dealing with the killer’s signature. When his phone rang, Cade answered, “Hello.”
“Cade, you aren’t going to like what we just discovered,” Briar said.
“What did you find?” Cade asked.
“Gretchen Hawks is our killer’s mother.”
There was silence for a moment before Cade exploded. “What the hell!”
“When you pinned her picture up next to Cooper’s T.K. began to notice they shared similar traits. She drew a drawing of Gretchen, like the one she did of Cooper and placed it next to the drawing she did of Cooper. We dug into his background and found when and where he was born and legal papers that claimed he was born at home. He was born in Sunbury PA.”
“Okay, this is what we’ll do. As soon as we compare notes with Richmond M.E. we’re going to go back to Boston. We have to go through Kingston to talk to Gretchen again. This time, I want the right to search her house and grounds.” He hesitated then said, “We’ll be back sometime tonight. If you guys get anything else, you call me right away. See what you can get on Flynn Hudson. I’ll call you when we leave Boston, if there’s time, we’ll stop by Sunbury and check things out there too.”
Cade glanced at Jerah. He could see she had heard his end of the conversation. “Gretchen Hawks is Cooper Hudson’s mother.”
Jerah gasped. “Are you kidding me?”
“I wish I was. I also wish I had known this the first time we went to Boston.” Cade got up. “I need to talk to Elliot about this.”
He was back a few minutes later.
Jerah had been checking something on her computer. “Damn how did we miss this before?” She turned the laptop so Cade could see what she found. There on the screen was an article on Cooper Hudson and next to him stood Gretchen Hawks.
“Once we get done in Richmond, we’re going back to Boston and have another chat with Ms. Hawks. It seems she’s got some explaining to do.” Cade seethed.
An hour later, they are sitting in police Captain Mack Evans office.
Mack Evans sat behind his desk and listened to what they had to say.
“We have reason to believe this murder is connected to a string of murders that began fifteen years ago in Boston.” Cade passed Evans a file.
Evans opened it and read the similarities. He then stood and asked them to follow him to the morgue. When they got there, he introduced them to Coroner Steve Brummer.
Steve opened a vault in the cooler section.
Cade stood as still as stone as he viewed the headless body in front of him.
Steve began to explain what he found when he did the autopsy, “I found the heart, lungs and other internal organs missing, along with her head. Her fingerprints tells us her name is Leaha McCall and she’s been missing only days.”
“Was she found wrapped in bright orange linen’s?” Jerah asked.
Steve nodded. Then he moved over to a table and picked up an evidence bag. “This jewelry was found in the linen.”
Cade took the bag and looked over the costume jewelry. There in the bag was an Egyptian Ankh. He passed the bag to Jerah and Elliot.
“You said this murder fit in with a string of murders going back fifteen years. Do you know the killer’s name?” Mack asked.
“His name is Professor Cooper Hudson,” Cade told him. “Where and how was this body found?”
Steve looked at Mack and nodded. “She was found by a jogger, in the park. She was buried in a shallow grave near a monument. The jogger could clearly see the orange linen through the light covering of leaves and debris.”
Cade looked at Elliot then back at Mack.
Mack frowned and asked, “What is it?”
“I think our killer is getting braver. He always hid his kills better before. Some of them weren’t found for years,” Cade explained.
“You don’t think this is his way of taunting the police do you?” Mack asked.
“How would this be taunting the police?” Elliot asked.
“Sort of his way of saying, ‘Here I am, catch me if you can’…” Mack remarked.
“I don’t think so.” Cade shook his head. “He wouldn’t have known we were onto him until yesterday at the earliest. Unknowingly, we spoke to his mother in Quincy, Massachusetts. We think his first kill was in Boston, fifteen years ago.”
“We have plans to go back to Boston and talk with her again when we leave here,” Elliot added.
“Keep me in the loop on this one?” Mack asked. “Do you know why he takes the victim’s head?”
“We think he’s keeping them, almost like a souvenir,” Jerah said. “In fact, that’s the only way he changes the routine of mummifying his victims. He’s following the way the priests mummified the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. His first attempts aren’t as good as his later ones but with each one he gets just a little better.”
Mack glanced at the victim again and asked, “How many does this make?”
Jerah sighed heavily. “Leaha is the eleventh victim we’ve found. God only knows how many victims we haven’t found yet.”
“Then Godspeed in finding him and stopping him,” Steve said. “From what I found, she was alive when he cut her open.”
Jerah nodded. “That too, is part of his routine.”
“I also think he moved her. Where she was found was not where she was originally buried,” Steve informed them. “We found evidence that her earlier grave was deeper in a wooded area.”
“This is one sick individual.” Mack shook his head.
~* * * *~
An hour and a half later, they were in James Kingston office in Boston. When they showed him the new information on Cooper Hudson, he was astounded. “She failed to mention this connection yesterday, didn’t she?” he asked as he read Cade’s new evidence.
“Yes, she did,” Cade replied. “I wonder why?”
James shot him a look of annoyance. “I think we should go see her again, don’t you?”
“This time, I think we should get a search warrant,” Cade replied. “I want to have a look in the buildings she told us held her inventory. If she’s making the jars and Ankhs, she must have some sort of records. Maybe if we can find out exactly how many sets she made, we’ll know how many victims there really are. We just came from Richmond where another victim was just found. She is number eleven that we know about.”
“And what did the police there think of the killer?” James asked.
“He thought maybe this was the killer saying, catch me,” Elliot told him.
“Interesting thought but do you think that’s what’s going on here?” James asked.
Cade shook his head. “No I don’t. I think our killer needs privacy to do what he does.”
“I agree.” James nodded. “Somehow with this one, he got sloppy.”
“No not sloppy…” Cade said. “The Medical Examiner thought she had been moved after death. I think for some reason, Cooper knows we’re on to him and he thinks he’s smarter than we are. I think he’s taunting us.”
“He might be ready to spring a trap, is that what you think?” James asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“No it makes perfect sense,” Elliot spoke up. “He knows there is someone out there that is figuring out the truth and he wants to know how much we know. He might have figured out his secret was out when he lost a jar fifteen years ago. But no one came forward back then, so he knew he was safe. Now all of a sudden, the jar is found and we’re beginning to ask the right questions.”
“Whatever it is, we need some answers.” James shook his head. “Shall we go have another chat with our artist?”
“We borrowed a car from the airport,” Cade told him. “But we’ll follow you out there.”
Twenty minutes later, they pulled into Gretchen Hawks’ driveway. There was no sign of anyone on the property and as they walked up to the front door, they saw a shadow move away from the door.
James knocked on the mantle and it took Gretchen a few minutes to answer the door.
When she saw who was on her doorstep she stepped outside and closed the door behind her. “What can I do for you gentlemen?”
“We have more questions,” James informed her.
“I think I answered all your questions the first time you came here.”
“We have uncovered new information,” Cade said.
Gretchen turned to him. “What kind of new information?”
“We have identified a serial killer and it turns out he’s your son, Cooper Hudson,” Cade replied.
Gretchen’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “What did you say?” she whispered.
“Why didn’t you tell us the man ordering set of your jars was your own son?” Elliot asked.
“Cooper had nothing to do with this,” Gretchen argued.
“Oh, he had everything to do with this,” Cade retorted.
“You’re wrong. Cooper wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“Do you want to know how those women died?” Jerah asked. “He ripped them open from throat to pelvis while they were still alive. He drained their blood, then removed their organs. He used the jars you created to store bits and pieces of his victims and then before he wrapped them, he cut off their heads to keep as trophies. Your son is one very sick bastard.”
Gretchen shook her head. “No, the boy I raised wouldn’t have done all of that. That sounds more like his father than Cooper. I could see Flynn doing something as evil as this but not Cooper.”
“And you didn’t know any of this right?” Cade sneered.
Gretchen stared at him. “No I didn’t know anything about this. Cooper hasn’t lived with me for quite some time.”
“What kind of man was Flynn?” Jerah asked.
Gretchen turned to stare at her. Crossing her arms in front of her she said, “Flynn was a monster wrapped in the guise of gentleman. He was good looking and he had a way of making a woman feel very important to him. A woman didn’t stand a chance against him, when he was sober that is. When he was drinking or smoking drugs, he turned into another person altogether. The demons he was hiding inside him came out into the open then.”
“What kind of demons?” Cade asked.
“Flynn has a dark side,” Gretchen admitted. “He thinks he’s invincible when his dark side comes out. There isn’t anything he’s afraid to do when he’s under the influence.”
“Are you saying Flynn committed these murders and not Cooper?” Elliot asked.
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Gretchen said. “Flynn is more the type. I just can’t believe Cooper would do something like that.”
“Have you had any contact with your son lately?” James asked.
Gretchen glanced at him and shook her head. “It’s been a while since Cooper called me. He’s a grown man and I guess I don’t expect him to check in with me. He’s a busy man you know. His career keeps him going from place to place.”
James reached into his file and pulled out a drawing of Cooper. “Tell me something, is this your husband or your son?”
Gretchen took the drawing and looked it over carefully. She looked at him and said, “This is Cooper. Do you know the artist? How did she draw this?”
“How do you know a woman drew this?” Jerah wanted to know.
“The lines are too soft for a man to have drawn it.” She looked at the drawing again and said, “I know I’ve seen this artist’s work before. I wish I could remember her name.”
Cade snatched the drawing from her hands. “Whoever drew it doesn’t matter.” He folded the drawing and tucked it into his own pocket. He turned to glare at James Kingston.
“Miss Hawks, I’m afraid you’ll have to come back to Boston with me for more questions,” James told her.
“But how can you hold me responsible for action of another?” Gretchen asked. “I didn’t have anything to do with these murders.”
“No, but right now, you’re all we have as far as a person of interest.” He moved behind her and cuffed her hands behind her back.
“Why are you arresting me if you think Cooper did this thing?” she protested as she struggled to get free.
“Because I think you know more than you’re saying and I’m all done playing your game. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford defense, the court will appoint one for you. Do you understand the rights as I have outlined them?”
Gretchen merely glared at him.
James glanced over at Cade. “I’ll take her back to Boston and let you know what I find out.”
Cade nodded. “We’re going to make another stop before we head home but we should be back this evening.”
They watched as James led Gretchen to his car then they went to their own vehicle. “I thought you wanted to search the house and other buildings?” Jerah reminded him.
Cade shook his head. “I did but maybe this will work out better. If Gretchen is out of play, maybe Flynn and Cooper will come out of hiding. Let’s get on the road to Sunbury and then home.”
~* * * *~
As they were walking back to their vehicle they missed seeing the curtains part or the eyes that followed them as their car drove around the driveway and out to the highway.
Flynn turned to his son and growled. “Your mother better not tell them we were here.”
Cooper looked at his father. “Don’t worry about Mom, she knows when and how to keep her mouth shut.” He chuckled then added, “Although, she completely threw you under the bus.”
“I did notice that thank you very much for pointing it out. Damn,” Flynn swore. “We have to get to her before they get back to Boston. We can’t get her out once she’s there.”
“Let’s go then,” Cooper replied.