35
Doe Run Road
4:00 p.m.
The forensic techs were finishing up by the time Tony and Joanna arrived on the scene. She stayed in the car. Her idea, not his. As long as she didn’t disappear on him he was okay with that. He suspected she wanted to avoid Phelps. On the other hand, the past two days had been hard on her. He had a feeling she spent a lot of her quiet time reliving the horrors of eighteen years ago.
He couldn’t afford for her to bail on him anytime soon...not until this was done. On some level he trusted her. They shared a common goal and she wanted it as badly as he did even if she didn’t admit it.
“No forced entry,” Chief Buckley was saying as they moved through the entry hall. “We had to call animal control to come get her dog. Between the lack of forced entry and the dog I’d say whoever she was entertaining was a familiar or at least an invited guest.”
A reasonable conclusion. Brutus had appeared more than a little protective of his master. Then again, knowing Martin’s lifestyle, maybe not. Tony kept the comment to himself. He hadn’t been asked for his opinion as of yet. The security system hadn’t been breached, which also appeared to confirm the chief’s conclusion. But then there were people who knew how to get around a security system.
Was the person who hired Martin and Conway to do their dirty work tying up loose ends? They were the only two people Joanna remembered being close when she was abducted. Both had been seen with Tiffany. At this point they were running out of suspects and they already didn’t have a damned lead.
As he and Buckley started up the stairs, Tony noticed Chief Phelps in the dining room with another detective. They were huddled over a laptop.
“Ultimately,” Buckley said, “the coroner thinks Martin drowned in that big old tub. But there are marks that indicate someone’s fingers were around her throat. Someone strong enough to hold her down.”
Forensic techs were covering every square inch of the place. Tony had seen two uniforms and another tech moving back and forth in the yard. Milledgeville PD was on top of the situation. They wanted this case solved almost as badly as Tony did.
At the top of the stairs, Buckley gestured to the right, and then headed that way.
“No video with her surveillance system?” The system was high-end. Tony had spotted a couple of cameras on his first visit.
“There is video,” Buckley answered. “Chief Phelps and one of his detectives is reviewing it now.”
So that was what they were doing in the dining room with the laptop.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Chief,” Tony said, “but how did you and Phelps end up here? This is way out of your jurisdiction. As I recall, when I mentioned that Miles Conway might have an accomplice named Hailey Martin, you two didn’t want to hear about it.”
“Chief Phelps had been trying to catch Martin at home for a hair sample, considering she was blond and that blond hair was found in Conway’s apartment. I believe you suggested Martin as a person of interest.”
For the good it had done, Tony mused.
“The detectives made a couple of attempts to find her with no luck so they sort of let it go,” Buckley admitted. “But that was before the FBI called us about the hard drives found in Conway’s bathtub.”
Now there was some news Tony hadn’t heard. Maybe his Bureau contact had gotten his hand slapped for giving Tony a heads-up now and then. “The Bureau was able to pull something from the hard drives?”
“At first we thought they would be damaged beyond recovery but whoever put them in the tub made a mistake. He or she didn’t take the parts that counted out of the casings so they were protected to some degree. They couldn’t recover everything but they got enough to show that Martin and Conway were working together in some capacity.”
“Meaning,” Tony pressed.
“We have footage of Tiffany Durand, Vickie Parton and an unidentified female restrained in the back of a van. Conway was taunting them.”
Shock sucker punched Tony. “Are you able to see the license plate of the vehicle?”
Buckley shook his head. “We found another clip that wasn’t more than thirty or forty seconds of Conway having sex with Parton. She’s tied to a bed—looks like the one in his apartment—and she’s unconscious.”
Son of a bitch. “What about Tiffany?”
“We weren’t able to recover any footage of a sexual nature involving her.”
Tony somehow managed to drag air back into his lungs. He was glad that bastard had gotten his in such a fucked-up way.
Buckley led the way to Martin’s master suite. Like the downstairs, the rear wall of the room was all glass, the view overlooking the lake. The massive bed was front and center. Tangled sheets. Lingerie on the floor. The earthy smell of sex lingered in the air.
“How does Martin tie into what Conway was doing?” Tony asked, since the man hadn’t mentioned her in relation to the video footage they’d found on the hard drives.
“You’re gonna love this.” Buckley stepped back, allowing the gurney to be pulled from the bathroom.
“May I?” Tony asked with a gesture to the body bag. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Buckley and Phelps fully capable of doing their jobs, but he didn’t trust Hailey Martin—aka Madelyn Houser—not to have another identity up her sleeve.
Buckley gestured to the gurney. “Of course. Her real name is Madelyn Houser. She has a criminal record from fifteen years ago when the college fired her for stealing from some of the students. She was a professor’s assistant. Anyway, the driver’s license in her purse lists her as Hailey Martin. I’m guessing that was her way of escaping her criminal record.”
Joanna had mentioned some connection to a professor at the university. “The professor she worked with, was that Professor Blume?”
“That’s the one.”
The attendant drew back the zipper and revealed Martin’s pale, bloated face. Tony really had hoped she would lead them to Tiffany and the others. Son of a bitch. He nodded and the bag was closed once more.
As they continued toward the en suite bath, he said to Buckley, “You were saying that I was going to love something.”
“Martin—Houser—whoever the hell she was, walked in on Conway while he was raping Parton. That’s why the video ended abruptly. She pulled him off the girl and started screaming at him. Stuff like: I’m going to fucking kill you! and These girls are not your playthings, they’re goddamned merchandise.”
“Merchandise.” Tony felt sick to his stomach.
Buckley nodded. “I’m thinking human traffickers?”
Tony stared at the massive soaking tub that had been the death of the bitch partially responsible for his niece’s kidnapping. “I’m guessing we’re looking at something far bigger than two local thugs like Martin and Conway.”
Buckley made an agreeable sound. “We haven’t found her cell phone. Never found Conway’s. Car’s in the garage. My money’s on the same perp. This kill was cleaner than the other.”
Tony nodded. “Conway’s murder was far more emotional. His killer knew him. Hated him.”
Buckley nodded. “That’s my thinking.”
“Chief Buckley!”
Tony and the chief turned as the officer rushed into the bedroom. “Chief Phelps needs to see you, sir.” He looked to Tony. “You, too, Agent LeDoux.”
Agent. What do you know? Tony was apparently back on the right side of this cluster fuck with the local cops. Whatever he had to do. Bringing Tiffany and Vickie home safely was all that mattered.
Joanna, too. Maybe she was still waiting for this to be over so she could go back home.
Downstairs, Phelps gestured to the computer screen. “Have a look at this.”
Tony and Buckley moved around behind where the chief was seated at the table. The screen was frozen on the front door of Martin’s home.
“There’s no video in the bedroom,” Phelps explained. “Only at the entrances to the home. This is the last person to come into this house last night just after midnight and the first and only person to leave at ten forty-five this morning.”
A young woman, nineteen or twenty at most; short, tight blue dress; mega high heels; big tote bag–style purse arrived in the middle of the night. Martin met her at the door, gave her a big hug, and then invited her inside.
“She looks really young,” Buckley noted. “Like one of the students at the college.”
“Another freshman,” Tony agreed. Like Tiffany.
“She’s blonde,” Phelps said. “What you want to bet if we search that bedroom upstairs closely enough we’ll find a match for the hair we found at Conway’s apartment.”
Tony said, “There’s someone else who needs to see this video.”
Both Phelps and Buckley swung their attention to him. Phelps was the one to demand, “Who?”
“One of Martin’s and Conway’s first victims.”
Before they could demand any more answers, Tony walked outside, the idea that Conway had raped Parton twisting in his gut. Had Martin interrupted before he could do the same to Tif or had he already finished with her? The entire concept made him sick to his stomach. He suddenly wished the son of a bitch was still alive so he could kill him.
Joanna watched him approach the car. When he reached her door her eyes widened in question. She opened the passenger side door and got out. “What’s going on?”
“There’s video.”
She blinked. “What do you mean?”
“The Bureau’s forensic team was able to pull some video off the hard drives in Conway’s apartment. They now have proof he and Martin-Houser-Whoever took my niece and the other girl.” He held her gaze. “As well as a third girl. Just like you said.”
The pulse at the base of her throat fluttered wildly. “Was there anything about the other person or persons involved?”
“Not yet. But we may also have the unsub who murdered Conway and Martin on the home security video. I want you to have a look to see if you recognize her. She may be connected to someone else involved. Maybe one of the other victims you interviewed.”
Joanna nodded. “All right.”
He felt her tension mounting as they entered the house. The walk along the hall to the dining room felt like miles. When they reached the huddle around the laptop Joanna moved closer to him.
“This is Joanna Guthrie.”
Buckley frowned. “I thought your name was Carrie Cole.”
She shrugged. “I made that up.”
“What’s this about?” Phelps demanded. “I thought she was your girlfriend.”
Tony looked at her, urging her to tell them the truth.
“I was lured into a trap by Miles Conway and Hailey Martin—she was Madelyn Houser back then. Eighteen years ago. Ellen Schrader, too. Carson. Ellen Carson. Carson was her maiden name. We were taken the Friday before spring break. We were found fourteen days later.”
“Wait, wait,” Buckley said. “I pulled some old files and found this case—your case. It’s the only one I found that was anything like this one.”
Joanna took a breath. “There were others. One each year after we were taken for another four years. Different colleges, different times of the year. Of the ten victims, only four are still alive. They all described a blonde woman and a dark-haired man as flirting with them or associating with them in some way before they disappeared. The descriptions fit Conway and Martin.”
“She’s done extensive research,” Tony said. “It wasn’t until today—when you told me about the recovered video footage that we had evidence to back up what she’s been telling me all week.”
Phelps stood and offered Joanna his seat. “Have a look at this video and tell me if you recognize this woman.”
As Joanna moved around the desk, Tony brought her up to speed. “She’s the only person besides Martin who came into the house last night and she was the only one to leave this morning.”
Phelps cued up the video.
Joanna stared at the video for five seconds before speaking. “Oh my God.”
“You recognize her?” Tension coiled tighter in Tony’s gut.
“I’ve only seen a photo of her once when she was about thirteen, but this...” She glanced up at Tony, then stared at the screen once more. “I’m as positive as I can be that this is Sylvia Carson, Ellen’s daughter.”
For the benefit of the chiefs, Tony explained, “Ellen Carson was raped when she was abducted—the same way Vickie Parton was. She realized weeks after the nightmare was over that she was pregnant. She had the child and her parents raised her so the child grew up thinking she was Ellen’s younger sister.” He shifted his attention back to Joanna. “She’d be what? Seventeen?”
Joanna nodded. “She must have learned that Ellen was her real mother and what happened to us all those years ago. It’s the only way she could possibly have known to come after Conway and Houser.” Joanna put her hand to her mouth, then let it fall away. “That’s what Ellen’s husband meant.” She lifted her gaze to Tony. “She left him a note before she killed herself. All it said was ‘She knows everything.’”
“First thing we need to do,” Phelps said, “is to find this Sylvia Carson. I’m not releasing anything about this murder for the next twenty-four hours, maybe more. We want Carson to think she’s gotten away with it so she doesn’t go to ground.” He surveyed those gathered around the laptop. “The cell phone belonging to Martin...Houser—whatever the hell her name—isn’t the only thing around here missing. There’s an empty leather gun case in her nightstand. We couldn’t find anything registered to her, but whatever kind of gun she had is missing, too.”
Joanna stared at the frozen image on the screen as she recited Ellen’s husband’s name and address as well as the names and address of Ellen’s parents. “Sylvia has antisocial personality disorder. When I spoke to Ellen’s husband, he mentioned that Sylvia had run away from home.” She shrugged. “A few days ago, maybe.” She shook her head. “Oh my God, I can’t believe she did this.”
Buckley said, “We’ll need a full statement from you, Ms. Guthrie.”
Tony reached for her. “We’ll come into your office tomorrow. Right now Ms. Guthrie needs some time to deal with this.”
Tony pulled her to her feet and ushered her toward the door.
“We’ll be expecting you first thing in the morning,” Buckley called behind them.
“Your friends from the Bureau will likely be there, too,” Phelps warned.
Tony gave a wave of acknowledgment before walking out the door. When they were in the car, Joanna stared at him as he buckled first her seat belt and then his own. He started the car and drove away. They were two blocks away before she spoke.
“What’re we doing now?”
“We’re going to find the only other lead connected to our dead players that we know of.”
“What lead?”
He braked for a traffic light. “You said Madelyn Houser worked for a Professor Blume?”
She nodded. “I think that’s how she chose Ellen and me. She worked at the college so she had access to the students, maybe their records.”
His thoughts exactly. “Madelyn Houser was fired from the university for stealing from students. Maybe Blume had her checking out potential victims and their extracurricular activities. She may have gotten greedy and decided to take a little something on the side and got caught. But she was very good at what Blume needed her to do so he hired her back—after hours, of course.”
Considering how Houser had lived, she’d earned a great deal of money over the years, particularly in contrast to Miles Conway. Then again, maybe the man only cared about cars. Besides the Ferrari, he could have a whole stash of high-end sports cars in a rented garage somewhere. On the other hand, Houser had mentioned that she’d married well.
“Blume could be the person in charge.” Joanna glanced at Tony, then turned her attention back to the passing landscape. “As a psychologist and advisor he would’ve known everything about the students. Their weaknesses, their strengths. He worked most hands-on with the freshman class. He was the go-to guy for freshmen in need of advisement.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I don’t know why I never thought of that. He was always so nice and caring. I wouldn’t have considered him capable of being that kind of monster. He...he was part of the school staff. He made us feel safe.”
“Sometimes monsters are the nicest people.” Tony reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “That’s why so many go unnoticed for years.”
His source had confirmed that Blume was involved with some sort of work at the old Central State Hospital until very recently. Just maybe, all the pieces were finally beginning to come together.
“No one will ever believe he did this.” Joanna shook her head. “I’m not sure I can believe it.”
“At the moment, he’s our only known connection between you and Houser. Which is why we’re going to find him.”
Hopefully before he ended up as dead as Houser and Conway.