The Murders of Cozy Hollow

Chapter 11 - The Disappearance of Chrissy Swanson

Within a matter of hours, Ed felt himself pulled in all sorts of directions. His honeymoon period in Cozy Hollow was abruptly over. He'd called in his discovery of the three skulls and awaited backup. Thirty minutes later, Rex called him about the disappearance of Chrissy Swanson. It was an odd coincidence to say the least. He told Rex to wait at the pool until deputies arrived. Rex did not mention Skullman to his father. All Ed knew was that a pretty young lifeguard had gone missing and there seemed to be a genuine concern she may have been abducted in broad daylight. Unfortunately for Rex, the skulls of three dead people trumped the situation with Chrissy. His dad had to protect a crime scene.

To Ed's surprise, Sheriff Ross himself was the first person to greet him on the scene. Frank was out of breath and sweating bullets by the time he found his new detective in the woods. His beige uniform was drenched with perspiration. Ed caught the look on Frank's face when he saw the bicycles. It was as if he'd seen a ghost.

"What the hell do we have here?" asked Frank.

"Three vintage 1970's bikes," said Ed. "And I'm sad to say, three skulls of what appear to be children."

When Frank looked over at the skulls on sticks, he looked like he was about to vomit.

"My god."

"I haven't touched anything and I don't want anyone to get near the bikes or skulls until the crime scene investigators get here from Boston."

"You called in Boston?"

"I want the best on this one."

"Good thinking. That's why I need a big city detective in this town. What brought you out here in the first place?"

"Your oldest cold case. The Hill girls and Amanda George."

"Jill, Jenny and Amanda. I searched this forest for months after they disappeared."

"Do these bikes look like the ones the girls were last seen riding?"

"Yes, maybe, but hell, that was over forty years ago."

"This may be some kind of prank on the new detective in town, but those are the skulls of children and if they're real, we'll try to have them identified through dental records."

"What's going on around here?"

"I thought I saw someone in the woods. He or she may have been following me. It's possible the killer from all those years ago heard about the new detective looking into cold cases and figured I'd make my way out here at some point. Maybe the killer is old and wants closure for himself."

"Boy, Stone, you don't waste any time. You've only been in town for three days."

***

Rex and Willow waited patiently in the pool parking lot along with Dennis Grimes and Chrissy's parents. Mister and Mrs. Swanson had rushed over to the pool as soon as they could. Their daughter had never even been late for a shift at the pool in two summers let along miss a shift altogether. Her mother knew something was wrong. Finally, a Cozy Hollow Sheriff's patrol car pulled into the parking lot. The deputy who stepped out was the notorious Luke Small, ex-husband of realator Amy Small. In his thirties, he looked a little unkempt and sported a bushy mustache. Luke seemed agitated from the start like he was nursing a hangover. It was no secret around town that he was drunken womanizer.

"I hear your little Chrissy is nowhere to be found," said Luke, absent any pleasantries.

It was a small town. Luke knew the Swansons and their daughter.

"This is unlike Chrissy," said Chrissy's mother with a shaky upset voice. "She'd never just take off. Something's wrong. I know my Chrissy."

"All her belongings are still here, Deputy Small," said Grimes. "I agree, this's unlike Chrissy. She's the most responsible lifeguard I have working here."

Rex noticed Luke's eyes were sharply focused on Willow's body in her bikini. The kids still wore only swimsuits.

"Willow Arnold," said Luke. "Who's your friend?"

Rex picked up a hint of jealousy in the deputy's voice.

"This is Rex Stone," said Willow. "He just moved in across the street from me."

"Are you Detective Stone's kid?"

"Yes, sir," said Rex.

"Are you two friends with Chrissy or something?"

"We reported her missing."

"We were gonna hang out with her on her break," said Willow, "but when we came to meet her outside the pool, she wasn't here and her phone went straight to voicmail. We looked around the park but couldn't find her."

"We've also called all her friends and nobody knows where she is," said Chrissy's father.

"Does she have a boyfriend?" asked Luke.

"No."

"Or not that you know about?"

"I know my daughter. There's no boyfriend."

"Does the pool have security cameras?"

"Only one on the front entrance," said Grimes.

"We'll need to take a look at the footage."

"Should we get volunteers and start searching the woods or something?" asked Rex.

"Slow down, son. Chrissy's only been missing for a few hours. In most cases, missing kids show up by the end of the day. I've got another patrol car coming. We'll take a look around. Dennis, why don't you find that security footage."

"I already called my dad," blurted out Rex.

Rex tried to elevate the urgency with the lackadaisical deputy.

"Oh, you did, did you? Well then, I'm sure Detective Stone will find Chrissy safe and sound by nightfall."

"Won't he be in charge if it's a missing person's case?"

"Sheriff Ross is in charge around here. Make no mistake about that, son."

Rex knew he'd made his first enemy in Cozy Hollow.

"There's something else," said Willow. "Rex saw Skullman in the woods here yesterday. Chrissy saw him too."

The adults all gasped. Luke seemed to be caught completely off guard by that revelation.

"I think we should search the woods," said Rex.