The Murders of Cozy Hollow

Chapter 12 - Search Party

Ed did not let a soul near the bikes or skulls. When deputies arrived, he used yellow police tape wrapped around tree trunks to fence off the area. He'd been through too many botched investigations. Contamination of the crime scene at the outset had destroyed crucial evidence on more than one occasion. Once the Boston CSI professionals took over, Ed felt he'd done his job. He'd let the pros collect any forensic evidence that may exist and transfer the skulls to the crime lab. If the skulls were indeed authentic and identified as those of Jill Hill, Jenny Hill and Amanda George, Ed had a killer who had been lurking around for over four decades and now decided to display the mementoes from his or her first killings. It was an eerie thought.

It was dark by the time Ed drove into the pool parking lot. Chrissy had yet to be located. The lot was lit up with the rolling lights from emergency responder vehicles. Once word spread around town that a beloved local girl was missing, hoards of volunteers gathered at Beaumont Park eager to search the woods. It had happened too many times before in the tight knit community. Ed had instructed the deputies, including Luke Small, to organize the search parties. Time was of the essence. Canine units with the Massachusetts State Police were brought in as well. The first twenty-four hours were critical.

Soon the good folks of Cozy Hollow began moving into the woods with flashlights calling out Chrissy's name. Rex and Willow never left the pool complex as they waited to talk to Ed. Kurt, Ally, Abby, Benny and the rest of the football players and cheerleaders joined in the search. Ed had called Amy Small to ask if she could go over to the house and watch Joe and Will. When Ed entered Dennis Grimes's small windowless office at the pool, Sheriff Ross was there along with Grimes, Rex and Willow.

"Busy night," said Frank.

"I see you met my son and neighbor," said Ed. "You must be the pool manager? I'm Detective Stone."

"Yes, pleased to meet you," said Grimes as he shook Ed's hand. "I have some security camera footage from the front entrance you may be interested in."

"Let's have a look."

Only Grimes and Deputy Small had seen the footage so far. Luke was now out on the search. Grimes hit play and everyone in the room focused on the desktop monitor. The scope of the camera only captured about ten feet of space in front of the main entrance to the pool complex. It was mostly cement and brick walls. Chrissy could be seen exiting the complex in only her red one piece lifeguard swimsuit. She stopped and stood texting on her phone. The time stamp of the footage matched the time on Willow's phone when she received Chrissy's text. Rex explained that it was probably only five minutes before he and Willow walked outside to meet Chrissy. The camera caught those five minutes.

After Chrissy sent the text, she stood still and waited for about two minutes. Then she abruptly turned around to look at something or someone off camera in the direction of the park. Whatever it was, she started to walk towards it. It was impossible to tell if Chrissy was talking to someone with her back turned to the camera. What seemed odd was they way she walked. Her body language seemed to show some trepidation but she never paused in her steps. Soon she was off camera. About two minutes later, Willow and Rex could be seen walking outside looking for Chrissy. Both kids swore they never saw her anywhere.

Ed asked Grimes to replay the footage several times. Those in the room could tell Ed saw something they did not.

"There!" said Ed, pointing to the bottom right corner. "You see that?"

"I don't see shit," said Frank.

"There's a shadow. Right there."

Sheriff Ross, Grimes, Rex and Willow all squinted in at the monitor. Sure enough, there was a faint shadow of a head and shoulder.

"I'll be damned."

"It looks the head of a man. A bald man. And his shoulder."

"It's Skullman," said Rex.

"What did you say, boy?" said the Sheriff.

"Both Chrissy and Rex saw Skullman by the woods yesterday," said Willow. "That's who we were gonna talk to Chrissy about."

"What did you see exactly and what didn't you tell me, Rex?" said Ed.

"I thought it was all in my head," said Rex. "But Chrissy told us this afternoon she saw him too. It must be him. I saw him up close. He wore an old suit and had an empty skull for a head. No eyes. No skin. Just a skull. I know what I saw."

"Skull's not real, kids," said Frank. "You should know that, Willow Arnold."

"I may have seen him today too," said Ed.

"Someone's hoaxing us."

"Chrissy came to me a few days ago," said Grimes. "Said she saw a strange man in a suit lurking at the edge of the woods watching the pool. I looked around but never saw him or anyone else."

"I don't want any word of a Skull sighting getting out around town. Clear?? Trust me, I've been down this road before many times. It never ends well."

"Whoever this guy is," said Ed, "hoax or not, he's now our number one suspect."