The Serpent and the Crow

Book 4: Chapter Three

The '68 Ford Mustang GT roared out of the precinct car lot. Lawton held on to his seat while Douglas navigated the oncoming traffic. Solemn Pines was now a bit of a dark tourism attraction since the Serpent Stalker murders.

"This is some car, Detective."

"The mayor of the city for my heroic deeds gifted it to me. I got a medal and a key to the city."

Lawton saw that there was construction everywhere in Solemn. Some of the abandoned storefronts were being repaired. Solemn Pines' economy could not hold its own by hard work alone. It took the gruesome murders of a few kids to get the lifeblood of Solemn circulating. Lawton felt it was sick that a tragedy could be monetized. But Solemn Pines was a sick place with evil logic. And there was no cure for it.

"You seem so sure that Elmer Braithwaite is back."

"I'm not. In fact, I'm certain he's dead."

"Kid, you better not be fucking with me. If this turns out to be a bet, you made with some clowns back at the precinct. I'm going to boot you out of the car and I ain't going to slam the brakes."

"There's been other murders."

"What murders?"

"Donna Fieldhouse, Debra Lynn Porter, Melany Richmond, Josie Cole. All girls were aged four to six years old."

"Why have I never heard of them? When Katie Harding was taken, there was a massive press conference and city-wide search."

"I considered it strange. I do not know why? But they sent reports to Quantico, and that is where they sat. I was obsessed. I felt like there was not much closure. Things didn't add up."

"No, they don't add up. Did the reports say who was investigating them in Solemn Pines?"

"Yes. Lieutenant Mikael Basinsky, Detective Sergeant Earle Hadley, and C. I. B director Mick Flavell."

The Ford Mustang screeched to a halt in front of a railway barrier arm. The bells sounded loud. A freight train rolled by. Detective Lawton kept talking, but they could hear nothing except the deafening screams of steel wheels on old tracks. Cars queued up behind the Ford Mustang. Beeping.

"We should go, Detective Nez."

"Go where? If half of what you said is true, then there's nowhere to go."

"The case remains closed on the Serpent Stalker. There are many things that do not add up. I like to judge myself as a meticulous person. The guy that likes puzzles, and codebooks. But this case...it feels like a puzzle with missing pieces."

"If we do this, we can't let anyone know."

"Sir, is that protocol?"

"No, Lawton. It most definitely is not. But can you live with that?"

Lawton dwelled upon the facts and weighed up every option. He wanted two things; to move up the ranks fast in Solemn Pines and to solve the mystery behind the Serpent Stalker.

"You can tell me what you; ve learned, and I can take it from here. Perhaps it's safer for you..."

"Do you trust Wade's story? I mean his version of events?"

"I believe in what I can see. Maybe we should see how much of Wade's version is true, with our own eyes."

Lawton nodded.

"Decide right now. Do you want me to keep driving or do you want to take the train back to the Precinct?"

Lawton speculated about it. He was not stupid. He learned from the reports that Wade was sent to Ravenswood and Douglas signing only made that possible that document he read in Virginia. It meant that he could not trust Douglas. He wanted to get justice for a decorated war veteran and the authentic hero of the Serpent Stalker murders.

"Get out," Lawton said, "I'm driving."