Picture Perfect

Chapter 35

    Hayley and I made our way through the combination of press, neighbors and general onlookers who had congregated on the blocked off street leading to the house. We eventually managed to navigate our way to one of the many uniforms on crowd control, it only took us ten minutes to walk about half a block.
    I pulled my badge out just enough so only the young officer could see it and whispered to him, "I'm Detective Morris and this is Detective Williams. We're from MPD homicide. We were called in by Detective Hunter."
    The officer smiled and said quietly, "We've been expecting you Detectives. Hunter's inside the house I think, but I'll radio ahead and let her know you're here. I'll tell her to meet you at the door, it'll be easier that way." He finished, moving the barrier slightly so we could enter the scene and pointing to a house a short way down the street.
    Once we were out of ear shot Hayley quietly joked, "Gee I don't know how we would have ever found the house without him pointing. I can barely tell the difference between the dark houses and the one that has cops filing in and out of."
    I let out a small laugh then without warning I smacked her shoulder, "Don't be such a smart ass. The kid was just doing his job. I imagine this is the biggest case around here in awhile, possibly ever."
    "Gees, I was only kidding Ash. Why do you always have to smack me so hard." Hayley whined. I might have taken her seriously except she couldn't stop laughing.
    I couldn't help but laugh too then said, "Because you deserve it and don't lie, you like it."
    "No comment!" She said with a grin. We walked in silence for a few moments towards the house. Hayley broke the silence once we reached the end of the driveway, "I'll go check in with Hunter while you do your thing out here."
    I smiled, Hayley knew me too well. As she walked up to the front door I took in the entire scene. From the outside the house looked like your typical two story family house. There was a two car garage with the doors closed and a Range Rover in the driveway. Maybe the family was planning to go out before they met their untimely end, we may never know. If it weren't for the cops and the crime scene tape, this would be just a typical house in the suburbs. But it was now a house of horrors.
    I began to walk around the house trying to take in every detail. It was an extremely mild winter so there was no snow around the yard to aid us in tracking movement. Though if this was the same killer there wouldn't be any signs of their presence in the yard, our killer seemed to like the front door approach. As I walked around the exterior of the house I still looked for any signs that someone had approached or tired to get in through the windows or patio door just in case. I didn't expect to find anything useful, but even the most meticulous killers can make a mistake and leave a clue. As I finished my walk around the house I knew there were no answers out here, hopefully I'd have better luck inside.
    As I made my way back to the front of the house I noticed Hayley was still at the door, now joined by another woman.
    "We thought we'd wait for you to do your perimeter walk before we went into the house." Hayley called out.
    As I walked up to the door the other woman held out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Emma Hunter. I'm lead detective on this case, well for now anyways."
    "Ashlee Morris, nice to meet you. Wish it were under better circumstances of course." I replied with a smile. "I've heard very good things about you Detective. My friend Joey Morgan speaks very highly of you." Through Kayla I knew the lead medical examiner in Greenfield.
    Emma smiled then said, "Well Joey does lie sometimes. But I'm glad you guys are here. Joey is here too actually, he's inside. Shall we go in?"
    "May as well seeing as that's why we're here." I tried to joke. I hoped it came off as a joke because I was very nervous to see this scene I was praying that this scene was a freak similarity and not another notch in the family killers belt.

The killer decided to park a few blocks down and over from Ashlee's house. She figured a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood would tell her how closely the house was being watched. As she drew closer she realized there was no more surveillance team. She quickly made her way down the alley behind the house, ducked into the neighbors yard and slipped into the bushes to her favorite observation spot where she had a clear view of Ashlee's yard as well as in a few windows.
Aaron and Sebastian were outside playing with that little black dog of theirs. She couldn't remember what the animals name was until Sebastian called for the dog. 'Zebbie, that's right.' the killer thought. 'Odd name, but whatever floats your boat I guess.'
The killer spent the next couple of hours watching father and son play. She enjoyed watching their interaction, she could tell Aaron really enjoyed spending time with his son which was refreshing given all the horrible parents in the world. Towards the end of her time there for the day she began to fantasize about her impending encounter with this family. Though Ashlee and Aaron were good parents, unlike most of her potentials, this situation was personal. 'How will my ex feel when I have their family cornered?' The killer thought. She had already decided how the scene would play out but would her ex be surprised at what she really was. She couldn't wait to find out.
She had to control herself though. She had three families to observe and another masterpiece to create soon. It wasn't time yet for her ultimate masterpiece. Aaron, Ashlee and Sebastian would be her grand finale, but she wasn't ready to end this journey just yet.