The Murders of Cozy Hollow

Chapter 15 - Things Get Even Stranger

The search for Chrissy Swanson resumed at first light. It seemed as if the entire town came out to join the effort that day. The woods were like an abyss at the edge of town. They could take weeks to canvass. With the discovery of Chrissy's cellphone deep in the forest, it was highly unlikely she'd be coming home on her own. Foul play was the presumption. Rumors of Skullman's possible return were running wild. There was genuine fear amongst the townsfolk.

Ed met with several deputies at Beaumont Park, the epicenter of the search effort. Luke Small, Amy's ex, happened to be one of those deputies that morning. Luke was hot and irritated as usual.

"Let's do our best to ensure these folks aren't searching over the same area twice," said Ed.

"Why don't we just let the state police handle the search?" said Luke.

"We're all working together on this."

"We all know this's just one big waste of time."

"Searching for a missing girl is wasting time?"

"This ain't LA, detective. Girls who go missing around here are never found."

"We found three skulls yesterday, most likely the skulls of children. You still think we're wasting our time?"

"You know someone is jerking you around, right? Those skulls will probably turn out to be Halloween props."

"I'm not so sure, deputy. You got a problem with how I work?"

"I got a problem with my daughter spending the night at your haunted house. My ex is not your caretaker."

Ed had figured Luke would be trouble but he hadn't factored in Sophia. Luckily, Sheriff Ross walked up at the most opportune time.

"Deputy Small," said Frank. "Are you gonna be a problem?"

"No sir," said Luke.

"Good, now stop bitching like an old lady and go do your damn job. That goes for all of you. I know we're not accustomed to finding our missing girls in Cozy Hollow but we always gotta try. We have her cellphone. She's out there somewhere. Listen to Detective Stone, you may just learn something."

At that, Luke and the other deputies dispersed. Frank turned to Ed.

"Children," he said.

"Thanks, you warned me Small was a hothead. I suppose it doesn't help that I'm friends with his ex."

"So you and Amy are friends? Sounds serious."

"Please, that's not on my mind."

"You're lying but I'll let you be the gentleman."

"Truth is, I'd be lucky to find someone like Amy. And my boys love Sophia. I think they secretly want a little sister to look after. But the truth is, I don't think I'd make much of a husband. I still need to get back on my feet."

"All in due time. Now let's get on the road to Boston. I want to be home for supper."

"You're coming with me to visit CSI?"

"I want to know what the hell's going on around here. I want to hear those skulls are fake."

***

Ed made the two hour drive to Boston with Frank riding shotgun in his F-250. It felt like a friendship was forming. In truth, Ed needed all the knowledge and memories of Cozy Hollow that Frank had embedded in his head. He decided to throw out a bone when he told Frank what Amy told him about the unexplained giggles and stew from the night before. Willow's mom had already told Rex she did not make them dinner. The young girl cackles Amy heard from within Joe's bedroom sounded a lot like what Ed thought he'd heard in his basement. The one thing he did not tell Frank about was his ghostly encounter with Charlotte Beaumont. That he wanted to hold close to the vest for now. Of course, he had no idea three of the Beaumont girls had visited his sons, who were also holding their strange experiences close to the vest.

"So what do you think?" Ed asked Frank.

The old sheriff lost his snarky tone.

"I think you should get the hell out of that house," said Frank.

"Why, there's not been one crime reported in that house since the Beaumont murders."

"I'm telling you as friend, get out."

It was the most deadly serious he'd seen Frank thus far. He could tell Frank was spooked by something.

"It's a great house."

"Just get the hell out."

Ed, maybe too stubborn, had no intention of leaving the house he'd just bought. He loved it, ghosts or no ghosts.

***

Ed and Frank were escorted to a stark examination room at the crime scene lab in Boston. The forensic pathologist on duty, Doctor Elizabeth Sinclair, walked them over to a table with the three skulls on display that Ed had found. Elizabeth was young but sharp as a knife. She'd taken a particular interest in the case for some unknown reason. It almost seemed personal to her.

"I'm guessing you received the dental records of the girls we had sent this morning?" asked Ed.

"Yes," said Elizabeth.

"And?" said Frank with no patience.

"I can confirm these are the remains of Jennifer Hill, Jill Hill and Amanda George."

"Son of a bitch."

"Which one's which?" asked Ed.

Ed felt it necessary to know which belonged to which girl. Elizabeth put a name to each skull. It helped personalize the remains. They were once vibrant young girls with their whole lives ahead of them.

"These skulls are in excellent condition considering how old they are. Someone took great care in preserving them indoors."

"Any indications around cause of death?"

"It's impossible to tell. There's no blunt force trauma or bullet holes or even any cracks that would indicate a blow to the head."

"With no vertebrae it'd be impossible to tell if they were strangled, correct?"

"Correct, I'm listing cause of death as undetermined."

"Did you find anything else on the remains or the sticks used to prop them up?"

"No, the skulls were meticulously cleaned and the sticks were common to the area, but we did find something on one of the bicycles."

"What's that?" asked Frank.

"Some blood spatter."

"Really?" said Ed. "Are you running a DNA match?"

"Yes, we're compiling the DNA profile now and will run it through the CODIS database."

"Wouldn't that blood be too old to test if it were from the girls?" asked Frank.

"That's just it, it appears to be freshly dried blood. I would say from yesterday or the day before. It's new blood."

"Where was it on the bike?" asked Ed.

"On one of the front fenders."

"Chrissy Swanson disappeared around the same time you found these remains," said Frank.

"Yes," said Ed. "But I saw someone in the woods. There's no way that person could have been at the pool too. The locations are at least five miles apart."

"Maybe we have two different perpetrators."

"Or two working together."