A writing of the cult

Chapter 3 Investigation and a surprise in the woods.

I left the interview room as Janna was handing over Tia's rucksack. Tia mumbled something to her, and I took a few steps before I asked. "Do you want a lift home?"

Tia stiffened and half turned to look at me. She stood there in silence with Burt staring up at her. She stared at me in that same unsettling way she had done before. I took another step thinking she was as lost as she was in the interview room, when she shook her head and walked out of the station.

"That was wired!" Janna's voice was shaking.

"She looked angry for some reason." I said shaking my head.

The chief harrumphed and went to his office. I stared at the door as the vet walked out of the room. "I think I'd be angry if I was dragged through town. Especially if the only reason for it was because of a dog bite on a corpse."

I shook my head still looking at the door. "We can't tell you our reasons for questioning her. You know that."

He laughed. "I do, but I just mean unless you've told her more than you told me..."

He shrugged. I turned to him and looked at the cast in his hands. "Is that ready?"

"It needs to set. I'll leave it in the room and get out from under your feet."

He walked back into the interview room to pack up his kit. I walked to Janna who was rubbing her arms. "I don't think I like her."

"She's fine Janna. Remember we aren't meant to judge people for the way they act."

Janna put her hands on her hips. "That's you. I'm just on reception, I can dislike whoever I want."

I shook my head and picked up a file. I walked to the chief's office opened the door going straight in. "Mac?"

"Chief I need to talk to you."

He waved me in and I closed the door behind me. "What is it?"

"She didn't react right."

The chief sat back nodding. "If she was guilty I'd expect her to give us a no-comment interview. If she was innocent I'd expect her to show concern or distress at being there. Then there was her reaction to a lift home. It all feels wrong." I said sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

He sighed. "I agree but.. her normal behaviour is as odd."

"Yes, but she should have given us more than she did. If anything she gave us the same behaviour as normal, that sticks out as abnormal."

The chief sat forward. "I know what you mean but what do you want me to do about it?"

"Someone should keep an eye on her."

The chief sighed looking down at the file that was open on his desk. I could see the crime scene photos and the list of evidence collected. The newest page was handwritten and was a list of things discovered in Tia's rucksack. Did she buy bin bags? A normal thing to pick up but... the roll of bin bags on the worktop in Edith's house... The other things on the list didn't stick out.

"I suppose I can sanction that until the impressions come back. Go on then."

The chief made me lose my train of thought. I smiled at him. "She seems to prefer walking to anything else so I'll have to get my deer stalking kit out."

"Fine fine! Remember that dam dog." He said dismissing me.

***

Over the next week, we watched her and got an idea of her routine. She would get up before dawn walk into the forest and eat her breakfast, then she would either walk through the woods or go back to her home. Then she would stay there until late in the evening and then leave for a walk. When she returned to her cabin she would stay up for one hour only then the lights go off. Sometimes she would spend that hour on the porch with a glass of whisky and a book. Sometimes she would stay inside.

It was my turn to watch her this morning. I sat in a bush watching her home, it was before dawn and she wasn't meant to be up for another two hours. A light came on, and I looked up at the second-floor window with my binoculars. There was movement then the light went off.

I was writing it down as the front door came open. She left the house alone. Burt wasn't with her as she walked to her car. She opened the boot. I took out the camera and was taking photos, as she took out the shovel and a rucksack. She locked her car up patted it, said something I didn't catch, and then headed into the woods.

I moved slowly so I didn't draw her attention to me, following her deep into the woods. She stopped in a small cluster of young trees, surrounded by massive old trees. It looked like she had planted them.

Attached to the young tree bark were small pieces of paper. I knelt down and took more photographs, zooming in to see what was written on them.

She took the rucksack off and started rummaging through it.

She took out a hammer, nailing a new small piece of paper to the tree. She then turned and picked up the bag. She moved off again and I walked up to the tree she had nailed the paper to as soon as she was far enough away. She had stopped a few feet from me and was rummaging through her bag. I took some photographs of the papers that you could still read. Each one held only one word. Sadness, fear, pain, anger. The newest one said death. They were held to the tree not with a nail but with something else that I couldn't work out. Is that a wooden nail?

I scratched at it with my thumb but stopped when I heard her moving on.

I followed her further into the woods. She stopped at a clearing. I raised my camera as she knelt and removed a small cloth bag. She had her back to me so I couldn't see what she was doing with her hands. I started taking photos as she lit a candle and dug a hole. She placed the bag in the hole.

She murdered something else and blew out the candle. She emptied the bag into the hole. I saw the contents were half-eaten food and other scraps. She covered the scraps with some dirt and then she stood.

I followed her back to her home. Burt darted out of the house and bounded up to Tia. "Yes yes, I know." It was the first time I heard her use that flat tone with her dog when no one was around.

I watched her put things back in her car. She surprised me by popping the bonnet and tinkering with something there before going back into the house. I felt the buzz from my phone that was James taking up position to watch her. I slowly moved back around the house to him.

I silently handed over the camera taking the card inside. He handed me a set of keys and a note. It was a note from Roland asking me to pick up the shopping. I crept back to the car and sighed at it. Of course, it's you. I thought looking at the old Ford.

I drove old Betty back to the station. When I got back the chief was waiting outside.

"Mac what have you..." I closed the car door and he trailed off looking at the woman walking up to us.

"Officer... I don't want to waste your time but..." A townswoman said walking over to us.

"You're not Carrie, what is it you need?" The chief asked.

She shifted her feet looking concerned. "My son was walking in the woods and he saw... that odd lady. She was doing something, he said it looked like a ritual. There's a tree with..."

"Tiny pieces of paper. I know I've seen it." I interrupted.

Her son was probably in the woods trying to find something on her... or maybe drinking. She shifted again obviously uncomfortable. "We will look into this."

At the chief's words, the woman sighed, looking relieved. "Thank you, officer."

She left us. "Write up what you saw and meet me in my office."

"Alright chief." I said as I watched the woman feeling uneasy at the fear in her. With her being dragged through town and these rumours, this kind of thing can get out of hand fast.