Born of Chaos and Grace

Chapter Seven: Leads - Part II

True to his word, Brent was able to pull some strings and get them access to all files regarding the case as well as an interview of the witness; all under the guise of them being private investigators hired by the family to find out what happened.

Now Laine finds herself talking to the witness while Dean looks over the crime scene and the reports, and she wishes that she would have taken his job instead. With another deep inhale, she refocuses her attention on the woman sitting across from her.

"You say that you saw a woman cut open another woman and eat her insides?" Laine stares at the elderly lady across from her, and unlike those who would take such a statement with a grain of salt, she knows how probable that possibility is. "What can you tell me about the deceased?"

Another sob bubbles out of the petite woman as her eyes begin to tear up, her tissue darting up to remove the gathering moisture.

"Karen was a great woman. She loved her babies like no tomorrow and took care of all 'round her. She didn't deserve to die so young, and not like this." The woman sighs and shakes her head, tendrils of silver hair coming undone from the bun atop her head.

Reaching across the table, Laine places a hand atop the woman's and squeezes once to offer comfort and sympathy.

"Can you think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt Karen?" At her question, the woman begins sputtering and shaking her head.

"Everyone in town loved her. I don't think there's a person here who didn't know her somehow. I don't see why anyone would want to hurt such a sweet lady," she huffs with a swipe below her eyes in an attempt to push away the tears. She falls silent for a moment, her head dipped low, before she looks up and meets Laine's eyes. "There is one person who didn't care for Karen, but she could never of done something so vile."

Laine perks up at this new information and urges the woman to continue; this is the first real lead she has gotten since she started talking to the only person who had seen anything that night.

"Her name's Melissa Jones. She worked at the school with Karen. It's been a while since the incident, but the two never got along well after Karen and Tom got engaged."

"And who's Tom?"

"Karen's husband. He was seeing Melissa, but broke it off after he met Karen a few years ago. She didn't take it well, and threatened Karen in the middle of a staff meeting once, but I don't believe she'd harm her," the woman explains, eyes welling up with tears once again. "Karen was expecting her second child, for Christ's sake!"

Laine nods along with her words, listening as she prattles on about Karen and how kind she was, when a knock sounds at the door. They both rise and make their way towards the entryway, and when the woman opens the door, Dean is standing on the other side.

He says his greetings and nods his head towards the car, a folder tucked under his arm. With a nod, she turns to the woman and reaches inside of her coat pocket to grab a card with her number on it; something she had left over from a job years ago.

"Thank you for your time and information. It's been tremendously helpful in our investigation. If you happen to think of anything else, please don't hesitate to call." Laine smiles kindly at her and hands over the card as she steps out of the house.

"Of course. I just hope you catch the sick bastard who did this." The woman returns the gesture with her own weak version and closes the door.

Shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans, Laine toes at the chipping paint on the wooden porch and looks up at Dean. "Find anything out?"

He shrugs as they begin walking down the driveway and towards where the car is parked. "No sulfur smell or black marks around the eyes, so possession is ruled out. I did find out that the vic was pregnant, though."