Killer Bay

Smoke and Mirrors

Previously on Criminal Case . . .

"Adalet, I just don't get why Vanessa would send you a message on a beer coaster, of all things," Amy says as she looked at the coaster, "she talks about dark secrets and she drew a tombstone with a note saying "Tonight, 10 PM" . . ."

"And since there's a tombstone on it, Vanessa must mean the cemetery!" Adalet reasoned, "she sure as heck chose the right place to reveal dark secrets . . ."

"Looks like this story's gonna take a dark turn, so you should stay behind, Amy: it could be dangerous!" Frank says, "Adalet, you ready to head to the cemetery and learn about Vanessa's secrets?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!" she answered.

"Then let's go!"

Bayou Cemetery, 10 PM . . .

"Well Adalet, I don't see Vanessa. Either we're early or she's hiding . . ." Frank said as he checked the time, "huh, why couldn't she just speak to you on the phone instead of all this secrecy?"

Adalet clicked on a flashlight, "then we'll just have to go find her!"

"Do we really need to go looking for her, Adalet?" he asked taking a torch from the glove compartment, "I mean I'm a bit too old for playing hide and seek . . . Alright, fine, let's get it over with . . ."

Frank went left while Adalet went right, they would regroup later. Adalet and the dogs searched the foggy cemetery and walked along the bumpy road call out Vanessa's name. There was no response and just as she was about to call it quits, she saw something that made her blood run cold.

"Frank!" Adalet yelled over her shoulder, "get over here! Quick!"

As Adalet listened to her partner scramble over the hills to where she was, she took a close look at the scene before her. What looked like a life-sized voodoo doll of Vanessa way lying on the ground near the graveyard's pond, the skin cold and lifeless. Near the body, Adalet found a faded map of the forest and a torn document.

"Wow, this has got to be the biggest voodoo doll we've seen so far, Adalet!" Frank remarks as he climbed down the hill to join her, "besides, I thought we were meant to be looking for Vanessa . . ."

"Ahh, Frank?" Adalet felt the "doll", "I think this is Vanessa!"

"What?! You're telling me this voodoo doll is Vanessa?! Why didn't you say so earlier?!" he asked in the same tone she used, "I guess we're too late to hear her secret . . ."

She pulled out her phone, "let's see if Roxie can get her talking again."

"Now, what's this you picked up, Adalet? A torn document?" he put the pieces back down, "I'll let you piece it back together, I know you like showing off your skills."

She picked up the map while she waited for Roxie to answer, "and look at this message: "Vanessa, hide here and you'll be safe" . . . But there's something else on this but it's faded!"

"Do you think you can recover the faded ink, so we can see what this is all about, Adalet?" he inquired.

She nodded as Roxie picked up the phone. After the coroner had gotten the information he needed about the body, Adalet said her goodbyes and put her phone away. She picked up the torn document and her tape and repaired the document to see what it was about.

"It's getting irritating, Adalet," Frank smirked, "you're too damned skilled: it makes me look bad. And this document you pieced back together looks an awful lot like a conspiracy document."

"It says these three girls are missing, and there are a lot of scribbled notes around them: "same age", "same place" . . ." Adalet read.

"What's all this about?" he wonders.