Killing Ways

60

‘How did you work that out about Rawlins’ childhood?’ said Ren.

‘I thought of us...’ said Shaun, gesturing toward Joe.

Joe and Ren looked at him.

‘Yourself?’ said Joe.

He nodded. ‘I thought about how people leave places that bring them bad memories. We left New York to go to Ireland, we left Ireland to come back to the US, I left New York again to come here...’ He shrugged. ‘People leave the places that hold memories they would rather forget.’

He’s right. Where is he going with this?

‘I looked at all the people who moved away from Stinger’s Creek,’ said Shaun. ‘People who were there around the time that Rawlins and Riggs committed these crimes, people who were in school with them, people connected in any way to the crimes. I spoke with everyone I could get a hold of. I researched the ones I couldn’t. I found a woman called Dorothy Parnum. Her husband, Ogden, was the Police Chief at the time of the Crosscut Killer investigation. When he killed himself, she relocated to Wichita Falls—’

‘Jesus Christ!’ said Joe. ‘The summer camp at Wichita Falls — you didn’t work there at all!’

‘No, I did,’ said Shaun. ‘Just not as much as you thought...’

Joe looked at Ren. ‘Can you believe this shit?’

‘Keep going,’ said Ren.

‘I tracked Dorothy Parnum down to a meeting for child sex-abuse victims,’ said Shaun. ‘I joined the group. She spoke. She said she had discovered that her husband had been abusing children. She found photos after he died...’

Joe nodded. ‘I spoke with the DA, Marcy Winbaum, back in the day,’ he said. ‘She told me that Duke Rawlins visited Ogden Parnum at the police department when the investigation was at its height. Parnum gave Rawlins and Riggs an alibi for the night of one of the murders. Marcy Winbaum guessed he was blackmailed into it — she just didn’t know why.’

‘I spoke with her too,’ said Shaun. ‘She said the same thing to me. When I put it together with what I knew about Dorothy Parnum, it made sense. I also cross-referenced a whole lot of things that I don’t think law enforcement did. I researched every single kid who went to school with Duke Rawlins or Donnie Riggs — I interviewed some of them, I interviewed their teachers. I looked at all the information I gathered from a psychological angle, with a view to building up a profile of Duke Rawlins and a full picture of his childhood.

‘I found a girl who had moved away from Stinger’s Creek — a girl called Ashley Ames. In school, she gave Duke Rawlins the nickname that apparently tormented him — Pukey Dukey. She told me that Duke Rawlins and Donald Riggs raped her when she was sixteen. She believed this happened because she was the one to have given him this nickname. I thought that seemed extreme, even for Duke Rawlins. Then I discovered that Ashley Ames’ father was arrested five years ago on a child pornography charge. I think he also abused Duke Rawlins, and that was why Ashley Ames was raped — revenge. I was able to connect her father, Westley Ames, to Ogden Parnum — they went hunting together. And there were more men who went hunting with them... I’m waiting to hear back from a source who promised to give me more names. I haven’t put these details in my dissertation, because I would need the legalities to be perfect, but they’re part of my research.’

Ren nodded.

‘I worked up a profile on Rawlins,’ said Shaun. He went over to the pile of papers and books on the bed. He pulled out a slim file, passing it right in front of Joe’s face to hand it to Ren.

Ouch.

Ren started to read the profile. ‘This is great, Shaun. You’ve picked up on a lot of points from the FBI’s profile.’

Nothing new, nothing new, nothing new.

Oh.

There were two things at the end:

‘What is it?’ said Joe.

‘Let me keep reading,’ said Ren.

She read on about the rapes and murders. But it was the final comment that sent a shiver up her spine.

Ren could feel a rush of realization.

The glass in Donna Darisse’s feet: clear, blue, green... the color of dolls’ eyes.

Duke Rawlins. Law enforcement. Watch them.

Like a hawk.

This was what Duke Rawlins wanted from Kurt Vine: access to the tower of the toy factory in RiNo... whose windows overlook Safe Streets.

Ren closed the file and handed it back to Shaun.

Jesus Christ. Duke Rawlins has been watching us all this time.