The Curse Оf Hollister House

Chapter 20

When I’d called Cass to share my plans, he’d offered to come along with me on my little field trip. I suspected he’d already done what I was proposing to do, but perhaps he’d figured having a pair of fresh eyes on the trek couldn’t hurt.

“According to the report I pulled from the file, the deputy who responded to Stella’s missing persons report determined from interviews with other students that she must have left school via this footpath.”

Cass and I stood at the beginning of a footpath that ran from the back of the baseball field through the woods and out to the street that ran parallel to the school.

“Aspen Drive?”

Cass nodded. “If you turn right on Aspen Drive, it meanders along but eventually intersects with Oak Avenue after about half of a mile. I’m sure you remember that Stella lived on Oak Avenue.”

“I remember. I would walk with Stella to her house almost every day, and Aunt Gracie would pick me up there.” I turned and glanced back toward the middle school parking lot, which was full on a Friday morning. “We didn’t usually take this path, however. Most of the time we’d just follow the drive from the parking area to Willow Lane, which intersected with Oak Avenue in half the time it took to walk this way.” I found myself frowning. “I wonder why she took this path, especially if she was alone. There would have been a lot of other kids walking in the same direction if she had stayed on the road.”

“I don’t know,” Cass admitted. “I wish I did. All I know is that the deputy who investigated the murder determined that Stella was last seen taking this path alone.”

I took a few steps forward and glanced down the narrow path, which was almost completely concealed under a canopy of trees, giving it a desolate and isolated feel. “Do you think she was abducted while on the path?”

“Again, I don’t know. The deputy who investigated didn’t know either. What I do know is that this little path ends on a section of Aspen Drive that wasn’t populated. If Stella wasn’t abducted from the path, she may have found someone waiting on the road when she emerged. That idea is supported by the fact that she appears to have been transported prior to being killed.”

“The deserted farm where she was killed.”

Cass nodded. “Aspen Drive eventually connects to County Road 12 if you turn left rather than right when you emerge from these woods. County Road 12 would be the one you’d take to get to the barn where the blood that was confirmed to be Stella’s was found. It was the opinion of the deputy who led the investigation at that time that was where she was killed. I agree with him.”

“Can I see the barn?”

“It was torn down, and the land it sat on was purchased by the conservancy.”

That would be the local land conservancy that was committed to buying up sensitive land and returning it to its natural state.

“I can take you out to where the barn once stood, however. That should give you a feel for the movements that Stella and her killer took on the day she died.”

I nodded, took one last look at the wooded path, and then followed Cass to his car. We had to take the long way around, but when he reached the spot on Aspen Drive where the wooded trail came out, he stopped and pointed it out.

“There is nothing but forest for as far as you can see in any direction,” I said.

Cass nodded.

“I can totally see the killer sitting here, waiting for someone to emerge from that little path. My question is, was the killer waiting for Stella specifically, or was she just in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

“The deputy didn’t know. The path is not widely used, but as it turns out, there were a few students who took this route to get to this neighborhood, especially the ones who lived at this end of it.”

“So it is feasible that the killer was waiting to nab whoever appeared first and that person just happened to be Stella?”

“Yes. That is not only feasible but likely. Keep in mind that on any other day, Stella would have been walking with you, and as you’ve already pointed out, the two of you tended to stick to the road.”

There it was again. The guilt. The knowledge that if not for me and the fight I’d most likely picked, Stella would still be alive today.

Cass pulled back onto the road and continued on toward the land where the barn where Stella was most likely killed had once stood.

“I remember hearing that it was determined that Stella wasn’t sexually assaulted. Was that true? I often wondered if that fact wasn’t a rumor started to protect her and her family.”

“According to the medical examiner’s report, Stella was not sexually assaulted. Keep in mind that her body was partially decayed, so determining all the specifics was difficult, but from what I read, Stella was most likely strangled and then clawed with something capable of inflicting marks on the bone. It was never determined with any certainty if she was strangled or clawed first, but the ME suspected the claw marks were inflicted after she was already dead.”

“Why would anyone do that? I get that there are psychos out there who strangle people, but what is up with the claw marks?”

Cass parked the car, opened his door, and got out. “I wish I knew.”

I followed his lead and got out as well. I stood near the car and looked around. The parcel where the barn had once stood was hidden in the trees and sheltered from the road. I supposed that if someone wanted a quiet place to kill someone, this was as good a place as any.

“After Stella died, she was driven around the lake and buried in the woods. I wonder why. There are plenty of woods around here to hide a body. Why take the risk of transporting your kill around the lake if you didn’t have to?”

“I’m not sure if the burial site had meaning to the killer or if he randomly picked an isolated location to bury his prey.”

I hated that Cass referred to Stella as prey, but that’s what she had been. To him. To the animal who’d killed her.

“And Tracy?” I asked. “We know she was last seen at the middle school and that she ended up buried a few yards from where Stella’s body was found. Do you think he might have brought her here to kill her or somewhere nearby?”

“Perhaps. I’ve searched all the vacant barns in the area. There are only two.” Cass put his hands on his hips and scanned the area. “There are a lot of woods out there. If the killer found another location, such as a cave or drainpipe to conceal his deeds, he could have taken her anywhere.”

“What about Milo?” I looked back toward the vehicle. “Where is Milo anyway?”

“He is home today. When I woke up, he seemed to be feeling off, and I was only planning on doing follow-up calls, so I left him home to rest.” Cass looked at his watch. “I should stop by the house to check on him after we leave here.”

I suddenly realized I hadn’t been to Cass’s house since I’d been home. I’d enjoy seeing where he lived. “Should we head around the lake to the gravesite?” I asked. “Just to close the loop?”

“That works for me. I live over in that direction anyway.”

As it turned out, Cass lived in a converted boathouse right on the lake. I should have known he’d choose somewhere he would be able to literally fish from his front door.

“Wow. This is really great. And it is so you.”

“It’s small, but Milo and I love it.”

“I would think so.” I stood on the dock, which linked the drive and the forest with the front door to the boathouse. I could totally picture Cass sitting out here on the porch swing, which sat on a dock that literally covered the water. “Can I see the inside?”

“Sure. If you don’t mind a bit of a mess.”

When Cass opened the door, Milo came bounding out. He looked fine to me. I wondered about the funky behavior Cass had described until we walked in the front door and found a pile of dog puke.

“It looks like he ate a tree.”

Cass laughed. “Not a tree, but the silly dog does have a habit of eating sticks if I’m not watching him every minute.” Cass headed to the kitchen for paper towels and floor cleaner. At least the floor was wood and not carpet. It should clean right up.

“Well, at least he seems to be feeling better,” I said.

“He usually does once he gets whatever he’s eaten out of his system.” Cass bent down to clean up the mess. “I’ll take him with us when we go. Now that he’s feeling better, he won’t want to stay home.”

“Are you worried he’ll eat the wrong thing and really make himself sick?” I asked.

“I am. But he is a dog, and I let him run around the property when I’m home. I can’t watch him every minute of every day. I hoped he’d grow out of it at some point, but so far, he hasn’t. Remember that lab I had when we were kids?”

“Sure.”

“He liked grass. We struggled through an ongoing cycle of him eating grass and then puking it up from the day I brought him home until the day he died. I tried to train it out of him, but that dog liked grass. Short of keeping him indoors or on a leash at all times, there was no way I was going to keep him from eating it.”

“Yeah, I get that.” I looked around. “There is grass everywhere. Except in winter.”

“Winter and snow gave us both a break.”

I stepped farther into the room. Cass had a small living area that looked out at the lake, an even smaller kitchen, a bath off the kitchen, and a loft where he slept. In a way, his home reminded me of Naomi’s cabin, only this was even smaller than hers, and of course, this was literally right on the water.

“I’ll grab Milo’s vest and leash, and then we can continue on to the burial sites.”

“Okay. I’m going to take another look outside.”

The location Stella’s killer had chosen to bury her was only about five minutes from Cass’s boathouse. The grave had eventually been found in a wooded area behind the campground. Stella had gone missing in the fall after the campground had closed for the season. As far as burial sites went, the killer hadn’t chosen a bad one. This entire end of the lake was pretty deserted from mid-September through mid-May.

“And Tracy was found near here?” I asked Cass after he led me to Stella’s temporary gravesite.

“Yeah. Just over here.” He led the way.

“And Patricia?”

“Closer to the water.” He walked in the direction of the lake. There was still yellow tape sectioning off the location where Patricia’s remains had been found.

“In terms of location, Patricia could have been buried by the same person who buried Stella and Tracy.”

“Yes, but everyone knew where Tracy’s body was found. It was in the newspaper and all over town. I don’t think the same person killed both girls. I can’t prove it yet, but I will.”

“When Stella was found, that was in the news as well,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess it was.”

“So theoretically, the person who buried Tracy could have been someone other than the one who buried Stella, but knew about it and decided to bury Tracy here as well.”

“Theoretically, yes. But that isn’t what I think happened.”

I took several steps toward the water and looked at my reflection. “Yeah. Me neither.” I picked up a rock and tossed it, causing ripples on the surface. “So, what now? Does anything we’ve done today help you figure out who killed those girls?”

Cass frowned. Milo trotted over and sat at his feet as if sensing that his best buddy needed his support. “I have this gut feeling that there is something staring me in the face that I’m just not homing in on. We don’t have a lot to go on in terms of Stella and Tracy’s murders, but I do have a lot of leads to follow up on in regard to Patricia’s death, so I’ll start there. If I can find her killer and prove that person didn’t kill Tracy, at least I’ll have that to work from.”

“Have you eliminated any of the suspects you told me about?”

“Actually, I have. I spoke to Walter Young, who has an alibi and was nowhere near the party when Patricia went missing, and I spoke to a friend of Patricia’s who swears she was with Gayleen at the party and that they eventually left together. Unless she is lying, and I have no reason to believe she is, Gayleen didn’t have the opportunity to kill and bury Patricia.”

“So that just leaves the boyfriend and the teacher who should never have been at the party in the first place.”

“As well as a few others whose names have come up. I have several interviews lined up for later this afternoon, so I hope I’ll know more by the end of the day.”

Cass called Milo and headed toward the car.

“Will you be at the shelter this afternoon?”

“I’m not sure,” he answered. “Probably not if I am making progress in the case.”

“I’ll be working in the ticket booth at the haunted barn this evening. Maybe if you don’t make it to the shelter, you can meet me there. We can grab a bite after.”

Cass turned and looked at me. He smiled. “I’d like that.”