Cold Case at Carlton's Canyon (10 page)

Chapter Twelve

Amanda and Justin approached the local news reporter, deciding they needed to gain control before the press made things worse. Parents and families were becoming increasingly agitated.

Amanda stepped up on one of the platforms on the outer edge of the stadium. “Folks, I need everyone to listen.”

Angry voices shouted at her.

“Was there a teenager killed here this morning?”

“Who was murdered?”

“Why won’t you tell us anything?”

“Are there shooters in the school?”

Amanda waved her hand. “Please listen. There was no school shooting, and no students at the school have been injured. Nor do we believe they’re in danger.”

“Then why is the school on lockdown?”

“A body was found!”

Amanda’s hand shot up again. “This morning when the staff and students arrived, they did find the body of a young woman. She has been identified as twenty-seven-year-old Kelly Lambert, who was reported missing two days ago. Miss Lambert was not killed on the school grounds, but rather whoever murdered her left her body on the bleachers.”

“Why leave it at the school?”

“Do you think one of the students is responsible?”

“Is the killer in there with our kids?”

Amanda shook her head. “We do not believe any current student at Canyon High is responsible or that the killer is inside the school. However, some students did see the body and we’re keeping everyone contained until we can investigate. Your children are only being questioned in case they saw something pertinent to the case, and only with adult counselor supervision.” She forced a calm firmness to her voice. “Now, I urge you to go home and go about your day. I promise you the students are safe and sound.”

“What if you’re wrong and the killer is in the school?” someone shouted.

Amanda tensed. What if she was wrong? No...the killer/kidnapper was now targeting women in their twenties, not teenagers. “Again, we do not think that is the case. Kelly Lambert was left here sometime during the night. The killer was long gone before the students and staff arrived.”

But even as she tried to reassure the crowd of restless concerned parents, she wondered if that was true. She didn’t think the killer was inside, but what if he’d waited around to see them find Kelly’s body?

* * *

J
USTIN
’
S
GAZE
SCANNED
the group as Amanda addressed them. Some asinine reporter had been talking to parents and onlookers, stirring up suspicion and panic by asking questions that were off base.

Everyone was restless and imagining the worst, but hopefully Amanda’s reassurances would calm them. He saw doubt on many faces though, as if they weren’t convinced she was telling the truth.

Principal Blakely took the microphone next, also urging parents to go home. “Folks, we have policies in place for situations like this, and we need your help. As Sheriff Blair stated, your kids are not in danger. If, however, any one of them suffers emotional duress as a result of today’s events, we will be offering counseling services.

“Classes are resuming as normal, although sports activities and practices will be cancelled for the day. Buses will run on schedule, as well. Rest assured that if anything changes we will contact you.”

He stepped down and began to move through the crowd, personally shaking hands and chatting with individuals until some of the panic settled and individuals began to disperse.

Justin studied the group, his senses honed for anyone who looked overtly nervous, someone filming the pandemonium, someone on the run.

“You did a good job,” he told Amanda as they wove past a set of older folks, probably grandparents of some students. The small cluster looked worriedly at Amanda, then bowed their heads in whispers and finally clung to each other as they walked toward the exit.

Justin took Amanda’s elbow. “Let’s study the footage from the security cameras. Maybe something will stick out.”

They walked together to the school guard, who escorted them to the security station inside and showed them the surveillance cameras. One camera was situated on each of the corners of the building with two more covering the gym and football stadium. The emergency exits also had cameras, but the angles were poor.

Unfortunately two of the cameras overlooking the entry points to the stadium had been broken.

Probably by teen pranks, the security guard said. They had been out for six weeks. The principal was waiting on budget approval to have them repaired.

But after surveying the films of the night, they found nothing. No one dragging a body into the stadium. Meaning the killer knew where the broken cameras were.

They moved on to look at the feed of the media and crowd gathered outside.

“What do you see?” Justin asked.

Amanda rubbed her temple. “A town full of concerned parents. I can’t blame them. If my child was inside the school and I didn’t know what was going on, I’d be anxious, too.”

Justin covered her hand with his. An innocent gesture of camaraderie but one that made him want more. “We will find out who did this.”

“I still think we should warn the classmates returning for the reunion.”

“Then we’d tip our hand,” Justin reasoned. “Right now the perp has no idea we’re on to him.”

“But that’s just it. We’re not,” Amanda said, her voice riddled with frustration.

Justin squeezed her hand. “Yes, we are. We know he has a reason for targeting your female classmates. Reisling’s father looks good for the crimes. And he has enough money to pay someone to alibi him if needed.” He drummed his knuckles on the table as he searched the feed. “Do you see Reisling or his father in the crowd?”

Amanda leaned closer, searching. “No.”

“Anyone else look out of place?”

“I know a few of the folks but not all of them,” she said. “Wait, there’s Suzy Turner’s mother.”

“Who’s Suzy Turner?”

“Another classmate,” Amanda said. “She looks upset. And she’s talking to the principal.”

Amanda’s phone buzzed, and she snatched it up. “Sheriff Blair.”

“It’s Principal Blakely. Mrs. Turner is here and says she has to talk to you.”

“I’ll be right out,” Amanda said. She disconnected, then turned to Justin. “Keep looking at the feed. Let me go talk to Mrs. Turner.”

He nodded, but a bad premonition hit him. Kelly Lambert had been taken two days ago. And now she was dead.

And Mrs. Turner looked panicked.

Had the unsub taken another victim?

* * *

A
MANDA
RUSHED
THROUGH
the hallway and outside to the roped-off area around the bleachers, her heart hammering as Suzy Turner’s mother rushed toward her. “Amanda,” the woman cried. “I’m scared. I can’t find Suzy anywhere. I think she’s missing.” She glanced at the crime scene tape. “When I heard a body was found here, I was terrified it was her.”

Amanda’s chest constricted. “No, now tell me what happened, Mrs. Turner. Why do you think Suzy is missing?”

“Because she was supposed to come to our house for dinner last night,” Mrs. Turner said. “She always comes on Thursday nights. Ever since her father got sick, she never misses a week.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know your husband was ill,” Amanda said.

Tears glittered in the woman’s eyes. “He has Alzheimer’s. Early onset. Suzy didn’t like to talk about it, but she knew her time with him was limited, so she wanted to see him while he still remembered her.” Her voice broke on the last few words. “You have to find her. I can’t lose her, too....”

Amanda squeezed Mrs. Turner’s hands. “When was the last time you saw or spoke to her?”

“Yesterday morning. She called and said she’d pick up dessert for that evening. Then she...didn’t show.”

“Did she tell you what her plans were for the day?”

“Just that she had errands to run. She was in charge of decorations for the reunion.” Mrs. Turner rubbed her hands as if to ward off a chill. “I called and called her all night, but there was no answer. So I went to her condo this morning to check on her, but nobody was there.”

“What about her car?”

“It was gone.”

“Doesn’t she travel for her job?” Amanda asked. She faintly remembered that Suzy was in pharmaceutical sales.

“She does travel, but she cancelled work trips until after the reunion.”

Everything pointed back to the reunion.

If Amanda didn’t call it off soon, there wouldn’t be any females left to attend. The unsub had killed Kelly in two days, meaning Suzy’s life was in terrible danger.

“I’ll need to search her condo, her phones, computer. Maybe something in there can tell us where she went. Hopefully she just had an emergency business meeting.”

“I hope so, but it’s not like her not to call.” Mrs. Turner wiped tears from her eyes. “Do you think the person who killed Kelly has my Suzy?”

Unfortunately she did, but she refused to panic the woman. “We can’t jump to that conclusion. Was Suzy upset with anyone, or was she having problems at work or home?”

“No,” Mrs. Turner said. “Her job was going great. She just got a promotion.”

“How about problems with coworkers?”

“Not that she mentioned.”

“Did she have a boyfriend?”

“No one serious. She said there was someone at work, but she wouldn’t tell me who he was.”

Which made Amanda wonder if he was married. “I’ll get over to Suzy’s and look around as soon as possible. Do you happen to have a key to her place?”

The woman fidgeted, then pulled one from her purse and gave her the address. “Here, I water her plants when she’s out of town.” She pushed the key into Amanda’s hand. “I can’t lose her, Amanda. You have to find her before she ends up like Kelly.”

“I promise I’ll do everything I can.” Of course she’d made the same promise to Kelly Lambert’s father and fiancé and she’d failed.

Amanda had to ask one more question. “Did Suzy have trouble with anyone from our class?”

“No,” Mrs. Turner said. “Why would you ask that?”

“Just routine questions, ma’am.”

“You remember Suzy. She was popular in school, head cheerleader, class vice president and all. Everyone loved her.”

Except for the not-so-popular girls who’d been jealous of her. But were any of them jealous enough to hurt her? And after ten years?

That seemed extreme.

“Mrs. Turner, do you remember Donald Reisling and his accident?”

“Of course, that was awful. I felt so sorry for his father, the way Donald shamed him and all.”

Hadn’t she heard that Lynn had really been driving? Of course, no one had ever proved that....

“Did Suzy date Donald?”

“No...I mean she was nice to him after the accident, tried to be a friend. But I think he wanted more and that would never have worked.” Mrs. Turner’s eye twitched. “Why? What does Donald have to do with Suzy?”

“I don’t know, maybe nothing,” Amanda asked.

Still, if she’d rejected Donald, either he or his father might have wanted revenge.

* * *

J
USTIN
CONTINUED
STUDYING
the camera feed, his instincts kicking in as he noticed a young man, late twenties to early thirties, with sandy hair and a goatee.

He looked nervous, his gaze shifting back and forth between the spectators as if he was searching for someone. He pushed his way to the front until he reached the edge of the football field and peered over the fence.

One of the officers in charge of clearing the parking lot motioned for people to head back to their cars, and the guy pulled a ball cap lower on his head, jammed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and hurried away.

Justin searched the other cameras to see which vehicle the man went to, but lost him when he faded into an area where the cameras had been broken.

Who was the man and what had he been nervous about?

* * *

S
UZY
T
URNER
HAD
struggled and fought for her life, but to no avail. Now she lay like a limp rag doll, her white blond hair tangled around her face, those sparkling green eyes blank of the normally coy smile that lit them up.

It had been fun to watch her die.

The pictures of the others lined the wall. Julie Kane. Lynn Faust.

Then the final one—Amanda Blair.

Killing her would make the revenge complete.

Chapter Thirteen

Amanda hurried back to the security station to talk to Justin. He waved her in, his brows furrowed. “I’ve narrowed the window of time when the body was dumped,” Justin said. “Sometime after two a.m.” He pointed to one of the cameras near the left entryway to the field. “One of the cameras had been out, but that one was working. Someone shot it out around two-fifteen.”

“That could be helpful,” Amanda said. “The crime scene team should search for the bullet casing.”

“I’ll let them know. There’s something else I want you to look at.”

Amanda eased up beside him. “Okay, but we’ve got another problem. Mrs. Turner is worried, Justin. She thinks her daughter, Suzy, has disappeared.”

Justin cursed. “All right, look at this, then we’ll talk about the Turner case.” He rewound the camera and zeroed in on the young man with the hat. “Do you recognize him?”

Amanda narrowed her eyes. “Yes, that’s Carlton Butts’s brother, Ted.”

“Did they have a younger sibling at Canyon High?”

She shook her head no.

“Then what’s he doing here?”

“I don’t know,” Amanda admitted. “Maybe he heard about the body and was just curious like half the town.”

“Could be. But he looks awfully nervous.”

“He does, doesn’t he?” Amanda tried to recall the last time she’d seen Ted, but couldn’t.

“You said he and his brother weren’t close?”

“No, they were too different,” Amanda said. “At Carlton’s funeral, he told me that he didn’t understand Carlton. Ted knew his brother was depressed and had been picked on by the other kids, but he said Carlton brought some of the antagonism on himself.”

“So he wouldn’t want revenge against the girls who refused to date his brother?”

“I don’t think so,” Amanda said “But we can talk to him if you want.”

Justin said, “We need to look at Suzy’s life, her schedule, figure out her movements the day she went missing. Maybe we’ll find something to link her disappearance to Kelly’s.”

She hoped so. The bodies were piling up way too quickly.

Together they walked outside, then drove back to the police station, the gray clouds adding to the gloom mounting inside her.

Terry Sumter sat by the front desk, looking belligerent as they entered the station.

In another chair Mr. Reisling sat beside another man she assumed was his attorney. Reisling looked confident, almost smug.

“Deputy, please escort Mr. Reisling and his lawyer to my office,” Justin said. “I’ll interview them while the sheriff talks to Mr. Sumter.”

Amanda nodded, knowing the interrogations would go quicker if they split up. They’d spent most of the day at the school. Afternoon was fading into early evening and they needed answers.

Needed to find Suzy before it was too late.

Terry glared at her with hate-filled eyes. “You aren’t really going to arrest me, are you?”

“Where were you two nights ago?” Amanda asked.

He crossed his feet at the ankles. “You mean the night Kelly disappeared?”

“Yes.”

“On a work detail,” Sumter said.

Amanda raised a brow. “I thought you lost your job.”

“My company fell apart when the building business hit bottom,” he said. “But I do some renovations with Harvey Mabry. Two nights ago I was laying floors in Cedartown. Call Harvey and ask him.”

“I will.” Amanda shoved a notepad in front of Terry. “Write down his contact information.”

Terry’s hand shook as he took the pen.

“Nervous, Terry? You hiding something?”

His eyes pierced her again. “I just need a drink, that’s all.”

So he was an alcoholic. “They have AA meetings at the Methodist church.”

He dropped his head with a grunt that said he didn’t appreciate her advice, scribbled the number, then handed it to her.

“Terry, have you seen Suzy Turner lately?”

“No, she left a message on my machine about the reunion, but I didn’t call her back. No one there I want to see.”

“Stay put while I call Harvey.” She stepped aside and punched the man’s number, then explained that she needed to know if Terry was working the night Kelly disappeared.

“Yeah, he was with my crew all day and half the night laying floors. Didn’t get done till after four a.m. Terry’s not a bad guy when he leaves the booze alone.”

She wondered if that was why his business had failed instead of the economy.

She thanked him, then hung up. “Terry, do you still have your class ring?”

“No, I gave it to Lynn years ago. When we broke up, I didn’t want it back.” He flexed his hands, looked at his empty ring finger. “Why are you asking about my class ring?”

Amanda gritted her teeth. “I can’t say at this point.”

But if Terry had given Lynn his class ring, how had it ended up in Kelly Lambert’s hand?

* * *

J
USTIN
STUDIED
R
EISLING
. Interrogating him again would probably be a waste of time. The man had money and power and wielded it like a sword.

But he was the most viable suspect they had.

“First of all, let me introduce myself,” the astute gray-haired man in the three-piece suit said. “I’m Mr. Reisling’s attorney, Jay Edward Fuller.”

Justin tapped his badge. “Sergeant Thorpe, Texas Ranger. And before you start throwing up a bunch of legal jargon, I want you to know why we asked Mr. Reisling to come in.”

“He explained that you’re investigating a missing woman named Kelly Lambert.”

“Actually she’s no longer missing, as I’m sure you’re aware if you’ve seen the news today. Her body was found at the high school this morning. So now we’re dealing with a homicide.”

Mr. Reisling averted his eyes. “Such a shame. She was such a nice young woman.”

Justin’s brow shot up at Reisling’s sarcastic tone. “I understand that you disliked her because she didn’t want anything to do with your son after the accident that paralyzed him. At least that was my earlier impression.”

“All those snotty kids did abandon him,” Reisling shot back.

“Don’t say anything else,” Fuller warned in a low tone.

Justin’s mouth twitched as he fought a smile. He enjoyed seeing the jerk put in his place. And if he was the killer, he wanted to see him rot in jail.

“Where were you two nights ago?” Justin asked.

Reisling smoothed down his tie. “In Austin on business.”

“You have someone who can verify that?”

Reisling glanced at his attorney and his attorney gave a clipped nod. “I met with a client. And yes, she’ll alibi me.”

Justin propped himself on the edge of the desk, folded his arms and leaned forward, scrutinizing him. “What about last night?”

Reisling fidgeted and looked at his lawyer for guidance. Fuller’s expression was a complete blank. The man had a great poker face.

“What time?” Fuller asked.

“Between two-fifteen and six-thirty,” Justin said. “That’s when the guard comes on duty at the school.”

Reisling’s lips compressed into a thin, straight line. “I was home in bed like everyone else in this godforsaken town.”

“Not everyone,” Justin said. “Someone was dropping off Kelly Lambert’s body so the teenagers at school would find her this morning.”

Reisling scowled and started to say something, but Fuller placed a hand on the other man’s arm and shook his head. “We came in as a courtesy, Sergeant Thorpe, but I’ve heard enough. Unless you’re going to arrest my client, we’re done here.” Fuller stood and Reisling followed.

Irritated, Justin worked his jaw from side to side. “Mr. Reisling, do you know Suzy Turner?”

Hatred flashed in the man’s eyes for a millisecond before he disguised it with a phony smile. “Of course. She went to school with my son.”

“What’s going on?” Fuller asked.

“We believe Kelly Lambert’s murder is related to a string of other disappearances from this area and counties across the state. The common link is the high school, more specifically the girls who attended school with Mr. Reisling’s son.”

Awareness dawned in the lawyer’s eyes, and Justin realized that Reisling hadn’t filled his attorney in on his son’s background. Fuller must not be from Sunset Mesa or he’d already know.

“You’re looking for a serial kidnapper/killer?” Fuller asked.

Justin nodded. “And your client had motive to hurt each of the missing girls.”

* * *

“H
OW
DID
IT
go with Reisling?” Amanda asked as she drove to Carlton Butts’s mother’s house. She wasn’t sure if his brother still lived there, but since Mrs. Butts relied on a walker and had trouble getting around, she took a chance that the woman didn’t live alone.

The home was located in a low-rent section of town that kids used to call the poor houses, another reason Carlton had literally been the butt of other kids’ taunts. Ten years had intensified the weathered paint and rotting boards, proving no one, real-estate developer or individual, had decided to keep up the properties. Dark clouds shrouded the sky, adding an eerie look to the area. Weeds and dead flowers choked the yards, trees that had blown down in a storm still hadn’t been cut and hauled away and the vehicles parked in the drives confirmed that the owners were low-income families barely able to survive.

Too bad Terry Sumter hadn’t taken it upon himself to upgrade this property. He could probably pick up the houses for a song and flip them, then turn his life around.

But he was not Amanda’s problem. Unless he’d killed Kelly and Tina and kidnapped the other victims.

She parked and cut the engine. “I used to come out here to work on science projects with Carlton. I still can’t believe he committed suicide.”

“Did his mother see the signs?”

“I don’t know,” Amanda said as they walked up the cement driveway.

She rang the doorbell, but it wasn’t working, so Justin knocked. He was studying the property and woods behind it as if he expected trouble.

Footsteps shuffled inside, and the sound of a key being turned echoed through the door. Finally, Mrs. Butts cracked the door open and peered out, but she was leaning heavily on her walker.

“Mrs. Butts,” Amanda said. “It’s Amanda Blair, Sheriff Blair now.” She gestured toward Justin. “This is Sergeant Thorpe with the Texas Rangers. We’d like to talk to you and your son.”

“My son is dead,” she said bitterly.

Amanda detected the strong scent of whiskey on her breath and realized Carlton’s mother must, like Terry, have a problem with booze. Her once-brown hair had gray stripes and was uncombed, and she tugged a ratty bathrobe tighter around her neck as if they’d just woken her.

“I know Carlton died,” she said, wondering if the woman simply wanted to make a point or if she was senile. “But we’d like to talk to your other son Ted.”

Mrs. Butts put more weight on her walker. “What about?”

“Is Ted here, ma’am?” Justin asked.

“Why would he be? He don’t live here anymore.”

“Where does he live?” Amanda asked.

“Other side of town. Got one of those cabins near the creek.”

Tina Grimes’s body had been found in Camden Creek.

“Is that where he’d be now?” Amanda asked.

“Naw, he should be at work. What you want with Ted?”

“He was at the high school earlier when Kelly Lambert’s body was found.”

Mrs. Butts’s eyes widened, tinged with fear. “I’m sure a lot of other folks were there, too.”

“Most of them were parents of students in the school,” Amanda pointed out.

Justin gripped the edge of the door. “Where does your son work?”

“He owns a cabinet shop. Does custom work for those big fancy developments going up in the neighboring counties.”

“Has he kept up with any of his former classmates from school?” Amanda asked.

Mrs. Butts shook her head. “No, why would he? After the way they treated Carlton, he decided they weren’t worth his time.”

“So he was still mad at people over Carlton’s death?” Justin asked.

The woman’s eyes darted back and forth between them as if she suddenly realized she’d said too much. “Ted’s a good boy,” she said defensively. “He went to college and got a degree in business. Manages his own shop.” She wagged her finger at Amanda. “Don’t you dare turn on him like you did Carlton.”

Guilt suffused Amanda. She hadn’t turned on Carlton. But she also hadn’t remained close friends. She’d been caught up in her own life. “Is Ted going to the reunion?” Amanda asked.

“You’ll have to ask him,” Mrs. Butts said. “Although he may want to show those little twits that he made something of himself.”

Amanda thanked the woman; then she and Justin walked back to the car.

Mrs. Butts’s comment about her turning on Carlton gnawed at her. If she’d stayed closer to Carlton, could she have saved him from committing suicide?

Ten minutes later, they stood inside Ted’s cabinet shop. Amanda was impressed with the details of his carpentry work and understood why he’d landed projects with the developers building high-end estate homes.

She spoke to the receptionist, a redhead with streaks of black in her hair and red cowboy boots. “Howdy. What can we do for you?”

Amanda and Justin both identified themselves. “Can we talk to Ted?”

“Let me check and see if he’s busy with a customer.” She rose, teetering on her high-heeled boots, and disappeared through a doorway. The sound of voices echoed from the back; then she reappeared and led them through a set of double doors to an office that surprised Amanda with its modern design.

“Hello, Amanda,” Ted said.

Gone was the ball cap from the camera feed. His hair was close cropped, his button-down shirt and jeans giving him a professional but casual look. He’d aged some since she’d seen him, but there was such a stark difference between him and Carlton that she understood how Carlton had felt like the underdog in comparison.

“It looks like your business is doing well,” Amanda said.

He shrugged, but his eyes glittered with pride. “Yeah, I like my business.” He glanced at Justin. “But you two didn’t come to talk to me about my cabinets, did you?”

Amanda shifted. “Why were you outside the school today?”