An Unkindness of Ravens Read online

  “Any ideas?” Sarah asked and Tyler shook his head,

  “I’ve run a google search on a few of the lines and phrases but haven't hit anything I think is useful yet, but having said that, I might have looked right at what he wanted me to see and never noticed.”

  “This is much easier when you have a team of people reading and looking into things at the same time,” Sarah said.

  “We can do this,” Tyler said, and she heard his worry that she was going to take the letter to the FBI and make it known. She looked down at the letter again,

  “This part of the line,” she said, pointing, “Where he says ‘Celebrating our National Parks’ is odd.”

  “Yes, the National Parks Service celebrated its centenary in 2016 and there were a lot of pages about that on the internet.” Sarah nodded,

  “Something could be buried in there I suppose.”

  “Why don’t you come over and have some coffee,” he said, “You can look at one of the scanned copies here at the kitchen island. We could be a while at this.”

  This throwaway comment sparked something in Sarah and she looked at Tyler.

  “No, it won’t take a while,” she said. “He won’t want all his cleansing work to be undone, that’s what he’s telling you here! He wants the body to be found quickly so it is not spoiled.”

  “It’s going to be near water!” Tyler said, nodding enthusiastically in agreement. He put down his coffee cup and crossed the room in four long strides and looked at the original letter over her shoulder.

  “It’s somewhere on the banks of the Shenandoah River, most likely within the confines of the National Park.”

  “Yes!” Tyler agreed. He leaned over and shook the mouse on the desk so the large screen of his computer came back to life. He typed and then clicked and drew up a map of the park in question. It was a big park, but only following the banks of the river cut down the search areas massively.

  “Can you print that map?” Sarah asked, “We can mark any possible sites we come up with on it.”

  “Yeah,” Tyler answered, “I’ll print a couple of large ones so we can work on one each.”

  “Perfect.”

  Once the maps were printed, they went to separate work stations in the large open plan ground floor. Sarah had retrieved her laptop from the car and Tyler worked on his PC. Sarah took the first paragraph of the letter and Tyler the second as they looked for any clues to locations within the search zone. They made notes and then an hour later compared before swapping paragraphs for a fresh sweep with new eyes on each part of the letter. This went on for another hour before Sarah had a thought.

  The line ‘Wouldn’t you agree what a perfect place to lie a body down in the dark?’ felt to her like a line of poetry. She searched this and came up with a lot of results about a very diverse range of things. Then she added the word ‘poem’ to the search bar. Still nothing relevant. She added another word - ‘Shenandoah’. Her heart raced when she saw the first result - Imagine Our Parks with Poems, the snippet before she clicked on to the site said, ‘In celebration of the National Park Service Centennial...’

  This was it! It had to be.

  “I think I got something here,” she said. Tyler looked from his computer waiting for her to go on. Sarah clicked onto the website and then saw that there was a poem commissioned for every state for the centenary celebration and they were listed alphabetically by state. She scrolled quickly down to Virginia and read the poem.

  It was called America (Assateague) and was written by a woman called Kathleen Graber. As Sarah read through the longish poem, she began to lose some of her enthusiasm and became a little dismayed. Though there were some place names in the poem, none of them were near the park, and if she was honest, she didn’t have any idea what the poem was about on first reading.

  “What is it?” Tyler asked when she said nothing for a long time. He was beside her now and she’d never heard him approach.

  “The Parks Department commissioned poets to write a poem about each park, but this is the one for Virginia and I don’t see anything of interest in it.” Tyler leaned over and read the poem and then stood back up shrugging.

  “Doesn’t mean anything to me either, but it makes a lot of sense as the place the clue might lie,” he said. Sarah looked at the map and followed it with her finger absently as it left the page. The river went through the park, but it went a lot of other places too. She went back to the website and looked up the poem for West Virginia.

  The first line read ‘at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia’ and the last read ‘A perfect place to lie your body down in the dark.’

  “That’s it, you found it!” Tyler called out grabbing her shoulders and squeezing them. It threw her a moment to have his hands on her like this, but she looked back to the screen and then stood up, his hands falling away as she did.

  “How do we let local PD know without them finding out about the letter?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Tyler said, “I have a plan.”

  Chapter 14

  Tyler’s plan was time consuming but necessary. He left Sarah in his house and told her to answer the phone in about forty minutes when it rang. She checked her watch and nodded. He then drove some of the distance towards the town of Frederick, Maryland. From there he called his home number from a disposable phone - one of many he used - and waited for Sarah to answer.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, it’s Tyler,” he said.

  “What's going on?”

  “Nothing, come meet me in Frederick, it’s on the way to Harper’s Ferry.”

  “What was your plan?” she asked.

  “This is it,” he said, “Now I’m going to call the Harper Ferry police from this untraceable phone, and then call you on your cell phone from my registered cell phone.”

  “It will look like you got the call about the body from the killer and you told me and that’s how we were on the scene so fast,” she said.

  “Exactly,” he said, “And this way there is still no mention of the letters.”

  “Where in Frederick?” she asked.

  “There’s a diner called Smug Joe’s on the main street as you come in, on you left. I’ll wait there.”

  Tyler went into the coffee shop and ordered a sandwich and coffee. He had a feeling it was going to be a long afternoon. He wondered what Sarah would think about his use of the untraceable phone, but he was sure she’d understand such things were necessary in his line of work. It wasn’t just thieves and burglars who needed to work in the dark sometimes, after all.

  Sarah arrived in just over half an hour. Tyler was sitting over a local newspaper by the window and he waved as she pulled up. He put a ten and five dollar bill on the counter with his check as he left to go out and meet her.

  “What did the police say when you rang?” she asked.

  “I didn’t wait to find out, I told them there was a body down near the river and hung up.”

  “We better head out there now,” she said, looking impatient to get going, despite the fact that she must know all they were going to find was a dead body. There was no possibility of saving anyone here or apprehending a suspect. What drove her on like this, he wondered.

  They drove the short distance on to Harper’s Ferry, and as their cars crossed the bridge from Maryland into West Virginia, they could see the flashing lights of the patrol car to their right. Tyler followed Sarah’s lead, and it took a few wrong turns before they found the road that led to the body site. He pulled up beside her car and then rushed to catch up with her before she crossed the police tape. As she got there, Sarah took out her badge and showed it to the officer on duty, and Tyler spoke to her just then so it looked like they were together. The officer waved them past the tape, and in her haste to get to the body, Sarah didn’t seem to notice that Tyler was still with her.

  A female detective saw them coming and approached them. Sarah still had her badge out, and she introduced herself as she started to take
the ever present gloves from her pocket.

  “Agent Brightwater, FBI,” she said.

  “Detective Mills, Jefferson County Sheriff's Department,” the woman said. She looked surprised the FBI was here. Tyler looked past her to the body, which he could see was a woman this time. Her white skin looked spotless from where he stood.

  “What have you got?” Sarah asked, pulling the gloves on. Mills glanced at Tyler, but when Sarah started walking towards the body she went along too.

  “Female, mid-thirties. Anonymous call came in not long ago.”

  “We got the call too,” Tyler said, and Mills nodded like it made sense to her now. It had been a mistake to talk though because Sarah turned and looked at him at once. Her eyes glowed in anger, but this was hidden from Mills.

  “Hang back here a minute, will you?” she said to Tyler, though her eyes were saying ‘don't dare come closer to the body or try take any pictures!’

  “Will do boss,” he said through a forced smile.

  “Do you know who the victim is?” Sarah asked as the two women walked the last slope of the bank down to the body. Tyler cocked his head a little to listen.

  “Not yet,” Mills said, “The officer on duty says she is not local though.”

  “That fits with our guy, if it’s the same one,” Sarah said.

  “Same as what?” Mills asked. Tyler saw Sarah bend over the body now and her words were muffled to him, but he thought he made out the words, ‘finger’ and ‘throat’.

  “I thought you caught that guy already?” Mills said, “Isn’t he like in a coma in Charlottesville?” Tyler smiled. It never ceased to amaze him how little the police forces communicated with one another or followed what was going on only a few miles outside of their own jurisdictions. How could this detective not have known that Des Roche was suspected of being a very poor copycat killer? Sarah said something else Tyler couldn't make out and then it looked like she was starting to carry out a forensic investigation of the body. Detective Mills looked on with fascination, and Tyler could see her yearning to get out of Jefferson and move to one of the city police forces, or even up to the FBI herself.

  As he watched, Tyler became aware of a slight kerfuffle behind him. He looked back and saw just on the other side of the police line. Herbie Maxwell, a reporter with the online rival of ‘The Baltimore Echo,’ was jostling with the police officer.

  “What’s he doing in there, if no press is allowed?” Herbie was shouting as he pointed his finger at Tyler. The officer held him back and looked at Tyler questioningly. Suddenly Sarah’s voice came from behind Tyler,

  “Excuse me, this area is for law enforcement only, please get back behind the tape!” She nudged his arm and moved him along. He didn’t say anything; he supposed she had to do this for appearances. Herbie stopped struggling with the officer when he saw Tyler being led out. Sarah glared at the officer as they got to the tape.

  “No one gets past here without ID,” she said to him, “You should know that!”

  “I thought he was with you!” the officer said in his defence, but Sarah only gave him a withering look and repeated,

  “No one gets in without police ID.” She walked back to the body, taking off her gloves and replacing them with a fresh pair.

  “Thanks a lot, Herbie,” Tyler said to his rival as they walked a little away from the officer.

  “How’d you get in there anyway?” Herbie asked.

  “I ran up behind that FBI agent and just walked in with her. She showed her ID, never noticed I was there, and the officer assumed I was her partner I guess.”

  “Did you see the body?”

  “Not up close, thanks to you,” Tyler said pretending to be annoyed. “How’d you get here so fast anyway?” he asked. Herbie lived in Baltimore itself, running ‘The Grapevine’ website from his apartment.

  “I’m here visiting,” he said, “Got an uncle living in Harper’s Ferry who’s on his way out.”

  “Sorry to hear it,” Tyler said.

  “How are you here so fast?”

  “Police scanner,” Tyler said, “I only live like a half hour from here.” That was something of an exaggeration, but Herbie didn’t seem to notice.

  “I suppose you’re not willing to share anything?” Herbie asked.

  “Not a chance,” Tyler said. He took out his phone and put it to his ear, walking away from Herbie now. He wasn’t really making a call, and when Herbie went to the small crowd of onlookers to start asking some questions, Tyler took his phone from his ear and sent Sarah a message: Keep me posted.

  Tyler didn’t expect she would see this message for a while, so he started to canvass the locals himself. Asking if anyone saw anything or anyone suspicious. To his great amusement, a few people mentioned a stranger around who bore a remarkable resemblance to Herbie Maxwell. It was funny that anyone would consider that lardass to be a possible murderer. Tyler looked around and saw that Herbie was already gone; he couldn’t even be bothered to wait for Sarah or the detective to come out so he could ask questions of them. Didn’t wait for the forensic people to show up, or the body to be carted away. It was hardly surprising; ‘The Grapevine’ never had a breaking story. It was always just cobbled together from other sources, with small first-hand work by Herbie and then put online with his spin on the whole story. Tyler didn’t understand why the site was so popular.

  He went back to the police line, the officer there giving him a dirty look. Tyler didn’t care, he was only doing his job after all. He watched what little he could see from here, which was just the heads of Sarah and Mills when they were standing up. They would disappear again back down to the body and he wouldn’t be able to see what was going on. Then he knew something big was happening. Sarah came back up and the look on her face was priceless - she had found something. The forensics van pulled up just at that moment, but he kept his eyes on Sarah. She walked a little from the body and pulled her gloves off and took out her phone. She was speaking urgently into it and Tyler was sure he read on her lips - ‘Get him now!’

  Who could she be talking about? Did they already have a suspect that she hadn’t told him about? He watched as she came running, ducking under the police tape before the officer even knew she was passing. She headed for her car and Tyler ran to fall into step with her.

  “What is it?” he asked, “What’s going on?” Without looking at him, Sarah said,

  “We’re going to arrest someone!” She pulled open her car door and slammed it shut straight away. She could barely see him at this moment, Tyler thought. All she could see was the suspect in custody. Her car shuddered to life and screeched off. He couldn’t wait around, he ran to his own car and set off after her.

  Chapter 15

  ASAC Daniels’ number appeared on Sarah’s phone screen as she thundered back towards Woodbridge. She swiped her screen to answer,

  “Yes, Sir?”

  “How sure are you about this Ferguson guy?” he asked.

  “Not sure at all, but he’s a suspect and I’ve found some hair in the wound of the latest victim. I have a strong feeling it will match Ferguson’s.”

  “You know we don’t like feelings around here, Brightwater,” Daniels said, “Feelings lead to lawsuits, and lawsuits are a very costly waste of time.”

  “I can’t be sure on it at all until the lab comes back about the hair sample, but I think it would be unwise to not at least know where Mr Ferguson is in the meantime.”

  “Well, you better be right on this, or it’s your ass!” He hung up before she could say anything to this. She looked at the time; Ferguson should be well in custody by the time she got back to Woodbridge. Would he confess straight away or was there going to be some gameplay? Either way, she hoped this was the end of the ‘John the Baptist’ murders.

  Looking in the rear-view mirror, she saw that Tyler was following her. She hoped he wasn’t going to make a nuisance of himself when they got to Woodbridge. A thought flashed across her mind and she wondered how many of thos
e prepaid phones he had, or had used in the course of his work. She could hardly blame him; she knew only too well what other journalists were like and how easy it could be for them to get access to phone records or trace a call with his own number. It was a necessary evil, and one that a lot of local police officers had to resort to as well. Too many ears listened in to police radio, so sometimes direct calls to these disposable phones between officers was the only way to get the drop on a suspect who may otherwise know they were coming for him. Did Ferguson listen in on a police scanner? Time would tell.

  Much to her surprise Andrew Ferguson was not in custody when Sarah arrived at the small building that housed the Woodbridge Police Department.

  “Why isn’t he here yet?” she asked the officer on desk duty.

  “He hasn’t been picked up yet,” the man answered, not looking like he gave a shit either way.

  “How come?”

  “I don’t know. He’s not at home or at his place of work, so patrol cars are keeping an eye out for him.”

  “Did you try the church he goes to?”

  “I think so,” the officer said.

  “You think so!” Sarah shouted in frustration. Everyone in the room looked on. A man in handcuffs being signed in smiled at the officer sitting more upright at the rebuke. “Find out,” Sarah went on, “What kind of operation do you have running here?” she said this last part more to herself as he began to search on his computer.

  “They called to the church this morning after his home and workplace calls. He hasn’t been there for two days,” the officer said, turning his screen as if to prove to her that he was not making this up.

  “Is that unusual for him?” she asked, not sure if his answer was going to set her to blow her top or not.

  “Yes, apparently he is there mostly every day, but he always gives notice when he won’t be there. He didn’t do that this time.” Sarah nodded at this and walked away from the desk. There was no point to her being here at the moment.