Branded for Murder (23 page)

I was very uncomfortable, knowing I was turning red. I felt I should tell her I know her daughter, but I just couldn’t bring myself to mention it.
What am I going to do in the future when I’m with Lisa and she introduces us? I know I need to tell Lisa about my being here with Mike.

Mike thanked her for her time, leaving his card. I wondered as we left what it was like for Lisa to grow up in this home.

Mike drove down the meandering driveway to the road. “Well Scott…what do you think of your future mother-in-law?” he asked, smiling.

I didn’t know how to answer so I didn’t. I now wished I hadn’t accompanied him.

Chapter 55

“Scott, I’m going to stop at the Derry police station to talk with them about their investigation. I hadn’t realized they were involved with these cases.” He was quiet for a few seconds. “As you know the women lived in Massachusetts. I find it surprising they were questioning anyone about these women’s murders. Doesn’t that sound strange to you? We’re missing something. I would like to find out why they’re involved.”

Mike was quiet from that point on. It gave me time to think about how uncomfortable I was. I know why we went to see Lisa’s mother, but I assumed Mike was going to ask the questions. When he mentioned their names and I commented that it was Lisa’s parents, I should have declined the visit with him. But I didn’t and now I had to deal with the problem.

What would be really worse is if Mrs. Anderson mentions our visit to Lisa before I say anything? She just might mention something about two people coming to talk with her from the strangler task force. My mind was reeling. I took a deep breath.

Mike turned, looking at me. “Is something bothering you?”

I looked over at Mike, knowing I couldn’t hide anything from him. “I guess I shouldn’t have gone with you to talk with Lisa’s mother. I think Lisa’s going to have a problem with that. I’m concerned about how to bring it up to her.”

“Well, why don’t you think about it while I go into the Derry police station and talk with them. I’ll leave the car running so you don’t freeze to death. While you’re thinking about how you’re going to bring it up…think about if Lisa ever mentioned anything to you about the summer camp. I’m sure she was too young to remember something around the time these girls were counselors. Oh, by the way…I’m taking my gun with me.” He smiled, leaving quickly.

I have to get my mind onto other things. I turned the radio on to listen to some music. The music quickly reminded me of Lisa. That’s not working. Let me think about Karen and Phyllis. They were both around thirty-nine. They were counselors in high school, so that meant they were around seventeen or eighteen. That’s twenty-two years ago. Lisa would have been an infant. Maybe Rose was pregnant with Lisa at the time.

If Rose was pregnant, maybe her attention wasn’t that focused on what was happening at the camp. Maybe she missed something important. ‘Knotty Pine Camp’ is a nice name for a summer camp. Karen, Phyllis and Charlotte must have really enjoyed that camp since they later became camp counselors. Why would they be burned with what looked like their initials? It is funny their initials are the same as the first two letters of the camp name.  Charlotte’s initial is the same as the third word. Does this have some significance, and is Charlotte the next target?

I’ll have to mention that to Mike.

*.*.*

About thirty minutes later, Mike came out of the police station. He immediately pulled the car out of the parking space and said, “Well, I found out how they were involved in the case. Do you remember Mrs. Jacobs mentioning Karen’s uncle? He was a volunteer fireman when he responded to her parents’ crash, realizing it was his relatives as he was fighting the flames. Well, Karen’s dad was on the Derry police force. When they learned of her strangling, they decided to do their own investigation about any possible connection, and talked to Rose.”

“Mike that’s very interesting, but I have something as interesting.”

“Scott, please hold that thought. We’re headed over to talk with Helen Ryder. I called her from the police station. She only lives thirty minutes away. Okay, what’s so interesting?”

I turned to look at Mike to see his reaction. “Mike, the murdered women’s initials are the same as the name of the camp. Maybe the burn mark is not the women’s initials, but the initials of the camp. That would make Charlotte the next target.”

I watched him turn quickly and smile. “Well aren’t you playing Mr. Detective? That’s a very interesting observation. If we go with your theory, that leaves Helen out as a potential target. However, I called and she’s available to talk with us. Nice work again Scott. Now if you could only figure out what you’re going to do about the Mrs. Anderson scenario, you’ll be okay.”

*.*.*

Thirty minutes later, we were pulling off Baboosic Lake Road, onto a very small tarred road, then quickly onto a dirt road. We could see glimpses of a large lake between the trees. In summer the lake would be hidden behind foliage, but we could see the white expanse of the lake. There were men fishing on the frozen lake, bringing back memories of fishing with my dad the same way when I was growing up.

We were headed deeper and deeper into the woods, with the lake still a reference point. Mike had given me the directions, so I was helping spot the small road signs to guide him.

I yelled, “That’s the address on the mailbox you just passed.”

Mike grumbled to himself as the road took a bend. He must have been debating whether to back up to the driveway or turn around. He quickly put the car into reverse, rocks hitting beneath the car, backing up until he passed the driveway. He turned quickly off the road onto the dirt driveway. We were looking at a rustic one-story ranch home. It was perched on the side of a hill above the lake, with a wonderful view.

A German shepherd came running to greet us.

A woman appeared at the front door, yelling, “Harry, that’s enough! Leave them alone! It’s okay!”

Harry quickly came to a stop, turned and headed back toward the voice. We opened the doors and slowly headed in her direction while the woman had control of the dog.

“He’s a good watch-dog, but he wouldn’t hurt a flea. His size certainly keeps the salesmen away. Hi, I’m Helen Ryder.”

Mike introduced us.

“Please come inside. This is Harry. Harry be nice, and don’t carry these gentlemen away. Go lie down. How can I help you?”

“We were talking with your former dance teacher, Mrs. Jacobs. She gave us your name along with the name Charlotte Williams.”

“Yes, that’s what you said on the phone.”

“We are part of the special task force investigating the New England Strangler cases. We helped capture the guy who confessed to those crimes. We’re looking into Karen’s and Phyllis’ deaths now,” Mike announced, carefully choosing his words.

“I cannot get over the fact that both of them are gone. We were so close growing up, staying somewhat in touch over the years.”

I felt comfortable asking, “We were hoping that you could give us some background on Karen and Phyllis, specifically related to any problem they might have had with anyone.”

“Are you kidding? They were like Girl Scouts! Other than some pranks at school, which they told me about, there really weren’t any problems.”

“Please think back when you were all together. Was there any incident where someone might have had a motive?” Mike asked.

“Phew, I can’t think of anything that would be enough to consider someone wanting to kill them.”

“We have enough evidence that points to the same person killing both of your friends. We are trying to find a connection to anyone with a motive.”

“I thought it was strange that they were both strangled, but to be honest, I just considered it a coincidence.”

We continued talking, though Helen was no help in providing us with any additional information. Mike then trained his focus on Charlotte. “We are trying to get in touch with Charlotte Williams, but have been unable to reach her.”

“I know Charlotte was planning to go out of the country on an assignment.”

“What kind of assignment?”

“She maintained a close tie with the National Association of Camp Facilities. She works with girls and boys camps to set up how they do business and things like that. She has never married, taking her job around the country, and now internationally.”

“Do you have any idea of where she was going?”

“I think she might be in Bermuda.”

Mike asked some additional questions, but nothing materialized from those questions. “Thanks for the information and your time. If you hear from her, we really would like to talk to her before too much time goes by. Would you please keep my card handy? Call me collect if you hear from her, or recall anything that might be important.”

We were about to leave when I thought of something else to ask. “You were not one of the counselors at the summer camp. Can you tell us anything about that as far as the others are concerned?”

“No, they really didn’t share much with me, or in front of me, as they knew it made me feel like the Fourth Musketeer, since I did not work with them—if you get my drift?”

“What about their initials. Is there anything in particular you can think of related to those?” I persisted.

“That’s an interesting question. The three of them were always burning their initials into things around the camp. Since their initials were the same as the camp, they marked their items and other things with K-P-C.”

Mike looked at me to see if I had any more questions, and then at Helen. “Thanks again. If you get any thoughts on some kind of a connection you think we should be aware of, please call and again if you hear from Charlotte, call us as well.”

Harry, who was sitting at the door waiting for us to pass him, greeted us again. He must have weighed over a hundred pounds. When he jumped on me, I was looking up at him. He was like a small bear.

Helen yelled at him, “Harry get down…these men don’t want to dance with you. Come over here,” she said, with a laugh. The dog went over and sat down beside her.

When we were in the car we waved to both of them. I guided Mike out of the maze back to the main road.

Mike wasn’t saying anything. I wondered if he was upset with me.

“Scott thanks for asking her about those initials. I think we can now speculate why the women were branded.”

I looked over at Mike, not getting his point.

“Scott, I think the killer was branded by the women. He is now getting revenge for it. I might be way out of line, but if the women were branding their items and other things…just maybe they decided to brand him for some reason. The branding of the women in their pubic area seems to fit the scenario. What do you think?”

“Ouch!”

*.*.*

Driving back to the office, Mike was strangely quiet. “A penny for your thoughts,” I said, breaking the silence.

“Well Scott, I’m glad you asked her about the burned initials. The whole thing is starting to form a picture now. I think we might have to pick Mrs. Anderson’s memory, to see if she can remember anything that might have happened between the girls and someone at the camp.”

“I’m glad I could help a little. Speaking of helping, I had another thought. This ties in with how I’m going to bring up the subject of questioning Lisa’s mom. The women who were killed were about thirty-nine years old. They would have been in high school twenty-two years ago.”

Mike considered my input, responding, “Yeah, that’s about how I figure the timing.”

“Well, Lisa would have been just born, or maybe her mom was pregnant. Lisa is twenty-two now. If she had either just given birth, or was still pregnant, maybe that would jar Mrs. Anderson’s memory. It also might have been a distraction to anything going on at the camp.”

“Scott I like having you with us on the task force. I guess that means we’re going to have to question Rose again. Have you figured out how you’re going to bring up the fact we met with Lisa’s mom?”

“I’ve been giving that a lot of thought. I guess the best thing to do is to see her as soon as I can. If Mrs. Anderson mentions anything to Lisa about members of the task force questioning her, before I mention something, my goose is cooked. It could be cooked regardless.”

Chapter 56

I was just about to shower, when the phone rang. I ran to get it. “Hello.”

“Hi Scott, this is Lisa. What are you doing?”

“If you called a minute later I would have been in the shower.”

“That creates an interesting picture. Why don’t you hop in the car just like that and I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Actually, I wish you were here and you could wash my back.”

“So does that mean you’re coming to pick me up?”

“You’re funny. How about I take a rain check and you can wash to your heart’s content.”

“How soon can you get here? I have a serious case of Scottitis…I really miss you. Sleeping alone is a real bore. Can we see each other tonight?”

“I’m on my way.”

“I don’t think you’re coming dressed like that. I think you’re chicken. However, I will tell the girls to keep their eyes pealed for you, and maybe a show.”

“Please don’t dare me to do it…you might just regret it. I’ll be on my way shortly.”

“Scott, please hurry.”

*.*.*

She ran to her dorm room, scaring Judy when she burst in.

“What’s with you, that you’re in such a hurry?”

“Scott’s coming. I dared him to come dressed like he was.”

“So what’s so special about that?”

“Well he was about to step into the shower, when he answered the phone. If he does come like that, you would all be amazed.” She started removing her own clothes. Judy stared at what she was witnessing.

“Lisa, what are you doing?”

“I’m dressing for the occasion.” She went to her closet, looking inside. “I guess I could use the excuse I just don’t have a thing to wear.” She looked at Judy, who had her mouth wide open. “Judy, I think my pea coat is too short for this outfit, can I borrow your London Fog raincoat?”

“You certainly can. Is that all you’re going to wear?”

“No silly, I’m going to wear my high heel boots,” she said, laughing.

“You’ll freeze your butt off.”

“Only from the front door to the car.”

“You know, the next time the three of us go to the bakery shop we could all dress that way. It might be exciting. What do you think?” Judy said, smiling.

She didn’t answer. Looking at her image in the mirror, she decided she needed to put a scarf on. She tucked it into the top of the rain coat, tied the belt, opening the top button. “Now, doesn’t this look presentable?”

Judy studied her and then shook her head. “It would be if you were looking to be a hit at a strip-poker event. What have I created?” They both laughed, hugging each other. “You have really fallen for this young lad, haven’t you?”

She turned, opening the raincoat. “Do you think he will be able to tell?”

*.*.*

She was anxiously awaiting Scott’s arrival, wondering whether he was going to do anything out of the ordinary. She felt uncomfortable wearing a buttoned raincoat in the reception area, but she knew it was going to be worth it.

She was sitting on the couch opposite the front door, waiting for him to enter. She was also glad to see the female guard on duty tonight. She was starting to worry if Scott was actually going to do anything…she shouldn’t have dared him. She knew she would be upset if the other coeds got to see his body, but it was too late to do anything about it. Well, actually she could go outside and wait for him on the steps.
Is it too cold outside?

She headed for the door, smiling at the guard who noticed her strange outfit. When she got outside, she spotted Scott walking down the sidewalk towards the front of the building. She noticed he was dressed. She went down the front stairs, jumping into his surprised arms. She almost knocked him down, she was running so fast.

“Hi Lisa, I didn’t expect you to greet me out here.”

She kissed him passionately and felt her excitement building. “It’s nice to see you too.”

She pushed him away from her. “Well some outfit you have on, why are you wearing your ski cover ups?” She realized she didn’t have to worry about the girls in the reception room seeing him.

Scott unzipped his ski jacket and she noticed he had nothing on under it. She looked over her shoulder.

She smiled at him. She had secretly unbuttoned her coat, and undid her belt. She took one step back, and opened it. “I knew you were going to chicken out, but how’s this?”

His mouth dropped open and he grabbed her by the arm pulling her to the car.

“Wait. Don’t you want me to close the coat?”

They were both laughing when they reached the car. Scott opened the door for her, went around and got behind the wheel. She was kneeling on her bucket seat holding the coat open for him. She decided to unzip the side zipper of his cover up pants. She realized he hadn’t chickened out after all. Fortunately, no one was walking on the side walk, or they might have had an interesting show.

*.*.*

We decided to skip eating out, taking our chances with what I had in the pantry. She had been nibbling on my ear since we left her block, and her hand reminded me of our ride to northern New Hampshire.

“Scotty I like your choice of outfits. I was getting concerned that I had dared you to come into the reception area. I thought you just might surprise me. That’s why I decided to meet you outside. I didn’t think it was fair to have you creating a scene without doing one of my own. I can tell you really like my outfit,” she said with a squeeze of her hand.

“Well I’m glad you didn’t just put your pea coat on…at least you’re mostly covered, or were.
I wondered what we would do if we were stopped by a policeman. However, I wasn’t going to ruin one of life’s memories doing anything about it.

I decided I was going to wait to tell her about questioning her mom. We were at my apartment before I knew it.

“So Scotty…should we streak up the stairs like this, or do you think it might be too much for Mrs. Abbott?”

“Why don’t we give her the benefit of the doubt by making ourselves more presentable?” She was taking her time zipping my cover ups. “Lisa, I really have to hit the little boys’ room.”

She pouted, opening her door. When I came around to her side of the car, she stated, “You’ll just have to close this yourself.” And she wasn’t talking just about the car door. I did my best to close her coat and tie the belt around it. We held hands, trying to run upstairs as quietly as we could.

*.*.*

Hours later we had both had our fill of love making. If I was honest, I just needed to take a break. I was hungry, my stomach talking loud enough for both of us to hear. Lisa put on another one of my white shirts, which she wears much better than I ever could. I reached for my ski cover ups. She smiled at me while zipping them up.

“Are you going to wear these when you drop me off?”

“I guess I could, but you’ve seen how they fit.”

“I like it, and I think the girls might also.”

I made us peanut butter sandwiches and opened a couple of cans of beer. “Lisa, I have something important to tell you.”

“Oh, that sounds ominous. Are you going to propose again?” She was leaning against the kitchen counter. I wish I had a camera to capture the pose. “I take it you really like this attire as well.”

“You know I don’t need to answer that.”

“I can see. It looks like you’re going camping…your tent is already up.”

“Hon, I have something serious to mention to you.” She went over to the kitchen chair and sat down. “We were in New Hampshire earlier today, investigating the most recent strangling cases. Mike and I wound up talking with your mother.”

Before I could say anything, she questioned, “Why did you do that? Oh my God Scott. I haven’t even introduced you to her…how am I going to do that now?”

“I don’t think it was bad. Here’s the story—“

“Scott, it better be a good one.” She covered herself as best she could with the white shirt.

“The two murdered women knew each other. They both attended your mother’s camp growing up, becoming camp counselors. That’s why we needed to talk with her, to see if she could tell us anything about anyone wanting to kill them.”

“Well did she?”

“No, she doesn’t have a clue as to why they were killed. We also talked with another friend of the murdered women. She couldn’t help us either.” Lisa was shaking her head, and obviously upset about the meeting with her mother.

“Scott I’ve got to go.” She headed into the bedroom, coming back into the kitchen before I even moved. “Can I borrow this shirt and a pair of sweats?”

I started to answer, but she had already turned to go into the bedroom. “Lisa, I need you to listen to me for one more minute.” Entering the bedroom, I saw her putting the sweat pants on. She put her hands on her hips, but didn’t say anything.

“Lisa the name of the camp was the Knotty Pine Camp.” She nodded, like I wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t know. “Well you can’t share this with anyone…the murdered women were branded with their initials. We think it ties into the camp’s name, which is synonymous with their first initials.”

She was listening to me. “The third woman is Charlotte Williams, which is the third letter of the camp. We think she could be the next target. What we don’t know is why they are being killed, but we think it relates to the camp…possibly something that happened years ago when they were camp counselors.”