Branded for Murder (32 page)

Chapter 72

“Hello Mike, this is Chief Wick with the Amherst, New Hampshire police department.”

“Hello chief. Thanks for calling. What’s up?”

“Well, you asked me to call when we were ready for the surveillance at Helen Ryder’s house. We have been observing her home from another camp nearby for several days. We are adding more personnel today and tonight. Did you want to participate in this process?”

“As a matter of fact I would like to join you this evening. How do you want to proceed?”

*.*.*

Mike had time to think about things before arriving at the Amherst police station.
He wondered if the strangler, or possibly Jimmy, would indeed follow up his apparent threat to Helen with a visit.
Why had he left that warning in her nightstand? To their knowledge none of the other women he killed had been warned in advance, why her? She wasn’t even one of the counselors and might not have actually done anything to Jimmy.

It was already dark, and he was having problems staying awake. He hadn’t been sleeping much the last few days, ever since Paddy was taken to the hospital. He knew he needed to stay awake, so he opened the window vent, forcing the air into his face.
What’s up Jimmy? Why are you killing these women? Why can’t we locate you in Boston? What about Charlotte Williams, isn’t she more of a target than Helen? She was one of the counselors. If she participated in any branding, why aren’t you after her?

He had a strange feeling in his gut.
He
wondered
if Jimmy was in Boston to get Lisa Anderson. Wouldn’t she also be a target since Rose owned the camp? He could picture Lisa being a much better target than Rose, based on what he does to the women. What is Scott up to now that he’s not connected with the task force? He had so many questions and not many answers. Maybe if we catch the strangler this weekend these questions won’t need to be answered.

He arrived at the small police station and went inside.

*.*.*

Chief Wick spotted him and buzzed him in. “Hello again Mike, good to see you,” he said offering his hand.

“Thanks chief, and thanks for alerting me about the stakeout.” He looked around, noticing there wasn’t any staff inside the small station. “Where’s everyone?”

The chief laughed. “We’re not a big department. We’re only a one-traffic light sized town. There are four of us; myself, a lieutenant and two patrolmen. The lieutenant has been stationed at the camp within view of Helen’s house. One of our patrolmen just went out to view the back of her house. The other patrolman is covering our normal duties. I’m going with you to join the stakeout, but you better be dressed warmly, as we’re going to be outside all night.”

Mike smiled. “As long as we have some java, I’ll be fine. What are your thoughts on all of this?”

The chief’s face gave away the answer. “Well son, we’re trying to do our part in all of this, but I don’t have a good feeling about whether it’s going to be productive or not. I still think it’s strange that the guy left a calling card. If he was going to attack her, why do that? Why not just do it? Yes, it does create some fear, but is that his objective? Bottom line—I don’t think he’s going to show, but I’ve been wrong once before,” he replied, with a laugh.

He considered the chief’s reply, nodding his head, offering, “We do have at least one other target but she’s out of the country. We have to ride this horse since it’s the only one in the stable.”

The chief smiled at him while heading towards the back of the office area. “I tried riding when I was first married, but learned the hard way that walking has some advantages,” he said rubbing his backside. “I’ll get the coffee.”

*.*.*

An hour later, they had spread their tarp on the ground and were on the far side of Helen’s house. The chief checked in with the other men. “This is Wick, Miller is with me and we are in position as discussed earlier, come back.”

“Hi chief, this is Fisher and I’m still looking at the front of the Ryder house. There is no activity to speak of.”

“Thanks lieutenant, let’s not use her name in future communication. We can all use the ‘target residence,’ okay?”

“Roger that.”

“Chief this is Meads. I Roger your last communication. I’m located on the peninsula behind the target residence. I can see the slope leading from the road down to the lake and also the back portion of the residence. Nothing else to report, other than I’m freezing my ass off here.”

“Thanks Jon, I’ll get you a raise a few years from now. Just sit tight on your ass like you always seem to do.” He held the mike button down, to let him know he was laughing when he finished.

“Thanks chief, I’ll take that to the bank.”

“Okay guys, every hour give me a report even if you don’t see anything. I want to make sure you haven’t found something better to do, over and out.”

“Mike, since we have some time to kill, what’s new?”

Mike was sitting on the tarp, but could feel the cold snow beneath it. He lowered the binoculars to look at the chief who really looked interested in the answer. “Well, you remember Paddy O’Brien…he was taken to the hospital with a heart attack and is still there. He’s doing okay. The Attorney General called on me to take over this case while Paddy’s in the hospital, but he reduced the resources down to myself and one other plus a clerical resource.”

He put the binoculars to his eyes, because he thought he saw something. It was Jon relieving himself down by the frozen lake. He lowered the binoculars and added, “The confessed New England Strangler, Arnold Vincenti, was killed in his cell by one of the guards. It turns out his niece was one of the strangler’s victims. He cut him pretty badly. If he had lived, he wouldn’t have any male tools to do anything with. It’s awful to say, but maybe that kind of justice is better served than putting these guys in jail for the rest of their lives.”

The chief poured two small cups of coffee, handing one to him. “Well it sounds like there’s been a lot going on. What about that young kid that was with you?”

“That was Scott Tucker. He was also let go, but he’s a Harvard student and will be back in class shortly anyway. He’s a good kid and smart too. He helped put some things together for us that helped narrow down our suspects. His cousin was one of the strangler’s victims. He was on a mission to capture the guy who did it.”

“That’s very noble. Were you in the service, Mike?”

“Yes, I was in the marines, but screwed up my knee and had to get out.”

“Once a Marine, always a Marine—right?”

“You can say that. I miss the service…there doesn’t seem to be the level of politics that there is in the police force.”

“Well Mike, I was in the Army. I wish I had stopped for doughnuts. I haven’t done one of these stakeouts in years, wishing I had remembered how painful they were, so I could have found something else to do.”

There was barely any traffic. When car lights did appear they focused their attention in that direction. Helen was going to be alone tonight as her husband was out of town on business. This was discussed with everyone. They thought it might help if the strangler was sizing up who was in the house. Because of their large dog, it was going to be tough for anyone to get to Helen though.

The radio made them jump. “This is Jon. I’m observing the target residence. She is doing her nightly exercises in the normal fashion. Chief, do you want me to look elsewhere?”

“No Jon you keep your eyes on the back of the house. I don’t want anyone to get in the house without us seeing him. Do your best to maintain a professional demeanor, over.”

“Yeah, okay chief, but she’s a very nice looking woman. I’ll do my best, but I’m not as cold as I was a few minutes ago.”

“Okay Jon, that’s enough. Keep it to yourself. Its tough duty I know, but that’s what all that training was for.”

“My wife was very happy to see me last night, over and out.”

Mike had to smile at the transmission. “I take it chief, he’s a young guy?”

“He is, but I’ll tell you this. If I was on the line and my life depended on it…I would want him protecting my flank. Don’t be fooled by him. He’s better than he sounds.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

“It’s okay Mike. I know you didn’t. The mayor is on my case about the resources we have on the force, and if they let any of my three guys go…well they will see my ass out the door before theirs.”

It was after midnight now. The last report from Jon was that she had let the dog out one last time and went to bed.

Only minutes later a voice said, “Chief, a car just parked on the peninsula road behind the target’s residence, over.”

“Thanks let me know if you see any additional activity.”

“Chief, we have someone on foot walking down the slope. He’s carrying something that looks like a bucket and is using a flashlight, over.”

“Mike I haven’t been able to spot the figure. Do you see him?” Wick asked.

He was moving back and forth from the top of the hill down. “I can see the light of his flashlight. He’s about half way down the slope to the lake. He is carrying a long pole and a bucket.”

Just then, they both heard the dog barking in the house and the back lights went on. “What is Helen doing that for? I thought we made it clear we wanted to catch him near or in her house,” the chief annoyingly announced.

“Chief, Helen is at the bedroom slider. She just let the dog out and he’s running towards the guy, over.”

“Jon, there’s no sense waiting now. See if you can intercept either the guy or the dog, but be careful. We’ll head your way, over and out.”

*.*.*

Ten minutes later we were all gathered around this guy, who was still shaken up by the dog knocking him down and sending him ass over teakettle down to the edge of the frozen lake. As it turns out, he was just a fisherman going out to do night fishing on the lake. Mike didn’t know there was such a thing, until the chief explained that it was pretty common.

Looking over his shoulder, he could see Helen standing at the slider with a bathrobe around her. He watched as the chief waved to her, giving her a ‘thumbs up’ signal. “Well Mike, it wasn’t our guy, but it sure made a few minutes interesting. I don’t understand why Helen put the outside lights on though. If it had been our guy, we would have nothing significant other than a name…nothing we could take to court.”

He was nodding his head in agreement. “Chief what do you think? I think we’re done here for the night, but if you want to resume I’ll join you again.”

They both looked at their watches. It was approaching one o’clock. “I don’t think our guy is coming Mike. His routine would have put him here by now, so that he could spend some time with Helen. Either he’s not coming or we spooked him. However, we’re at your service if you decide to resume our stakeout.”

Mike looked at the guy on the lake digging his holes with the pole he had, and then back at Helen. “Chief why don’t we call it a night, but your lieutenant is still across the street should he spot something. I guess I would tell Helen what happened here and that we are discontinuing our expanded stakeout. I would also ask her what possessed her to turn on the spotlights, to let her dog out. That’s important should we decide to do another one of these. Sound good?”

“See how easy these things are when there’s no politics involved. I’ll do that, getting you back to the station and your car. Jon, please take Mr. Miller back to the police station, and go home and get a good night’s sleep if you can.”

“Thanks chief, but if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll wake my wife up when I get there,” Jon replied with a big smile. He looked like he was going to say something else until he looked over at Mike.

“Thanks for your help Jon. Chief please thank your lieutenant too. If anything does happen, here’s my card. My home phone number is on the back. I really enjoyed this, but next time I will wear more suitable clothes.” They shook hands. He followed Jon up the slope to the peninsula road where he assumed his car was parked.

He could hear Helen whistling for Henry. He looked over his shoulder, noticing him out on the ice, standing beside the guy he had introduced himself to.
Bed is sure going to feel good tonight. I’m sorry we didn’t catch the strangler. I was concerned as to whether he would try this again, or what else he might be up to?

Chapter 73

Checking into the hotel at Plymouth, New Hampshire earlier in the day, he visited the Knotty Pine Camp while it was still light out. He knew they would plow the entrance to the camp, down to the town water supply next to the river’s edge. It was always kept plowed so that the well could be inspected periodically and maintained, if necessary. Without that kind of service this would be impossible to pull off.

He quickly removed one of the plywood covers from the back window of the ‘counselor’s’ cabin. He also broke the lock on the front door, to gain access into the cabin. He didn’t need a lantern as there was enough light now coming in the back, but he primed one and lit it to make sure he would have it when he was entertaining. He also readied the stove for use. He spotted the initials burned into the inside door frame. They looked much better there than the ones on his body.

Standing by the wood stove, he pulled the wooden stamp out of his pocket, examining it. The raised metal C in a circle caused him to think of Charlotte, recalling her beauty. Years ago when they were together, she had confessed that she really liked him. However, that didn’t stop her participation in his branding.

Soon it would be her turn. He had waited a long time for it. His hand traced the scars they left, thinking of what he had done to Karen and Phyllis.

Soon he opened the footlocker pulling out several pieces of rope. The rope almost looked like it was the same rope from twenty years ago. He was now more proficient tying hangman knots, proceeding to tie four of them, then tying them to the four corners of the cot. He spread the mattress out on the metal springs, staring at it for a long time.

It was easy to remember his naked body attached to the bed, glistening in oil. That was the image he had fallen asleep with every night since all of this happened. He opened the bag, taking the baby oil out and placed it on the wood stove.
He went through his mental check list – lantern, stove, cot, rope with knots, oil, letter C, oh there’s only one more thing—
he wrote a note for her to wait for him inside the cabin.

*.*.*

Now he was back at the hotel, waiting for her. His room had a view of the front entrance. He didn’t have to wait long. He thought he recognized her when her car pulled up, but when she got out and took her suitcase out of the trunk he knew for sure it was her.

Of the three girls, she was the youngest and most beautiful. She looked better than he had remembered. The years had only refined her features, making him want to scoop her away right then. However, there would be time for that tomorrow. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

He couldn’t take the chance of going to the dining room, for fear she just might recognize him after all these years. He considered what her reaction would be, but only for a minute. Charlotte you silly, silly girl, you should have stayed with your own plan. It was much too easy to convince you to give it all up for this opportunity. Maybe if I had just asked you to be with me for the rest of your life, you would have jumped at the chance.

What am I thinking, not a chance. However, you’re going to do some jumping around tomorrow. You won’t have far to jump, not with the ropes. He remembered how the ropes cut into his own wrists and ankles for most of the weekend.
Leaving the window, he went over to the bed, undressed and reclined on the bed.

He looked at the four ropes he attached to the corners of the bed and slipped his feet through the hangman’s knots at the foot of the bed first, and then his wrists. He was experienced enough to leave just enough play in one of them to get himself untied.
He wondered what he would say to the maid if she found him this way, but he had that figured out as well. Soon his mind went to his ordeal at the hands of Charlotte. They were alone now and she was more than happy to see him and to be with him. He was her puppet then and soon she was going to be his.

He arranged for her to have the room next to his. He didn’t have to wait long for her to enter her room. He wished she was coming to see him again—right now, right this way. He wasn’t a boy any longer, but tomorrow would be soon enough. He closed his eyes.

*.*.*

He recalled that weekend just like he had every day of his life. It was one of those life-changing moments—it was the good and the bad.

Rose Anderson had dropped him off at the camp on a Friday afternoon. She was pregnant and couldn’t stay to supervise. He knew all too well what he needed to do to make the camp buildings ready for the season. This was his third year. Even though he was only fifteen, Rose had told him he was the best she had at setting up the camp. The camp counselors would arrive later in the day, and would be in charge of other preparations for the first week of camp.

He had gone to the counselor cabin, making sure it was ready for the counselors to use when they arrived. He took the plywood off the windows, opening the windows to air out the cabin. He made sure there were no nests in the wood stove, making sure there was wood in the box beside the stove. He remembered something had caught his eye. Looking at the door frame, he saw the three initials burned into it. Anyone seeing those letters would think of the Knotty Pine Camp, but to him they stood for; Karen, Phyllis and Charlotte.

He would see those letters every day of his life, burned into his groin.

He was down at the raft and boat storage area when the counselors arrived. He hid from their sight, but still to this day doesn’t know why he did that. He watched them take their suitcases from the car, bringing them into the cabin. The man who was driving the car was obviously one of their parents. He left as soon as they had taken their stuff out of the car. He remembered them laughing and jumping on the front porch shortly after they were settled. They went running down the dirt road carrying towels, headed in the direction of the swimming hole.

It was Memorial Day weekend. Although it was warm in the daytime, the nights would drop down into the forties. The campgrounds changed almost every year when the Mad River overflowed its normal banks, sweeping through the camp area. That winter there had been some snow but not like some previous years. The change in topography wasn’t that severe. The river was fed by melting snow in the Waterville Valley area and springs that were predominant in the mountains. Consequently, even in the middle of summer the river water temp never warmed up above sixty degrees.

He knew the girls were headed for the swimming hole, so he went around on the hill overlooking it. He remembered hearing their laughter mixed with screams, and when he looked down on the pool of water he could see the bottom all the way across the river. The girls had already taken off their clothes, and were screaming as each tried to enter the water. Soon they were all in the water, splashing each other.

He felt the cold air in his hotel room on his naked body, which was reacting to the memory, the cold and Charlotte next door. He could hear drawers opening and closing.

The girls looked beautiful and innocent. They were about three years older than he was at the time, and they had blossomed in the three years he knew them. His eyes were still closed and he recalled that picture just like it was yesterday. One was blond, another a red head and the third a brunette. The water had almost acted like a magnifying glass as the girls stood in the water up to their waists. All three went running to the small sandy beach, quickly drying off. He remembered how they must have enjoyed the warmth of the sun on their cold bodies as they soaked it up.

He had seen them naked before in their cabin, but this was a real treat seeing them outside like that. They were lying on their towels face down and their bodies were red from the cold water from their middle of their backs down. After several minutes, they all rolled over to warm up the rest of their bodies. He couldn’t believe the sight. He wondered if they could see him on the slope, but if they did see him, they didn’t show any sign of hiding themselves. The girls weren’t in any rush to go back to their cabin, so he had decided to check it out.

*.*.*

That turned out to be his biggest mistake. He went to their cabin, was looking at their clothes which were still in their suitcases. He picked up one of the bras on top of a suitcase, noticing the size of the cups. This had to be Charlotte’s, as it was quite large. He went to another case, picked up a pair of black nylon panties and held it up to the light coming in the front window. He could see right through them.

He never saw the door open and the three girls standing there, but heard the sound of the door when it hit the wall. They caught him holding the panties.

He tried to run to the back door, but the three of them were between him and both doors. He tried to dodge one of the girls but she pushed him and he remembered tumbling towards the pot belly stove. The next thing he remembered is hearing girls’ voices in the distance, and laughter. He tried moving, but he was tied to the four corners of a cot and his body felt cold. He looked down, shocked that he was naked.

He recalled falling toward the stove and must have been knocked out. The girls took the opportunity to strip him and tie him to the bed. Hangman knots were holding his wrists and ankles, and he couldn’t move anything except his torso. Once they realized he had come to, they came over, proceeding to make fun of his situation. That was the start of the weekend he remembered since then, being at their mercy.

They girls proceeded to complete their assignments and his. That left them time to make him pay for what he had done. They forced him to recall all the times he had watched them in the river and in their cabin. They learned what his body could and couldn’t do, both as a group and separately. Although they said they were inexperienced, they used him for their own experimentation and pleasure, but mostly humiliation.

However his time with Charlotte was special. She had confided in him some of her inner thoughts, trying to make their private time together more of a pleasure for both of them. It was his first intimate experience. He thought she really cared for him, trying not to hurt him like the others had done.

He closed his eyes, remembering what she did with him long before she sat on his lap and helped him enter her. She had been so warm, he couldn’t control his body. She asked him many questions about different things regarding his body, what he was feeling—almost like she was doing a research paper.

It will be my time tomorrow to turn things around and ask you some of those same questions.

By the end of the weekend, they all had many experiences to keep to themselves. However, today, the memory of what had happened was much more pleasurable than his former ugly recollections of the past.

The stove was always burning to keep the cabin warm at night. That final afternoon, when Rose was due back, they had gathered around the stove. He could not see what they were doing. They were whispering, laughing to themselves, and then came over to him with their hands behind their backs. He remembered the smell of the wood stove, then the smell of his flesh burning as each of them burned their initials onto his private parts. He passed out from the pain. When he came to, they held up a mirror to show him what they had done.

He remembered crying from the pain. The final humiliation and their laughter had sent chills up his spine. Each of them kissed his tears and then their marks. ‘Sealed with a kiss’ they said. ‘You will always remember what you did to warrant what happened to you. It will be our secret. You won’t be able to tell anyone what happened, because of what you did to deserve it.’

They untied him from the bed and told him to return to his cabin. His legs weren’t working well from being tied up all weekend. When he came running around the back of the cabin to get to his cabin, Rose was standing in front of the girls’ cabin. She had a very surprised look on her face seeing him naked, oiled from head to toe. He made it to his cabin and packed his things. When Rose drove him home later that day, she never asked what happened. He often wondered what she thought about that sight, but that day he was glad she didn’t pursue any details. He never went to the camp again, and never took part in the things he wanted to.

The scars were a constant reminder to him every day and to Karen and Phyllis just before he branded them.
Charlotte
, do you remember the nice things you said to me that weekend? Did you mean any of it? We’ll see tomorrow.