the same small town, one a kidnapper/murderer, the other – done time for stabbing a guy. The big crime around the area before then is the rape of nine women who were then hunted down like animals and killed. Case goes unsolved. Years later, the first guy is shot dead. The second guy’s out of prison and within two months, a new girl is found dead in the woods where he’s at. Meanwhile, the Police Chief in their town, head of the original serial killer task force, commits suicide.’
‘I gotta tell you, I’d be hearing a ringing too, Joe. Especially if it was my son’s girlfriend…’
‘You don’t miss a trick.’ They were quiet for a while. ‘So, how’d you like a trip to Texas, Nic?’
‘I’m old. I need heat. I say yes.’
‘If you hiked those pants up to your armpits like you’re supposed to—’
‘You’re right behind me, buddy. When’s the big five oh?’
‘Four days. And ten years.’
‘Sure, Lucchesi. So, what’s the plan?’
‘I need you to go talk to the lonely widow of a man called Ogden Parnum. Find out what you can about why her Police Chief husband decided to blow his brains out. And anything you can about the Crosscut case he had been working on—’
‘Crosscut? OK. I’m on it.’
Nora Deegan stood at the wall in front of her favourite painting, a simple watercolour that picked up the greens and purples in the living room. She was holding a paint card beside it, moving along rows of small squares, each with a different shade of white.
‘I can’t make up my mind,’ she said. ‘For the gallery.’
‘Too many shades of white,’ said Frank. He pointed to one. ‘I like that.’ Nora nodded.
‘I need you to do something for me,’ he said suddenly. ‘On one of your little coffee mornings.’
‘What do you mean little? They’re huge, important affairs. Do you mind?’
‘Of course they are,’ said Frank, smiling. ‘I just need you to, I don’t know, settle things down around the place.’
‘What?’
‘The Lucchesis. It’s all around the village about Shaun,’ he said. ‘But the lad’s not involved. If he was, he’d be locked up by now. He’s in bits. I’ve seen how people are reacting. And Anna and Joe. Joe has been a pain in the backside since this all happened, but you can’t blame him. I think the poor man is driven mad. He’s getting fierce paranoid. He got this email in and it was total nonsense and he was thinking the worst as usual. Anyway, enough of that, it’s safe to say, the family is under a fair bit of pressure. Is there any chance you could, I don’t know, say the right thing to the right people? I know you tell the golf ladies about my cases.’
She raised an eyebrow.
‘You’re the sergeant’s wife, honey. They’ll trust you.’
Lime-scented steam filled the bathroom. Joe walked in and stepped around a pile of Anna’s clothes that lay crumpled on the floor.
‘Don’t go near them,’ she shouted from the shower. ‘Toxic.’
He tried to smile.
‘I’m serious. I had to do everything today. Some of the workmen didn’t show up and neither did Mark. I’m starting to get nervous.’
He made a face. He opened the mirrored door of the cabinet and started searching through it.
‘Well, would you show up for work if you thought someone was being questioned in the house about a murder?’ said Anna.
Joe kept searching, holding a finger up to let Anna know he couldn’t speak. A flash of frustration crossed her face.
‘But Shaun went in voluntarily,’ he managed, ‘no big deal.’
‘That’s not the way people’s minds work. I think something funny’s going on, Joe. With you trying to stick your nose in and Shaun being questioned, I think everyone’s avoiding us.’
‘Don’t be silly, honey.’
‘At least Mark had the decency to send a replacement. Even if he was a bit clueless. You know the way Mark strides around, knows every bit of the land. This guy seemed out of it. I sent him away, though. I’d rather wait.’
‘Mark will be back and so will the others.’
‘I’m the one who needs a rest,’ said Anna. ‘I’m exhausted.’ She turned off the shower.
Joe reached for her bathrobe. She saw him wince when he turned his head.
‘I got you some heat packs for your jaw. Like eye masks. They’re in hot water.’ She pointed to the sink and the round objects floating in it. Joe looked in and saw two gel-filled plastic faces. One was Homer Simpson, the other was Bart. He looked at her and raised his eyebrows. She smiled.
He took them out, dried them on a towel and put one up to each cheek.
‘Hmm. Warm.’
Suddenly, they heard frantic pounding on the front door. They exchanged glances. Joe looked at his watch; it was almost midnight. He put the packs back in the sink. They both walked slowly downstairs into the hall, Joe holding his hand back to keep Anna behind him. She pushed it away.
‘Uh-oh,’ said Joe as he looked through the glass. He opened the door.
‘What is wrong with your family?’ said Martha hysterically. ‘What is wrong with you all?’ Her eyes were dark and sunken, her hair pulled back into a thin ponytail. In one month, she had lost thirty pounds from her slender frame.
She looked from Joe to Anna. ‘Your son comes over here, has…has sex with my daughter…I didn’t raise my daughter to be having sex before marriage! Then he lies to the guards. What did he do to her?’ Anna almost cried at what she was witnessing, more for the broken woman before her than what she was saying about her son.
‘Martha…’ Joe’s jaw felt like it was being torn apart.
‘You’re a murderer!’ she shouted. ‘Who are you to comment on anything? Shooting someone dead, I heard. And I came to you looking for help! You, of all people. Was I mad? You…carried her coffin!’ She raised her hand, then lowered it, clenching it into a fist in front of her. ‘If I find out that…he, that…I swear to God…’ She trailed off. Joe stared at her.
‘Have you nothing at all to say for yourself?’ she shouted.
Anna finally spoke. ‘Shaun really loved Katie. You know in your heart, Martha, he would never hurt her.’
‘I know nothing,’ she cried. ‘Nothing about anything! I don’t know what to think! Why did he leave her to walk home alone?’ she said, her voice strangled and desperate. Shaun had come to the door. Tears were falling down his cheeks.
‘I don’t know why,’ he sobbed. ‘I don’t know why either. It was a mistake.’
‘Martha, I’m so sorry about Katie,’ said Anna. ‘We all are. But none of us knows why it happened.’
‘Someone has to know!’ said Martha. ‘Someone has to know! What else do you know?’ she pleaded with Shaun. ‘What else haven’t you told them?’
Shaun was wailing, his hands covering his face. ‘Nothing, nothing, nothing. I’ve told them everything now. She’s just gone. I can’t believe any of it.’
‘Lies, lies and more lies,’ said Martha. ‘You’re a disgrace of a family.’ She turned and staggered down the path. Shaun ran to his room.
Joe shook his head and looked at Anna.
‘Jesus Christ,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘This is a fucking nightmare.’
TWENTY-TWO
Denison, North Central Texas, 1988
