After opening a cell door with a key, he produced from his pocket, he said, "Your room, Madame." He forced a smile and she returned it with fake enthusiasm. Placing her bag down on the cot, she turned back to Harrison.
"Can you please explain what you meant earlier?" She was dying to know.
"Follow me to my desk."
She told Tara to stay in the cell and play with whatever toys she had brought for herself. Without any further delay, she followed closely behind Harrison to his desk. There, he sat down and put his feet up, offering her the chair next to him.
"Did you need something at your desk?"
"No. Just wanted to be comfortable."
She suppressed a moment of anger with him and sat down. Now he seemed to be toying with her and it wasn’t right. There was too much at stake to turn the situation into a game. If he wasn’t going to take things seriously, she would have to take matters into her own hands and flee town with Tara.
"All right, here's the deal. It seems random and at first, I thought it was too. I'll admit, the people killed are randomly chosen but there’s a clear message here.”
“And what is that?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“Yes. The first death seemed entirely random, I guess most serial killings start out that way. It's impossible to pick up on a pattern or a signature with the first body. Unfortunately, the best way to catch a serial killer is for a few bodies to turn up. More bodies, more clues. But I'm getting off track here."
He cleared his throat.
"The first murder this town has ever seen shows up the same day you move in. Coincidence? Maybe. But the black candle left behind at the scene and the one stolen from your home is not. The Second body found behind your home and something left in your backyard for you to find; I like to think, once is a questionable, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern. The third body is found with your name carved into another candle. I don't think I need to point out the obvious here."
"Ok, but what does any of it have to do with me?"
"Clearly, someone wants you out. It's a clear message to you. Leave town."
"Who would do something so horrible? Why not leave bags of shit on my doorstep like a normal asshole?"
"Here's the thing, I don't think it started out as merely a message for you to leave. I think someone was attempting to frame you. The third body seemed rushed, almost angry. The poor woman was beaten and raped before she was killed. Then your name was carved into a candle? Almost as if to say 'You're next'. Whoever is doing this lost their temper. The question is, why?"
Sasha's blood ran cold. Thoughts of her husband ran through her mind. But it couldn't be, he was dead. That she was sure of. No one could have survived the poison she had fed him. There had been no pulse. She had buried him. It was an impossibility.
"I gotta ask again, Sasha. Is there anyone who would want to hurt you?"
She shook her head and fought back the tears stinging behind her eyes. And it was the truth. She could think of no living person who would want to do her harm. The only person who ever hurt her was slowly decaying with a mouth full of maggots and worms in his veins.
"What about this witchcraft crap? Why leave black candles and upside-down crosses on the bodies?" She asked.
"Simple. Fear. Look what it's done to this town. They've lost their minds. None of them has ever been this close to a murder and there's a hint of the occult with it? They're panicking. Fear spreads like a plague. Even the most rational of people can catch it and do things they wouldn't normally do. One or two people would scoff at the idea of witchcraft but get a whole mob scared enough, well, they'll about believe anything. Mob mentality."
Harrison sat up at his desk and pressed a finger to his lips. He cocked his head to the side like a dog hearing the jingle of the leash. "Shit," he said as the dull roar of voices became clearer. As he stood up, he heard the sound of glass shattering. Pulling his pistol from its holster, he said, "You and Tara get in the cell. I'll handle this."
Fear coursed through her veins and she did as she was told. As she had feared, the mob mentality was winning.
Chapter Sixteen
"Everyone, get back to your homes now or I will start arresting people." Harrison could barely hear himself over the roar of the crowd. He knew the threat wouldn't deter anyone but he had to try. It was worlds above threatening to shoot anyone. It was the last thing he wanted to do, let alone threaten. The town was going through enough. They didn’t need to be worried their sheriff would kill them too. However, things were escalating quickly in Carlisle and he barely recognized it anymore.
He heard screams from the crowd demanding he give up the witch. The looks of twisted anger and hatred on their faces was utterly terrifying. Harrison didn't want to admit it but he was scared. Nearly everyone in town had lost their minds and those who hadn’t were keeping to themselves. Carlisle was seemingly changing forever. Sasha was going to leave
