Chitwood said, “Tell us about Reed Bryan.”
Mettner scrolled some more. “I just came from the scene. Hummel and his team are processing it. Patrol went to his house earlier. Knocked on the door. No answer, but there was a truck parked on the premises. They ran the plates. It’s his personal vehicle. The officers had a look around, didn’t see anyone. The barn door was partially open so one of them went inside and found Reed deceased on the ground with severe trauma to his head. Looks like someone went completely off on him, and most of the blows were to the back of his head. At least from what I could tell. He’s a big guy, so to take him down whoever did it blitzed him from behind and didn’t stop until he was gone. Dr. Feist will examine him but from what I saw, it didn’t look like he stood a chance.”
“Any idea what the killer used?” Noah asked.
“There was a shovel nearby with his blood and some of his hair on it, so it looks like the killer left the weapon there.”
“Pax?” Josie asked.
“Not there. The house was searched, as were the rest of the grounds. No sign of him.”
“What about the vans?” Noah asked. “He’s got two vans for his produce business.”
Mettner nodded. “We found one of them. Actually, several people reported seeing it driving erratically through town. About a mile from the produce market, it crashed into someone’s front porch. Plowed right up over the grass and into the house.”
“Oh my God,” said Josie. “Was anyone hurt?”
“Thankfully, no,” Mettner said. “Homeowners reported seeing a teenage boy stumble out of the driver’s seat and take off running. They called it in, but we’re short with everyone searching the mountain right now, so by the time patrol got there, he was long gone.”
“Did they get his description?” Chitwood asked.
Mettner went back to his notes. “Caucasian male, about five foot nine, five foot ten, wearing baggy jeans and a blue hooded sweatshirt. That’s all I got.”
“So we don’t know if that was Rory or Pax,” said Josie.
“My money’s on Rory,” Noah said. “The erratic driving. He’s only fifteen. Maybe Lorelei taught him to drive a little, but he really wouldn’t have a good grasp on it, theoretically.”
“Or it could be Pax,” Chitwood said. “Maybe he’s injured. Quinn, you said the relationship between him and his dad was strained. Is it possible Reed got mad at him, hauled off and hit him and Pax fought back?”
“I suppose,” said Josie, but she was thinking of the method of killing. Head and neck. Blitz attack. From behind. When the person wasn’t looking and didn’t expect it. A lot like the patient who had nearly killed Lorelei almost twenty years ago. Also a lot like the way Rory had attacked Josie in the hallway of his home. Josie thought about Lorelei and Holly’s autopsies. Lorelei had had a head injury before she was shot. Emily had shown years of trauma to her head which they now knew was from Rory, based on what Dr. Buckley had said.
“Do you have any photos?” Josie asked. “From the scene?”
Mettner said, “Hummel took photos.”
“But you always do a sketch,” Josie pointed out. “On your computer. I know you take your own photos with your phone for reference in case the ERT takes too long to upload to the file.”
Mettner swiped a few times and turned his phone toward Josie. It was exactly as he had described. In the center of the barn, on the dirt floor, Reed Bryan lay face down in a pool of blood. The back of his head was a pulpy mess, what white hair he’d had left dark with congealed blood. His arms were extended, almost as though he had tried to crawl away from his attacker. The shovel lay discarded next to him.
“I’m not sure what you’re looking for,” Mettner said.
Josie studied the rest of the photo, using her thumb and index finger to zoom in and out on the other areas of the barn depicted. “I think Rory Mitchell did this.”
“Based on what?” Chitwood asked.
Josie explained the connection she had drawn from the method of attack.
“That’s thin,” Mettner said.
“Maybe,” Josie said.
Chitwood said, “What would Rory Mitchell be doing at Reed Bryan’s farm? You’re saying now that Pax picked up both Rory and Emily and took them home? Then Rory killed his dad?”
A small blur in the corner of the photo caught Josie’s eye. She zoomed in on it as close as she could. “Is this the only photo of the scene, Mett?” she asked.
“Swipe to the left,” he said, sounding impatient.
She found a better photo and zoomed in on the same area, finding exactly what she’d expected to find. She turned the phone around so the rest of them could see it. “Yes. Pax had both Rory and Emily with him. See that?”
Chitwood took some reading glasses from his shirt pocket and positioned them on his nose. Squinting, he put his face only inches from the screen. “What the hell are those? Buttons?”
“Gray tufted buttons from the couches in Celeste Harper and Adam Long’s parlor, yes. Emily was there. Whether she left that pile there on purpose or they fell from her pockets, she was there. You need to call the dogs again. We need them back up near Harper’s Peak in case that’s where Rory went, and also down by Reed Bryan’s farm in case Emily is still in that
