With Cruel Intent (25 page)

Any more thoughts on how or why he’s

choosing these victims?” No one spoke

up.

“Okay let’s move on. We heard

from Ms. Criddle this morning and she

confirmed there was nothing missing from

the home and nothing in her bedroom

appeared to be moved and no underwear

tampered with. This is different from the

first. You will recall that he actually put

her intimates on and took the picture with

the victim in the adjacent bed. This

changed with Katherine, however, we

know that he entered the victim's bedroom

here, as well, due to the dog evidence.

Why risk that, if it’s not to deliver the

same shock value as he did with the first

event?” again the Sheriff looked about for

any takers on the question.

A senior deputy with a graying

handlebar mustache and thick sideburns

offered a thought, “It’s a power trip right?

Perhaps he likes to feel like he can do

whatever he wants to while in their homes

but doesn’t have the balls to carry it any

further, other than just being there, seeing

them and taking these pictures.” As an

afterthought he continued, “Hell, maybe

that’s what he was doing by the side of her

bed, maybe he was taking more pictures.”

Proud of what he’d contributed, he

reached up, stroked the mustache and

smiled at his associates.

“That’s a good thought,” Natalie

said, giving the mustached deputy thumbs

up. “Why go to all this trouble without

some sort of trophy? He doesn’t take

anything, maybe that’s because what he

takes he’s already brought with him.”

“I’m apt to agree with both of

these officers,” 'The Wolf' declared

retrieving the picture after it had made the

rounds. “He certainly won’t be having

these developed in the local Fotomart or

online, so he must have a color printer and

computer that will do the work for him.

Breland, will you do some checking today

with the computer suppliers in town and

see if anyone has recently purchased what

they’d need to make this happen?

Something concerns me with what my

buddy at the back said there a minute ago.

He said, ‘he doesn’t have the courage to

carry it any further’, that’s what really

bothers me about this case. If he’s a serial,

and I believe our perp is, we have to

assume that his behavior will escalate. It’s

just a matter of how fast, where, when,

and in what magnitude. When you can

answer these questions for me I’d like to

talk with you all further.”

The meeting lasted another 90

minutes with ideas and suggestions

bantered about. The forensics people had

not had much time yet to review what they

had, but they were able to collect a

number of fiber samples from the site that

looked like they didn’t belong there. There

were no prints, other than those of Katie,

and the dishes had been washed clean.

They were able to determine that he had

used some kind of plastic sheets to move

the furniture, as small trace samples had

been pressed into the carpet, but the sheets

themselves must have been brought and

taken by the perpetrator. They agreed with

Officer Guest, he was bright and knew

what he was doing, very little evidence

and he’d done this before and not just

once but many times. Too slick and too

well practiced to do what he was able to

do without the owner having a clue.

“Okay, let’s wrap this up ladies

and gentlemen; we’ve got lots to work on.

I want you to focus on a few things that

we’ve highlighted today. First, we need to

figure out how he’s getting access without

any signs of forced entry. Both victims

think they locked their doors, but this is

Georgia so we can’t be sure, but let’s

assume that they did, so he’s getting keys

somewhere. Maybe he works at a

hardware store and is making duplicates

or something. Breland or Arnold, check

with the victims to see if either one has

had new keys made in the past year.

Secondly, I want to know this psycho’s

agenda, any ideas I want them brought to

me right away. Now people we have more

than this case to deal with but I want

everyone to be vigilant and let’s follow

this one through. Does anyone have

anything further before we break for the

day? I’ll be heading this one up myself so

address any issues to myself or Arlene at

the desk.”

A hand shot up at the back, Ricky

Dean, the most senior of the forensic

department stepped forward, making it

easier to address the large man. Ricky

was not a big man himself, only about five

and a half feet tall, receding hairline, full

mustache but in excellent shape for being

almost 60. He was one of those guys that

knew a little bit about everything and

could fix anything he put his mind to.

Whenever anything broke down at the

Sheriff’s Office, Rick was the first one

called, whether auto, equipment, or guns,

he could fix it all.

“Sheriff, I was a thinking, ever

since I stepped into that living room that I

had seen something like that before, you

know like a copycat. It ate at me most of

the night and I asked my sweetheart about

it and she pegged it right away, The

Manson Family out there in California

‘bout 40 years ago. You remember, the

Helter Skelter stuff, they made a movie

and there was a book I believe. Anyway,

after they killed those people they wrote

stuff on the walls in their blood. Now

that’s not that strange, we’ve seen that

even here in Valdosta, but the thing that

put it together for me was the furniture.

Something about that bugged me, so I got

online today and did some research and

they did that too. The Manson Family used

to go out at night and break into people’s

homes and move their furniture around,

not for any other reason than to just freak

them out when they woke up. Just like our

perp is doing here, don’t you think? They

called it ‘Creepy Crawling’, kind of gives

me the creeps just thinking about it,” Rick

explained before moving to the back of the

room and out of the limelight.

“Good work, Rick. Will you

further that idea of the ‘Creepy Crawling’

and see if there is anything more we need

to know about that and any connection we

might have to this Manson Family? I’m not

aware of any followers living here but

let’s be sure. Okay people look sharp;

let’s get ‘er done,” the Sheriff concluded,

returning to his office, picking up a fresh

cup of coffee on the way.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Mr. Marcus greeted Blanche the

morning after her conversation with Holly,

as he raked up some leaves, scattered

about on the grass in the front of the

library, “How’s my girl this mornin’?” He

stood the rake up next to himself using it

as a brace to support his weight while he

talked with Blanche, the handle nearly as

tall as the small grounds keeper.

“I’m good, really good, thanks for

asking. Looks like another beautiful day in

store for us. You got lots to do outside

today I hope?” her polite nature coming

through with her inquiry.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll find enough to

keep me busy out here until it rains this

afternoon, then I’ll move indoors to pester

you for awhile,” he said, smiling broadly.

“Sounds good to me. We should

have lunch together; did your wife fix you

something?”

“Yes sirree. It’s a date then, I’ll

swing by the desk around noon,” Marcus

indicated, putting the rake back to the

ground.

“Nothing like a lunch with my

favorite man,” she joked, as she bounded

up the stairs to the main doors. “See you

then. Have a good morning.”

Mrs. Anderson met her at the main

desk, date stamp in hand, anxiously

engaged in organizing the materials in

front of her. “Blanche, good morning, you

look lovely this morning, thank you for

toning down the ah, headlights.” Referring

to her bust and the outfit she’d worn the

other day that had garnered too much

attention, according to the director.

However, and not a coincidence she was

sure, they had accumulated the most single

day donations the library had ever seen,

that day.

“Thanks and you’re welcome,” the

younger librarian said, smiling.

“Take a minute to put your things

away then I’ll turn the desk over to you.

I’ll be in the museum archives most of the

day in case you need me and just have one

of the volunteers man the desk while you

take your lunch.” The director went back

to her stamping and shuffling allowing

Blanche the few minutes she needed to get

settled.

Back at the desk with her ‘now’,

‘night’ and ‘never’ boxes in front of her,

she laid out her plans for the workday.

With a few weeks behind her and her

responsibilities well under control, the

young librarian found that her work days

just sort of glided by, very few hiccups

from day to day except for the occasional

drunk that would stumble in looking for a

bathroom or the kids that often got too

rambunctious. Just before noon, and her

date with Marcus, the phone rang.

“Good morning, Valdosta Public

Library, how may I help you?” she said,

very professionally into the phone.

“Hey

Ms.

Delaney,

this

is

Seymour. My mom said you tried to get a

hold of me last night. Sorry I missed your

call, why didn’t you try my cell?” he said,

his Adam's Apple in the back of his throat.

“Oh, I didn’t want to bother you if

you were out with friends and it wasn’t

that important anyway. We just were

thinking of adding some more nights to the

schedule with school starting soon and

wondered if you’d be interested in some

more shifts,” she scrambled to think of a

plausible reason for her call the night

before. It was not totally untrue, they had

discussed the possibility of the extra

nights, as long as they could get proper

staffing.

“I see,” he said, somewhat

disappointed, then after a moment of

consideration continued, “Who would I be

working with, are you taking the extra late

shifts as well?”

“I’m sure I’ll have to do my fair

share, why?” she inquired, already

knowing the answer.

“Okay, I could use the extra cash

and if it means more shifts working with

you then I’m up for that. Just let me know

so I can make sure it doesn’t conflict with

my upcoming class schedule. While I’ve

got you, did you see all the police activity

yesterday?” he said, all the more excited

about the prospect of working with, and

hanging out more, with his new found

crush.

“Yeah, yesterday morning right? I

never did hear anything about it though.

Why, what’s up?” Blanche spoke in

hushed tones as to not bother those reading

at the tables nearby.

“The Sheriff’s Department is

running the investigation so I guess there

was another break in like the Riddle

woman a couple weeks ago. Remember,

the one with the guy in the underwear?”

“I remember. Did anybody get hurt

and where was it?” she strained to hear

the somewhat poor connection.

“There was a press conference

this morning but they didn’t release any

details, but it sounds like a real crime

wave has hit Valdosta. Do you think we

could have a serial ‘something’ living

here?” Seymour did his best to contain his

enthusiasm.

“You almost sound glad that this is

happening. That scares me a little bit.

What if somebody gets hurt?” Blanche