Page 116 of Vanish From Sight
A sense of relief mixed with sadness came over him. It was good that the suspects were no longer a threat and that justice would be served, but the fact that multiple lives had been wiped out was a tragedy.
“They took the easy way out,” Callie said.
“No. It might seem that way but I don’t think they wanted to die or they would have done it sooner. I imagine they just couldn’t face the music or the looks on their parents’ faces once they had their day in court and were staring at a lifetime behind bars.”
“You sound like you’ve dealt with this before,” Callie said.
“It happens all over the country. Stalkers who kill and then kill themselves, murder-suicide, abductors who shoot themselves after being cornered, and shooters that go on a rampage only to take their life before they can be held accountable.”
“It doesn’t feel like justice.”
“Maybe not for these two. But it will save a lot of tax dollars,” he said, bagging the evidence. “And there are still the other two teens we arrested.”
In the eerie silence of the forest, the investigators worked quickly to gather evidence and document the scene. They knew they would need to piece together the suspects’ movements in the days and hours leading up to their deaths to assist them in closing out the case.
As they turned and made their way back to the command center established at the school, which had all but been destroyed by the blaze, Noah noticed the other members of the police force looked just as tired as he felt. They had all worked tirelessly throughout the night, driven by a determination to bring justice to the victims.
“Do you think they will release the video footage?” Callie asked.
“No. They’ll tell media that they brought in a forensic psychologist and a leading expert in threat assessment and after an extensive amount of discussion and forms filled out, they were advised that the release of the recordings would only fall into the motivation of why these boys did it.”
“For notoriety?”
He nodded. “Though it’s clear from their past that being known wasn’t the reason. They wanted the past to stay buried. That was it. My thought is that once they realized they were in too deep, that people were talking, and the heat was back on, they reacted with little thought to the repercussions. That will be confirmed by the other two once they realize they are an accessory to murder. Their defense lawyer will get them plea deals, a reduced sentence where they’ll only be tried for a sexual assault and they’ll be back out within less than ten years. And hell, depending on what judge they get, they might just get probation for telling the truth. That, Thorne, is the revolving door of justice.”
Callie nodded as they trudged out.
“And Lena? They admitted to Katherine, Laura and the attack on Nicholas but nothing about Lena.”
“That’s because they weren’t involved. Like I said, the timelines don’t match up. They only had a small window to leave the boarding school. The MO also doesn’t match. The other three were an attempt to look like suicide.”
“But wasn’t hers?”
“Gear in neutral. Cause of death, fentanyl. No. She wasn’t driving that car when it went over.”
“So, you think Teresa Barkley and the others killed her and are lying.”
He nodded. “For now, that’s all we have to go on unless evidence proves otherwise.”
“What about Hawthorne?”
“He’ll see his day in court.”
As they left behind the wilderness, Noah couldn’t help feeling a sense of sadness and frustration. He couldn’t help feeling that Teresa was genuinely confused when she’d heard that Lena was dead. The liars who took secrets to prison or the grave could be very convincing. Not every case was closed cleanly. Justice came in many forms, sometimes within weeks or months, other times years later on the heels of DNA evidence or a jailhouse confession.
Emerging from the tree line back onto the grounds of the once illustrious Academy, Noah was exhausted, his mind numb from the harrowing events of the previous night. The scene of devastation before them was hard to take in.
The historic private boarding school lay in ruins.
The once-grand building was now a smoldering pile of ash and rubble, its walls and roof collapsed in on themselves. The air was still thick with the acrid smell of smoke, and the ground littered with charred debris — scorched desks, broken chairs and shattered windows.
Fortunately, no one lost their life. The quick actions of teachers and students combined with the fire department’s efforts offered a smidgen of hope.
“Hey guys,” McKenzie said, his voice loud as he jogged over. “I’ve got some good news. Nicholas Evans awoke late last night.He’s going to pull through. The doctors said his blood was saturated with carbon monoxide and he was minutes from dying if I hadn’t pulled him out of there.”
“That’s good, McKenzie. You saved a life. Well done,” Noah said, patting him on the shoulder, knowing how much his ego needed stroking. “And Delaney and Hawthorne?”
“Alive.” McKenzie fell in step. “By the way, I heard the news through the radio. Cowardly bastards. Well, at least we have the other two. They’re denying any involvement in the murders. Their lawyers arrived this morning.”
