Page 56 of Fatal Fame
The staging was unmistakably deliberate, designed to echo elements of the original Hale murders while adding theatrical components that suggested someone with intimate knowledge of the previous investigation. Pierce's positioning against the tree, the proximity to the site where Rebecca and Jacob had been killed, every detail pointed toward symbolic rather than practical considerations.
Noah radioed for additional crime scene tape to establish a wide perimeter around the grove, understanding that evidence might be scattered across a much larger area than was immediately visible. The rain was complicating everything,turning potential footprints into muddy soup and threatening to wash away trace evidence before it could be collected.
"Callie, get those tarps and portable shelters up immediately. Every minute we wait in this weather is destroying potential evidence."
“Will do,” Callie replied, coordinating the arrival of additional personnel who were struggling through the muddy trail with equipment designed for controlled indoor environments rather than outdoor crime scenes in driving rain.
As they established the crime scene perimeter, Noah studied Pierce's position for details that might reveal information about his killer's methodology and motivations. He crouched, rain dripping off him. The rope work was competent but not professional, demonstrating someone with basic skills rather than specialized knowledge. The tree selection seemed random unless the specific location held significance that wasn't immediately apparent.
But it was Pierce's wounds that provided the most disturbing evidence of the killer's intentions. His throat had been slashed. There were multiple stab wounds visible through his torn clothing, concentrated around the neck in patterns that suggested frenzied violence. The wounds appeared to have been inflicted without care, designed to cause death fast rather than slowly. Along with that were multiple bullet wounds.
"McKenzie, document everything before we move the body. Positioning, rope configuration, wound patterns, anything that might get compromised during transport. Then let me know when Ozzy is here."
The crime scenephotography was complicated by lighting conditions that made detail work nearly impossible without artificial illumination. Portable floodlights had to be rigged under tarps to prevent electrical hazards, while generators fought against rain that seemed determined to defeat every technical solution they attempted.
Noah's radio crackled with updates from the command post being established at the trailhead. The state crime scene unit was en route.
"Sutherland?" McKenzie approached the crime scene perimeter, his expression troubled by something beyond the obvious horror of discovering a murder victim. "I just got done chatting to one of the neighbors. Jill Myers. She’s been living across the street since Rebecca was here. There's something else you should know about this area back here."
"What's that?"
"This is where Rebecca Hale used to bring her sons to play when the weather was nice. There was a swing set here. She remembered seeing them back there, before..." He gestured toward the house foundation. "Before what happened to them."
The revelation added another layer to Pierce's murder, showing the killer's knowledge extended beyond crime scene details to intimate familiarity with the victims' personal habits and family history. The choice of location wasn't just connected to the original murders—it was connected to the specific places where Rebecca and Jacob had lived their normal lives before violence destroyed their family.
Pierce's killer wasn't just recreating elements of the previous murders; they were demonstrating knowledge that could only come from someone who'd been part of the original investigation or closely connected to the victims themselves.
"Callie, when you brief media, make sure they understand we're dealing with someone who has insider knowledge of both the original case and current law enforcement procedures."
"What are you thinking?" McKenzie asked as they supervised the transfer of Pierce's body to the waiting ambulance that would transport it to the medical examiner in Saranac Lake.
"I'm thinking someone wanted information from Pierce before they killed him. Wanted to know what he'd learned, who he'd talked to, how close he'd come to exposing whatever secret got him murdered.”
"And then they staged his body to send a message to anyone else who might be asking similar questions,” McKenzie added.
Noah nodded, studying the crime scene one final time before releasing it to the state forensics team. The rain continued to fall with relentless persistence, washing away evidence with every passing minute but also creating conditions that reflected the growing darkness of an investigation that was spiraling beyond local law enforcement capabilities.
As the crime scene teams completed their initial processing, Noah's phone buzzed with messages that confirmed his fears about the expanding scope of the investigation. Authorities were requesting briefings on all aspects of Pierce's disappearance and murder. Media outlets from across the Northeast were sending reporters to cover what was being described as a connection between current homicide and unsolved murders from a decade earlier.
20
The war room at the Adirondack County Sheriff's Office hummed with the low electric buzz of equipment that never slept. Banks of monitors lined the walls, displaying crime scene photographs, timeline charts, and evidence logs in a digital mosaic that transformed tragedy into data points. The modern evidence wall flickered with updates as new information filtered through the system, each screen a window into the investigation that had consumed Noah's life for the past week.
Noah stood before the central display, a steaming cup of coffee growing cold in his hands as he studied the accumulated evidence. The harsh fluorescent lighting cast shadows under his eyes, evidence of too many sleepless nights spent wrestling with facts that refused to form a coherent narrative. Behind him, Detective McKenzie and Deputy Thorne waited with the patient silence of those who understood that breakthrough moments rarely announced themselves with fanfare.
The room smelled of burnt coffee and the peculiar antiseptic odor that seemed to permeate every government building. Three desks arranged in a horseshoe configuration faced the wall of screens, each cluttered with case files, evidence bags,and the detritus of an investigation that had expanded far beyond its original scope. A whiteboard covered in McKenzie's careful handwriting displayed a timeline that began with Pierce Landry's arrival in High Peaks and ended with the discovery of his mutilated corpse.
Noah took a sip of coffee that tasted like it had been brewed sometime during the previous administration and turned to face his colleagues. McKenzie sat hunched over a stack of witness statements; his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. Thorne leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, studying the evidence wall.
"Okay," Noah said, setting his cup down with the decisive click that marked the beginning of business. "What do we have and know so far?"
McKenzie looked up from his paperwork. "We have the witness statement from Dale Hutchins about seeing a white van around 9 PM, which matches the timeline provided by realtor Mike Torres. Torres claims he left the cabin before that time after waiting for someone interested in the property who never showed."
"There were two sets of tire tracks," Thorne added, consulting her notes. "One confirmed as Torres' vehicle, the other belonging to the white van. Both consistent with the timeline and witness accounts."
Noah nodded, adding more cream to his coffee in an attempt to make it palatable.
"The phone call made to Torres is interesting,” McKenzie said. “We believe a burner phone was used, but Torres confirmed hearing a male voice. The caller identified himself as Marcus, though we can't confirm whether that was the Cold Trail producer, some other Marcus, or someone deliberately using that name to implicate the team. Dale Hutchins said he saw two people when he drove up to the cabin," McKenzie continued."He positively identified Pierce Landry but couldn't make out the second person due to poor visibility. Too dark, too far away."
