The Devil's Water: Scenic City Murder Series #1 (9 page)

“What is it?” Tasha asked. She lowered her .38. “We got the bastard!” said Mclutcheon, his mouth in a wide smile. Tasha uncocked the gun. “Is he in custody?” she asked, still a little fuzzy from sleep. “Not exactly but we know his hideout. Carol Shipley was found early this morning. She’d jumped off a bank and onto the road.”

“Is she ok?”

“Took a hard fall over 40 feet. Compound fractures to both legs, a broken arm but the biggest injury was that she took a very hard lick to the head. She’s in a coma. Hooked up to every machine known to man.”

“How’d you find the house?”

“Wasn’t hard really. It’s an older brick home in Apison. Sits out on a bunch of acres. Part of it is wooded. Carol escaped though the woods. She was completely nude. Apparently he kept her that way. Young couple driving by found her.”

“Who is this son of a bitch?” Tasha asked.

“Name’s Gary Berndt. Jeff Wilder ran some records. Turns out he was born and mostly raised in Bavaria. He was an only child. Apparently he and his folks had a troubled home life. He moved to the US permanently when he was 18 and became a US citizen. He moved in with his grandmother. She died several years ago. It’s her house that he still lives in. I’ve got Wilder checking around with neighbors seeing what they know.”

“So I take it that he got the hell out of there after Carol escaped?”

“Right. But I think he had to hustle. Maybe we can find out more about him from checking out the house.”

“Put on some clothes and get in my car.”

Tasha moved away from the front door and headed for the bathroom. There, she put on the same outfit she’d wore the day before. She could hear Mclutcheon in the living room.

“Hey, turn on the TV if you want.” She said.

“No, you get your ass out here. Come on. We have to go.”

Ten minutes later, Clutch sat down in his Volvo and waited for Tasha to do the same. “C’mon. We don’t have time.” He said as he waited for her.

“Hold the phone.” Tasha said as she sat down across from him. “I’m ready now.” She stated as he turned the key in the ignition. They rode in silence for almost 20 minutes until Tasha felt like she needed to yawn. A large inhale and an equally large exhale made her feel relieved. “Jesus, you need a breath mint.” Said Mclutcheon. “Why?”

“Because you smell like a fuckin’ distillery. That’s why. Take one of these.” Clutch offered her a piece of Big Red gum.

“Thanks.”

Clutch was sawing the wheel up I75. “What are you doing?” Tasha asked.

“Moving in and out of traffic. If you qualify for a DUI, I don’t wanna hear your shit.”

“Fine.”

“What do you get from alcohol anyway?” Clutch asked.

“I dunno. It makes my mouth and nose numb. It releases the worries of the day and makes me wanna sing Bob Marley tunes.”

“Bob Marley? I wanna sing Bob Marley tunes when I get stoned.” Clutch said as he grinned. “I don’t get stoned.” Tasha countered. “The only two times I’ve been stoned in my life I got paranoid. They say that it was because the dope wasn’t good shit. If that’s the case, I don’t wanna spend my life lookin’ for good shit.”

“You ever thought that maybe you’re just not happy?” he asked.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Just consider that it’s possible that you’re not happy so you drink like a fish. Thing is, alcohol ain’t gonna make you happy. That shit just makes it worse. It’s like a vicious cycle. Once you’re on the merry go round you just keep on going and….”

“OK. I don’t want or need this right now. Let’s concentrate on the case.” She said as she smacked her gum.

“Alright, change of subject. Did you know this guy lived less than 15 minutes from me? I just kept on thinking about that when I heard the house was in Apison. That’s not very far from East Brainerd and there I was beating the bushes trying to round this SOB up.”

“So he’s lived with his grandmother all these years until she died? How old is this guy?”

“He’s a little over forty.”

“Well, he didn’t start this yesterday. He’s been at it to some degree for a long time.”

“Yep. That’s what I figure.” Clutch said as he passed the Apison road sign.”

“Damn. I haven’t been out here in forever. I used to have a friend who lived here. She had horses and we would ride off into the woods together. Her folks had a pretty big farm.” Tasha said as she gazed out at a cow pasture.

Pretty soon Clutch slowed down and steered the Volvo onto a gravel drive. “We’re here.” He said.

Tasha glanced at the bank which was very steep and high. “Jesus. Did she jump from that?”

“Yep. She must’ve figured her odds were better, as bad as it seems, than staying in that hell hole with him.”

The gravel driveway twisted back and forth for a quarter of a mile until it ended beside a brick ranch style house that looked to have been built in the 50’s. There were several cars parked in the drive, among them Jeff Wilder’s SUV.

They exited the car and walked up to the front porch. Wilder met them at the front door. “You guys ain’t gonna believe what you see in here.” Wilder said motioning behind him. “This guy is a total freak.”

Clutch and Tasha stepped past Wilder and entered the home. There in the front entrance hall sat a wooden box, head high, which looked somewhat like a casket. Tasha ran her fingers down the side of it. “What is it they call this?” she asked.

“An iron maiden. It was used as a torture device years ago.” Clutch answered.

“What the hell would they do with it?” Wilder asked.

“They would put you in the thing, lock it and then make you stay in it until they decided you could come out. Sometimes they would put it out in the hot sun. Make you sweat a bit. It’s just an ancient torture technique.”

Jeff moved over to a shelf on the other side of the room. There, he picked up a small metal instrument and showed it to Clutch. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Those are thumb screws. They’re placed over the finger and those screws are literally screwed into the finger.” Clutch looked around the shelves in the foyer. “I see he has an executioner’s sword,” he said, picking up a metal mask which looked like a gargoyle. “What the hell is that for?” Wilder asked.

“It’s a mask of shame. Notice the big ears and long tongue. It was used to shame the person who had to wear it. In this case, the offense was that the person was nosy and a gossip.”

Tasha took the mask from Clutch and examined it before handing it off to Wilder. “I don’t know where he got all this stuff. Got any ideas?” Jeff asked.

“You could probably find it all on Ebay or maybe some collectors might have it.” Tasha mused.

“Or you could’ve brought this shit over from Europe.” Clutch added. “Jeff, you said he was from Bavaria. Correct?”

“Yeah.”

“I wonder how close he lived to the village of Rothenberg ob der Tauber. I bet he spent some time there as a child growing up. He probably became fascinated with it at a young age.”

“What does that village have to do with it?” Tasha asked.

“It’s an old medieval village. It’s surrounded by huge stone walls. If you enter, you go back in time. Like, way back centuries ago. Inside, there is a criminal museum or a museum of criminology as they call it. Basically, it’s a chamber of horrors. It was a torture chamber with all these various devices and instruments that were used for torture. Some were used not even that long ago.”

“And you think that Gary spent time there?”

“It’s very likely since he is from that region and since he has all this stuff here. I mean, aside from a dunking machine, he seems to have a very fine collection of torture devices.”

“You think he used them on the vics?” Tasha asked.

“Possibly but not to any great extent. Dr. Limmel would’ve picked up on that from autopsy, I think.”

“Well, one thing’s for sure. He was in a huge hurry to get out of here since he left all this.” Tasha said.

“Oh, you haven’t seen the half of it.” Jeff said. “Let me show you around.”

Wilder led them out of the foyer and down a narrow hall to a bedroom. “Look in here.” He said as he opened the door. Inside, Tasha noticed that the room was pristinely kept. The carpet had vacuum marks on it and there were only a couple of shoe prints, probably from the cops who’d been in there. “He kept this room as an homage to his grandmother.” Tasha said as she noted the pink drapes hanging in the windows and pink bed spread. She walked over to the dresser and examined a brush laying beside a comb and an old bottle of lotion. “The hair brush still has gray hair in it.” she said. Clutch walked over to where Tasha was and picked up the bottle of lotion. He unscrewed the top and brought it to his nose. “The lotion doesn’t even have a scent anymore because it’s so old.” Wilder opened the closet door and gave Clutch and Tasha a look inside. “See…all her clothes are still hanging in the closet just like she left them.”

“OK. So the creep had some sort of affection for his grandmother. Maybe he felt like she saved him from an unhappy life with his folks. What’s his room look like?” Clutch asked.

“Follow me.” Jeff said as he led them out of the room and back down the hall. He came to a door on the left side of the hallway and opened it. Inside, Tasha and Clutch noticed that this room was also immaculate. Everything was in its’ place. There were no dirty clothes on the floor. The bed had been made and, like the other room, there were fresh vacuum marks on the carpet. While they were looking about, something caught Tasha’s eye. She walked across the room and looked at the shelves of a large book case sitting beside the bed. “Come here, Clutch.”

 Daniel Mclutcheon moved over beside her and examined the books on the bookcase. “Oh, Jesus.” He said.

“What is it?” Wilder asked.

“He’s got books on just about any famous serial killer I could name.”Tasha said as she removed a book and examined it. “Here’s one about Bianchi and Buono. You know, the Hillside Stranglers.”

“Yeah, I see one about Aileen Wuornos. Here’s one about Gacy and here…” Clutch paused as he pulled the book out from its’ resting place, “Is one about Jack the Ripper.” He smiled at Wilder. “That sound familiar, Jeff?”

“Yeah, I guess Gary pored over that stuff.” Wilder said, noting how used and worn the books appeared. “I suppose when he wasn’t studying it, he was practicing what he studied.”

“Did this guy have a computer?” Tasha asked.

“Oh yeah. Right down the hall. We’re checking it out and, from what I can tell, he’s been on some pretty strange sites.”

“Like what?” Clutch asked.

“Oh, like more stuff about serial killers and some stuff about Psy Ops and the FBI. I did some looking into his background, as you know, and it turns out Gary applied for the FBI. He also thought about going into the military but they wouldn’t have him either. He didn’t pass some of the personality tests. In general, I think he became frustrated and the frustration turned into extreme anger that he wasn’t considered good enough.”

“So what did he do?” Clutch asked.

“Well, he threw himself into martial arts and became a medic. Possibly, that’s where he is getting the Fentanyl. He worked in nursing homes for awhile too. From what I understand, his last job was at a hospital. He quit that some time ago. He really hasn’t had to work since his grandmother died. She left him pretty well off.”

“Like how well off?” Tasha asked.

“Close to a million plus the house and land. What I gathered from one of the neighbors was that she doted on him. Gave him whatever he wanted and asked no questions when things seemed a little strange around here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…well…you need to see the kitchen. Precisely, what’s in the refrigerator and freezer.”

Jeff walked out in the hall with Tasha and Clutch on his heels. “I don’t think I want to.” Tasha said to Clutch as they proceeded toward the kitchen. As they passed through the living room, Tasha noticed a huge tower of CD’s positioned by a stereo. She walked over to the stack and picked one up that was sitting on the top. “The best of the Doors.” She said as she layed the CD back down. She kneeled down and glanced over the rest of them. “Joplin, Creedence, The Band, Pink Floyd and The Who. This guy was definitely into classic rock, huh?” She asked, looking over to Clutch.

“That music was really a generation before his time. Hell, I listened to that when I was young.” Clutch observed. “At least he had good taste.”

Tasha stood back up and the three of them headed into the kitchen. The refrigerator/freezer was positioned on the far wall beside the stove. “Get ready.” Wilder said as he opened the freezer door. Inside were tens of freezer bags labeled with dates. Tasha picked one from the mass and examined it. “My God, are these organs?”

“Yep. They’re animal organs. I think he started with them and graduated to humans eventually.” Wilder said. “We’ve done some digging out in the backyard and found some cats and dogs in various stages of decomp. In some cases, all that’s been left are skeletons.”

“Here’s one from over ten years ago.” Clutch said, picking up a freezer bag and examining the date on it.

“Yeah, Gary was definitely a trophy keeper.”  Tasha added. “I bet Monica Balzer’s interior labia is somewhere in this mess.”

“That’s what bothers me so much about the cavalier attitude toward animal abuse.” Clutch stated. “Aside from the fact that I’m an animal lover, I just don’t understand why people view the killing or maiming of animals as simply child’s play.”

“So many times, they start that and move on to humans eventually. Look at Dahmer.” Tasha added.

“Well, grandma had to know something about this. The neighbors said that house pets would go missing and never turn up again. I guess we see what happened to them.” Wilder replied.

“Jeff, you said that there were graves outside?” Clutch asked.

“Oh yeah. Massive places where you could tell the dirt had been dug up. We haven’t found any human remains but a lot of cats and dogs.”

“So there’s no sign of Flo Jenson?”

“Nope. He had to have taken her with him unless he dumped her somewhere. He wants his dumps to be public knowledge so he makes no real effort to hide the bodies. I figure he has her somewhere.” Wilder said. “You want to see the basement now? That’s where he held his vics.”