Page 26 of Haunted By Sin
“Just to clarify, no one has been knocking on doors in the past week? Maybe trying to sell something to you or asking if you have any yardwork for them to do?”
“No,” Ruth replied as she gestured in the direction of Theo, who had already moved on from speaking with the gentleman who had been mowing his lawn. “We pretty much tend to our own yard, though Nathan mows a few of them.”
“Nathan?”
“Laura’s boy.” Ruth nodded in the other direction. “Nathan is fifteen and has his driver’s permit. He’s saving up for his first car. He mows Mary Jane’s yard. Maybe he would know, but you're out of luck today. Nathan and some of his friends went to the lake for the day.”
“And the other neighbors? Anything out of the ordinary?”
“Not really,” Ruth said as she shifted her stance to gesture toward her next-door neighbor. “You’ll have to knock loud if you want Benji—Benji Torrence—to hear you over his television. He has hearing aids, but he never wears them.”
Ruth frowned when she glanced past Benji’s house.
“I haven’t seen Janice in a couple of days, but you’ll probably find her in the backyard. Morris is her last name. She can get a bit obsessive over her flower gardens.”
Once again, Ruth had proven to be an invaluable source of information and insight.
“I appreciate your time, Mrs. Pace,” Brook finally said after Ruth had practically gone through every neighbor within walking distance. By the time Brook had retraced her steps to the residence next to Ruth’s house, Theo had finished speaking to those residing on Mary Jane’s side of the street. Brook focused on the loud voices drifting through the open windows of Benji Torrence’s house. She knocked hard on Ruth’s advice. “Mr. Torrence?”
Brook figured if the older gentleman couldn’t hear the low thud of her knocking, he might be able to pick up on her voice. She walked over to the screen inside the window and called out his name once more.
“I’m coming!”
Brook spent the next few minutes speaking with Mr. Torrence, but he wasn’t as insightful into the community as Ruth. By the time Brook had walked up the porch steps of the house directly across from Mary Jane’s residence, Theo was already next door speaking with another neighbor.
When Janice Morris didn’t answer her door, Brook eventually made her way back down the porch steps. She carefully crossed the yard, mindful of her small heels. Vibrant flowers in various shades of pink and purple had been planted alongside the house. Among the blooms were stone butterflies of all shapes and sizes, which added a touch of charm to the two-story home.
Brook came to a stop at the edge of a wooden fence. She walked some of its length until she had a complete view of the backyard. A vegetable garden had been planted on the far side, and large flower pots with red and white perennials had been strategically placed on each corner of a patio deck. A bag of soil lay open on the stone pavers, along with several gardening tools.
Janice couldn’t have gone far, so Brook reached for the latch on the gate.
“Ms. Morris?”
Brook thought that maybe Janice had gone back inside the house for a moment, but her mind changed when she stepped closer to the bag of soil. The clumps that had spilled from the bag had been dried by the sun. It was obvious the contents hadn’t been touched for a few days. There were many valid reasons as to why Janice Morris had left such items outside, but something was off about the situation.
Brook cautiously stepped around the bag of soil, mindful of the hand trowel and cultivator. There were no gardening gloves in sight. She approached the sliding glass doors, but the heavy drapes had been pulled shut. The weight of the curtains had caused a gap between the two sides of the material, giving Brook the ability to step to the left in order to allow some sunshine to peer through the panes.
The spacious kitchen was quiet and still.
The limited rays that seeped through the slit in the drapes glinted off the light countertops. A quick scan revealed a few dirty dishes cluttering the sink, but overall, the interior seemed tidy.
What could be seen of the kitchen table revealed a simple vase…with dead flowers.
Brook tensed as she began to inspect the interior more closely, starting with the floor. Right at the corner of the counter, a streak of reddish-brown could be seen on the tiles. The darker tint of the stain revealed that the blood had dried days ago.
Ever so slowly, Brook unfastened the button on her blazer. She drew her firearm from its holster as she stepped to the side of the sliding glass door. The shift in movement allowed her to catch sight of Theo coming around the side of the house. He hadn’t entered through the gate, so he would be able to retrace his steps with ease. She raised a finger to her lips before motioning that he should cover the front. He nodded his understanding before reaching for his weapon.
Surprisingly, the sliding glass door offered little resistance when she applied some pressure on the handle with her elbow. It wasn’t her intention to disturb evidence, but if there was the slightest chance that Janice Morris was alive, then Brook needed to gain entrance into the house. She stepped over the threshold as quietly as possible.
A metallic scent lingered heavily in the air.
Brook slowly advanced into the home, examining every inch of space she could along the way. Now that she was standing close to the countertop, blood splatter on the hard surface was visible…enough for Brook to know that Janice Morris was dead.
Mindful of the smear on the floor, Brook made sure to step to the side as she rounded the island. A chair was missing from the kitchen table, but that wasn’t what had captured her attention. A large pool of blood dominated the space, with streaks that led into the other room. Brook cautiously followed the crimson trail while straining to hear the slightest sound emanating from other parts of the house.
Brook silently entered the living room, coming to a stop when her gaze landed on the body of a woman. Her throat gaped open from the deep slice of a knife, and her eyes stared unseeing toward the ceiling. Given that the metallic scent of blood was stronger than the decomposition, Brook estimated Janice Morris’ time of death to be around forty-eight hours.
Brook noted the missing kitchen chair tucked up against the far window, which just so happened to be facing Mary Jane Reynolds’ residence. Their unsub had found another way to observe his next victim, and the death of a neighbor was proof of the unsub’s desperation. Not willing to make assumptions that Janice Morris’ killer had vacated the premises, Brook cautiously made her way over to the front door.