Cry For Help by Clara Lewis (year 7 reading list TXT) 📗

This was good enough, as all she needed were the case files.

“I’m an investigator working on Cassie Dunn’s case. I’d like to see the case files.”

Alec’s face hardened. He stepped back and indicated for her to follow him.

“Here they are,” Alec said. “Usually, I wouldn’t even show you these, but that particular case is something else. Sometimes someone gets a burst of motivation and reads through the case, but it’s always the same: we can’t find anything.”

“Would it be all right if you email me these files?”

“I could, but would you mind if I looked through those with you? It’s a lot better than sitting at that desk and filling in forms.”

He pointed at a desk with piles of unfilled forms on it and scowled. Evelynn gestured to a chair and nodded. Without hesitation, Alec grabbed it and sat next to her.

“Let’s start,” Evelynn said and got to work.

Chapter 3

“You guys have a serial killer case here,” Evelynn concluded.

“Sure, I’ll believe you, but how would you prove it?”

Evelynn pointed at her screen where she had opened the case files on the victims, Cassie included.

“Well, its all speculation now, but look at these pictures of the girls. Look at the state they’re in and look at the placement of the bruises. It’s more or less in the same place. If you zoom in and completely disregard the fact that they don’t look alike, you wouldn’t even be able to tell them apart.”

Alec leaned closer to the screen and touched his chin. He looked deep in thought.

“That makes sense.”

Evelynn shrugged and closed those files. She had seen enough and had mentioned enough to Alec. However, there were a few details that she kept to herself. She wanted to find solid proof on those before she presented them to Alec.

The placement of the bruises on the girls bodies was strategic. The welts on their backs suggested that the killer wasn’t just some crazed maniac on the lookout for someone to kill. The way Evelynn saw it, the marks looked like the girls were being punished for something.

Evelynn looked at the placement of the other wounds. All three of the girls had cuts on their knuckles. It had solidified her belief that the girls were being punished for something. It reminded Evelynn of how the governesses back in the day would discipline their students.

A hunch was always, to a degree, reliable. Until it could be proven wrong, Evelynn would always go with her gut feeling. About ninety percent of the time, it was right.

After a few hours, Evelynn’s eyes started to droop. Alec shook her and told her to get some sleep at least. She could resume her work in the morning.

Although she was tired, her brain was working overtime. The victims knew each other. They all went to the same school, but something was missing. The first victim had seemed too professional. The killer already knew what they were doing. Someone else had to have been the first victim.

“Alec, I need you to look for other disappearances that happened about six to ten years before Becca Hall, our first victim.”

Alec was confused but knew better than to ask why. He faced his own computer screen and searched the databases. Beaumont was a small town, and thankfully, crimes were few to none. Within minutes, he found someone.

“I found one by the name of Emily Campbell. She disappeared around six years prior to Becca, but it’s a cold case.”

“That doesn’t matter. Pull up her file.”

Alec scooted closer to Evelynn as they both looked at her screen. Evelynn pointed out the similarities in the wounds inflicted on Emily’s body. However, something was different.

“See here,” Evelynn said pointing to the pictures of Emily and Becca, “notice how Becca’s wounds were concentrated on the back and the knuckles. Now look at Emily’s wounds.”

Alec compared the two pictures and when he had finally seen what Evelynn wanted him to see, he leaned back and took a deep breath.

“Can’t believe we missed that,” he whispered, “after all these years.”

“What matters is that we found something new. Notice how Emily’s wounds are basically the same, except she has scars from older injuries. Her wounds are also in more random places. If we were to assume that she was the first victim, the killer could have used her as practice.”

If they were to go in chronological order, the earliest victims had injuries that still appeared as if they were made by an amateur. The last two victims had a distinct mark that the previous two never had. Around one of their ankles, was a scar. Judging by how deep it had been, it was a scar that never quite healed. Evelynn rested her head in her hands and wondered what could have caused such a scar.

Evelynn tapped her finger on the table. She had found out all that she needed. All that was left now was to connect the dots and find the killer.

“I think Emily’s mom killed her,” Evelynn finally said.

Alec had to blink twice to make sure that he was hearing her right. Evelynn shrugged and gave him a small smile as she grabbed her bag. She stood up to leave.

“We have to start somewhere,” she said.

She hadn’t told him the actual reason she was suspecting the mother. Not until she could prove it herself. Evelynn patted Alec’s shoulder and prepared to leave.

“I hope you’re not planning to talk to Jennifer Campbell by yourself.”

Evelynn didn’t reply and simply smiled.

Chapter 4

Present

Despite Alec’s warnings, Evelynn had found herself standing at the entrance of the local high school where Jennifer Campbell worked as a music teacher.

At first glance, Jennifer was extremely kind and there was just something about how she spoke her words that would mesmerize those who listened. If she were to make a comparison, it would be to the sound of wind chimes swinging in the light breeze. It was beautiful, and Evelynn was certainly entranced.

Then,