Faith frowned at David.He was looking vacantly out across the field, clearly tuning her out.Her blood started to boil.He’d been distracted earlier too, but this was a little different.She was talking about the most traumatic event of her life, and he was the one who showed concern in the first place.
She opened her mouth to snap at him but stopped when Luna’s ears perked up again.Luna got to her feet and trotted down the path toward Sergeant Meyers, or rather the man accompanying Sergeant Meyers.
The man squatted down and wrapped Luna in a bear hug.“Hey, girl,” he said.“Hey, Luna.Hey, sweetheart.”
He exchanged a few more terms of endearment as he held Luna close.Tears streamed from his cheeks, and Faith knew who he was now.
“This is Aaron Caldwell,” Sergeant Meyers said.“Iris’s son.He’s going to take Luna home.”
Aaron stood up and offered his hand to Faith.He was in his late thirties, about five-four and maybe one hundred forty pounds.Faith glanced at his shoes as she returned the handshake.Size eight.Far smaller than the boot prints in the trees.She was already pretty sure that none of Iris’s family had killed her, but she was relieved to see that belief supported here.
“I understand you were the one to find Mom’s… to find Mom,” he said.
“Luna led me to her,” Faith replied.“She’s a good dog.”
Luna lowered her head and whined.She wasn’t in the mood to hear about how good a dog she was right now.
“Yeah, she is,” Aaron said, getting low and hugging Luna again.
Faith imagined they were going to be leaning on each other for a while, especially because she saw no wedding ring on Aaron’s finger.“Did you notice a change in your mother’s behavior recently?”she asked.
David frowned at Faith, and her lips hardened a little.Yeah, I wouldn’t look so disapproving right now, buddy.
Meyers didn’t seem offended at all by Faith’s questioning.In fact, he looked relieved.It was one less thing for him to do before he could pass this case along to someone else and step away from the bad feelings it caused.
“No,” Aaron said.“No, I just saw her yesterday.Like… literally yesterday.”
He stood again and put his hands on the top of his head.“No, she was her usual happy, perky self.She was always such a positive person.I’m sure you hear that a lot, but she was.”
Actually, many of the victims Faith investigated weren’t described as particularly positive people.They often had some darkness in their lives that proved to have considerable bearing on their murder.
That wasn’t always true, of course.Sometimes killers killed for reasons that had nothing to do with their victims.“What about someone new in her life?Did she mention any new friends?New neighbors or coworkers?New lovers?”
Aaron laughed briefly.“Definitely not lovers.We lost Dad about two years ago.Mom recovered well, but she’s not interested in dating anyone else.Wasn’tinterested in dating anyone else.God.”
He wiped his mouth with one hand and sighed irritably.Now that he was pushing through the denial stage of grief, anger was taking its place.“Who the hell kills an old woman walking her dog?Like… how fucked up do you have to be?”He glanced at Faith.“Sorry.Pardon my language.”
"No need to apologize for cursing," Faith said."I've seen and heard a lot worse.So, no one knew?No one who made her feel uncomfortable?"
“No, no one knew.Not that she told me about, anyway.”
Faith lifted an eyebrow.“Would she tell you if she met anyone who made her feel uncomfortable?”
“I don’t know.She’s never said anything about it before.I feel like she would, though.I mean, if someone was being really psychopathic, I feel like she’d mention that.”
If she knew, anyway, most of the killers Faith investigated happened to be clearly insane, but she knew that the majority of murderers weren't or didn't appear to be in their daily lives.Trammell was known as a polite, gentlemanly farmer, a little shy and a little slow, but definitely not a murderer.His copycat, Franklin West, ran a successful therapy practice for years before his obsession with Faith caused his self-control to fray.Ted Bundy was particularly well-known for being charming and likable.
Then again, Iris hadn’t mentioned anyone knew in a positive light either.And the clinical, almost professional nature of this killing suggested that there was nothing personal at all behind it.Someone had lured Iris into the trees, shot her point-blank in the forehead, and beat her dog for no apparent reason.
That was the key.Noapparentreason.Whether Iris was a target or a victim of opportunity, there was a reason for her death.There was always a reason.
“Oh God,” Aaron moaned.“Does Katie know?”
Meyers answered that.“We haven’t called your sister yet, no.The coroner’s office is currently performing—they haven’t released your mother’s body to the morgue yet.Once there, we’ll need someone to formally identify her.”
“Call me,” Aaron said immediately.“Don’t call Katie.Oh God.She’s going to be devastated.She and Mom were so close, closer even than I was with her.She’s going to be crushed.Oh God, and the kids.”
Faith put a hand on Aaron’s shoulder.“Take Luna home.Don’t worry about what happens next.It’s all going to work itself out.You need time to grieve, not to stress about all of the next steps.You’ll get through this.So will your sister.So will Luna.This is the worst thing that could have happened to any of you, but you’ll get through it.”
