The Night Killer

killer won’t be caught. And now we hear there’s been another murder just like my in-laws’. Can you help us?”
    “There are some things I can do,” said Diane. “But I can’t interfere in an ongoing investigation, no matter what I think of the investigation so far. You need to know too that I’ve been forbidden to set foot in Rendell County.”
    “What?” said Christine. “By who? The sheriff?”
    “Yes,” said Diane.
    “Why?” asked Brian. “Can he do that?”
    “Because he doesn’t want to be shown up for the ass he is,” said Spence. “Isn’t it obvious?” He took another long swallow of his drink and paced the room.
    “What do you need?” asked Brian.
    “The autopsy reports, for starters,” said Diane. “The Watsons’ too.”
    “I know Kate Watson, their daughter,” said Christine. “She doesn’t like the sheriff any more than we do. Can we ask for the autopsy reports?”
    Diane nodded. “If the sheriff balks, you can get a lawyer, or you can ask your parents’ insurance company to request the report.”
    “So this means you’ll help find out who killed Mom and Dad?” said Spence.
    “I’ll do my best,” said Diane.
    Spence finished his drink and sat down. “We appreciate that. Do you think it is a serial killer? It looks like it.”
    “I never assume,” said Diane.
    “What about that guy you met in the woods?” said Christine. “That was pretty suspicious.”
    “It was, and I’m sure the sheriff is trying to find him,” said Diane.
    Spence shook his head.
    “Travis Conrad has shown more competence than his father,” Diane said.
    She didn’t tell them she was helping Travis with the investigation, for fear the information would get back to the sheriff. She might have been able to get the autopsy reports from Travis, but frankly, she wanted the Barre children’s interest in the investigation to shake the sheriff up. There was no reason for him to be so parochial.
    “Travis?” said Christine. “I can’t believe he has a job as a deputy.”
    “He wouldn’t if his father hadn’t given it to him,” said Spence.
    Diane raised her eyebrows.
    “We went to school with him,” said Christine. “He was one of the bad boys, if you know what I mean. I wasn’t allowed to speak to him.
    “He drank a lot, drove too fast around those country roads, broke into people’s sheds and stole their tools, and was into drugs. You say he’s more competent than the sheriff? I don’t have a lot of respect for the sheriff, but I find that hard to believe.”
    “Apparently he’s cleaned up his act quite a bit. I have the impression,” Diane said carefully, “that he wants to show his father up and find the killer.”
    “I can believe he’d want to do that. He got a lot of hard whippings from his daddy when he was a little fella,” said Spence.
    “His dad was a real believer in not sparing the rod,” said Christine. “Mama and Daddy didn’t spank very much. Daddy not at all.” She smiled and looked over at Spence. “You remember the time Roy Jr. painted that mural on the side of the Glovers’ barn?”
    Spence grinned. “What was he, six? He now refers to that as his Jackson Pollock phase.”
    “Daddy was supposed to take him out back and give him a whipping with a paddle. Mama came out later and found Daddy sitting on a log, crying his eyes out. Little Roy Jr. was sitting on an overturned bucket, all dry-eyed. Mama said she put her hands on her hips and looked from one to the other. Turns out Daddy hadn’t hit him a lick. Couldn’t stand the thought of it. Mama made the two of them go over and help Mr. Glover repaint the side of his barn.”
    Christine’s eyes began to tear up. Spence started to say something just as his cell rang. He flipped it open and answered it. Diane’s stomach clenched when she saw the look on his face.

Chapter 24
    Spence Barre flipped his phone closed. He was so pale Diane was afraid he was about to faint. He looked over at his sister, who was staring at him with a look of dread, her handkerchief held tight in her hands. For several moments he said nothing.
    “That was the highway patrol,” he said finally. He ran a hand down the length of his face and looked from his sister to his brother-in-law, then to Diane. “Roy Jr. has been in an accident on the mountain road.”
    Christine sucked in her breath and covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. “Is he . . . ? Where is he? We have to go see him.”
    Brian put an arm