Crippled Lies

(Chapter 9: Dear Journal) Katie's POV

Katie and Aaron headed back to Bradley Pickering's home after leaving Dr. Rivers' office. While Aaron was driving, Katie began to think about the case. Something wasn't adding up. So far, she knew that the last two cases were connected to Stacy Jenkins. However, the other three victims didn't have anything to do with her; as far as she knew the cases weren't related. The only problem though was that the slit wrists and the indention in the temple are probably meant to be used to say that they are related to throw the police off of the trail. Katie sighs silently.

"Aaron, with those other three cases, how do you think that they're related to the Stacy Jenkins' case?"

"The only thing that was relatable was the fact that they had slit wrists and there was an indention in their right temple."

"It doesn't make any sense though. If that is the only thing that relates them, then it has to be the same killer. I was looking at the case files, and two of the murders happened in only a few minutes of each other. Furthermore, it happened in a ten-mile radius, which can only mean there is more than one killer."

Aaron glanced over at Katie, "Two killers?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds strange; but it's the only possibility. The only problem is figuring out who and why."

"Maybe this journal can help."

"Yeah... Maybe."

A few moments later, they arrived at Bradley's house. They headed towards the bedroom, moving the Queen-sized bed to get to the floor board. Aaron got down on his hands and knees and started searching the floorboards until he found the right one. He grabbed the journal and got off of the floor. Katie walked closer to Aaron so that she could read along with him. After perusing a few entries, they stopped at an entry that had caught their eye:

November 7, 2014

I had already told his cronies that I was going to give him the money as soon as I got paid. For him to threaten that he will hurt Rose scares me, because I know that he is an evil man that will do whatever he can to get what he want. I just hope that he can wait for a couple more days.

November 10, 2014

I was finally able to get Eric his money. I know never to ask for a loan from him again or anyone else for that matter. It's just not worth the trouble, and I rather not see Eric and his cronies ever again.

Aaron flipped through the rest of the pages, but they were all empty. He stopped when he noticed a torn out page. One word was left on the left side of the page: kill.

"What do you think the rest of the page said? Whoever tore out the page didn't seem to be in a hurry, because it was carefully torn leaving only a word. That's strange," Katie remarked.

"Yeah, and there are no more entries. I guess we have to figure this out, and it all starts with the name."