HER LAST HOPE by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Rachel headed back downstairs to where Mr. Ragland was still being consoled by a cop. Rachel heard only a fragment of the conversation and ascertained that Mr. Ragland’s mother was on the way over to be with him. Meanwhile, Rachel walked into the den area and looked at the window. She opened it and checked both sides of it, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. She did the same with the single hallway window but there was nothing there, either.

She hit what may have been paydirt when she checked the kitchen. There were two windows there—one looking out over the side yard and another, smaller one, over the sink. The one looking out onto the side yard was about eight feet off the ground and hard to open. Still, she saw nothing that raised suspicions.

However, when she checked the one over the sink, things were a little different. There was nothing on the interior, but she noted a few scratch marks on the outside, just at the corner. She closed the window and stepped outside onto the screened-in porch to get a better look. Sure enough, there were light scratches that looked rather fresh There was also a very slight chipped section, right at the edge of the frame where it settled into the windowsill.

She walked to the wooden door that connected the screen porch to a small, uncovered section of porch but saw nothing out of the ordinary there as well. It made her wonder if the Ragland’s didn’t lock the screened-in porch or, if the scratches on the window were evidence of the killer breaking in, how he might have got to the window in the first place.

When she got out to the back yard, she saw that Jack had made the assumption she’d made. When she stepped down from the screened-in porch, she saw him looking up to the thin stretch of shingled roof that ran as a connector between the second-floor windows and the roof of the porch. He looked over to her as she came across the lawn, which was lit up by the back porch light. She noted at once that there were no security lights or flood lights. She wondered if the killer had known this and if it’s why he’d been able to leave with such confidence through the bedroom window.

“He already knew the layout of the house,” Jack said. “More notably, the back of the house.”

“Yeah, I figured that, too. I think he somehow got in through the kitchen window and then escaped with this route,” she said, nodding to the section of roof they were observing. “But it sort of makes sense. With the first two victims, our killer somehow knew about doctor’s appointments. So he’s doing his research before he attacks. These aren’t just random acts of passion.”

“Well, of course not. I mean, he had to get his hands on that transplant list. The very fact that he has a list suggests there’s been a lot of planning in this.

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