The Death Watcher by Chris Carter

Author:Chris Carter [Carter, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-06T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty

Hunter began with the same photo that had first caught his eye – the one on the final page of the photo album. It was a picture of Joana and Joseph together, where Joseph looked to be around fourteen years old. The picture was taken on a bright sunny day. Joana was sitting on a patch of grass that had been recently mowed, with a large picnic basket by her side. She wore a spaghetti-strap floral dress and ankle-strap sandals. Joseph was standing just behind his mother, his arms by his sides, his eyes looking straight ahead; his smile was shy and it looked a little forced. The thorned name of the metal band across the front of his T-shirt was impossible to read.

‘What caught my attention in this photo was Terry Wilford’s son,’ Hunter said. ‘Joseph.’

Garcia repositioned himself and looked at the picture again.

‘See his arms?’ Hunter indicated.

‘Yeah, what about his arms?’

‘Right here.’ Hunter tapped his index finger against the photo. ‘Just below the elbow joint. His arms bend in very slightly at an odd angle, don’t you think?’

Garcia squinted for better focus, as he brought the album closer to his face. ‘Oh-kay.’ He agreed. ‘Very slightly, but isn’t he holding his arms like that on purpose. You know, trying to look more muscular for the photo.’ Garcia exaggerated the pose – arms down and flexed inward, pushing his chest out. ‘Teenagers will do stuff like that.’

‘That’s not what he’s doing.’ Hunter indicated again. ‘See, the bend isn’t at the elbows, like you just did. It’s a little below them.’

‘Yeah, I see that now.’

Hunter flipped back a few pages on the album and indicated two different photographs. The first was a photo of Terry, Joana and Joseph together. All three of them were standing by a tall, lit Christmas tree. Joseph looked to be about five or six years old then. This time, he was standing right in front of his mother, while Terry stood to their left. Terry had stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes for a silly and funny face. Joana had her arms over Joseph’s shoulders, with her fingers clasped together over his chest. Both of them were laughing at Terry’s silliness.

The second photo that Hunter indicated was a picture where Terry had a very happy five-year-old-looking Joseph sitting on his shoulders.

‘Now have a look at these photos,’ Hunter said. ‘Or any other photo on this page. Can you see that same bend in the kid’s arms?’

Garcia took his time.

‘No,’ he finally said. ‘His arms don’t seem to bend in at all here. In none of these photos.’

‘That’s because they don’t,’ Hunter confirmed.

Garcia looked back at his partner. ‘So what does that mean? That he broke both of his arms at the same exact spot, just below the elbow?’

‘Yes, that’s exactly what it means,’ Hunter agreed before his right eyebrow arched at Garcia. ‘And here is where my brain began trying to make connections where they probably don’t exist.’ He pointed to the Christmas tree photo.

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